In the first of two blog posts looking back at Black History Month, Dr. Sarah Lawson Welsh introduces her choices for the display in the York St John library foyer. She is an Associate Professor & Reader in English and Postcolonial Literature in the School of Humanities, and has written widely on this topic. Read her second blog post here.
Every year the Library and the Learning services team put on a black history month (BHM) display with a new topic every week. This year, Marcia Sanderson, a former BA English and MA in Contemporary Literature student who works in the library, contacted me to ask if I had any black British and Caribbean book or film suggestions, based on my teaching and research specialisms in these areas. The topics the library and learning services had chosen were: hidden black historical figures, black authors speaking back to literature and film, staff picks – our favourite texts by black authors and black people in cinema and horror films. Continue reading “Dr Sarah Lawson Welsh: Reflection on Black History Month and the Ones We Leave Out, Part 1”
This year’s Words Matter Prize has been awarded to BA English Literature & Film Student Liam Durbin. The prize recognises outstanding academic achievement by students completing the first year of their degree.
Level Four co-ordinator Dr Fraser Mann says that:
“Liam’s dedication to his studies and his participation in university life are admirable. He has made rapid and remarkable progress in his studies and deserves real recognition for this success.”
On receiving news of the award, Liam said:
“Receiving the Words Matter Prize genuinely means the world to me. A few years ago, just being able to study at university was something that felt beyond me entirely, so to receive this now is simply incredible. I feel endlessly grateful to every lecturer, tutor, friend and family member that have helped get me through university so far. Thank you so much.”
Liam will receive his award during this year’s Words Matter Lecture. We would like to congratulate him on his success and wish him all the best for the rest of his degree
Publicity image for The Tempest by the York Shakespeare Project.
York Shakespeare Project’s The Tempest is touring around North and East Yorkshire between Sept 23rd and Oct 1st 2022, culminating with a special performance at The York Theatre Royal. Book your tickets here.
20 years after YSP began its mission to put on all of Shakespeare’s plays “within the boundaries of the City of York” it marks the end of this ambitious project with its final production, The Tempest. Directed by Philip Parr, who is also artistic director of the York International Shakespeare Festival, it draws on the talents of “local amateur actors, stage managers, technicians, costume and prop makers”, including our very own Effie Warboys in a leading role as Miranda, Prospero’s daughter. Effie, a third year Creative Writing student, took our Shakespeare: Perspectives module last year. Now she is about to make her stage debut on the mainstage of the York Theatre Royal.
“Taking part in the York Shakespeare Project has been beyond a dream,” she said. “Playing
In rehearsal: Effie warboys (right) and Paul French (left
Miranda, Prospero’s daughter, has meant more to me than I could have ever imagined it would, especially with such a strong and talented cast around me.”
Philip Parr explains how important it had been to get the casting of Miranda right: “The York Shakespeare Project had a desire for the actor who plays Miranda to be younger than the project – so, like Effie, to be born after the year 2000.”
I asked Effie what The Tempest was about for her.
She explained that “The Tempest as a show is one about mystery and about family, both loving and dysfunctional, and really about community as a whole – which is what the York Shakespeare Project has also always been about.”
The director, Philip, has a long relationship with community theatre, both in the UK and in continental Europe, which was why he was the ideal choice to direct this “last play”.
“Inclusivity is really important to me and to the York Shakespeare Project,” he said. “Anyone who has previously been in a YSP project was able to be in this final project”. There are many familiar faces for local people, but also new talent, on stage and behind the scenes.
“This production of The Tempest is celebratory,” he continued “It asks important political questions such as who has the right to own land, but it also explores themes of reconciliation and our own self-awareness which is at the heart of Shakespeare’s work.”
The production will be going on tour across North and East Yorkshire prior to a final performance at York Theatre Royal on Saturday 1st October.
David Denbigh, Sonia Di Lorenzo, Henry Fairnington, Jodie Fletcher, Nell Frampton, Paul French, Tony Froud, Emily Hansen, David Harrison, Bronte Hobson, Judith Ireland, Andrew Isherwood, Helen Jarvis, Nick Jones, Stuart Lindsay, Aran Macrae, Michael Maybridge, Sally Maybridge, Sally Mitcham, Andrea Mitchell, Fiona Mozley, Harold Mozley, Janice Newton, Megan Ollerhead, Tracy Rea, Eleanor Royse, Emma Scott, Phyl Smith, Sadie Sorensen, Julie Speedie, Lara Stafford, Harry Summers, Lisa Valentine, Sam Valentine, Effie Warboys, Jacob Ward
Director: Philip Parr Associate Director: Terry Ram
In March this year, students on the Shakespeare: Perspectives module went to see The Northern Broadsides production of As You Like It, directed by Laurie Sansom. Second year student Blythe Roberts reflects on how this production speaks to 21st century ideas of gender and sexuality.
York Theatre Royal, 24th March 2022, Main Stage.
Image 1: Rosalind’s enforced female identity as a form of oppression (Billington, “Rosalind and Celia”)
Through casting a non-binary actor, E M Williams, to play Rosalind, Laurie Sansom’s As You Like It rejects patriarchal constructions of gender and sexuality. A trans-queer interpretation of the play is depicted through Rosalind’s journey of self-discovery, exploring possibilities beyond the female identity enforced upon them, concluding the play with Rosalind’s identification as non-binary. This interpretation creates a radical opposition to the patriarchy, as Rosalind’s rejection of gender constructs creates a liberating queer space where they are no longer confined within patriarchal structures.
Sansom, together with trans-disciplinary artist and designer E M Parry, conveys this trans-queer interpretation through costumes and performance of gender, depicting Rosalind’s trans-journey. In the rigid patriarchal structures of the court, Rosalind’s identity as a woman is presented as a form of oppression (see Image 1). Once Rosalind is alone with Celia, they abruptly conclude their performance of ‘femininity’, using the act of disrobing as a rejection of the identity of an oppressed woman. Sansom uses this refusal to become oppressed within a patriarchal society as the incentive behind Rosalind’s fleeing into the woods and disguising as a man. Continue reading “Northern Broadsides’ As You Like It: A Depiction of Trans-Queer Feminism Through the Casting of Rosalind, by Blythe Roberts”
Andrea Woodward is a York St John English Literature PhD candidate. Andrea, who started her HE journey at 30, could have taken a very different path in life. Here she reflects on her experiences as a returning student, recalling the day as an undergraduate when she thought she would give it all up – and why she didn’t!
I first came to York St John as an undergraduate student in English Literature in 2006. I was 30 years old.
As a mature student who’d spent 15 years out of full-time education, I quickly felt overwhelmed and more than a bit out of place. Those classmates who’d arrived fresh out of college seemed to radiate knowledge in seminars, knowledge that my first essay results suggested to me I didn’t have. After several weeks into the first semester, I felt it would be for the best if I withdrew from the course, believing that I’d never succeed.Continue reading ““Returning” by Andrea Woodward”
