Another chance to talk about Bevis

On 17th June I have been invited to participate in one of the University of Southampton’s Lifelong Learning Days, where I shall present a version of my paper on ‘Castles as Perilous Female Space’ previously given at the Castles Study Day in the winter. I am delighted to be part of the day and introduce an aspect of Bevis of Hampton which may often be overlooked. For more details, see the following link: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/lifelonglearning/news/events/2017/06/06-castles.page

Library charges

As of April 1st 2016 the Central Library will be charging all groups who use the seminar room. This means that all my groups will need to cover the cost being imposed. At the current rate of £10 per hour, and based on the current pattern of meeting once a month (12 meetings per year) for 2 hours, the cost for each group is £240 per year. Booking for a whole year is the best way of ensuring that we can go on meeting regularly in spite of the increasing demand for the room to be given over to commercial bookings.

The cost, when spread among the average numbers of participants, is likely to be between £3 and £4 per meeting – i.e.£36 – £48 per year, which is still considerably less than the cost of many other similar courses.

I remain grateful to the Central Library for use of the seminar room without charge over the past 12 years, enabling me to run my reading groups and courses when other outlets for adult education for pleasure and personal development were growing fewer.

 

 

Revised plans for this year

With short deadlines in all directions, I have had to revise my plans for the running of my courses, and while March remains unchanged, I have had to change the structure of Conspicuous Consumption. There will now be only 1 meeting in April and 1 in May, after which I have to take a writing sabbatical until the autumn when I intend to pick up the rest of the Conspicuous Consumption course. It will still run as 1 meeting per month, but all topics will be covered.

I am happy to say, however, that my article for Shakespeare Survey: ‘This insubstantial pageant faded: The Drama of Semiotic Anxiety in The Tempest’  is in the final stages of pre-publication.

I am also happy to say that my article on Tolkien’s use of plants in his works has been accepted by The Journal of Inklings Studies and is about to be fast-tracked into the April issue.

Progress on the book about Bevis and Southampton is slow but steady and throwing up some very interesting matters for further consideration. I am now updating my Bevis blog on a weekly basis.

Personal Profile

I have recently been invited to become an Honorary Member of the Sophia Institute/Foundation, for cultural and historical research, by Dr. Omer Salim Khan, Director for the Northern region.

My interest in the culture, history, and their relationship to the geography of the region is long-standing.

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My primary research interests remain medieval and renaissance drama in England. Recent projects have included:

• The representation and significance of all-female networks in medieval biblical plays.
• The theatricality of female characters in early Tudor drama. Published in the Ludus series in Tudor Interludes edited by Dr. Peter Happé.
• A consideration of the symptoms of ergot poisoning in the depiction of Caliban’s suffering in The Tempest. Published as Prospero’s Art: Magic or Mycotoxicology? in TLS April 23 2004.
• The literary lineage of the Antichrist and his presence in The Tempest. Published as ‘Giants and Enemies of God: The Relationship between Caliban and Prospero from the Perspective of Insular Literary Tradition’, Shakespeare Survey, 59 (2006), 239–253.

This article will also be available in hard copy and online from September 2008 in Shakespeare Criticism Vol 115, SC-115. For more information visit www.gale.cengage.com

• I am continuing my research into the political significance of The Tempest.
• Other current research interests:
• Anglo-Saxon and medievalism. My article looking at the significance of the language of grief in Anglo-Saxon poetry and its reuse in modern fantasy has been published in Tolkien Studies.
• For many years I have been committed to facilitating learning for mature students, especially learning for pleasure and personal development. To this end I run Saturday afternoon Reading Groups in Southampton on Shakespeare, Poetry, and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

  Most recently I ran a short course of 6 weekly meetings on medieval images as part of a series entitled “English in the Afternoon”. I am currently planning another course on the second Romantics.

• All my work for the Reading Groups is voluntary.

• I am currently editing the Proceedings of the Tolkien Society’s Major 2012 conference – The Return of the Ring, held at Loughborough