October 20, 2014, by bramh2

Three FREE events at D.H. Lawrence Heritage for this year’s Festival of Humanities

By Carolyn Melbourne, D.H. Lawrence Heritage, Broxtowe Borough Council

Writers go in and out of fashion but D.H. Lawrence remains relevant.  Described as ‘The prophet of the Midlands’, there is a visionary aspect to his writing; his attitudes to industry, capitalism, nature and of course sex were out of kilter for his own time but now seem uncannily modern.

Lawrence is all the more remarkable when you consider how unlikely it was that he would become a writer in the first place.  The son of a semi-literate miner, Lawrence was the first boy from the Eastwood area to win a scholarship gaining him a high school education.  Even so he was aware of how unlikely the chances of literary success were, remarking that people would say “That I am a fool. A collier’s son a poet!”. But a poet he became, and a world renowned literary figure who has added much to the canon of English literature.

D. H. Lawrence Heritage is an award winning Heritage Attraction, based in Lawrence’s hometown of Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, which celebrates the life and work of this literary legend.

The D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum on Victoria Street, Eastwood will be open for free tours on Saturday 15th November: This is a great opportunity to experience his Birthplace which has been recreated as it would have looked in the late Victorian period.  This quaint miners’ cottage feels as though the Lawrence family could walk back in at any moment.  Free taster tours of the Museum will be available from 11am until 3.30pm.

Also on the 15th November, there will be a free guided walk of Eastwood’s Blue Line Trail. The tour will stop at points of significance to Lawrence, bringing the Eastwood of the past to life.  Please meet at the D.H. Lawrence Heritage Centre on Mansfield Road at 1pm.

And on Wednesday 19th November there is a free evening lecture titled ‘Lawrence and Mexico’ with Professor Neil Roberts.  No one could capture the spirit of a place quite like Lawrence, and this lecture will look at one of the most important phases of his creative life.  The event will take place at 6pm at the D.H. Lawrence Heritage Centre on Mansfield Road.

These three events offer Lawrence fans a well-rounded approach to his life and work; looking at his hometown which influenced his early writing so much, as well as his later work. You don’t have to have read any of Lawrence’s work to enjoy these events, but we hope after your visit you might be inspired to try!

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www.beinghumanfestival.org

 

Artwork by Milly Melbourne

Artwork by Milly Melbourne

Posted in Being Human Festival