Our writer in residence, Mick Jackson, gave us a few words on his tenure here at the Science Museum.
The flag on top of the Science Museum has been lowered to half-mast. It’s a modest gesture, marking the fact that my tenure as writer-in-residence is slowly drawing to a close. People ask, with some justification, what a writer-in-residence actually does. Well, in my case, it was a number of things: I offered writing surgeries to the museum’s staff (a surprising number of whom are privately working on a novel or collection of stories), I composed a short ‘jogging memoir’ to coincide with the Olympics and I generally tried to make myself available and useful.
In return I was given access to some of the museum’s more obscure nooks and crannies, as well as its extensive stores (two of the items that made the greatest impression on me were the 19th Century ‘French human skin with tattoos’ and early lunar photographs). I also took part in a press interview with Sky TV’s ‘The Book Show’ – talking about the residency here as well as appearing in the Bookseller magazine.
- Human skin, with tattoos of women’s heads, France, 1900-1920
Just as importantly, I was given access to the museum’s employees. I could list a hundred inspiring meetings I’ve had over the year but shall limit myself to one. Did you know that the Science Museum has a disused observatory on its roof? No, neither did I. The curator of astronomy and modern physics, Alison Boyle, showed me round soon after I arrived. I know practically nothing about astronomy but the visit encouraged me to start finding out. Until I saw a notice on the wall I’d never previously come across the concept of sidereal time. In the short term it inspired a short story which was commissioned by The Verb / Radio 3, ‘Information regarding the stars’, but I’ll be surprised if I don’t revisit the idea.
Anyway, heartfelt thanks to the museum and all who work in her. I’m sure that I’ll be drawing on the ideas I’ve uncovered here for years to come. As a farewell gift to the public I shall be tweeting some behind-the-scenes photos of the museum over the coming weeks (@mickwriter). After that, who knows? The Science Museum’s a big place. If I can just keep a hold of my security pass people might not notice that I never actually left …