Managing 'Wildness' : Creative Writing and Landscape Restoration

As the work will fit into the previous and future research of the Northumbria University
Department of Humanities, the two main research questions which have been set by the
larger framework will be adhered to:
1) How can a creative writer and/or artist develop understanding of the human
context of a landscape restoration project?
2) How can a creative writer and/or artist advance and enrich the notion of 'wildness'
in relation to landscapes?
To these main questions, I will add certain additional critical sub questions raised by the
chosen form and media type:
1) How can a graphic novel show what it means to be a modern human confronted with a
harsh and inhospitable landscape? How does the process of crafting a story change when
the process requires long treks and harsh or unstable outdoor conditions? Is it possible to
effectively capture the difference in the experience of time when travelling to such a
remote place in this different format?
2) How can the relatively new medium of the Graphic Novel engage and simulate a
relationship with the landscape under construction - what are its unique traits to build on
our human understanding of wildness compared to other media such as a novel or
documentary? Can this visual medium depict the psychological intricacies and emotional
experience such a project inspires? E.g.: The human experience to cope with the loss of
biodiversity, especially of those species which have a significant positive or negative
cultural significance (cfr. the Williams Cleugh Pine, the mistle thrush)