It's been touted as the world-class centre that will cement Norwich's place on the literary map. But what will the National Centre for Writing actually mean for the city? MARK SHIELDS reports.
Norwich's days as England's second city may be long gone, but the centrepiece confirming it as the country's First City of Literature could be ready to open its doors in just over two years.
The new National Centre for Writing at Gladstone House in St Giles Street is billed as a hub for world-leading authors and translators-in-residence, literary research and performance.
To capitalise on Norwich's status as a Unesco City of Literature – one of only seven in the world – those behind the plans, including Writers' Centre Norwich and the University of East Anglia, hope to turn the Georgian building into focal point celebrating Norwich's 1,000-year history of letters.
But with Writers' Centre Norwich already well established, and our literary past and present showcased at festivals throughout the year, why do we need a new centre?
Writers' Centre Norwich chief executive Chris Gribble believes establishing a city-centre presence will boost tourism, business and the city's reputation for creativity, as well as making literary events accessible to even more people.
A new 120-seat eco-friendly auditorium will be built in the garden for public readings, and apartments for a writer and translator in residence, with teaching spaces, a cafe and a temporary basement bar also included.
'I think it will bring something to everyone who lives here, works here and visits the city,' said Mr Gribble.
'It will bring focus to what we do, and provide us with a medium-sized and flexible space in the city, which we don't currently have.
'We want to increase the number of tourists coming to the city who understand and know about our literary heritage, and this will allow us to do that.'
He also hopes the National Centre for Writing will consolidate the growing number of literary events in Norwich.
There was an expanded literary line-up at this year's Norfolk and Norwich Festival, with events held at the Spiegeltent, and Writers' Centre Norwich has announced plans for a City of Stories project, and the city's first crime writing festival, Noirwich.
Mr Gribble said these events, and the popularity of WCN's schools and library programme – including poetry slams, performances and workshops - should dispel any 'lazy and opportunistic' accusations of elitism.
'Every time we do an event we don't have 100 people in a dark room stroking their chins. Sometimes they're laughing, and you have to have those different ways in for people,' he said.
'We staged a literary 'death match' at the Spiegeltent at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival – that's entertainment as well as literature.'
Writers will be able to use the centre on a 'gym model', buying monthly memberships or day passes to use facilities which will include isolation vaults in the basement cut off from phones and internet.
There will be space for 18 writers at a time in four different locations in the building, and writers will be able to mix and share ideas in the cafe.
So far, nearly 60pc of the £8m target has been raised, including a £3m Arts Council grant, smaller contributions from Norfolk County Council, the University of East Anglia, which is a partner, and trusts and foundations.
Writers' Centre Norwich needs to have raised £7.2m by next June for work to begin, and a public fundraising campaign will then be launched to stimulate public interest in the centre. The refit of the building will take a year, finishing in June or July 2016, ahead of a planned opening date of October 1, 2016.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
It might still be more than two years away, but discussions over the new National Centre for Writing began nearly four years ago.
A planning application was made in summer 2013, and went before Norwich City Council's planning committee for the first time in March 2014.
A technical glitch on the council's planning website caused a decision to be deferred once, before it was discovered houses neighbouring the site had not been given notice and the decision was deferred again.
The project was not short of opponents, including English Heritage, which said some of the alterations lacked 'clear and convincing justification', while the Friends of Gladstone House campaign group said the auditorium would lead to the loss of views of the rear of the building. Others said that the centre was not needed, given the number of city-centre venues suitable for events.
At a heated two-and-a-half hour meeting in May, councillors voted 8-3 in favour of the plans, but communities secretary Eric Pickles asked for time to consider 'calling in' the application. His eventual decision not to call it in means plans can now push on.
Writers' Centre Norwich said objectors' concerns had not been ignored, and vowed that the restoration of the 18th-century former merchant's house would be done sympathetically. It said that the work would improve a building which was currently used as offices and whose condition had deteriorated, and bring it back into public use.
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