Shelagh Delaney

Selina Todd's Tastes of Honey - After reading Poor Cow I was struggling a bit 
on what to read surrounding the kitchen sink films, after looking back through some of my research 
from my dissertation and I hadn't read or continued in much research about Shelagh Delaney. 
The book follows Shelagh's career from her childhood up to her death and as Todd is a historian, it gave some really good historically and political context to the time. 
I was always a bit confused about the time between Labour's election in 1945 and being voted out 
by the Conservatives and what effect this had on the arts community in northern towns which noted by Todd was rather extreme as they defunded everything. 
Todd also mentioned some of Shelagh's inspirations for writing and during her career such as 
Chekhov, Beckett and James Baldwin, which I always love to know because now I can read those and hopefully take some inspiration from their works. 

I found Shelagh's thought processes behind writing A Taste of Honey quite similar as 
to why I am so passionate and inspired by the mundane routines of working-class life which has helped in keeping my thought processes and work on the right track. 
Shelagh's view of women and marriage was also very interesting as she never married, she viewed men as more of a burden and through watching her mother struggle through working all day and then caring for her family viewed marriage as unpaid labour. 
I have tried to find what Shelagh might of thought about Nell Dunn in writing Poor Cow and Cathy Come Home but 
I haven't been able to find anything. 
I assume that she would of enjoyed them both as they both portray women to hold the brunt of 
the family problems. I think Joy being a single mother who doesn't deny herself anything would of appealed to Shelagh, she isn't trapped by her motherhood and actively seeks the things she desires. 
Equally Cathy portrays the role her mother had to play in being denied any pleasure for the sake of her families. Cathy is the one who suffers most when her family becomes homeless her husband work's and eventually moves to Liverpool while Cathy is stuck in a homeless house for mother's. 

I found one of the programmes for A Taste of Honey when it was shown in the theatre 
at the Golder's Green in London from 1959, I will do some work in including some of the 
adverts that are in it as they are really interesting. 

Shelagh - I think I will create a lino from this picture of her as she has really inspired me.