Smell, Memory, and Literature in the Black Country

Sebastian Groes is Professor of English Literature and Director of the Centre for Transnational and Transcultural Research at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. He is the author of The Making of London (Palgrave Macmillan 2011), and British Fiction in the Sixties (2016), and is the editor of Memory in the Twenty-First Century: New Critical Perspectives from the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences (Palgrave Macmillan 2016). R.M. Francis is Creative Writing Lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. He is the author of five poetry pamphlets: Transitions (2015); Orpheus (2016); Corvus' Burnt-Wing Love Balm and Cure-all (2018); Lamella (2019); and Fieldnotes from a Deep Topography of Dudley (2019). His debut novel, Bella, was published in 2020 by Wild Pressed Books.

“The book will not only appeal to those interested in the rich cultural heritage of the Black Country, but also those interested in place-identity, politics and the importance of culture in the twenty-first century.” (University of Wolverhampton, wlv.ac.uk, March 15, 2021)“The book and its findings would appeal to ‘ anyone interested in the Black Country and the importance of regional culture – and especially Black Country writing’.” (Bev Holder, halesowennews.co.uk, March 11, 2021)

• Foreword: Will Self.- Introduction - Francis and Groes.- ‘Library’ - Liz Berry An original prose-poem.- ‘Kuli Koli’ An original poem.- Anthony Cartwright original short fiction.- Snidge Scrumpin: Mapping Smell and Memory in the Black Country experiment - Bas Groes and Tom Mercer.- Wendy Crickard An original poem.- Narinder Dhami original short fiction.- Kerry Hadley-Pryce Original short fiction.- Lee Armstrong  An original poem.- ‘Olfaction in Black Country Language and Literature’, Esther Pickersgill.- R. M. Francis A series of sense-memory, Black Country poems.- Roy McFarlane An original poem.- The Future is Elsewhere: Black Country Writing in Context essay Paul McDonald on contemporary Black Country fiction.- Nathalie Burdett An original poem.- Emma Purshouse An original poem.- ‘Making Sense? The Black Country and its Futures’,  Stuart Connor.-  Niall Griffiths.- Brendan Hawthorne.- ‘The Rise of Black Countryness: Place-Identity and the Twenty-First Century West Midlands’  R. M. Francis.- Conclusion: The Future of the Black Country - Groes/Francis.