Changing public perception and creative practice around the Irish migrant experience in Britain

Impact: Awareness and understanding, Society and culture

Narrative

Research at The University of Manchester (much of it AHRC-funded) changed public understanding of, and creative engagement with, the Irish migrant experience in Britain. The research undermined the pervasive characterisation of the Irish in Britain as a homogenous and unliterary migrant group and placed life writing at the heart of new understandings of the Irish emigrant experience. Through a new touring play and a series of creative workshops building on the findings, the research: (i) increased public knowledge of migration and its manifold effects, including cross-cultural understanding of identity and its complexities; (ii) enhanced emigrants’ sense of community and cultural belonging; (iii) changed the creative practice and enhanced the self-development of 43 creative writers.
Impact date2015 → 2019
Category of impactAwareness and understanding, Society and culture

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