Sarah Hesketh

Sarah Hesketh is a London based poet/writer who at the time of the interview was a final year PhD candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Roehampton in England.  Her PhD project has involved her working at the intersections of oral history and poetry.

In this oral history interview, Sarah talks about why she attended the 2019 OHSS Workshop: I Am Sitting in a Room Part 1:  Oral History and Writing; how her own poetry/writing work developed from an early age; her academic education;  how her work began to be published and about selected writing projects she has created.

She discusses in depth ‘The Hard Word Box’—a collection of poems and texts that stemmed from a 2013 arts residency entitled ‘Where the Heart Is,’ where she was poet in residence at a care facility for elderly dementia sufferers.

She also discusses in detail the premise, research practice and creative work of her PhD which specifically used oral history practice at its foundation:  a creative work of poetry and writing that focussed on the historical events of the year 2016.

This interview may be of interest to those interested in the process of creation of contemporary poetry and text; the intersections of writing/poetry and oral history; how oral history is accommodated within a Creative Writing PhD program in the UK in 2016-2019, and specifically in Sarah Hesketh’s own work and practice.