London in Creative Writing - The British Library: Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands

Cultures’ Clash

An exhibition about literature in a library is a lovely redundancy, like writing a poem in Montparnasse. The exhibition Writing Britain at the British Library is a necessary tautology.

The room seethes imagination, Britishness and vacuum packed paper.  Stories and notes and images stimulate our memory of past afternoons spent with the eyes on the pages, while we lived many days before the sun would set. The darkness sleeps on the walls, like it did when my child self used to read at night before going to bed, falling into Arcadia following a painter of words. Some still think creativity cannot be learnt.

“The exhibition is over” is announced. Literary culture stops at 5 pm to let our minds sink into British drinking culture. While the library shuts the gates, the pubs stretch their alcoholic arms towards us. Too bad that at the price of the ticket you can barely have a Pimm’s.

The exhibition Writing Britain is at the British Library until September 25.