ARCHIVAL CHATS - Series of Chapbooks exploring the UON’s Special Collections & Archives

Archival Chats A Series of Chapbooks exploring the University of Newcastle’s Special Collections & GLAMx Lab Archives

By Jasmin Thompson

Jasmin Thompson is an emerging writer passionate about poetry, zines and experimental non-fiction. Her work often focuses on Australian culture with particular emphasis on the trivial details that make our individual experiences so unique. This interest in the everyday stems from my childhood mission of reading each and every one of her sister’s diary entries.

Archival Chats is a series of artfully designed, handmade Chapbooks that document the political and social history of UON’s past students through experimental poetry. Chapbooks date back to 16th Century Europe where they acted as the ‘social media’ of their time. They have long been associated with ‘Chats’ as originally ballads and folk tales were commonly found in Chapbooks, the orality of the content encouraged public performance and by the 18th century they had evolved into a device for social thought and political debate. Now the Chapbook is an aesthetic literary niche often shared among poets at readings.

Archival Chats is a series of handmade Chapbooks that document the political and social history of UoN’s past students through experimental poetry. Each element of the chapbook was carefully chosen and curated by me. This includes every detail such as binding the books myself to the fonts and paper specifications. I’m disheartened that many of you will be unable to experience the work physically, but I have tried to document them as well as I can digitally. Jasmin Thompson