More success for CECS PhD student Sophie Coulombeau

Posted on 28 March 2013

Sophie Coulombeau wins grant for the art

We were very pleased to report last year about Sophie's triumphant first novel debut, and Sophie has now been successful in winning a National Lottery-funded Grant for the Arts from the Arts Council.

These grants are given for "activities carried out over a set period and which engage people in England in arts activities, and help artists and arts organisations in England carry out their work." They awarded Sophie the full amount requested, which will enable her to support herself over a three-month leave of absence from her PhD while she writes her second novel, and to make two research trips to support this. Sophie will be taking the LOA over April, May & June 2013.

Sophie writes:

"The project is a historical novel that is set in London on the eve and outbreak of the French Revolution. It traces the interwoven stories of two powerful political and intellectual coteries, both of them observing revolutionary events across the Channel and questioning what they mean for England. It will provide an opportunity for me to continue experimenting with narrative voice, which was the aspect of my first book that probably got the most interesting critical feedback; the narrative will be told from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives and styles including pastiche eighteenth-century forms such as letters, journals, newspapers, handbills, trial transcripts, prints etc; as well as in the free indirect discourse style of historical novels such as Andrew Miller's 'Pure' and Hilary Mantel's 'Wolf Hall' trilogy.

This is a particularly interesting project for me because it was inspired by some of the interdisciplinary material - and the narrative styles - I've encountered over the course of my doctorate at the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies, which has been an invaluable and inspirational environment to develop my ideas."