Yesterday, students from English Studies and 21st Century Literature took part in their final symposium of the academic year. A variety of papers were heard with panels centered around ‘Utopia and Dystopia’, ‘Robin Hood’ and ‘The 19th Century Woman Writer’ taking place. 15 of our students presented over the course of the day at the Wren Library in Lincoln. The library boasts a collection of several medieval texts, and provided a stunning setting for the symposium.

Alex presenting his paper on the links between Robin Hood and the modern day speedrunning community.

Staff, visiting professor John Drakakis and fellow students listened to a variety of papers including: ‘Robin Hood in the Present: Medievalism and Community’ by Alex Earle, ‘”Soulless Creatures”: An examination of the human condition in Never Let Me Go‘ by Tabitha Bennett, ‘The Trickster in Disguise: Robin Hood and his Band of Masked Men – Abstract. ‘ by Jeni Medcalf and ‘A comparison of representations of marriage in Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and George Egerton’s “A Cross Line”‘ by Tim Rideout. 

After a hard day’s work, our students enjoyed a social over a class of wine in the cloister of the cathedral. This was followed by a group meal at Ole Ole Tapas on Bailgate and a well-deserved night of celebrations.

Congratulations to all our students who presented, and a special thank you to Rupert Hildyard for coordinating the event, and Lincoln Cathedral for allowing us to host our symposium in the Wren Library.

A lovely photo in the sunshine to celebrate the success of the day.

You can see our full album of photos of the days events on our Facebook.

The library is open to the general public, click here for more information. 

We are still accepting applications for the 18-19 academic year, for more information visit: or contact:

Dr. Rupert Hildyard

rhildyard@lincoln.ac.uk

(01522) 886070

Dr. Renée Ward

rward@lincoln.ac.uk

(01522) 835471