Blog | English Literature | York St John University
Student Top Tips for Lockdown Study and Wellbeing
Continuing in our series of posts by students, two of our Level Five students share their ideas for how to maintain a healthy study/life balance. We hope you find them uplifting and inspiring.
Continue reading “Looking After Ourselves in Lockdown: Students Share Their Thoughts”
As a literature student, I am used to buying books second hand. The quality of the copy doesn’t necessarily matter because when we’re finished with it, it will undoubtedly have illegible scribbles in the margins and post-it notes spilling out of its edges. For this year’s Shakespeare: Perspectives module, I found an online supplier of second-hand books for the exact editions that were suggested for the reading list. I found a copy of Julius Caesar with the description “excellent condition, slight yellowing of the pages and a lovely dedication”.
When it arrived, flicking through the pages to see the condition, I discovered a series of signatures on the inside cover. I immediately researched some of the more legible names, as they were unknown to me at the time. I discovered the names belong to the Royal Shakespeare Company cast of 2004, starring Christopher Saul as Caesar and Zubin Varla as Brutus. Continue reading “An Unexpected Surprise in Julius Caesar! by Annie Denton”
As we entered into our third national lockdown in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic at the beginning of this month, we have asked our students to share their reflections and their tips on online learning. For some students, online learning can seem alien and a challenge, whilst for others it opens up accessibility. Three York St John Literature students from different stages of their degree share their reflections and their tips on approaching online learning in these times. Continue reading “Online Learning: Reflections/Top Tips From Current Students”
The English Literature and Creative Writing programmes are hosting a Festive ‘Watch-along’ of The Muppet Christmas Carol! Next Friday afternoon, the 11th of December, Dr Rob Edgar and staff will host a viewing of this celebrated musical fantasy comedy of Charles Dicken’s Christmas story through Teams! We invite you to attend to view it alongside other students on the two programmes and to post observations in the chat. AND – at the end of the viewing, Rob and team members will announce the quiz questions, which will be aimed at those of you who have watched the film the most carefully! There will be prizes! 
As part of our Wellbeing and Welfare Series, we have asked our YSJU Chaplain, Jane Speck, to introduce the Chaplaincy to us and outline the ways it can support us. The Chaplaincy is there for people of all faiths and none. Incidentally, Jane also has a degree in English Literature!
Wellbeing and the Chaplaincy by Jane Speck
I sometimes wonder what people think of when they hear the word, ‘Chaplaincy’. These days if I ask people, I more often than not get a blank stare! It’s not a word that’s used very often, and if people have heard it at all they tend to associate it strongly with religion (which is fair enough!), but then think that Chaplaincy is only for religious people. Continue reading “YSJU Chaplaincy Support for Wellbeing”
We’ve had an update from the Wellbeing team about the support available for you
The Wellbeing team have created a new service which allows them to meet with students on Teams, over the phone and via chats. Students can contact the Wellbeing Service via the wellbeing email wellbeing@yorksj.ac.uk or by filling in a simple form on the web.
We have also introduced the UniWellBeing App which provides students with self help and advice.
A 24/7 service, CareFirst is also available to students which is a confidential service providing information, advice and support on both emotional and practical issues. Counsellors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If students are in isolation, students can get support and there is a Moodle site dedicated to supporting students in isolation: https://moodle.yorksj.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=24189
Please share this information widely among our YSJ student community.
See our previous post on wellbeing and welfare services here for further information about established services.
We went into the first lockdown the week that our Shakespeare: Perspectives students were due to go on their trip to see The Taming of the Shrew, and, as happened in Shakespeare’s times, the theatres closed, and many people found their livelihoods in jeopardy. Emma Brimelow reflects on the resilience of the theatre community during this pandemic, interviewing Robert Myles, who set the standard for Zoom Shakespeare with his The Show Must Go Online project. As her blog post reveals, innovation and creativity did not come to an end, and she got to review a unique production after all.
Emma Brimelow
What a lot of people hoped would be ‘the best year of their lives’ has slowly turned into one for the books, and sadly not in the way we had hoped. Covid-19 arrived in late January for the UK, and no later than two months after this around a third of the world has been put into some form of lockdown, Great Britain being no exception. On the 23rd of March, Boris Johnson announced everyone who isn’t an essential worker must stay inside and isolate, and many businesses are currently suffering due to forced closure, the theatre being one of them. In the past I’ve enjoyed watching numerous productions, my last being Dick Whittington and His Cat at Romiley Forum, and so I found myself missing the theatre experience. Luckily, Robert Myles has a solution for those of us who are missing out!
Created in less than a week in response to covid-19, ‘The Show Must Go Online’ was thefirst platform to produce Shakespeare for an online audience using online actors. Created on zoom and streamed on YouTube, TSMGO has been named “the most prolific creator of online theatre” by various academics (Medium, 2020), and after watching their production of The Taming of The Shrew it’s clear to see why. The shows stay true to the
nature of theatre, including adding intervals, pre- and post-show discussions and adding virtual applause to the Zoom productions on YouTube. The quick response to the pandemic amazed me, with the first show airing the first week of the official lockdown, however I was lucky enough to get in contact with Rob Myles, who shared an exclusive insight into the process of creating TSMGO so fast.
Rob stated that the idea came to him pre-lockdown and was simply an idea until his initial tweet about creating the platform blew up. The first show The Two Gentlemen of Verona aired just six days after that tweet was made, and since then to this day eight more shows have been broadcasted. Rob stated, “We were able to move so quickly because myself and my producing partner Sarah Peachey both work in innovation when we’re not working in the arts, where fast deadlines and online conferencing are both commonplace,” meaning that he was surrounded by a strong support network to get TSMGO going as quick as possible. However, he also told me that “it would have been nothing without the response from actors and theatre makers” which he claims are still reaching out to him today about appearing in future productions. Rob has helped over 150 currently unemployed actors from all over the world, allowing countries to come together and rejoice in such difficult times.
Before I saw any of the live shows, I admit I was sceptical. I’ve seen a couple of Shakespeare productions, including more recently Macbeth at The Royal Exchange Theatre, and wondered how a play would function without the scenery and the costumes, and even more important…the interaction between characters. After watching TSMGO’s rendition of The Taming of the Shrew, I was surprised to see just how well the production flowed. The core of the success of the plays are the actors, who week by week learn a new script off by heart in less than six days, yet still manage to perform with such fluency and enthusiasm!
In the productions, the actors try their hardest to DIY costumes and props, some even including their dogs in the readings! In the reading of The Taming of The Shrew, I particularly enjoyed the couple of stunt doubles (who were isolating together) performing the fight between Katherina and Petruchio. It was staged extremely well and brought an aspect of humour to the reading. To put it simply, Rob Myles and his cast are doing all they can to make the best out of a bad situation.
The first production, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, brought in nearly 35,000 views (Ludmon, 2020) and Rob tells me that “thankfully the interest remains just as strong.” They are currently working through every Shakespeare play in chronological order and anticipate that they should make it through every one of his works by late November. You can support Rob and his team of actors through their patreon, which I have linked below and become a theatre patron yourself:
https://www.patreon.com/TheShowMustGoOnline
Update: The Show Must Go Online are still going strong! Check out their latest production Cymbeline. All their productions are available online on YouTube.
Check out The Taming of The Shrew for yourself here:
And Estella Green’s review for us here.
Works cited:
Myles, Rob. Personal Correspondence via Email. 9th May 2020. Used with permission.
We sometimes hear of ‘wellness’ or ‘wellbeing’ spoken of as some kind of new-fangled concept, but actually, the idea of being mindful of our mental and emotional well-being, as well as our physical health, goes right back to the sixteenth century, and was first used in the English language by Thomas Hoby in his translation of Castiglione’s The Courtier. And in these new and unusual times we find ourselves in, it is more important than ever to look out for and to look after ourselves and our peers.
I’m really happy to have been asked to lead on promoting wellbeing in our department, initially through a series of blog posts. Over the years, I’ve personally benefitted from the input and support of wellbeing professionals, and the best advice I can think of to give to you is not to wait until a crisis to seek guidance. Of course, if you are already in crisis, it is not too late, either.
So in this first post, I will do two things. I will point you in the direction of York St John 
University’s own wellbeing and welfare services and opportunities, and I am also asking you to email me with your well-being tips, your queries, the resources you have found helpful, or even your pitches for your own well-being blog posts. These can all cover a range of topics, from Covid 19, to LGBT, Disability, or BAME experiences, to mental health in general, and I hope to get more suggestions from you yourselves. This blog is your space, reflecting your community and your experiences. Email: s.vickerswalkling@yorksj.ac.uk and put Wellbeing in the subject line.
Our lovely wellbeing and welfare team have been working hard all summer to ensure that 
they can continue to support you safely during this pandemic. Check out their welcome video here. You can also book to have 1 – 1 online wellbeing chats or welfare chats. A wellbeing chat gives you a chance to talk about any mental wellbeing concerns you have. A welfare chat is an opportunity for you to talk about challenges you are facing.
Crisis information is highlighted at the top of the webpage, but if you scroll down you will find further information about Mindfulness sessions, about the YSJ well-being app, and about Together All, our 24/7 online support community, including professional support.
So as you can see, we’ve got lots to offer you. There is also chaplaincy support available. The chaplaincy team are there for people of all faiths and none.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you with your ideas.
Wishing you all the very best this semester, Saffron.
Dr Saffron Vickers Walkling, Senior Lecturer in English Literature.
Departmental role: Wellbeing.
In a world where sapphics (women who love women, named after the Ancient Greek poet Sappho) are still brushed under the carpet, I always find it difficult to find new media that discusses wlw relationships and feelings. So, I thought I’d compile my own short list of sapphic books, poetry, films and songs to encourage the consumption of more wlw media. Continue reading “Pride Month Sapphic Media Recommendations by Lucy Pettigrew”
(The Show Must Go Online Taming of the Shrew is available for free on YouTube here. Donations also welcome.)
Continue reading “Literature in Lockdown: Zooming Through The Taming of the Shrew (Estela Green)”
Today, on Thursday the 12th at 6.00 in HG 101 there will be a creative writing evening themed around Autism Awareness to help generate ideas for the next Autism Awareness Day on the 4th of April, 2020 – please come along and get involved.
The following week on Thursday the 19th at 6.00 in HG 101 there will be a more general evening for queries and questions about the event and any ideas people want to discuss for it.
People can submit their work to autismsuccesspathway@yorksj.ac.uk.
When the booklet is made they will receive a electronic copy.
Could people only submit either pdfs or word documents.
Thank you!
The opening of the Eleanor Worthington Prize exhibition, is to be held at the South Quad Art Foyer of YSJ on 4 March 2020 at 17:00 to 20:00
It is the third year that YSJ hosts this exhibition, on the theme of art and disability, showing the works submitted for the Anglo-Italian Eleanor Worthington Prize of 2019, on the specific theme: DISABILITY PRIDE. HIDDEN DISABILITY
Please find attached the flyer announcing the exhibition, and a detail of the work by Monica Marshall, the YSJ winner of the Mark Bailey special prize.
You can find out more about Monica Marshall’s work here in Benjamin Longbone’s review of last year’s exhibition.
The Civic Party will also be attending.
There will be a sign language interpreter at the event.
(Free wine too!)
Here at All About Respect we are hosting a spoken word event to shine a light on sexual, abuse, violence and harm.
The event will be held on the 18th March at Spark, door open at 6.30pm and starts from 7-9pm.
We are looking for people to come a read their pieces of work produced and created around sexual abuse, violence and harm.
We are calling any creative writers, poets, drama, music students or anyone willing to take part.
Please email: molly.catterall@yorksj.ac.uk if you would like to participate.
If you would like to find out more about All About Respect, head to the Report and Support Website for information on campaigns, support materials, anonymous and direct reporting, training, and more.
By Katherine Hughes, with contributions from Clare McCluskey-Dean and Thomas Peach (Academic Liaison Librarians at YSJ)
Library & Learning Services are holding a book display in Fountains Learning Centre during Week 4 (17th-21st February) to celebrate LGBTQI+ History Month. There is also a display throughout the month of February of LGBTQI+ children’s books in our Schools Library on the First Floor. Continue reading “LGBTQI+ History Month Display from our Library and Learning Services at York St John University”
Calling all third Year and Postgraduate students!
Continue reading “Beyond the Walls is now open for submissions!”