Symposium Success!
18 December 2017
After a successful first symposium, our English Studies and 21st Century Literature students celebrated the end of their first semester with a Christmas meal at Ask Italian. Students enjoyed tucking into the festive menu after a day’s hard work, followed by a book-orientated secret-Santa event!
Students Abi Fayers and Tabitha Bennett said it was the perfect way to end the semester and celebrate how close the cohort had grown as a group in such a short span of time.
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Great Lives: Carol Ann Duffy
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 book signings.
More information on this, and future events can be found here.
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‘What Happens Now: 21st Century Writing in English’
2nd International Conference, July 2012, University of Lincoln
‘What Happens Now’ , the 2nd international conference on 21st century writing in English took place 16-18 July 2012 at the University of Lincoln. Organised by Siân Adiseshiah and Rupert Hildyard from English in the School of Humanities, the conference was attended by some ninety delegates from fourteen different countries, including Japan, South Korea, China, India, Canada, USA, Turkey, Hungary, Italy, Germany and seven delegates came from Spain (five of whom had come to the first conference in 2010). Sixty two papers were given at the conference, including six from colleagues and postgraduates in the School of Humanities, generating lively debate about what is happening now in 21st century literature. The guest speakers to the conference were the Scottish poet and writer Kathleen Jamie, Tishani Doshi from Madras in India, and Geoff Dyer one of the most innovative prose writers in Britain today. Complementary plenary keynotes were given by Professor Peter Boxall of the University of Sussex and Dr Rachel Carroll of Teeside University, the former a wide ranging discussion of the future of the novel in the wake of postmodernism, and the latter a close study of Julian Barnes’ Booker-winning The Sense of an Ending focussing on disability as an issue in 21stcentury literature. The conference confirmed the vitality of 21st century literature and the leading role taken by Lincoln in research and debate about this growing area of literary studies. A 3rd conference will take place in 2014.
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What Happens Now: 21st Century Writing in English
1st International Conference, July 2010, University of Lincoln
A major conference on ten years of 21st century writing took place at the University of Lincoln in July 2010. Keynote speakers included Carol Ann Duffy, Will Self and Tim Crouch.