INSIGHT ‘‘ W
I write fiction and experiment with poetic forms. I’m currently exploring transcription poetry using oral history archives and dipping my toe into poetry film as a form, as well as working on a novel. – Helen Foster
Ian Orton Senior Library Professional and Chair of CILIP RPG (for those outside full time work) –
chair.rpg@cilip.org.uk
E are pleased to announce that following an open call Helen Foster has been appointed as
CILIP RPG Writer in Residence 2025. The CILIP RPG residencies allow writers and artists to engage with CILIP members online and/or in person. The writers and artists are able to use CILIP RPG events, meetings and publications to share their work and contribute to the CILIP RPG body of knowledge.
Helen Foster is a writer, researcher and writing for wellbeing practitioner and currently Creative Writing Associate for the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare at the University of Leicester Medical School.
Helen was born and brought up in the East Midlands and after many decades away in London and then Edinburgh, returned to the area in 2018. Her first degree in Drama and English at Roehampton gave her opportunities to experiment with adaptation in playwriting and she went on to study film and television before changing direction and finding an opening in the heritage sector in Scotland.
Following her appointment as Writer in Residence Helen shared described her background. “I spent many years working for national heritage organisations, in historic houses, landscapes and archives, where I began to specialise in oral history and completed an MA in Heritage and Identity alongside my professional practice. I went on to manage the East Midlands Oral History Archive and co-found the Oral History Society’s Creative Oral History special interest group.
“I returned to writing a little later in life and this led me to completing a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde in 2019. I write fiction and experiment with poetic forms. I’m currently exploring transcription poetry using oral history archives and dipping
Summer 2025
my toe into poetry film as a form, as well as working on a novel.
“I was recently an Artist in Residence with the British Library’s Sharing Our Sounds initiative where I explored a collection of Nottingham-based oral histories to inspire new writing by taking extracts from the archive back into the places in and around the city that inspired them.”
Helen has experience facilitating workshops in writing as a wellbeing practice and has been involved in a variety of projects focusing on areas such as mental health, menopause and living without children. She recently co-authored Arts for Health: Creative Writing, which was published by Emerald Press in 2024.
Connecting, Influencing and Inspiring: CILIP Unconference 2025 Early Bird Registration for the Unconference is now live and as places are strictly limited you are encouraged to book your place as soon as possible at:
https://tinyurl.com/CILIPunconference2025 Unconference 2025 takes place at Kents Hill Park in Milton Keynes from
3-6 October 2025. Unconference 2025 is a participant-driven weekend with the theme Connecting, Influencing and Inspiring. We try to avoid the usual hierarchical approach by keeping numbers low and providing participants with lots of opportunities to network and collaborate.
Unconference 2025 is organised by CILIP RPG (for those outside full time work) with support from the CILIP Midlands network, the CILIP K&IM Group and the CILIP South East Network.
Unconference 2025 is supporting the work of the charity St Mark’s Meals that provides dinner kit boxes to children across Milton Keynes.
Full Unconference delegate rate includes all speakers, workshops, networking, visits, three nights dinner, bed and breakfast with light lunch and refreshments on the Sunday. Day delegate tickets are also available. The programme is still being finalised but here is a selection of the speakers joining us: David Law – Health Sector; Sue Lacey Bryant – CILIP President and KM Visiting Professor; Emma Walton – Academic Sector: Mercian Collaboration; Jane Pothecary – Information Literacy; Alison McNab – Social Media; Emma Watkins – Business Development and Marketing. The Unconference is expected to include the following:
l a visit to Milton Keynes Central Library on the Friday afternoon;
l creativity workshops, speakers and panel discussion on the Saturday
l visits and on site speakers, exhibitions and tours with coach travel to the Bodleian Library, Bletchley Park and Oxford City on the Sunday
l Open University visit and speaker on the Monday morning
Helen Foster.
Full programme will be updated on the Unconference website at:
https://tinyurl.com/ CILIPunconference2025 IP
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 57
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