A collection of three conversations between artists and public servants.

Intended to inspire public servants of all kinds to reconnect fearlessly with their fundamental humanity, the three conversations in Art, Imagination and Public Service present a way of thinking about imaginative, compassionate, and intelligent public service. The book consists of three dialogues: between former UK Home Secretary David Blunkett and poet Micheal O’Siadhail, former UK Supreme Court president Brenda Hale and painter Hughie O’Donoghue, and UK Permanent Secretary Clare Moriarty and musician James O’Donnell. Together they explore how art and imagination can sustain public servants and enable them to find new ways of addressing the problems facing government, parliament, and the law—problems that resist utilitarian responses in which people end up being treated only as statistics in a target-driven world. Through these conversations, the speakers discover surprising connections in approaches to their work.
 

Hughie O’Donoghue is a British painter and Royal Academician. Brenda Hale was president of the UK Supreme Court between 2017 and 2020. James O’Donnell is an organist for Westminster Abbey. Clare Moriarty was UK Permanent Secretary of the Department for Exiting the European Union. Micheal O’Siadhail is a poet who has published sixteen collections of poetry, most recently The Five Quintets. David Blunkett has been a Labour life peer since 2015 and held senior positions in Tony Blair’s cabinet, including Home Secretary.