Letter To An Unkown Soldier is a new national online writing project, in which everyone in the country is being invited to write a letter to the unknown soldier who stands on the war memorial on platform one of Paddington station.
People who have already promised to write the soldier a letter include fifty leading British writers - names as distinguished and diverse as playwright Caryl Churchill, poet Andrew Motion and authors Andy McNab and Malorie Blackman.
Neil Bartlett, actor, director, author, translator and playwright, was honoured by the university last year with a Doctor of Arts for his contribution to literature and theatre. He will be at the university's Checkland Building in Falmer on Monday 31 March to explain more about the World War One (WW1) idea – and to get people writing.
Neil and collaborator, novelist Kate Pullinger, are working on the project as part of the Lottery-funded 14-18 NOW scheme that will see leading artists from around the world respond to the WW1 centenary, as part of the UK's official centenary programme.
Neil said: "We want contributors to write a personal letter to the statue of the unknown soldier who stands on the famous war memorial on platform one of Paddington station in London. Dressed in full trench uniform, he's reading a letter from home. The statue was erected by the Great Western Railway Company in honour of the hundreds of company employees who had been killed in the war.
"We're inviting people to take a leap of imagination across one hundred years, and to write the letter that the soldier is reading. This year is going to be crowded with official ceremonies; this project is a chance for people to stop, reflect, and add their voices to a much more personal project. As the letters arrive, and get published on the project's website for anyone and everyone to read, they'll add up to new and very different kind of war memorial - one made only of words, and by thousands of people."
The Letter To An Unkown Soldier website will remain open for 37 days, from 28 June when Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, triggering WW1, to 4 August when Britain announced it was at war.
People can post letters on the Letter to an Unknown Soldier website or send letters to the statue at an address at Paddington station. Letters will remain online up to the anniversary of Armistice Day 2018.
Neil will be at the 91¶¶Òõ's Checkland Building between 1.30 and 3pm on 31 March. To reserve a seat, email j.s.moriarty@brighton.ac.uk.