Hilary Mantel and Alan Moore voice ‘grave concerns’ for John Clare archive
John Clare is a rural hero of mine. I found this story very worrying. He led a desperately sad life but is a fabulous understated inspiration for anyone who loves rural England. That’s why I understand the concern of these celebs. If you have never read any of his work I suggest you spend 5 minutes recharging your battery with “June”. This story tells us:
Hilary Mantel, Alan Moore and Simon Armitage have joined authors raising “grave concerns” about the custodianship of the poet John Clare’s manuscripts in advance of major planned cuts to the library service in Northamptonshire.
The 19th-century nature poet was born in the Northamptonshire village of Helpston to illiterate parents, and worked as a labourer. Known for works celebrating rural life, including The Shepherd’s Calendar and Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, a large collection of his manuscripts, letters and books is housed at Northampton central library, as the John Clare Collection. Authors and academics led by Simon Kövesi, editor of the John Clare Society Journal, have written to the Guardian to voice concern that the collection will be hit by the swingeing cuts expected for the region’s libraries.
Northamptonshire county council, which is looking to make £115m savings in the next four years, is currently consulting on the future of its library service. Three options have been proposed for the region’s libraries, each of which will see at least 21 of its 36 branches closed. The consultation closes on 13 January.
Although Northampton central library is not threatened with closure, Kövesi and major names including authors Michael Rosen, Philip Pullman and Andrew Motion, as well as Clare’s biographer Jonathan Bate, fear that the plans will see the branch “hugely impacted by reductions in the number, seniority, qualifications and experience of staff that will be retained in that library”.
“Many staff in this library – not mentioned in your plans – are threatened with redundancy or an effective downgrading of their post, no matter what option is chosen,” says the authors’ letter. The letter was also signed by Toby Jones, who played Clare in the 2015 film By Our Selves, the film’s director Andrew Kotting, and by the comedian Josie Long, who performed a standup show about the poet in 2013.