Black History Month 2021 Event!

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Join us for a fascinating discussion on feminism, systemic racism, and identity with Sophie Williams, acclaimed author of Anti Racist Ally and Millennial Black. Sophie will be in joining our Associate Professor in Literature Dr Janine Bradbury in conversation to explore how we can make space for racially marginalised people and how small conversations can spark big change.

To book your free place for this online event click here.

About Sophie Williams

Sophie Williams is a TED Speaker, leading anti-racism advocate and author of Anti Racist Ally and Millennial Black.

She has written for publications such as The Guardian, Cosmopolitan and Elle as well as delivering sessions training for major organisations such as Apple, Sky, Cambridge University and UK Civil Service.

Prior to her writing career, she had a career in advertising, holding positions including Head of Production, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer. She is now a Manager at Netflix, leading Production Planning throughout EMEA.

Event: Words Matter Lecture 2021

man holding wind instrumentWe warmly invite you to join us for the Annual Words Matter English Literature lecture – it is free and open to students, staff, alumni, and members of the public!

Hamlet is, according to UNESCO, the most famous and most translated play in the world. This year, Dr Saffron Vickers Walkling introduces three contemporary global productions of Hamlet and explores how they appropriate Shakespeare’s play to speak to a seismic moment in history: 1989, the year that saw the ending of the Cold War. Lin Zhaohu’s Hamlet (1990/1995) from late communist China and Jan Klata’s H. (2004/2006) from post-communist Poland both hark back to the legacy of that moment of history, particularly its economic legacy. Additionally, Dr Vickers Walkling explores Sulayman Al Bassam’s The Al-Hamlet Summit (2002/2004) which is set in a non-specific country in the Arab world, over two decades later, as the West turned its gaze from the Cold War to the “War on Terror”. In true Hamlet style, each production holds “a mirror up” to their respective local tensions and ideological shifts in a rapidly changing world, and whilst viewed together combine to reflect the splintering and reconfiguring new world orders. Please do join us for what promises to be a fascinating discussion of Shakespeare’s most famous play.

To read more and book a place, click here

 

Student Blog Post: Megan Sales discusses Morality in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

woman in red sweater holding red bookI am currently conducting research for my dissertation project which aims to explore representations of the mind and soul within texts written during the long eighteenth-century. 

John Locke’s very influential text ‘An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding’ explores the concept that the mind is formed through experience – nothing is innate. Continue reading “Student Blog Post: Megan Sales discusses Morality in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein”

Hello and Welcome Back!

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It is the start of a new semester here at York St John! If you’ve just joined us, welcome to our Words Matter Blog where you can read student writing and find out more about what is happening on the English Literature Programme. And if you are a returning student, welcome back! And if you are part of the broader YSJ community – a warm hello to you too.

We’re wishing you the happiest of starts to the academic year!

The Winner of the YSJ Big Summer Read 2021 is…

Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019)

Find out more about this award-winning book from the acclaimed poet Ocean Vuong and listen to a sample here.

Over the Summer months we’ll be posting updates and links to materials both here on our blog and via Twitter (#YSJBigSummerRead2021).

Copies of the book are available in our campus library and regional libraries, and an audiobook is also available via Overdrive and other audiobook suppliers.

Reading together brings us together. We’d love for you to join in – whether you are a past, present, or prospective student, a member of staff, or part of our extended community – read the book and share your reflections using the hashtag above.

More to follow…in the meantime, here is an interview with the author on the key themes and ideas in the novel. Enjoy!