In this poignant book, the author writes with candour about her experience of growing up in a workhouse children’s home in London during the Twenties and Thirties. Kathleen Dalley’s story is told with clarity and sensitivity, yet refrains from sentimentality. She describes an institutionalised childhood where strict members of staff upheld the rules and procedures [...]
Celebrating twenty-five years of innovation with the launch of the 'ZAP' book.
Brighton & Hove is a multi-faceted city and it is possibly its trendy, cosmopolitan side that most people recognise. Local residents however are familiar with a much more fascinating, diverse place. What is it really like to live here? Is it just ‘London by the sea’ as the media portrays? Or does it have its [...]
This diverse collection called Alt-History: New Writing From Brighton, consists of fifteen stories by new writers, including five pieces of work by young authors under the age of twelve. The aim of the publication was to allow people the opportunity to write their own versions of ‘histories’ of Brighton and Hove and the material includes [...]
Published in 1983, Brighton on the Rocks incorporates a collection of interviews, photographs and statistics, which are used to analyse how monetarism affected the economic policies that were pursued by the city’s local authorities in the 1980s. When local councils imposed financial cuts from 1980 onwards, they argued that the cuts were necessary because of overspending. [...]
This journal was produced by the Letter in the Attic project and was a way in which people could do their own writing, illustrated with quotes and pictures from the Letter in the Attic collection. It contains images, photographs, quotes and pictures from letters and diaries related to Brighton and Hove from the last 150 years. These were [...]
Daring Hearts - Lesbian and Gay Lives of 50’s and 60’s Brighton: Long out of print, this is a searing and informative collection of life stories based on taped interviews with forty lesbians and gay men who spoke openly about their lives in and around Brighton. Originally published in collaboration with Brighton Ourstory.
Originally produced in 1990 in collaboration with the now defunct Lewis Cohen Urban Studies Centre, Brighton Behind the Front brings together a collection of Brighton World War II reminiscences and documents how ordinary people were affected by the war, offering moving accounts of individual lives set against a society undergoing profound changes. Using personal recollections, contemporary photographs, letters, a logbook and diaries, the book vividly portrays what it was like to live in Brighton during the Second World War. You can buy copies of the book using Amazon Kindle, Google Play, the Apple store, and other Android outlets - just go to your chosen website and search by title for the book.
This book contains original material that was written during the period between the early 1860s and 1888. It is part autobiography and part diary, and tells the story of James Nye, an extraordinary man, who lived much of his life in a nineteenth century rural village, near Lewes. His life story was discovered in latter [...]
Daisy Noakes tells her story from the age of fourteen, when she went into service. She gives us an insight into the life of a woman born and brought up in Brighton during the years 1910-1934. Daisy documents – with humour - her inevitable trials and tribulations in the often physically demanding world that she [...]
Albert Paul was a retired carpenter who lived all his life in Brighton, and he describes in vivid detail the life of a boy brought up in poverty and his struggle against adversity. Poverty - Hardship but Happiness tells the story of a working class boy’s life in the years between 1903 and 1917, from [...]
This anthology presents a child’s-eye view of the year 2000. It includes drawings and words that reflect the perspectives and views of children aged between five and eleven. The book was compiled from one-week diaries, written over the course of the Millenium Year, by four hundred school children in the Brighton and Hove area. There [...]
Written in prison at the age of 62, this autobiography begins with Ron Piper as a boy of seven, clambering around bombsites looking for shrapnel and ends with his appearance in the dock at The Old Bailey, as a notorious career criminal. It's a powerful wartime record of the author’s steady progress towards a life of [...]
Les Moss tells of his lifelong struggle in search of progress, and his personal triumph over adversity. Published in 1979, this fascinating life history describes one man’s involvement in trade unionism and provides a picture of political activism in London and Brighton from the 1920s onward. Also documented are the daily and working lives of [...]
This autobiography tells of George Noakes's childhood and early adult working life before he married Daisy, author of The Town Beehive and The Faded Rainbow, in 1934. George reminisces about his childhood farm memories and forays to the local shops and surrounding areas; for example, when he visited the local bakers, he always knew that [...]
This book contains reminiscences and anecdotes from past pupils who attended St. Luke’s School, in the Queens Park area of Brighton in the years between 1908 - 1983. It contains an eclectic mix of anecdotes that express both fond memories and less happy recollections of pupils’ schoolday experiences and the reality of belonging to a [...]
This is a child’s-eye view of carefree times spent in the 1930s and the more difficult times experienced in the 1940s, in the poverty-stricken Albion Hill area of Brighton. Meet the characters in John Knight’s resilient family unit - above all, his parents, who were determined to shield their offspring from the hardships of their [...]
This book, which consists of both poetry and prose, features the reminiscences of Katherine J. Browne. Most of the book comprises poems inspired by Katherine’s deeply-held religious faith, with memories of her early life in Belize, and an account of her Second World War work as a Billeting Officer in Liverpool, in which she provides vivid descriptions of [...]
Continuing the theme of working with people who have suffered strokes, this book is intended as both a self-help aid and as a helpful guide that can provide support to others in similar situations. It is written by five people with experience of caring for a close relative who has suffered a stroke. The process [...]
This is an account of stroke survivors’ triumphs over adversity, as they undertake the difficult and painful process of learning how to live again. The book examines the lasting effects of degenerative trauma and documents the transition from being able-bodied to becoming disabled. Writing is viewed as part of the process of rehabilitation, as the [...]
This is a beautifully illustrated account of life as an adolescent girl, growing up in the rural Sussex village of Ditchling between the First and Second World Wars. Doris Hall describes the details and events of her daily life in an environment where she was able to develop peacefully and happily, surrounded by family, friends [...]
This selection of creative writing is the cumulative work of fifty people, who attended a writing weekend in Seaford, East Sussex in July 1993. There were four workshops in total, including one on autobiography and personal histories, one on poetry, one on storytelling from images and one on drama. From the beginning of the course, [...]
This intelligently written book examines the social and religious history of St. Anne’s Church, which was located in the heart of Brighton. Maurice Packman, the author, was a choirboy at St. Anne’s in the 1930s and he takes a gently humorous look at the community of his fellow worshippers. The church has been demolished, but [...]
This evocative collection of photographs shows Brighton during WWII. Kindly reproduced here under licence from The Argus and The Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton & Hove, most of these images haven’t been seen by the public for many years. From soldiers marching past the Savoy cinema in East Street to a St Paul’s Street party [...]
In the late 1950s the Environmental Health Department of the former Brighton Borough Council commissioned a series of photographs to form a visual record of areas being considered for slum clearance. Some of the striking and evocotive photographs taken are featured in this 2007 calendar. Thanks to Kevin Bacon at The Brighton History Centre for allowing [...]
The Faith Project used oral history and video work to help members of the Sudanese Coptic, Muslim and Progressive Jewish communities to collate a history of how and why the followers of these faiths arrived in Brighton and the traditions and customs that they brought with them. Project extracts are featured in this book which [...]
These childhood reminiscences examine the special and unbreakable bond between mothers and their daughters. Through the story of five daughters and their relationships with their mothers, the book charts the positive and negative experiences of family life. In particular, it examines the influence that their mothers had on their development as women and individuals in [...]
Phoebe Hessel (1713-1821) was a woman who spent part of her life dressed as a man, and fought as a soldier for many years with the British Army. In the 18th century, women had very little power or choice in their lives and there was therefore much to be gained in 'becoming a man' in [...]
This is the entertaining story of a young cockney, who was something of a ‘wide boy’. Originally from London, Bert Healey’s story begins with tales of his life as a wayward boy in Brighton during the First World War. He also describes many aspects of his working life - from his first pay packet, when [...]
This is Olive Masterson’s tale of growing up in the Richmond Road area of Brighton between the Wars. Surrounded by her close-knit family and friends, she was the youngest child of four, and lived a varied and interesting life. In her narrative, she voices the hopes and fears that she experienced in making the often [...]
This autobiography gives a poignant insight into the life and expectations of a working class Brighton girl, who from the age of fourteen, was in service from 1910 to 1934. It describes her life as a young wife and mother, and the isolation she felt living in the countryside surrounding Gatwick Airfield. Daisy examines the [...]
This fascinating personal history describes John Langley's childhood in poverty in Hove before the First World War, his apprenticeship at the age of 13 on the railway in Brighton, the progression of his career as a railway carriage painter and the good and bad times of Brighton family life. The account of the harshness of working [...]
Gary Irwin survived major surgery to remove a brain tumour. In this book, he takes the reader on a journey that charts the progress of his illness, including the invasive and traumatic surgery that he underwent. He documents the long process of initial diagnosis, treatment and eventual recuperation. This first-hand account is narrated from the [...]
There is a huge distance between those who find the written word easy and familiar and those who feel unable to write, finding the whole process threatening and difficult. These stories are the product of a project called 'Go Write Ahead' and are intended to demonstrate how this gap can be closed. The story 'The [...]
However people personally define poetry, this anthology contains something for everyone. The poets all hail from the Brighton area and they reflect a wide range of ages and backgrounds. The poems can read by those who are looking for a pleasant read, by the poetry connoisseur or the serious academic. They include many different themes, [...]
Published in 1984 and written by a retired hospital porter, Alf Johns highlights what he saw as the failures of the government in the 1980s and early 1990s. Satirical and witty, this is a book containing political poems and cartoons, exhibiting a wry, often black sense of humour, the subject matter centres around the politics [...]
This anthology contains poetry and prose from a QueenSpark Books women’s writing group, aged between 20 and 64 years, who met regularly to write and partake in group discussions and workshops. There is a strong feminist influence to the issues that are covered, encompassing the empowerment of women, particularly in today’s world, when women have to [...]
This anthology of short stories explores childhood themes from an adult perspective, often in a quirky and original style. The book recognises that writing fiction is part of a personal, subjective process and the stories in this collection reflect the individual experiences, ideas and inspirations of each of the writers. Through the writing process, it [...]
From Circle to Spiral is about the enjoyment of the writing process and the personal satisfaction that can be gained from it. It reveals the insights that creative writing can bring and also provides a useful, practical guide to a method of working that may be helpful to budding writers. The reader is taken on [...]
This publication is the product of a course on which participants were encouraged to tell stories of their childhoods. The atmosphere captured in the stories reflects the fun times that can be enjoyed by youngsters in their everyday lives. Some of the topics covered in this book include the important milestones of childhood, such as [...]
A companion work to Alt-History, this book is the result of a competition held to encourage people of all ages to think creatively about the city’s future. The entries were judged and edited before publication, and include a vision of text-messaging in 2045, a description of how 'Zero Tolerance' might operate on the city’s streets [...]
Published in 1997, anthology is the outcome of work that was produced by members of the Hove Writers Club. Including poetry and prose, it focuses on the details of everyday life through the medium of creative writing.
Serious Intent is the second book in the QueenSpark poetry anthology. It was intended to be a sequel to Poetry, our first collection of verse, but as it developed, it became evident that there was sufficient material of great depth and scope for it to be published in its own right. It is a collection [...]
This is an anthology of readings that were given at a QueenSpark performance evening. The recital took place at the Sanctuary cafe in Hove, which was a popular location in the 1990s for community events. For some people, this was the first time they had read aloud in public, although this was not reflected in [...]
Seven single parents share their personal hopes, fears, struggles and achievements on their respective journeys through parenthood. The book focuses on the challenges they face, particularly when taking on the role of both mother and father in their children’s lives. It acknowledges the effort and energy required of them, as they make important life choices [...]
Featuring large archive photographs of the cinemas and extracts from Tim Carder's Encylopedia of Brighton describing the cinemas featured and colour photographs of the site today. Also included are snippets from past QueenSpark Books recalling memories of cinema-going in Brighton & Hove.
The Migrant English Project at The Cowley Club offered language classes to newly arrived migrants to Brighton and Hove. This book is the result of a series of workshops where participants had the opportunity to tell their stories.
This work is the culmination of an eight-month creative writing programme that ran at QueenSpark from August 2001 to March 2002 and included two ten-week creative writing courses and four introductory sessions on writing autobiographically. Its aim was to involve new and diverse audiences and writers in the joys of creative writing. It utilised a [...]
Writers’ Reign is an anthology of creative writing that is the product of three Queenspark women’s writing groups that were set up in Brighton and Hove. It reflects, in the shape of poetry and prose, the way the writers see their worldviews and through their experiences, it provides a window into their imaginative worlds. Editorial [...]
This is an anthology taken from work that was produced by the Hangleton and Brighton Women Writers’ groups. The Hangleton group started meeting in July 1988 as part of the Hangleton and Knoll Community Festival. The aim of the programme was to introduce new writers and audiences to creative writing, to explore the central concerns [...]