The Isaac Newton Trust is delighted to have supported Churchill College’s Creative Writing in the Archive Workshop through the TC Collection-based Research in the Humanities (TCCBRH) programme.
In February 2026 the Churchill Archives Centre hosted a day-long creative writing workshop. The day was split into two parts: a paper-making session in the morning and a creative writing session in the afternoon. All of the participants had an academic background in addition to a creative practice as a poet, or writer of another kind. The intention was to invite participants for whom Empire or Commonwealth sat next to writing in some way, whether directly (as content) or as a formulation derived from their own positionality.
Bhanu Kapil, Churchill College Fellow, helped to organise the workshop, and shared these comments:
"Led by myself and PhD Candidate, Jigisha Bhattacharya, The Archives Centre at Churchill College hosted a creative writing workshop in which participants engaged with artefacts drawn from contexts relating to Empire and Commonwealth. With the support of the conservation staff, the participants sewed and constructed pamphlets using leaves and other plant matter gathered from the oak and mulberry trees planted by Winston Churchill, on the college site, in 1959. The dream of the workshop was to create an affective encounter with a potent archive of modern British history. Over the course of a day, participants were offered tactile and imaginal prompts, a series of slow practices that culminated in a session in which they were able to reflect on their Archive writing.
"The event was immensely moving, and was supported at every stage by a member of the Archive staff, Nicole Allen. One participant spoke about the “rare” experience of “writing with a non-hierarchical group of practitioners.” Other feedback included gratitude for a “beautiful day,” a “magical experience,” “the sense of time suspended,” and “a chance to metabolize the violence of the materials held in this space.” Several participants made appointments with The Archives Centre to return the following week, to continue the writing that began in the workshop itself. We remain infinitely curious about the possibilities for this particular archive as a site for future writing, communal practices and embodied thought."
We wish the team all the best with their future projects.
Image credit: Churchill Archives Centre
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