The shaping power of Shelley

Shelley Memorial Project fundraising liaison officer Sarah Nuttell explains the origins of her passion for the project, and her hopes for the future of it.

I’ve lived in Horsham since 2006 after returning from Africa, but I was born in Cuckfield Hospital and went to school in Sussex. My great grandmother and grandparents are buried in Balcombe Churchyard and my parents were married at the church.

In 2014 I joined Horsham Writers’ Circle and was the Secretary for four years. I ran the writing and theatrical events which were part of the Horsham Festival in 2019 which led to the participation of the Circle in the Horsham District Year of Culture 2019.

My particular reason for joining the Shelley Memorial Project was that our family has always been very proud to own a copy of a very rare early edition of the Posthumous Poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley edited by Mary Shelley and published two years after his death.

My contribution to ensuring that Horsham can honour the poet’s memory as a world renowned poet and national treasure is to help us achieve our fundraising target for the memorial that is being commissioned to mark the bicentenary of his death.

Shelley’s words continue to inspire new, vibrant ideas with the power to shape who we are or what we become.

Who knows who is waiting out there, with a wealth of as yet unexplored talent, to be inspired by Shelley’s memorial? Be part of it.