A view of the 40s: Green, Euphan Todd & Taylor. Comedies of manners?
Henry Green’s Loving was published in 1945; for 1946 we have Miss Ranskill comes Home, by an author who most people probably think of as a children’s author, Barbara Euphon Todd. Elizabeth Taylor’s A View of the Harbour was published … More details …
On Extended Wings – Six modern American poets
Over the last hundred years American poets have assimilated a huge range of influences including jazz and blues, the new psychologies, advertising, film, and a variety of landscapes from Boston to the Rockies. And while recognising the importance of the … More details …
Selected novels of Jane Austen
Austen’s use of irony, social commentary, humour and realism are some of the reasons why her novels have remained popular over the last 200 years. This course will look at Sense and Sensibility (1811) which an early review described as … More details …
Against the Odds: how women writers found their voices and got published
Virginia Woolf said that ‘Intellectual freedom depends upon material things.’ We shall explore this concept as it applies to women writers in Britain from the 17th to the early 19th century. Using a mix of literary texts we shall focus … More details …
‘Moon Tiger’ by Penelope Lively – the shaping of history in fictional worlds
Penelope Lively’s seventh novel was published in 1987. Ostensibly a novel about one woman’s extraordinary life, the story is complex, playing with time and view-points. It raises questions about history that provide us with a starting point for exploring our … More details …
‘Life after Life’ by Kate Atkinson – the shaping of history in fictional worlds
This was Kate Atkinson’s ninth novel. A tricky narrative, playing games with story and reader. Is it a family saga? Is it a historical novel? A war novel? Do we need to categorise a work of fiction? As well as … More details …
Shakespeare and History: the real Wars of the Roses
Shakespeare’s earliest plays deal with the most turbulent period in English history, from the loss of France through to the Battle of Bosworth. Along the way he addresses the burning of Joan of Arc, the murder of a king, and … More details …
‘Answering Back’
Contemporary poets were invited to select a poem from our literary heritage and respond to it in any way they wished. “Answering Back” is the resulting anthology. In this day school, we shall be discussing a selection from the anthology, … More details …