Your Stories

Ten people aged from their early 20s to their 70s all gathered in October Books in Southampton to learn about and make blackout poetry from Jane Austen texts. People selected words and blacked out others to create new poems, sometimes adding decorations or enhancing the visual form of the work in different ways.

Participants shared their stories and the decisions behind their creative choices as they worked. A small selection of the poems are displayed here, as well as some snippets of conversation.

Fifteen people aged from 16 to in their 60s gathered in October Books in Southampton to make collages inspired by Jane Austen. They could choose to use a silhouette of Jane, or a portrait of her as part of their collage, or to do something completely free, using recycled newspapers, magazines, and drawing. 

People shared their stories for what they’d been thinking about as they worked, and why they’d chosen to include particular elements in their collages. Here is some of the work made:

Eight people aged from 11 to in their 50s gathered at Eagle Lab in Southampton for a fashion workshop inspired by Jane Austen. Making dresses and enhancing them with trimmings and ribbon was a key part of self-expression for Jane and her characters, and we still put together ​‘statement’ outfits now. 

Using this idea as a springboard, participants adapted pre-cut fabric shapes, decorating and embellishing them in whatever way they wanted to tell their story. They then tied them onto 30cm artist mannequins, using ribbons to achieve a Regency dress silhouette with a contemporary decoration and message. People shared their stories for what they’d been thinking about as they worked, and why they’d chosen the decorations and designs they had for their outfits. Here are some of the dresses created:

Six people aged from 18 to in their 50s gathered at Eagle Lab in Southampton for a Cartoons workshop inspired by Jane Austen. Jane’s stories often pivot on a few key moments, where characters are introduced, the narrative moves on or resolution is achieved. Cartoons do this in a very simple and effective way, and they are a great creative approach to working out how to tell a story in just a few central scenes. 

Participants learned from the young leader how to tell a story through a 6‑panel cartoon. They were given just five minutes each to draw an initial panel introducing the character of their story, then a second panel outlining that character’s goal. Panel 3 introduced some kind of challenge or barrier, and panel 4 was the character outlining some kind of plan. Panel 5 was the plan being enacted (perhaps successfully, perhaps unsuccessfully), and the last panel showed the end result. 

Everyone was encouraged to draw in pen if possible, to help them avoid overthinking what they were doing – mistakes were fine, just get the story down. Participants really learned from each other as work was shared, including seeing some people using very different viewpoints to add drama (focusing in or zooming out), using colour and using sketchier styles. They also noted the effect of using words or not, and how challenging but effective it could be to avoid words within the cartoon altogether. 

Having made one 6‑panel cartoon each on their own story, participants then collaborated to make 5 more cartoons together, each drawing a panel and then passing it on to the person next to them. Decisions were made about mirroring styles or not, and what to do with each story next. It was surprising and a lot of fun to see where each story went, which was often not what the initial creator had anticipated.

Eight people aged from 10 to 58 gathered at Eagle Lab in Southampton for a Poetry workshop inspired by Jane Austen. Springboarding from Jane Austen’s interest in words and in social commentary, we started to explore contemporary responses to a series of prompts through a very accessible approach to poetry. 

Participants began by writing ​‘acrostic’ poems, using key words (either their first name or My Story) to give the first letter of a different word or line that together would form a poem. This helped everyone to feel that they could write a poem, no matter if they’d had experience of doing this before or not. 

Each person then chose at random one ​‘virtue’ or word with a positive connotation or value, and one ​‘vice’ or word with a more negative meaning. This was inspired by Jane Austen’s contrasting word novel titles, such as ​‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ​‘Sense and Sensibility’. 

Everyone wrote at least one poem inspired by their contrasting pairs of words. People could choose their own poetic forms; some asked for suggestions of forms to use that might give their ideas more shape. Having shared their work, participants then chose either to make another poem, or to write up their favourite poem of the session with some decoration, to be included in the exhibition.

Fifteen people aged from 9 to in their 50s gathered at October Books in Southampton for an abstract painting workshop inspired by Jane Austen. Participants were encouraged to be experimental – a little like Jane was in her writing technique, especially the more unruly and innovative approaches to writing revealed by her manuscripts. 

They squeezed acrylic paint directly onto canvases and used palette knives as well as brushes to explore the potential of texture and colour. This was direct expression that sometimes had meaning and sometimes was its own end.