As Executive Director of Booktrust (2000–7), Director of the Poetry Society (1993-9) and arts officer for public libraries in Sheffield and Birmingham for 15 years, Chris has devised and developed projects of lasting social impact and real artistic value.
Now he’s exploring the creative potential of new media, story and play for readers, writers and organisations.
Dublin Docklands
Gordon Brown launches Bookstart national funding
BOOKFUTURES
The world of books is going through a digital revolution. Chris is co-Director of
The Institute for the Future of the Book and plans to commission experimental new work for different platforms and publics.
READ THE BOOKFUTURES BLOG HERE
CREATIVE READING AND WRITING
Chris has been at the forefront of literature and reader development since he and Rachel Van Riel ran the Opening The Book Festival for Sheffield Libraries in 1989.
SOME PROJECTS
POETRY PLACES was a major lottery funded programme of residencies and publications, described by Poet Laureate Andrew Motion as "a modern miracle".
BOOKSCAPES, devised as part of the BBC BIG READ, pushed creative reading to new limits with groups of readers making their imaginative responses to books.
Chris is a published writer, winner of the George Orwell Prize for his play ‘We Two Boys’; author of ‘The Thoughts of Betty Spital’ (Penguin); articles on literature development can be seen on the Booktrust blog. Chris plays congas with THE BETTERTONES, performing at venues including the London Book Fair, PEN International and The Drill Hall.
He is also a cartoonist. Click here to see his latest cartoon strip: OVERLEAF.
PLAYFUL CONSULTATION
How do you consult with a community about what a public space should look like?
How do you help people articulate their concerns and imagine the new?
Chris has worked on projects with playground designers Snug & Outdoor, Dublin Docklands Development Agency, Maidstone Libraries, Hackney Public Art, Birmingham Council and others.
His method involves talking to the local community, recording their ideas and concerns, using these to make a group poem or text for performance and publication, a tanglible outcome and a powerful planning and lobbying tool.
Here are some examples:
HACKNEY HOTLINKS: A London fish stall becomes a projection booth of memories and dreams
THE BOROUGH BREATHTAKER: The Mobile Library re-imagined and renamed by the children it serves
EVERGREEN SQUARE: A Hackney playspace designed around the words of local schoolchildren.
TALKING CHIMNEY PARK: A Dublin Docklands playspace imagined by residents.
chris@snugandoutdoor.co.uk
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