Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Sep 4

Summer holidays are nearly over. Some choose the sun. Some choose to relax. Our hero spends the day cycling 100 miles round Perthshire to raise an amazing £2600 for charity. What an achievement Anindya! Donate to ow.ly/1r8L50WQore

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Reposted by St Andrews School of English

Islay Book Festival @islaybookfest.bsky.social · Aug 11

✨ Author Spotlight - Peter MacKay ✨

Scotland's first native Gaelic speaking Makar, Padraig MacAoidh (Peter MacKay), will open the book festival in conversation with Islay's own Iseabail Mactaggart.

www.islaybookfestival.co.uk

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Aug 11

Congratulations to our own Johnny McKnight - his show She's Behind You has won a Fringe First award!

These awards recognise new pieces of work that have garnered acclaim & prominence at the Fringe.

The show is on until 24 Aug: www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/events/shes-...

She's Behind You | National Theatre of Scotland

Johnny McKnight has spent a lifetime in the pantosphere. After playing eighteen dames and writing more than thirty pantomimes, he invites you to take a pee

www.nationaltheatrescotland.com

St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Aug 8

Dr Peter Mackay will be taking part in 3 events at @edbookfest next week:
11 Aug, 6pm, Our Mother Tongues www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival...
12 Aug, 1.30pm, Translating Poetry www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival...
12 Aug, 6pm, Meeting One’s Makar
www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival...

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Aug 6

Congratulations to Prof Gill Plain on the publication of her latest book Agatha Christie: A Very Short Introduction:
global.oup.com/ukhe/product...

It examines Christie's capacity to register the zeitgeist, and considers how Christie's novels reveal anxieties surrounding various topics

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Aug 1

An article titled "Agatha Christie’s mid-century ‘manosphere’ reveals a different kind of dysfunctional male", written by our own Professor Gill Plain was recently published by @uk.theconversation.com

theconversation.com/agatha-chris...

Agatha Christie’s mid-century ‘manosphere’ reveals a different kind of dysfunctional male

Instances of male characters’ hatred of women in Christie’s fiction are a long way from the toxic online “manosphere” of today.

theconversation.com

St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Jul 28

We recently hosted The Society for the Study of Medieval Languages & Literature annual conference. This year's theme was 'Global Glossing: Transnational Commentary in the Later Middle Ages', packed with fascinating research, inc from our own Dr Raphaela Rohrhofer & Prof Ian Johnson (pictured)!

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Jul 28

Lecturer Karen Solie’s most recent collection, “Wellwater,” was shortlisted for the 2025 Forward Prize. This prestigious award highlights the best new collections in the UK and Ireland, awarding a £10,000 prize. The winner will be announced 25 Oct 2025. Congrats, Karen!

Karen Solie's "Wellwater" shortlisted for Forward Prize
Winners to be announced 25 October 2025

Reposted by St Andrews School of English

Sandro Eich @sandropology.bsky.social · Jul 13

Excellent representation of @standrewsenglish.bsky.social in this book with essays by my supervisor James Purdon and @dranindyar.bsky.social 😍 Go give it some love!

Matthew Taunton @matthewtaunton.bsky.social · Jun 3

A reminder that The British Novel of Ideas: George Eliot to Zadie Smith is out! It includes brilliant essays by Amanda Anderson, Janice Ho, Peter Boxall and many more. Please do consider ordering it for your library, or reviewing it.
www.cambridge.org/core/books/b...

The British Novel of Ideas

Cambridge Core - English Literature 1900-1945 - The British Novel of Ideas

www.cambridge.org

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Jul 8

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Kristen Treen, the winner of an ARHC catalyst grant worth over £200,000! The project will run for two years, culminating in the creation of a new museum exhibit in Kentucky. Congrats, Dr. Treen!

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Jul 3

The Refugee Tales project launches its 10th Anniversary Festival of Walking with a reception in Parliament
www.st-andrews.ac.uk/english/news...

A crowd of people wearing Refugee Tales tshirts walks towards Parliament

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Jul 2

Congratulations to all of our School of English graduates! The ceremony will be livestreamed at ow.ly/JEpf50WjaOo and will be available for a week after the event at the same link. You’ve done the work—now you get to celebrate!

Congratulations, Graduates! 10.30am Wednesday, July 2

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Jun 27

The School of English cordially invites you to 'feel the fun' with us at a One-Day Symposium to celebrate the centenary of Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway 🎉 Save the Date for 31 October 2025!

📑 Call for Papers & further details coming soon: mrs-dalloway-symposium.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk

Image of an invitation saying "You are invited to Mrs Dalloway's 100th birthday party. 31 Oct 2025, Old Burgh School, St Andrews. Proposals due by 30 Aug 2025"

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Jun 23

Study for a Masters with us! Places are still available for Sept 2025:

Shakespeare & Renaissance,
Playwriting & Screenwriting,
Creative Writing,
Modern & Contemporary,
Women, Writing & Gender,
Medieval English.

Apply here: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/eng...

Photo of a small group tutorial in the School of English

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Reposted by St Andrews School of English

Islay Book Festival @islaybookfest.bsky.social · May 24

🌊📚 ISLAY BOOK FESTIVAL 2025 FULL LINEUP 📚🌊

We are delighted to bring you the full lineup for #IBF2025 🥳

Keep your eyes peeled for info about booking tickets, events taking place, and much more. 👀

islaybookfestival.co.uk

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Jun 19

Our own Prof Rhiannon Purdie appeared on BBC Radio 4's 'In Our Time' earlier today to discuss how the earliest poem in Older Scots framed the legend of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn.

Catch up on BBC Sounds: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Read more about Older Scots: readolderscots.scot

In Our Time - Barbour's 'Brus': epic of Bannockburn, chivalry and freedom - BBC Sounds

How the earliest poem in Older Scots framed the legend of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn.

www.bbc.co.uk

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · Jun 5

Refugee Tales celebrates its 10th year of sharing stories of refugees indefinitely detained in the UK. Our Professor David Herd, School of English Berry Chair, writes for The Scotsman about the project's ongoing importance here: www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

Refugee Tales: Why stories of indefinite detention in UK should shock us all

The UK is the only country in western Europe that detains refugees for indefinite periods – with one man held for nine years, abandoned and forgotten by the system

www.scotsman.com

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Reposted by St Andrews School of English

SGSAH @sgsah.bsky.social · Jun 4

🎓 Interested in an Arts and Humanities #PhD and want to find out more?

Come along (or join online) on 1st July to listen to academics, former and current PhD students’ thoughts on what makes a good application, and what #PhDLife is like.

Register Now → tockify.com/sgsah/detail...

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Reposted by St Andrews School of English

scott lyall @scottlyall.bsky.social · May 30

A rather brilliant essay by Don Paterson on the problem with anthologies...

northseapoets.substack.com/p/here-by-ef...

‘Here by effacement the poem is restored to unity’: The Genius of the Golden Treasury, part I

Don Paterson on the joy and misery of the anthology

northseapoets.substack.com

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · May 23

Today at 5pm in the Garden Room (Kennedy Hall), the Centre for Poetic Innovation will be hosting readings by Stephen Collis and Annie LaFleur

sta-modlangs.bsky.social @sta-modlangs.bsky.social · May 9

Friday 23 May 2025, 5-7pm, The Garden Seminar Room, Kennedy Hall, join our Centre for Poetic Innovation – University of St Andrews, Schools of English and Modern Languages for Reading by Stephen Collis and Annie LaFleur. Details here: poeticinnovation.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · May 22

Congratulations to our alum @chlivermore.bsky.social (PhD Creative Writing) - Christian's latest novel 'The Execution of Tertius Lafontaine' is now available for pre-order!

Christian Livermore @chlivermore.bsky.social · May 14

My new novel, The Execution of Tertius Lafontaine, is now available for pre-order.
Cynthia Reeves, whose extraordinary and beautiful novel The Last Whaler was a New York Times-recommended book), calls it, among other things, “Poignant and gripping.”

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · May 13

We are thrilled that one of our PhD candidates, Sandro Eich (top row, second from left), was recently awarded the University's 1413 Teaching Excellence Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant (Arts & Divinity)! 🤩

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · May 13

School of English staff will be hosting the colloquium 'A Very British Apocalypse: John Wyndham Then and Now' here at St Andrews next month, 7th June. For the full details, see here: ow.ly/lOTQ50VNKiY

Reposted by St Andrews School of English

Project ERSKINE | Radical Gaelic Magazines 1900s – 1930s @erskineproject.bsky.social · May 6

On Monday 12 May at the Centre for Poetic Innovation, @standrewsenglish.bsky.social & Modern Languages: seminar with Petra Johana Poncarová @poncarova.bsky.social on 'New Perspectives on Ruaraidh Erskine’s Gaelic Magazines and Translation Activities', 2.30 pm: poeticinnovation.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk

Centre for Poetic Innovation – University of St Andrews, Schools of English and Modern Languages

poeticinnovation.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk

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St Andrews School of English @standrewsenglish.bsky.social · May 1

Join Dr Christine Rauer at Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire on Monday 19th May for an afternoon of dragons, history and heritage.

For more information and to book a ticket see the Southwell Minister website:
www.southwellminster.org/events/event...

What might the Southwell dragon have meant to medieval people? | Southwell Minster

Join guest speaker, Dr Christine Rauer, as she delves into interpreting medieval ornamentation and symbolism. What does the dragon image on the tympanum say about Southwell in particular, and its medi...

www.southwellminster.org

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