In order to create our new display Robert Burns and Kilmarnock’s Literary Heritage, pupils from Silverwood Primary 7 class had to learn about some of the poets, writers, printers and booksellers from the town’s past. We really delved into the collections, going through boxes of often rare and delicate pamphlets and books, to find items that would be good for a visual display. The image below shows the pupils looking at some of the earliest Kilmarnock periodicals, from 1817 – 1850s.
One of the purposes of this project is to uncover a largley hidden heritage, and to show that Kilmarnock’s literary output didn’t end in 1786! By exploring the many interesting characters and collections from our literary heritage, we will hopefully inspire new young writers to join them.
[…] The class wanted to incorporate some new technology in the display so we decided to use Wordle to create a graphic showing the vast range of people and collections that make up Kilmarnock’s literary past (and present). http://bmc.burnsmonumentcentre.co.uk/curating-kilmarnocks-literary-heritage/ […]