Term 1 Symposium (Dec 17)

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Students from the English Studies, 21st Century Literature and Nineteenth Century MA programmes all took part in the Term 1 symposium.

 The first symposium of the 17-18 academic year took place this December, and included a variety of papers from 20 different students, including those from MA Nineteenth Century Studies who undertook English MA Options. The event, hosted in the MHT building on the university campus, saw students discuss their research for their upcoming projects. The panels included: ‘Contemporary American Fiction’, ‘Romantic Legacies’, ‘Romantic Nature’, ‘Contemporary Nature’, ‘Gender and Sexuality’, and ‘Women Writing in the 21st Century: Outsiders and Belonging’.

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Papers such as Jeni Medcalf’s ‘Find Oikos’ and Jamie Watt’s ‘The Romantic Wanderer’ were listened to by a number of staff and students, with each student having the chance to expand on their presentations in the Q&A sessions after each panel.

Students said they felt the day had a great atmosphere, and was the perfect opportunity to explore their research ideas in a supportive, academic environment. Many of our students took to The Swan on campus afterwards to celebrate their hard work before heading for a well-deserved Christmas meal at Ask Italian.

Great Lives: Carol Ann Duffy

Great Lives: Carol Ann Duffy 

Carol Ann Duffy Great Minds

Two of our English Studies students, Becky (right) and Jeni (left), with Dame Carol Ann Duffy (centre).

In November 2017, a group on English MA students attending one of the Great Lives talk hosted by the University of Lincoln. In this event, which was open to staff, students and the public, Poet Laureate Dame Carol Ann Duffy provided readings of her poetry and took questions from the audience. Duffy has previously hosted writing workshop with our students, and is a visiting poetry artist with the university.

One of our students told us it was a great experience and a valuable insight which allowed her to gain further insight into Duffy and her works in preparation for her research into 21st Century poets, a subject area which is covered in English Now 1. Two of our students, Becky Coddington and Jeni Medcalf were able to meet with Duffy after the event, where the Poet Laureate offered signings of her collections.

More information on this, and future events can be found here.