Belfast Group Authors by Period
Although we often think of the Belfast Group as a single entity, in reality the writing workshop had two distinct periods of activity, with different participants. This network graph visualizes the two periods of the Group—when Hobsbaum chaired (1963–1966) and when the Heaneys, Arthur Terry, and Michael Allen organized it (1966–1972). While most of the Group sheets are undated, some include handwritten dates, times, and places. Absent that information, we have assumed that undated sheets in Hobsbaum’s papers at Queen’s University Belfast are from the Group’s first period and that undated sheets from other collections are from the second.
In most cases, the nodes represent the authors of Group sheets and show a connection to one or both periods of the Group, depending on when he or she contributed Group sheets. The graph also shows those whose papers include Group sheets but did not author them. Edges are drawn between authors and owners of Group sheets since they presumably attended that particular Group meeting together. In the case of multiple authors of a single Group sheet or of more than one individual having a copy of a Group sheet in his collection, an edge is also drawn between those individuals. The weight of the connection is based on the number of Group sheets authored or owned.
Splitting the two phases of the group like this allows us to see which people were connected to only one phase of the Group and those who participated in both periods.
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