Dr Robert Francis (who writes professionally as R.M. Francis) is a lecturer in Creative and Professional Writing at the University of Wolverhampton.  His latest poetry collection is "Palmer" out with V Press.        

In July 2020, Dr Robert Francis became Poet in Residence for the Black Country Geological Society. A role enabled by the University of Wolverhampton Doctoral College’s Early Research Award Scheme.      

He's the author of two novels, "Bella" and  "The Wrenna", published with Wild Pressed Books, and several poetry collections including  "Subsidence" and "The Chain Coral Chorus"  with Smokestack Books. In 2019, Dr Francis was the inaugural David Bradshaw Writer in Residence at the University of Oxford and is currently Poet in Residence for The Black Country Geological Society.    

"The Black Country’s industrial heritage forged unique and important communities and cultures;" explained Dr Francis, who writes professionally as R.M Francis "connected to the fossil and mineral rich grounds. One such fossil is Chain Coral; a now extinct form of colonising coral. Single cells branch off, forming helix patterns. These fossil-chained grounds gave rise to the chain makers, steelers and miners. The chain continues to be an important symbol of the region’s heritage, representing strong communal and cultural links. Chains run deep in the region’s cultural psyche and the deep time soils."

The UNESCO Black Country Geopark is perfect for this chain tracking. They are beautiful, rich havens of the natural, where prehistoric relics rest; blumenbachii, crinoid, sea lily locked in fossil time-traps. Time and space changes can be mapped in the lines and layers of differently coloured rocks that pierce the earth. "Stare at Wren's Nest ripple beds and you’re rushed with awe in realising - physically touching and sensing - that 420 million year ago this land was a tropical ocean. These relics humble us" explained Dr Francis.        

His academic research focuses on place-identity in the Black Country and has been published in a number of edited collections; he co-edited the book, Smell, Memory and Literature in the Black Country (Palgrave McMillan) with Professor Sebastian Groes.

"Take West Park in Wolverhampton - huge glacial erratics are pitched in the park grounds like ancient totems" explained Dr Francis.  "They travelled hundreds of miles during the glacial epoch and are older still. A poignant reminder of the toddlerdom of humanity. You can touch this piece of ancient movements where kids play football, where dog walkers and joggers circulate, just minutes from Wolverhampton's bustle. The same can be said of Hayes Cutting; a fascinating dipping sequence tucked behind a rusted rail on the Industrial Estates of The Lye. Commuters, deliveries, school runs zip passed as it sits in almost invisibility.      

I see it as a touchstone for reconnecting with our locales and the Earth in a deep time context and with the tactile knowledge that runs down to the oldest parts of our biology. Totem is exactly the right word for West Park's erratics, and I'd use it for the other features across the region too: that which, with a strange sense of animism, calls and connects people and place."      

Dr Robert Francis will be on The Ian Henery Show on Black Country Xtra  

Sunday 21st June at 4pm  

Monday 22nd June at 6pm   

Photo credit - Jay Lewis