In no more than 700 words, you should cover:
- your interest in the topic
- your experience
- your approach to the commission (including your chosen literary form)
- how you will guarantee quality
- your experience of social media (please note: this is not a deal breaker but it is helpful to know if you have an author web page and a social media presence)
- confirm your willingness to post project information on social media channels and/or your author website (or have it posted there on your behalf)
- your geographical location
- your intended audience.
You may decide to use one or more of the historical themes that the chosen National Trust houses reveal:
- Exotic fruits grown in orangeries (Attingham Park; Calke Abbey)
- Imperial domestic interiors (Basildon Park; Osterley Park; Attingham Park; Calke Abbey; Dunham Massey)
- Artefacts from British colonies, such as slave-produced mahogany and Chinese wallpaper (Attingham Park; Basildon Park; Calke Abbey; Dunham Massey; Osterley Park; Penrhyn Castle)
- Illegitimate children from the empire (Dunham Massey)
- slave-produced sugar wealth (Charlecote Park; Dyrham Park; Speke Hall; Penrhyn Castle)
- resident Indian princesses (Wightwick Manor)
- Black servants and slaves (Charlecote Park; Sudbury Hall)
- East India Company links (Basildon Park; Osterley Park)
- Francis Drake’s participation in slave trading and black Tudors (Buckland Abbey)
- owners who held colonial office (Dyrham Park)
- commemorations of naval victories in the Caribbean (Hanbury Hall; Sudbury Hall)
- paintings of black servants (Charlecote Park; Sudbury Hall)
- Victorian plant hunters (Penrhyn Castle).
Deadline: Midnight 30 April 2018
Submissions to: Dr Corinne Fowler
