Staffs Uni English & Creative Writing

“We will always have Paris”, but which bookstore shall we visit next...?

Students on the Children's Literature module visited the Warner Bros. Studios for a tour of the Harry Potter studios near glamorous Watford. For students who are studying the Harry Potter novels as set texts, this trip was an enchanting and enlightening addition to their research and interest in the work of J.K. Rowling.
“I was on a train going from Manchester to London, looking out of the window at cows and I just thought “boy doesn’t know he’s a wizard goes off to wizard... school”. This now-famous quotation from Rowling’s interview with Stephen Fry at the Albert Hall, 2003 is neatly paraphrased above the entrance to the exhibition and immediately situates the importance of the author and text as the foundation of this entire franchise. A display showing the creative process of adaptation, from novel to screenplay, is also emphasized in creative statements from the screenwriters and directors of the feature films. It was an invaluable insight into the creative and technical processes involved in adapting an imaginative work of literature to visual mediums-- a memorable and magical experience which brings the study of literature to life."
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Denise Coates Foundation Bursary Could you benefit from a bursary?
We know going to university can sometimes be expensive, but local charity the Denise Coates Foundation is offering to help new and existing Staffordshire University students with bursaries for eligible applicants.
... Applications are now OPEN
For more information: http://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/…/suppo…/de nise-coates-foundation/
Applications close January 11th 2019
All applicants will know the outcome of their application by February 4th 2019
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What’s your favourite word...? Our little office tree is up! It is adorned with hand-made heart ornaments containing ‘Loved Words’ donated by our 1st years this morning. They chose the following favourites: Serendipity, rumpus, ineffable, strudel, Prosecco, scintillating, sausage, cheese, forest, petrichor, ichor, ambrosia, azurite, cosify, crouton, hagfish, primeval, opalescent, malachite, pop, sponge, defenestrate, mosaic, bubble, bubble & bubbles! Thanks!

If you celebrate it, what makes your Christmas special? (I bet it’s not getting a solar-powered waving queen!)... Following a stimulating discussion in the 2nd/3rd year’s ‘Nature Now’ module yesterday, it seems appropriate to post this article by George Monbiot, about the cult of Christmas consumerism. “Pathological consumption has become so normalised that we scarcely notice it” By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 11th December 2012
“There’s nothing they need, nothi...
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To mark the visit of the Children's Lit module to the Harry Potter tour, Radio 4's More or Less decided to count the wizards (well they may not have been connected; correlation and causality and that type of thing!)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0699h1 n

A fascinating biography of an African child-slave who became a philosopher in Europe - excerpted from Kwame Anthony Appiah’s new book ‘The Lies That Bind’.

If you’re happy and you know it please click ‘share’! There’s an Open Day this Saturday (24th November) - spread the word.

Click through to the links collected here for an article about Anglo-Saxon literature and the rare books which survive from this period. Several of our first years have been inspired by the Elegies from The Exeter Book, it seems, choosing to write their first University essay on these early medieval gems!

Walking in Wordsworth’s footsteps. Four years ago, an intrepid team of 1st year English and Creative Writing students trekked up to Easedale Tarn in the Lake District. Dr Martin Jesinghausen treated us to a reading of Romantic poetry at the water’s edge. #fortheloveofbooks

Another interesting talk on Monday evening

Students - it’s not just you that have deadlines next week. Let’s do this! 💪🏼#lovebookslovelife 📚

Last year we went to see Dirty Laundry by award winning playwright and Staffs Uni Honorary Doctor, Deborah McAndrew. Everybody who went loved it and the reviews were all excellent.
Her new show, Hot Lane, is being performed as a 'site specific' piece at the old Spode factory in Stoke (just 5 minutes walk from the uni).
Tickets are just £10 each. I will get tickets for anybody who wants to come along to the evening show on Thursday Nov 22 (7.30pm). Or, if you fancy going indep...endently, you can buy tickets from the Claybody Theatre website (see below). There's a great cafe-bar at the venue.
You must let me know that you want to come and give me £10 by this Friday, Oct 19.
Mark
http://claybodytheatre.com/upcoming-produ ctions/
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This should be a very interesting event - the issues explored in this lecture will enrich your perspective of many of the texts presented on our modules. Reserve your free place by emailing comms@staffs.ac.uk

Sigh... the prep for this new Children’s Literature module is such hard work! 😉 #herebedragons 🐉