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“Okay settle down everyone, I have an announcement to make! The assessments are now approaching. And the thought of essays is starting to haunt us,” Observer Yasmin declared as she sat at the big round table with all the other Yasmins. Yes, there was nothing else in the room except for that round table and multiple Yasmins that played different roles in this organization called The Brain.

The slot in front of Observer Yasmin popped a piece of paper, like a toaster, up with a ding. She took it out and began to read it.

“Okay, let’s see how much coursework we have—Oh god…” Observer Yasmin’s brows narrowed.

“What? What is it?” one of the Yasmins asked.

She gulped. “It says here that we have three essays to write for three different modules, and they each require 3000 words.”

The members at the table gasped and talked amongst themselves.

“Oh my god, that’s too much for us!”

“Three 3000-word essays?! That’s about 9000 words in total!”

“That’s going to be a lot of work.”

“Wait when are the deadlines?” that question somehow silenced the cacophony in the room. The members turned their gaze to the observer.

The slot popped another paper. The observer took it and scanned it.

“Two of the essays are on the 16^th and the other is on the 13^th,” she answered.

“How are we supposed to write all of this in time?! We’ve never done that before!” the members resumed their panic. Their voices overlapped with one another.

“Silence!” a voice boomed at the table with a smack. The members, again, fell quiet immediately and looked at the one who did it. It was Planner Yasmin who did it. She froze a bit when their eyes landed on her. She quickly cleared her throat before she spoke.

“Look, let’s all just calm down and take it easy. First of all, the deadlines are months away, specifically five months, so we still have time. Second, ‘We’ve never done that before’? Did you guys forget that we did that before? In the Foundation Year for Extended Project module? Remember?” Planner Yasmin said.

“Yeah, b-but this is different! We’ve never written three 3000-word essays IN A ROW!” one of them cried.

“And does that mean we’re just going to sit here and panic all day? No! We’ll find a way through this and we’re going to do it!” Planner Yasmin smacked the table again. Yet she shook her hand from the slight pain it caused.

“What do you suggest we do?”

“The thing we always do when it comes to important stuff, we plan. Or as my title implies, I plan.” Planner Yasmin stood up from her seat and took out a small remote from her pocket.

She stepped aside as she pressed a button and a large screen lit up in front of the table. It showcased a blank red rectangle standing vertically on the side of the screen.

“Now, let’s not think that this is impossible to achieve just by focusing on the bigger picture. What we should do is calm down and think slowly.” She pulled out a stick and pointed it at the red rectangle.

“Let’s start with… The Victorian Literature essay as an example of how to tackle such coursework,” she began.

“Because of the big word count, we easily feel overwhelmed every time we see that number. And when we do, we tend to give the reins to ADHD Yasmin and all she’ll do is push the essays aside because ‘it’s too much so let’s think about it later’. We don’t want that, especially now that we have three big essays.

“What we should do instead is take this essay and break it into smaller chunks. We could do that by dividing the word count by the number of sections we could write. For instance, 3000 divided by five will equal 600 words for each section.” The big red rectangle broke into five smaller orange squares.

“Now that there are sections, we’ll use the Sandwich technique when it comes to structuring the essay. We’ll make the section at the top our Introduction and the bottom section our Conclusion; these two are going to be our bread.” The top and bottom sections turned yellow.

“As for the sections in the middle, they’re going to be the main body texts for our essay. In other words, they’re going to be the fillings of our sandwich.” The middle sections turned into different colours from green to purple, painting the image of a sandwich in colourful squares.

“So, the essay is now easier to manage with this technique. Any questions?” Planner Yasmin looked at the members after giving a demonstration on the screen.

One of them raised a hand.

“Yes?”

“It sounds manageable, but I feel like 600 words is still a big number to achieve. Can we narrow it down further?”

“If it’s still too much to write, sure, why not? Let’s see.” The planner took out a calculator and pressed the numbers. “Well, we could divide 600 by three, and we’ll have to write 200 words in one section. And if it still feels like too much, we could narrow it to a 100. But that’s the furthest we could go. Any other questions?”

Silence filled the room for a moment. Another raised her hand and the planner gestured for her to proceed.

“This sounds like a solid plan to take things easy. But do you have any idea on what topic we should write about in the essay?”

The planner remained silent then spoke. “Well… I might be the planner in this organisation, but I’m no idea creator here. It’s Idea Creator Yasmin’s job to do all of that. I only plan.” She pointed at Idea Creator Yasmin, who raised her hand mid-air but froze in place when she got pointed at.

“Um… Thank you, I guess.” The idea creator stood up and cleared her throat. “Okay, so, uh… I have an idea on what to write, but we need to ask the tutors just in case it’s not a valid idea. Secretary Yasmin, could you book an appointment for office hours with MG on Wednesday? Thank you.” She cleared her throat again and began.

“So, for the Victorian Literature essay, we must think about what the module is about and what is expected from us. So far, we learned about Victorian and Edwardian authors and how they used their stories to convey their opinions, and whether they reinforced or challenged certain viewpoints during the Victorian Era. Technically, we could write a comparison essay evaluating two Victorian authors or novels.

“The bread parts of the essay are easy to tackle, but the fillings are not, so we should be concentrating more on those. There are three sections, right? We can take the first section and let it be about Charles Dickens and his novel Great Expectations (1861), meanwhile the second section will be about H. G. Wells and his novel War Of the Worlds (1898). The third and final section then should compare the two authors and their novels together.

“What do you think of this idea?” the Idea Creator asked.

The members looked at one another as they murmured. They looked back at her with a nod.

“Alright, it seems like we are getting somewhere and have an idea on what to do. We just need to consider a few more things before we confirm our strategy,” Commander Yasmin said and looked at the side of the table.

“Manager Yasmin, do you have any methods we could use to write this essay and the others?” Commander Yasmin asked.

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Manager Yasmin drew a confident smile. “Based on our previous visit to Time Management workshop done by the Learning Well team— a module that is available on Moodle page—we learned that we could dedicate a month or two to each essay. Now, we all know that a month has four weeks. So, we can take this information and use it to our advantage.

“We could dedicate the first week to looking for secondary sources and doing some research. The second week we’ll focus on reading both the secondary materials and the primary texts. The third week is when we finally start writing the essay; if we think about it, we could write these five sections in five days. Basically, we’ll be writing from Monday to Friday while Saturday and Sunday will be our day off’s.

“The fourth and final week is when we proofread, double check for any errors, and format our essay before we submit it. Or wait until the submissions open and then send it. If we repeat the same process for the other two essays, then hopefully we’ll be free of academic work.” Manager Yasmin then folded her arms and made another nod of confidence.

The members spoke in agreement and astonishment with one another.

“Now that’s great management!” Commander Yasmin applauded. “Okay, I think I know what we should do next. Secretary Yasmin, please note down the following so we can talk about them during office hours: what is the minimum number of references for our essay, is it alright if we use personal pronouns, and do scholarly editions of the primary texts count as a secondary material?”

“On it,” Secretary Yasmin said as she typed on her typewriter.

“Thank you. Oh, and one final thing, are we able to follow and fulfill this plan?” Commander Yasmin asked.

Planner Yasmin looked at the corner of the room where a long glass cylinder stood. There were some lines and numbers imprinted onto that cylinder, like one of those laboratory glass tubes or cups. A bright purple liquid was reaching halfway up. It has the label Motivation Level screwed on the wall next to it.

“Well… As long as our Motivation level is high, we can certainly do it.” Planner Yasmin let out a nervous laugh.

“Alright then, it seems we all agree with this strategy?”

The members nodded in unison.

“Good, I’ll now confirm this and send it to the Commitment Department.” Commander Yasmin typed on her typewriter.

“Wait a minute…” one of the members said. “I feel like we’re missing something.”

The members looked around at the table.

“Um, guys? Where’s ADHD Yasmin—”

A foreign yet recognizable voice filled the room from the speakers.

“Hello everybody my name’s Markiplier and welcome back to Resident Evil 7…”

“NOO! WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR YOUTUBE!” Everyone at the table screamed and the Motivation level decreased and turned red.

— Yasmeen Al-Qallaf, 2nd Year BA English Language and Literature

Image credits: Jason Goodman on Unsplash

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I discovered a love of lyric essays during my MA in Creative Writing at Nottingham. Before this, I wrote mostly fiction, and toiled on novels. But there was also a weird form of writing I couldn’t categorise, which was more instinctive. I would write these little stream-of-consciousness prose poems but I didn’t really know that’s what they were. I kept trying to contort them into becoming micro-fiction, because I had labelled myself a fiction writer.   

But my writing has always been quite poetic and lyrical and I lean into experimentation with verve. So even while the poetry modules on my MA didn’t leave me feeling like a poet — lost between enjambments and the iambic pentameter — a module on experimental essay-writing, in particular lyric essays, brought out a little beast who had been living inside my head.  

The little beast wanted to write a certain way, based on how thoughts manifested, based on how dream logic sometimes slipped into day logic, based on how a sudden love of the shape of words on the page might affect meaning, or create meaning in the gaps. It had been waiting all that time and now it all suddenly made sense and I almost felt daft for not seeing it before.   

Simultaneous to this I was realising what I really needed to write about — fleshy, mortal humans as a part of nature, and the enormous emotional toil of, ‘living and dying together on a damaged earth’ (as Donna Haraway puts it).   

And so I discovered ecopoetics. Ecopoetics is more than nature poetry, as the term poetics can be used in a more all-encompassing way. Like art, poetry is as much a way of thinking as a specific creative form. It’s thinking between the gaps of everything, experimenting with what might exist there. Critical poetics is the place where critical thinking (that hallmark of academia) meets creative thinking, and within this realm of artists, writers and researchers, there is my little sub-genre of ecopoetics, which focuses on ecology, environment and the battles to protect our only home.   

I am now doing a PhD on the topic, focused on environmental grief and our emotional entanglement with the natural world. I visit coastal environments around the British Isles and talk to ecologists and locals alike. I research habitats and happenings, and strange species, and find new ways to express their existence — unleashing my little beasts on the page.   

You can follow my PhD and accompanying podcast at: https://hopeintherisingtide.substack.com/   

— Kirsty Fox, PhD in Creative Writing

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The biggest change when coming to university is the increased level of independent study that is expected of us. This ranges from seminar preparation, reading or completing further research. We are also expected to juggle our social calendars and find time for ourselves. This often leaves me with the question, ‘where do I start?’. However, this question can be tackled as I have found that being realistic with what works for me ultimately helps me get a handle on this higher level of independent study. 

The first thing I do to get started is to simply create a to-do list. Though an obvious step, it is vital to ensure I keep on top of things. Below is an example of how I organise the different tasks I must undertake for different modules. I find it essential to be aware of what I can realistically achieve in the time frame I have and make a list accordingly. Once I have established these tasks, I order them based on what are most time-consuming and challenging. Overcoming the most challenging at the start can help me feel more productive and ready to tackle other tasks I am required to complete. 

In starting this independent study time, I also find it essential to carve this around my contact hours. This is the easiest way to structure my time as I am already out the house and feeling ready to study. For example, if I have a lecture at 2pm, I tend to go to the library a few hours prior to get in some prep work or get ahead of any reading.  

Considering what study spaces work is also vital. I prefer campus study spaces so I can then fully switch off when I am home. I like to use the silent study spaces when I have specific deadlines I am working towards. However, for more relaxed tasks, I prefer more social spaces such as the many cafés that are available.  

Alongside this independent study, it is also important to carve out time for yourself. University is a time for self-exploration and trying new things, which can take up space in my social calendar. In realising that some weeks are busier than others I feel relieved of any undue pressure I may put on myself. Therefore, in prioritising the most urgent tasks I am able to consider where to begin with my independent study. 

When answering the question of where to start, the best things I have found to help is finding a structure that works for you and accepting that this takes time to perfect. This realisation of your own capabilities is vital in helping to get started with this level of independent study.  

— Kiran Mandair, 2nd Year BA English Language and Literature

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So, you’ve decided to take on a PhD… Your Nan’s told everyone at bingo how “our Nelly’s going to be a doctor!”, your Uncle Steve can’t see the point unless ‘Doctor’ means you can sort out his ingrowing toenail situation, and your Mum’s ecstatic. At least her ‘clever genes’ have passed on to one of her kids…

You’re just glad to have found a purpose for the next three-and-a-half years. But there’s still one big question: should you go for full-time study or part?

I began my PhD as a part-time student in January 2022. I was juggling a number of other responsibilities at the time and this suited me best. But come September 2023, I decided to take the plunge and go all out, dropping the ‘part-time PhD student’ description, and taking on the life of a ‘Doctoral Researcher’, full-time. I’m loving it. But I loved it before, too! So which mode of study would I recommend?

Armed with experiences from each, I’ve have had a think about the realities of both – to help you weigh up the little details that aren’t necessarily mentioned in the course descriptors and decide which would suit you best.

More supervisions. As a part-time scholar, you typically have access to at least 6 supervisions per year. With full-time, you have 10. You would usually complete your PhD in 3-4 years as a full-time student and 5-8, part-time. So, spread out over the time it takes you to do your PhD, you could actually end up with more hours with your supervisors, if you go for part-time. Not only does this mean you get more bang for your buck, but it also means you have a bit more control over the speed at which you progress. Just because you have just over half the number of supervisions part-time, per year, it doesn’t mean you must submit half the work! If you crack on and remain enthusiastic, your supervisors are likely to be as keen as you are; they are quite happy to read extra work, if you’ve written it. But you can also be steadier too, if you need to. As long as you submit your thesis on time (not too early nor too late!) and you meet all your deadlines for supervisions, it’s pretty much up to you how speedily you go.

More flexibility. That being said, we all need to support ourselves, financially. If you haven’t got funding for your PhD study, then you may need to take on some extra, paid work, too. Though of course necessary, this does take time away from the PhD you’re so itching to complete. Government loans are available but they’re usually only just enough to pay the university fees. Part-time research allows more time to put some pennies back in the bank.

If this is the case, you might like to take on work linked to your field – a museum archivist, for example, or teaching. Your skills as a qualified researcher may well be quite sought after! But you might also like to keep things varied with something completely different. Depending how intensely you like to get into things, doing a job that’s completely unrelated to your research might also prevent you from getting trapped in the ‘research bubble’ that so many academics fret about!

On the flip side, funded PhD research (such as through AHRC) means that you receive a monthly, tax-free stipend and your fees paid. If you are funded, then full-time research may instead be the more flexible option in a different way – you can freely pursue any and every whim your research might lead you to, knowing that the money you need will still be in the bank at the end of every month.

More reviews. As a full-time student, unfunded, you have one review per year, usually in Autumn. Part-time, it’s once every two. It’s quite a lot of work putting the material together for these reviews and then preparing for the mini-viva-style meeting, so do factor in time for how long these might take you, when you’ll have to do them, and whether this can easily be scheduled in around your other commitments, for both modes of study.

There are a number of different factors to think about before you choose which path to go down, but for me, these have been the most significant. And both worked for my different needs at the time. The main takeaway is to think about practicalities: time and money, yes, but also, how your brain works… Are you an intensive thinker? Do you like doing one thing at a time, and doing it intensely? Or do you work better with lots of different things to think about? Whichever you choose, you can always switch over if needs be, like I did. And there’s always support and advice from all over the university. Full-time or part-time, do whichever works for you.

Just remember: whichever you choose, the qualification is the same… and your Nan can still brag about her ‘Doctor Grandchild’ to her friends!

— Felicity Bromley-Hall, PhD in Drama – Applied Theatre and Performance

Image credits: Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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University, the land of opportunity. You finally crested the hill of qualifications, applications, decisions, and dilemmas; it’s time to choose your own path. You breathe a sigh of relief and gaze out at the horizon ahead; its shifting colours and flashes of light are indistinct, but promising. As September arrives and the leaves start to fall, you take that first step out onto the path you have chosen. It’s broad and welcoming, flat as far as the eye can see. A step here, a skip, there, excitement brims as you flit along in your freedom. Your eyes drink in the horizon, its bright, shifting patterns and colours draw you ever nearer but never fully sharpen into focus. Whispers on the wind blowing towards you whisper of careers and houses, travel and adventures.

As the temperature drops and Mariah Carey’s voice echoes ever closer, you check on the path in your peripherals. Your heart jumps as you realise that the path begins to narrow, the sides crumbling away until only a thin line remains. You pause for a moment, but the path waits for no one. You must set one foot in front of the other. Your smile falters as the edges creep ever closer to your steps. The more you stare into the horizon for comfort, the more path disappears in your peripherals.

The horizon. Always look towards the horizon. One more step.

You reach your arms out either side, balancing. As you walk you feel one arm weighted with the growing deadlines of academia. A paper here, a conference there, if it’s only paper, why is it so heavy? You scoop up a new hobby with the other hand, and you continue, balanced.

One more step.

You glance behind you and see you’re not alone on the path. Something else lurks there. It might trip you at any moment. It’s long tendrils of bills and appointments, repairs and receipts, reach out towards you. Ever reaching closer and closer. Your throw a shield on your back made of pay-cheques and they keep the tendrils at bay. You’re still balanced… for now.

One more step.

You may be balanced, but the weight of your hobbies and studies, your shield of part-time work, has weighed you down more. The path, only a foot-width wide, starts to crack and crumble further with each step. You see it before you all the way to the horizon, now no more than a wire. Either side, the darkness waits.

One more step.

You smile as you pick up more social events, a night out here and a lunch date there. But one eye must always be kept on the path. You stretch your arms out further either side, reaching for something to hold onto. Your hands clutch and clasp the air around you, instead of help, you find only a new reading group in one desperate fist and a volunteering commitment in the other. The tendrils behind are starting to break through your shield. You watch the horizon with watering eyes as you toss more part-time pay-cheques over your shoulder to beat off the bills.

One more step.

You juggle your burden between your arms. Perhaps a bit of reshuffling will balance the load. But you must not slow. The path waits for no one. But the burden never dwindles. On your next step you hit a small bump in the path, you had been so focused on the weight in your arms, you’re not ready for it. You jolt at the bump, and feel yourself falling. Your eyes finally tear away from the horizon and you look straight into the void around you. Your arms reach out to grasp all that you were carrying as it starts falling away from you. But it’s not a hobby or a club that you find, but an outstretched hand. As you reach for it and hold on, your foot stretches out for its next step and you find that it is not a void that you are staring into, but another path, wide and welcoming. Hands reach out to help you with your load. You sigh with relief as you take another confident step forwards. You feel you should look at the horizon, but you can’t tear your eyes away from the shifting colours of light which shine on the path ahead. Walking, you realise you don’t need to look into the distance, you can enjoy the path, wherever it’s taking you.

— Francesca Roma, PhD in Old Norse Literature

Image credits: Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

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As a mature student, the University of Nottingham’s English (Online) MA fitted my requirements for a post-graduate program of study. The reasons for my choice included: the flexibility around time and location; ability to choose my study pathway; academic rigour, and consistent support. 

However, there are challenges, or at least things to be aware of when you’re choosing distance learning. Returning to university, finding organisational and note-taking strategies, and finding a virtual support network have all been their own kinds of learning experience. While there are resources to help with these – for me, these are the Obsidian App, www.thethesiswhisperer, and study-with-me videos – it is building connections that has been the most beneficial. 

One of the most effective ways to connect with both students and staff has been to reach out first. Although this was (and still is!) a fairly terrifying prospect, I have realised that it becomes easier with practice and that the worst that can happen is no response. The opportunities make it worth it! 

Some other things I’ve found useful: 

• Starting small, reacting positively to people’s comments – 90% of people also feel nervous about positing into the void (tutors included). 
• Responding to a post means you’ll be in the loop on further replies, and you start to ‘meet’ people on your course. There is no cost to asking a thoughtful question or a positive comment, either on an existing thread or in a chat.  
• After posting a comment, pose further questions and follow up. Developing, honing and pivoting my ideas could not have happened without these conversations. 
• Personalising notification settings on Teams. Actually, have a play around in Teams in general. Shortcuts are worth knowing – SHIFT Enter to include line breaks, how to edit, CTRL K to include links – and finding out who’s in your channels. 
• When sending a message, thinking beyond the hi, or ‘no hello’. Include a comment or question to kick off the conversation. 
• While bonding over academic interests is great, as is sharing links and papers, personal topics like travel, books, films, hobbies etc are important too.  
• Remembering that tutors, advisors and course leaders are human too. They also appreciate thoughtful follow-up and a smiling nerd emoji. 

I have been fortunate to meet some wonderful people through my MA and know my time at UoN has been far richer for it. If you do one thing after reading this, contact someone new on your course and enjoy the opportunities it brings. 

— Rhiannon Rumble, MA English (Online)  

Image credits: Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

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It’s already feeling like winter, late October bites and drives its breath down the wide walkway. I’ve just got off the tram and I’m heading up to the Trent Building; onwards to the clock tower. The geese are a thick flock, stretching and strutting around on the lawns; the lake a black shimmer, occasional ducks float on its surface. At least it’s not raining. I’m about to have my first PhD supervision. It’s a long time since I’ve done anything like it, ten years to be precise. I’m not alone, according to The University of Nottingham website, 10% of the students here are mature. Of course all PhD students are mature, but I’m – what can we say – slightly more mature than average.  

It’s daunting of course; every smell and sight somehow bringing up something from the past. The dreaded return to school. I imagine it’s even more of a jolt starting as an older undergraduate – being thrust into a group of young people and trying to keep your balance. As I begin the climb up the hill, I wonder what it will be like when I get there. It’s been a long time since people have read and critiqued my work. Will I be able to take it? Will I be able to keep this up for six years? All of the questions swim around. I wonder why I decided to do it. It seems a long way from the tram to this building. It always feels that way, when you don’t know where you’re going. 

I’m pleased to reach the top of the hill. Perhaps I should have cut across the grass. Perhaps I should have gone home. No. No, I’m glad I didn’t take a short cut (always messy and not worth it in the long run) and I know I can’t go home. Gaining a PhD has been a life’s ambition and now it’s in sight. I don’t doubt it will be hard – I have to work, walk the dog, carry on a life that would already be full, without the huge stack of reading and the endless nights peering into a computer screen. But, learning staves off no end of mental and physical ailments. Pushing beyond and overcoming obstacles keeps us expanding; living on the forefront of our own precious lives. I might be longer in the tooth than 90% of the other students, but I’ve seen and done a lot. I have a lot of weaponry in my armour. As I make my way to the entrance and step over the threshold, I know I have it in me to get that doctorate. I’m happy to have arrived.   

— Katherine Wadsworth, PhD Creative Writing

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One of the joys of university is learning how to think differently. In this blog, I’d like to offer Study is a Rhizomeas as a rich conceptual metaphor for thinking about studying. 

Conceptual metaphors are useful for understanding abstract concepts. They were investigated by Lakoff and Johnson in Metaphors We Live By and today are an important part of cognitive linguistics. Kövecses’ has a useful outline of conceptual metaphor theory here. 

Some key characteristics of rhizomes are: 

• Rhizomes grow continually and horizontally. 
• Rhizomes make connections between nodes, sites of activity and growth capable of producing new roots and shoots.  
• When a rhizome is split, each node can grow a new plant.  

Think of ginger, mint, knotweed, bamboo, stinging nettles… They overgrow barriers, pop up in unexpected places and can be remarkably useful.  

Some characteristics might be easy for you to map between the domains (rhizome and study). We talk about growing our skills and knowledge, use the world wide web for research and make associations between texts. Even our brains work as networks of neurons.  

For me, these have been particularly helpful for my study practices: 

• Growing my knowledge continually, a little at a time, is more manageable than cramming. It leaves more time and energy for other things.  
• Growing my knowledge across English (horizontally), has given me a broad range of resources and connections for when I want to (or have to) dive into a text for assessment. 
• Valuing the connections has helped me link apparently disparate areas of interest, such as Cognitive Narratology and Medieval Geographies. Ideas coalesce around the connections I’ve found most interesting; the ‘nodes’ of activity that grow into a piece of work. As a bonus, drawing connections between topics is an effective way to retain information. 
• When I must inevitably ‘kill my darlings’ in planning and editing phases, it feels more heartening to compare this to a rhizome. Splitting my topic, the ‘node’, from the web of connections is a redirection of energy, rather than a waste of time. I can archive my ideas knowing they are waiting to grow somewhere unexpected and in unexpected ways. 

The conceptual metaphor Study is a Rhizome has helped me shift my thoughts about studying, reducing the pressure to have neat, always well-organised notes separating each topic. This metaphor reminds me I can draw on everything I’ve learned, not just discrete units and has made the editing process more enjoyable. Perhaps, like me, you’re not just hoarding scribbles and notes in unlikely places but are really thinking rhizomatically. Now, to map those connections and find the nodes where ideas can grow. 

— Rhiannon Rumble, MA English (Online)  

Image credits: Wikimedia Commons

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I had never thought that The Beatles would release a song in my own lifetime. I suppose I consider them something of the past that I could never feel close too, something that reminds me of my dad because “there will never be a love song quite like The Long and Winding Road”. Maybe I can give my children ‘Now and Then’, or maybe I can give that to you.  

Stick with me here.  

I turned twenty in January. But before I turned twenty, I called my mum just to say, ‘can you believe I’m turning twenty?’. A silly question. I’m sure If she had the will to, she would find a way to make me four again, I suppose most parents would say the same. I think twenty is sort of a place I’ve been waiting for, I guess I figured It would be the first time in my life that I were somewhere I had completely chosen to be. The first time that perhaps, I would have learnt a few things. Because nineteen gave me a lot and took away a lot too. Not that I remember being asked if it could be. But I think that’s just it, it’s facing that part of life that I were always told “we all have to” but didn’t quite believe it to be so, loss. A grief for something that were so present not long ago. 

But I still have, I have completely chosen to be where I am now. Writing this for you (perhaps a little for me). But ask me if I had known what it would look like a year ago, and I can promise my answer would not have been this. Ask me who I was thinking of, and it wouldn’t be the same as it were now. Tell me I look tired, and ask me why, because it wouldn’t be the same reason as if it were now. If I had known it then, that I would lose some of those people I never thought I could and still be completely okay. That this new distance would softly, so much that I barely noticed, loosen my hold on what did not hold me back. That the exact thing that scared me would give me what I didn’t know I were looking for. I would have said, my dad was right.  

Only now, now that I am here, I can tell you that if you found someone you could love once, in any way, you will find it again. And all those feelings that you thought were missing won’t feel so missing anymore. Because you’re letting feeling in again. And you’re doing what you always wanted. And you’re going out and you’re talking more, like you used to. And you’re letting feeling in again, despite it all.  

And maybe sometimes, you’ll let your memory wonder off, thinking about how little you knew then. Maybe you’ll even miss it, the time before it was all so real. Miss who you were then, just for a second. I think there’s only something more beautiful in that.  

That you’ll miss it, and still not change any of it for the world.  

— Mary Irene Carolan, 1st year BA English  

Image credits: United Press International, photographer unknown

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When starting university, it can feel like everyone you meet is from London or bigger cities around the UK. They’re used to the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life; they know the transport network systems and they don’t even bat an eyelid when it comes to having Uber at your disposal. Even though everyone gets nervous about starting university, coming from a small area and feeling like a tiny fish in a big pond almost seems like whole other challenge. You might feel like you have to adjust to an environment that can seem so different to what you are used to at home. However, as a third year now, I have found that there are more similarities to home than I first thought, that living in a city is actually an amazing opportunity and something I will sorely miss after graduating.

The first thing that helps the transition is the fact that Nottingham is a relatively small city in comparison to the likes of Birmingham, Manchester and obviously London. This isn’t to say at all that Nottingham doesn’t have excellent nightlife. There’s plenty of bars and restaurants as well as other things like mini golf, the cinema and an ice rink if drinking isn’t your thing. What I am saying, however, is that Nottingham shouldn’t feel too overwhelming. It’s the perfect stepping up point, so you don’t feel like you’re thrown into the deep end of city life. The fantastic thing is that everywhere in Nottingham is walkable and you’ll be familiar with the likes of Beeston, the city centre, campus and even Radford by the end of your first or second year. By the time you reach third year, you’ll know Nottingham like the back of your hand.

Coming from a small area, you tend to find that everyone knows everyone. Whilst this can have pros and cons, it contributes to the strong community feeling that emerges from living in a village or town, and university is no different. Within a few weeks at university, you’ll start to recognise people around campus, you’ll more than likely run into people in a club, and you’ll probably have familiar faces in your lectures too. This means the community spirit is still very much present, even in a city. From sports clubs to lectures to the Sainsbury’s local, you’ll always run into a familiar face. Even if you’re not particularly close with that person, it can be a comfort to know that you are not and will never be alone.

University Park Campus is like a small town in itself, so you should hopefully feel settled almost immediately. It might even be better than what you have access to at home, I know this was the case for me! David Ross is a state-of-the-art gym, Portland has so many places to eat, and Hallward Library is great for when you (finally) start doing your work, to name just a few places.

Once you’ve settled, you’ll love that city life has loads to offer. There’s never a dull day in the city centre and there’s plenty of things to do. Nottingham has brilliant transport links, so you’ll never have to beg anyone for a lift again. From Uber to the tram to the 34 Bus (which will become your best friend in second and third year), it’s great having options. No more prebooking a taxi before a night out!

I mentioned some things to do previously but I really mean it when I say you’ll be thrilled at all the choices thrown your way. At home I’m normally stuck between my three local pubs which I’ve been to a million times already, but here even as a third year, there are places I’ve still never ventured to yet. Nottingham Castle is full of rich history; Motorpoint Arena is great to see your favourite bands and you can’t miss the Christmas Market. Not to mention Wollaton Hall which was used as a set in the film The Dark Knight Rises!

So, navigating Nottingham isn’t something to fear. It’s perfectly normal to be nervous when moving to university, especially in an unfamiliar city, but once you arrive here, you’ll see the opportunities that await you are too good to miss.

— Amber Lord, 3rd year BA English and History  

Image credits: Ben Spray, vitou ream, and ian kelsall, all on Unsplash

The post Moving From a Small Town to a City for University: Why it’s Not as Daunting as it Might Seem appeared first on Words on Words.

As I check my phone, turn on the TV or even subconsciously glance at the magazines near the Tesco checkout, the glaring links between media and gender jump out. This may not even be noticeable to some anymore, but the stereotypes and ideals associated with gender are often a key avenue in media. The problem arises when there is seemingly no change from the Noughties and other decades regarding gender, like female celebrities being labelled as aging ‘ungracefully’ while men are allowed to bloom into ‘silver foxes’. Advertising, the film industry and social media are the biggest utilisers of this relationship, but all media holds power in creating and upholding gender expectations for the public, and they know it. Even underlying connotations about gender are there, despite the seemingly progressive front the media is hiding behind. If you were to search up a modern Dyson hoover advert, who do you think will pop up first? A man or a woman using these cleaning tools? Unfortunately, we all know the answer – search it up, the results will not shock you. 

But of course, this is becoming very pessimistic. This relationship also allows for the script to be flipped and portray an increasingly inclusive space for gender in the media. Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film Barbie presented a switched narrative concerning the gender expectations in society and the positions seemingly reserved for men and women. Many critics were keen to celebrate the female empowerment produced by Barbie, and I for one greatly enjoyed it. But even the fictional elements of Barbie’s world were unprotected from the modern media perspective. Gerwig’s attempt to create a more balanced media perception of the sexualised image of Barbie was usurped by, you guessed it, a male jab. The 2024 Golden Globes were presented by comedian Jo Koy, who was keen to idolise Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer while reducing Gerwig’s feminist hit to a story about “a plastic doll with big boobs.” Time and time again, we see these biases towards gender that different media platforms enable, and women (for one) are not surprised that Koy would use comedy to ignore such concerns. The current modern relationship between media and gender is a prevalent issue that I can view as something that was summed up in Gerwig’s (and the other women in the room) reaction to this ‘comedy’: not anger, just disappointment. 

As both a woman and an English student, this relationship is one of great interest to me. For someone who adores reading, it’s becoming a slightly historic practice to consume media through written literature. My own friends are either bookworms or haven’t touched a physical book since they were 10. Personal observations conclude that my male friends are more likely to disregard literature for other media, while the women in my life still read in their spare time (but let’s all admit it, who would be reading in university if their course didn’t depend on it?) – media itself is gendered, begging the question of what this relationship has come to. Free from the media’s version of a text’s characters, the power of books as an escape from the harsher realities of real-life is one that should not be overlooked. I still have hope that gender and media can eventually heal their relationship, but for now it must be acknowledged that the current situation is one that must be corrected, sooner rather than later. 

— Abby Foster, 2nd year BA English  

Image credits: Ashwini Chaudhary on Unsplash

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You’ve recently become an adult; you’ve arrived at university and living alone for the first time. What do you do? Of course, the initial week it’s exciting, you’re going to be socialising and exploring and not really thinking about much else. You might have started to get the knack of cooking by the end of the first week but then the first clothes wash creeps up and it’s starting to dawn on you what adult life is really like.  

As a survivor of the first term of university, I fully understand how overwhelming and stressful university life can get. You’re expected to think about what to cook every evening, keep on top of washing your clothes, making time for a food shop – and all of this on top of university reading, plus any extracurricular activities. Sometimes it can feel incredibly hard to keep afloat and you can often feel as if you physically have no energy or the hours in the day to do all these activities. I by no means have mastered the art of organisation but I have implemented and acquired a few tips and tricks recently which have helped me relieve some stress from my daily tasks.  

I’m hoping that by sharing some advice I can help some students who are feeling the exact same way right now because, let’s face it, some of you will be feeling as if you aren’t managing everything and that is completely okay.                                                                    

1. Make your bed every day  
   It sounds like such a stupid thing, but this one small task will honestly make such a difference for your motivation every day
2. Exercise
   Even if it is just a quick walk to co-op or a stroll around Highfields Park. Taking in your surroundings can de-stress and prevent you from thinking about all the tasks you haven’t done.
3. Regular routine
   I’m not saying plan out your day rigidly, because sometimes that makes you stress even more without realising, but just implement one or two things that you do every single day. Even just completing one regular task a day and ticking it off can feel rewarding and will further your motivation for the rest of the day  
4. Don’t take things too seriously
   Sometimes when we try to plan out our daily tasks, we tend to cram too much in one day and then feel disappointed that we haven’t completed everything. Sometimes it’s okay to have days where not much happens, or leaving a task for another day is also okay. Try focusing, even though it can be hard, on what you have achieved today and most importantly be kind to yourself – don’t be so harsh!
5. Sleep
   Yes, I know CRISIS Wednesday is the highlight of our week but make sure that if one day of the week has a poor sleep schedule, that we try to make up for it throughout the rest of the week. University for me has completely changed my sleep schedule to staying up late most nights but after a while you do suffer, either by getting ill or just not having any energy to do things in the day 

Not all these tips may work for you but hopefully it may help relieve some stress and may lead you to find out what else works for you when it comes to using your time efficiently. I also hope that by trying out some of these methods it helps you to continue to enjoy the university experience and being an “adult” – whatever that is.  

— Kamala Padilha, 1st year BA English  

Image credits: Jess Bailey on Unsplash

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I can’t remember the last time I left the house without my phone. Hell, even leaving a room without it leaves me feeling like I’m missing a limb. Because why would I live in the moment when I could live through the moments of other people? More interesting people. Flicking through stories and posts and thoughts and ideas like an endless library intent on wasting my time, consuming my every waking moment. 

 It’s not something I blame myself for really, when we have every piece of information and every thought ever dreamt up right at our fingertips in a device that can fit comfortably into our pockets, when we have every single one of our friends readily available at the other end of a screen. Which is brilliant I suppose, but god, it’s exhausting being that friend on the other end of the screen. 

There was once a world, not too long ago, where being out of the house equated to being unreachable (unless you could find and spare change to make use of the telephone booth). Going out with friends never meant having to take the ‘perfect picture’ for Instagram. It never meant having to help a long-distance friend navigate a breakup while you were on a night-out two hours away.  

But now our phones keep us as a constant presence everywhere, with everyone, and we’re addicted to it.  

It’s getting to the point where I am so intensely addicted that I can’t even be fully present when doing the things I enjoy. Which means, unfortunately, when it comes to work… It’s distracting to say the least. Deadlines get pushed back so that I don’t fall out of touch with friends from home, and essays take twice the effort because staying focused is simply an impossible task on its own.  

Having both a place in the world and a space online feels like being in two places at once, my consciousness split between myself and my online presence. We are the same person, of course, but one of us doesn’t have to consider the real world. One of us can ignore the need to be active and healthy, or the need to be productive. We share the same morals, values and ideas- true enough. But that digital part of us gets to live in the ideal. Online, I am just my mind, detached responsibility or reality or consequence. I don’t have to be a mind and a body. Which is easier. It’s like a breath of fresh air, that I get to keep on breathing. Which is considerably ironic, because it does, in fact, stop me from going outside and breathing in as much fresh air. 

When there’s a version of me that exists solely as a digital presence, it’s difficult not to feel some sort of ‘guilt’ when I forget to keep up with friends. As though I’m not donating enough of myself to my online persona. 

Though, whilst it seems impossible right now to just entirely cut myself off from that world, I am doing my best to spend a little bit more time in the present. Buying flowers, watching the sunset, going out with friends. It’s not too difficult to appreciate what’s there and get lost in that instead. As long as I try. And realise.  

And perhaps throw my phone in a gutter or something, just for good measure. 

— Georgia Darwin, 1st year BA English and Creative Writing

Image credits: Robin Worrall and Chivalry Creative, both on Unsplash

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Reflecting on my time as an English student, a large part of my enjoyment has come from exposure to an array of diverse literature. From Old English elegies, to gothic comics, to creative writing, I’ve certainly not been short on options.  

But accompanying this range was a feeling of ‘switching brains’ to fully engage with different texts and sources each week. I felt the need to be an expert medievalist, literary critic and linguist all at once. This was both pressuring and counterproductive. Part of the process of studying an English degree is embracing the uncertainty and putting aside perfectionism. It’s all about learning how to read. It sounds strange, after all, every English student is clearly a capable reader! But as I have come to discover, reading is an active, complex process. It’s a kind of dialogue between writer and reader with multiple layers to sift through.  

Photo from Unsplash

Studying English has given me a new perspective. I now consider texts malleable, they can be shaped and moulded in different forms. You can be autonomous, structuring your own reading and analysis; in this variety there’s value. Across the degree you’ll stumble upon literature you love. And some texts you may leave to gather dust on the far corner of the top shelf. This is perfectly okay. Extract ideas that inspire you and try to welcome those challenging and unfamiliar.  

Of course, along with reading comes re-reading. Sometimes it can be daunting to re-enter a text with the intention of deconstructing it for an essay. But there is no better satisfaction than making sense of chaotic scribbles and highlights; solving the puzzle you’ve pieced together.  

In some ways, the act of reading has felt like a metaphor for the university experience. There’s great, enjoyable moments, where things make sense. Other times, it’s challenging and intimidating and all a bit much. But ultimately, reading is never wasted, just like experience. One day, you might just spot the answer you’re looking for, lurking on the very pages you’ve read and re-read so many times over… 

— Mia Gazza, 3^rd Year BA English

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During the summer before my final year at Nottingham, I had the opportunity to work for a remote-based software recruitment company. Initially, I was full of worry; my field of ‘expertise’ was definitely in the realm of entertainment and lifestyle. How would I be able to write for a tech company when I knew scarcely anything about the tech industry?  

Fortunately, my new team were supportive and I was guided through a training process of watching helpful videos and engaging in an online ‘Foundations of Digital Marketing’ course. This support system allowed me to quickly adapt and embrace the world of copywriting and digital marketing! 

Photo by Ben Maffin on Unsplash

One of the first things I learned in this role was the art of producing business-focused content for various channels. I took on the exciting challenge of writing blogs that promoted company events on various social platforms. These efforts not only contributed to our events’ success but also provided me valuable insights into audience engagement and interaction.

My intern journey wasn’t just about writing for the company blog – I had the chance to publish B2B copy on prestigious platforms like Manchester Digital and Medium. In this ever-evolving digital landscape, versatility is important. I expanded my skill set beyond traditional writing by delving into video creation and photo editing. Tools like Canva and Doodly were tricky to use at first, but they soon became essential when promoting the business online. Audiences don’t just want to read – they’re also compelled by visual ads.

Photo by Daniel Romero on Unsplash

In retrospect, my summer internship was a fantastic experience. It took me from a place of uncertainty to one of confidence in the realms of copywriting and digital marketing.

– Bethan Beddow

The post Intern Insights: My Journey as a Copywriter and Digital Marketer appeared first on Words on Words.

After a long day of university seminars and lectures, you find yourself back in your dorm room, procrastinating on that looming assignment by scrolling endlessly through Instagram. As you look through curated stories and posts of your friends’ university experiences, you’re bombarded with a visual feast: endless parties, newfound friendships, perfectly decorated rooms, productive study sessions, and wild club nights. The escape from reality is undeniably nice but the overbearing sensation that you’re somehow falling behind is bound to creep in.

Our constant exposure to these seemingly perfect snapshots of other people’s university lives subtly robs us of a true understanding of the university experience. Social media doesn’t just trigger comparisons; it outright compels us to engage in them. These comparisons aren’t just harmful but can be truly detrimental to our mental health. What it cruelly omits are the raw realities we all face – the relentless deadlines, the bouts of homesickness, and the personal struggles that are an intrinsic part of the journey.

So, how can we break free from the comparison trap and appreciate the authenticity of our own university journey?

I want to begin with a simple yet crucial reminder: social media is not representative of a person’s real-life experiences. The posts forced onto our feed are unrealistic, presenting only the best bits of someone’s university life. The people you follow and idolise are also navigating through the ups and downs of university. Behind the screen, everyone grapples with their own challenges, doubts, and fears, just like you.

You are bound to have heard this age-old saying that ‘social media isn’t real life’. Yet as I’ve discovered in my own experience, it’s easy to get drawn into a fantasy of perfection. There’s comfort to be found indulging in the idea that our lives can be like the flawless ones we see online. But I urge you to shift your perspective and find beauty not only in your triumphs but in the challenges that shape your university experience. Freeing yourself of the pressures to perform or conform to unrealistic standards allows you to fully experience an authentic time at university.

Some more practical advice I can offer is to set boundaries with your social media use.

It’s important to remember that what’s presented online rarely mirrors the complexities of life. To reacquaint ourselves with genuine experiences we must get offline and back into the real world around us. Doing so will hopefully allow us to more greatly appreciate our university journey without the weight of social media expectations.

And finally, I wanted to assure you that you are not alone in your feelings of jealousy and comparison. Opening up about these struggles and realising they are universally experienced can be remarkably liberating. As I’ve learnt through personal experience, once I shared my challenges with friends, no matter how perfect I perceived their lives to be they too had their own struggles. Creating this discourse amongst friends has unearthed a truer representation of what the university experience really is. Without fallacy of perfectionism, we can allow ourselves to embrace the authenticity of our personal experiences and revel in the beauty of its ups and downs.

– Ella Dooley, 3rd Year BA English with Creative Writing

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When I came to my Open Day for Nottingham back in 2019, I remember sitting in Trent Café with my dad, who asked me, ‘Can you imagine yourself studying and living here?’. That is now the question I ask every prospective student I talk to while working for the School of English on Open Days. As someone who has recently graduated with their English degree, I know what it was like to be in their shoes while also knowing what comes after. And working as a student ambassador has made me realise that though your course can determine how the next 3 or 4 years of your life are going to go, at the end of the day the people here will have an even greater impact. The people in your accommodation, your course, the societies you join will build your experience and your own community at university.

I had the pleasure of receiving the Undergraduate Community Prize for my work as a student ambassador in the School of English, which was a wonderful honour. But you can also gain much more out of being an ambassador than a certificate and £100 monetary reward. I’ve gained many different skillsets that can assist me career wise, like public speaking, crowd management, customer service and more. So, if you’re an English student yourself who wants to add to their CV and have an all-around enjoyable part-time job while doing your degree then being a student ambassador might just do it for you. Even if those bright blue student ambassador shirts are hard to style.

During my undergrad I was also heavily involved with Creative Writing society and Taylor Swift society. And whether it was while I ran stalls at Fresher’s Fair or a taster session, it was always the most rewarding thing to have faces I could recognise and have them recognise me from Open Days the year before. Continuing to be a part of peoples’ journeys this way, seeing where they started and where they go, has been really special. Being able to give back to this community that I have also created for myself during my time here always made me enthusiastic to work the Open Days. Especially, when it was also just a great opportunity to share my passion and interest in literature with people who were just as passionate as I am about gothic and speculative fiction, as well as theatre. So, it was always really exciting to have prospective students who wanted to debate those topics and learn more, giving them a taste of what it would be like to engage with others academically and essentially geek out over our favourite books. After all who wouldn’t love a work opportunity where you get to chat to people who are just as interested in literature as you? You might find that you look good in blue.

– Aldea Toth, BA English graduate

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Early on in Christopher Nolan’s 2023 film Oppenheimer, there is a whirlwind montage of the young J. Robert Oppenheimer imagining phenomena within quantum physics. We see visions of the universe, atoms and waveforms intercut with shots of Oppenheimer surrounded by art, history, and monumental architecture. It is a kaleidoscopic composition signifying the turbulence of the student’s mind in the mid 1920s as he grapples with new frontiers in science and culture. Most notably, Nolan decides to use an intimate shot of Oppenheimer sat alone studying T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.

Photo by Billy Huynh on Unsplash

The Waste Land is a canon text within the early twentieth-century Modernist movement. This was a tumultuous period of radical departure from traditional art forms whilst responding to modern advancements. These advancements included new political concepts, revolutionary art, mass industrialisation, and theories from Freud and Darwin. Such new ways of thinking led to a need for new ways of expression – this is what Eliot accomplished with The Waste Land.

The poem is distinctly fragmented, with interpenetrating narrators and little cohesion between each voice. This was a destruction of long-established poetic form; Eliot was reshaping literary boundaries within the chaos that he lived. We can relate Eliot’s form to Nolan’s montage of Oppenheimer in his early years. Nolan’s rapid cuts and transitory shots are like Eliot’s use of stanzas – used to switch between thoughts and voices, rarely lingering long enough to explain themselves. Both Oppenheimer and Eliot were teetering on the boundaries of their respective fields, within the emergence of a new age.

Photo by Aperture Vintage on Unsplash

However, this new age was not just about progress, but also annihilation. Eliot wrote in the aftermath of World War One, confronted by a devastated society and landscape: a literal wasteland. Ironically, Oppenheimer’s reading of the poem may serve as a failed warning. It is Oppenheimer’s genius invention that now resurfaces and exacerbates societies destruction: the type of destruction Eliot examines in The Waste Land with ‘what branches grow / Out of this stony rubbish?’[1]. Life cannot be bred out of war, and Oppenheimer’s creation inevitably gives way to these existential questions Eliot proposed.

Nolan’s use of The Waste Land is not just historically accurate to Oppenheimer’s admiration of Eliot, but it also speaks to the poem’s timeliness. It is ultimately about the disorder of our modern age, more prevalent than ever in a world threatened by its own progression.

[1] T.S. Eliot, Selected Poems, (London: Faber and Faber, 1961) p.51.

– Hannah Cox, Year 2 BA English

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‘The University Experience’ is more than just something first years use as a reason to dump their long-term secondary school girlfriends/boyfriends.  It’s a term that gets thrown around often and is commonly used to justify going clubbing when you have a paper to write or pulling all-nighters the day before your essay is due. But what really is the quintessential university experience and why do we pressure ourselves to have it?  

Photo by Sam Moghadam Khamseh on Unsplash 

As a student beginning her third year, my university experience so far has consisted of making new friendships, getting my heart broken, falling in love, learning to live on my own and with my friends, getting to know myself, all while writing essays and going to classes. I have joined societies and I have gone out more times than I can count (I’ve also stayed in more times than I can count) and I have enjoyed every minute of it.  

Is this THE university experience? Maybe. But I haven’t experienced a sport society initiation ritual or starred in a play or won an award or had a one-night stand or anything else that others may consider a key part of ‘The University Experience’. So, does it all count?  

Photo by Wan San Yip on Unsplash 

There seems to be this pressure to do everything when it comes to university. Whether it be joining a sports team or living in the library for a week working on an essay, the invisible checklist of things you have to do to have ‘The University Experience’ is always looming. However, there is a key difference between doing something because you want to and doing something because it’s part of ‘The University Experience’. I would argue instead that your university experience is about finding out what you like and who you are. 

There is no singular quintessential university experience. How can there be when everyone has distinct interests, likes, and dislikes? It’s easy for your peers to tell you that you’re doing university wrong because you make it to all your 9ams or because you haven’t yet joined a society by the end of first year. But I can assure you there are no rules. You can’t physically do university wrong because it is what you make it. 

 Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash 

To any nervous offer holders, or current students who feel like they’ve done the whole university thing wrong, take this as your reassurance. Your university experience is your playground, let it be whatever you want.  

 – Jamey Heron-Waterhouse, 3rd Year BA English

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Reading for pleasure can be tricky as an English student. Finding the time to balance the reading that my course prescribes me with my own personal reads is something I have often struggled with. Unfortunately, time and time again I have had to prioritise the reading for my course at the expense of the books I would choose to read for fun. Even if I have found myself up to date with every piece, sometimes the last thing you want to do after a long day of study on campus or at the library is come home to pick up yet another book!  

So what is the solution?  

Here are some potential tips on how to balance your course reading with your own personal reading:  

One.  

Give yourself a routine. This does not have to be a strict routine, remember that the purpose of finding the time to read is for your own enjoyment. It could be something you choose to do whilst having your morning tea or coffee; it could be something you decide to do at the weekend when you have more time.  

Two.  

Pick modules that suit your reading tastes. As an English student, the choice of modules available to you at Nottingham are vast and diverse, especially when entering second or third year. Use your reading taste to inform which modules you decide to select, whether that be a module revolving around modern and contemporary literature, or a module concerning the gothic tradition. Remember that studying English does not necessarily translate to reading lots of Shakespeare or John Donne! By choosing modules with reading that interests you, you don’t have to feel like you’re missing out on personal reading. 

Three.  

Make the most of your uni holidays! You will have plenty of time over the holidays to indulge in your own reading. That could be cute and cosy Christmas reading or relaxed beach reading over the summer. If you come across a book that you desperately want to read during term time, make a note of it and return to the list again in the holidays.  

Four.  

Personal reading doesn’t have to mean a novel. It could be a one-act play or a short collection of poetry that you’ve stumbled upon, or it could be a magazine you enjoy or a wellness book you ritually read before bed. By engaging with shorter literary pieces, you can still provide yourself with the enjoyment and sense of escapism you are seeking, without taking hours out of your day to do so.  

Or even a blog. How long did it take you to read this one? Certainly not long enough to hinder any reading that your course requires of you!  

– Ellie Johnson

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Coming to university in September, I was originally intending on taking liberal arts with a primary focus on English and history, however, I quickly realised that these two subjects as a pair were personally a better fit for me to study. History and English are luckily quite complimentary subjects meaning it made it easier to juggle between the two as they have complimentary skill sets. The start of university is a nerve-wracking time for most newcomers, as meeting new friends, settling into a new place and feeling homesick are all pressuring worries. Therefore, being able to do a degree that consistently interests you takes all this extra pressure off.

Initially, I struggled with the differences between English and my other subject, as the styles of workshops and seminars differed meaning I felt slightly lost in what I was learning. However, this is a common feeling amongst first-year students in general, as university is a fresh way of teaching for most, and these stresses should subside after a few weeks of settling in. The history modules tied in well with the first-year English modules, with Beginnings of English, a module that focuses on Old and Middle English fitting well with my work on medieval history. The transferable skills are seen in all dual honour degrees, meaning although two subjects can seem overwhelming, the research and work done can feed into one another. Assessment styles across English vary but adding history to the mix during deadline season made writing up assignments particularly stressful. However, not only were all my seminar tutors very supportive, but again the skills I learnt in history helped to improve my English essays. Luckily, both are essay subjects meaning tips on essay writing could be transferred across the two fields. Doing more than one subject also means you will meet a wider variety of people, making friends on two different courses.

Dual honours allow for more freedom, not having to limit yourself to one subject, which was particularly helpful for someone like me who is notoriously indecisive. This meant I could explore both of my subjects’ interests equally. As the end of my first-year approaches, I definitely believe I not only made the right choice with my subjects but also by the end of the first semester I found both subjects much less complicated to manage, meaning instead of stressing out I could enjoy what I was learning.

– Arwen Jenkins

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I graduated with my BA in English Studies from UoN way back in 2004; 19 years later, in 2023, I’m just about to hand in the final piece of work of my MA in Applied English, studied via Distance Learning.

In my tour guide costume at the National Justice Museum

The Galleries of Justice, now named the National Justice Museum

Between those dates is a long story, including some years in my 20s lost to an abusive relationship. A portfolio career that settled, half by chance, on museums: I’ve worked in museums and heritage sites for over a decade, starting as a costumed tour guide when I was nearly 30, eventually reaching senior management at 37. It was a rapid climb and I never had time to look at academic qualifications. When I eventually drew breath, I realised I worked in a sector where nearly everyone had a postgrad qualification. I wanted that.  

But I didn’t want a Museum Studies MA. I find the heritage sector can be prone to navel-gazing discourse and feel strongly that new perspectives and inter-disciplinary work are what’s needed to energise it. Instead of seeking a museum qualification, I opted to return to my roots, my passion for English. I always loved that the UoN School of English Studies includes so many disciplines and approaches, so there was no other choice for me.  

Presenting at the Museums Association Conference 2022

And here is where the course took me by surprise. I have always been a Literature specialist, and loved Romanticism with a passion. Literature – to me – represents fragments, vignettes, of cultural history: I assumed that was where it would overlap with my professional life in heritage. Then, towards the end of my studies, I discovered a pod called ‘Performing Space and Place’. I’d never have chosen it in a less flexible course, but the pod structure of AE allowed me to give it a go. Suddenly, site-specific theatre, and the power of creating new spaces, counter-sites, to effect change, grabbed me. And it undeniably applied to museums too!  

I’m just concluding a dissertation on site-specific, participatory performance in museums, and how the affective power of this can be harnessed to help museums have a social impact. My research is already informing my museum work, as I start to branch out into freelance work, and writing articles. I am considering a PhD application, focusing on interdisciplinary work between museum studies and theatre studies.  

When I returned to the School of English Studies after nearly two decades, this isn’t what I expected. But it just goes to show where English can lead and how relevant it is to both professional work and other disciplines – and it demonstrates that where you start isn’t always where you end up, especially if you take the opportunity to explore your interests! 

– Rebecca Morris-Buck

You can find more information on our MA Applied English by following this link.

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As someone studying a non-vocational degree (BA History of Art and English), I am often inundated with questions about what I plan to do when I graduate. What people expect to hear is ‘teaching’ or ‘journalism’ or, as my parents probably hope, ‘a PGDL course’ so I can follow in the footsteps of my hotshot solicitor sister. For the longest time, I have responded with a tentative ‘I’m not sure…’ and redirected the conversation but, after taking part in the Excellence in Science (EIS) Internship, I have a better idea of what my future entails.

I came across the EIS programme at the end of my first year whilst trying to get through the mound of emails that had piled up during deadline season. First noticing the word ‘science’, I almost did not click on the email. However, I am glad that I did, or I would have missed out on the amazing experience of working with Dr Christina Lee, Dr Erin Connelly, and their fabulous team on the ongoing ‘Plants and Prayers’ exhibition at Weston Gallery.

My role for this project was to conduct research surrounding the exhibition’s theme of pre-1900 traditional medicine, as well as devising ideas on improving its outreach amongst diverse demographics. I was given free rein to implement my different ideas, including writing a pamphlet about challenging colonial attitudes towards African traditional medicine.

I gained so much from working on this project, including making new contacts, developing research skills, and learning more about a subject of personal interest. One of the highlights was visiting Manuscripts and Special Collections on King’s Meadow Campus, where Christina and I filmed promotion videos for the exhibition. It was so fascinating to hear Christina talk about artefacts such as Elena Mundy’s Recipe Book (c.1728) and the Wollaton Antiphonal (15^th century) – her insight is extensive, and her passion is infectious! I was also able to have a look at the vast manuscript collection, but with knowledge bursting out of 18 miles of stocked shelves, it is safe to say that I barely made a dent.

The internship was flexible, with me predominantly working at home and attending meetings on University Park campus. Though it initially felt quite daunting to be tasked with completing independent research, I soon found a system that worked well for me. It was also reassuring to know that, if I ever needed it, someone would always be at the other end of an email to help.

I think that the best part about being part of this exhibition was working alongside a kind, intelligent team. From my supervisor Christina to the archivists at Manuscripts and Special Collections, everyone made me feel welcomed and like an integral part of the project. It made me realise that, whatever I decide to do next, I want the excitement and encouragement that I shared with the ‘Plants & Prayers’ team to follow!

– Mutiat Akamo

The Plants & Prayers exhibition will be at the Weston Gallery, Lakeside Arts, University Park until 03 September. Admission is free. You can find more information by following this link.

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Arriving at university can seem like a daunting experience. For most people, it is the first time you’ve lived away from home, maybe moving to a new part of the country, or perhaps even a different country altogether, and chances are you don’t know many (or any) other students here too. And so whilst it can seem intimidating at first, it’s important to remember that there is so much to look forward to!

The opportunities for meeting new people and trying new things are endless, and one of the best ways to make the most of your university experience is to join a society, as not only is it a great way to help you settle in and meet people, but it’s a great way to be a part of something bigger – last year Nottingham was ranked Number 1 for Team Sports in BUCS!

Joining a sports team at university was one of the best decisions I made; it’s been something that has encouraged me to keep up my fitness, introduced me to some of my best friends, but most of all, something that I have enjoyed.

I have been part of the UoN Swimming Club since my first year. Swimming has been a sport that I have competed in for many years, and joining university I knew I wanted to continue training. Swimming has introduced me to so many different people studying different degrees, in various different years, living in different places, and also offers so many wider social opportunities outside of training hours. The majority of sports societies will host or organise a social each week, which are great events to attend to get to know your teammates and other students in a relaxed, social environment outside of your sporting hours.

But joining sports teams and societies aren’t just limited to your first year; you are welcome to join or take up a new sport at any stage. At the beginning of my third year, I decided to take up waterpolo for the first time. After going along to one of the taster sessions, I decided I’d give it a go, and I am so glad I did. Learning a new sport this year has been challenging, and a little nerve-wracking, but it’s also been such good fun, and playing on a team for the first time has been a fantastic experience.

Whether playing sports is your passion, or something you have never really tried before, there are opportunities for everyone to get involved and enjoy themselves. Sports teams are great ways to really make the most out of university, as well as being active, healthy and enjoyable ways to socialise and make friends.

– Alice Leng

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It is said it takes approximately 66 days for an individual to develop a habit that will become an effortless part of their daily routine. However, what is often overlooked is the difficulty of adhering to this extended and sometimes gruelling timeline. Establishing good habits is a fundamental aspect of personal growth and being an English student at university provides a unique opportunity to develop and refine such habits.  

For instance, waking up early can prove to be a daunting challenge for many individuals, including myself. Why would I want to get up at the crack of dawn when I could stay in my comfy warm bed? It often seems easier to opt for comfort over inconvenience.  

Nevertheless, there are numerous habits that are beneficial to adopt. In an ideal world I am sure many of us would like to get up at 6am every morning, run a 5k and have enough time to balance university work and socialising. Waking up early and having the time to exercise regularly can boost productivity, improve mental health, and help maintain a healthy work-life balance. By challenging myself to develop good habits that offer long-term benefits, I have come to realise the importance of overcoming these initial hurdles.  

Being an English student presents an array of unique opportunities to develop critical thinking and analytical skills that are invaluable in today’s society. These skills are transferrable and can be applied to various aspects of life, including the self- discipline involved in new habits and routines.  

Implementing a structured routine has been an effective strategy for me to optimise my time and balance my university workload with personal interests. By delegating time to take care of myself through exercising and socialising, I can ensure that I have a healthy work-life balance. Self-sufficiency as a student living away from home can be challenging.  

Challenging oneself is an act of self-care, the initial resistance to change can often prove more challenging than implementing the habit itself. Proactivity as a student is an excellent way to foster good mental health, which should be a top priority. Allocating time to research for essays, review notes from lectures or grapple with new module subjects can help prevent feeling overwhelmed, leading to more productive and successful work which is a reward in itself.  

To conclude, being a student entails a responsibility to embrace the opportunities and challenges that come with the pursuit of personal and academic growth. Developing new habits and routines is a crucial aspect of this journey, and with dedication, perseverance, and willingness to embrace challenges and the fun that involves university life, positive changes will serve students for years to come.  

– Amelie Brogden

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Being in your own company 24/7 can sometimes be tiresome – especially when every thought you have, every inconvenience, every problem is on a constant loop in your mind. Even if you don’t categorise yourself as an other-thinker, there is always that one moment, embarrassing or traumatic, that has daily reruns in your mind.

Unfortunately, this is the case for me. Getting accustomed to the nightly routine of tucking into bed and once again approaching the daunting thoughts that can’t seem to be slept away. But these shadows didn’t just appear of an evening (if only!) and soon my days were filled with the same wrought-out, exhausting thoughts and feelings identical to that of 8 months ago. And the realisation that this might be my thoughts for who-knows how long, was terrifying.

Knowing I couldn’t simply just not think, my next idea was filling my time with distractions. Unhealthy diversions were only temporary and made no real difference to this cause, so the desire for self-improvement and a clear headspace became apparent. Sports and exercise had always been a struggle for myself, lack of motivation and having asthma was a huge set back that limited my passions. Especially after the effects of long-covid in summer of ’21, where not only did I have to pay for a holiday I could no longer go on, I was bed bound and gasping at every step I took.

This set back, and being an anxious person in general, made joining a sports society a big deal. Yet after my first training session for women’s IMS football I had realised I wasn’t the only person with these struggles, and it didn’t matter how difficult I may find it. Luckily for me I had played football during high school, and if felt as if I had never stopped. What was even better – were those two hours of not-thinking. Of being surrounded by friends and having only one thing on your mind: winning.

From there not only did my confidence grow, I began going to the gym again after months of being in a slump, and even became Captain of an IMS team. This responsibility was a great diversion for a clouded mind, allowing me to branch out and join a Monday league as well.

This didn’t make the over-thinking simply disappear, but it has gotten quieter, which made me realise that maybe sports isn’t so scary after all.

– Abigael Woosey

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It seems a lifetime ago when I was timidly embarking upon the Applied English Distance Learning MA back in 2020. I remember feeling waves of self-doubt about completing MA – after so many years away from Higher Education – questions played on repeat through my mind, haunting me with fears of not being good enough, being too old, and being daft for thinking I could attempt the course. Now I look back and I am so glad that I embarked on this learning journey, which has changed my life for the better. 

The flexibility of Applied English, an online distance MA has been brilliant! I can study when it suits me, allowing me to devote time to my studies without missing out on spending time with my son. I often pop online to study after my son is asleep, and it is lovely to know I am only across the landing from him whilst tackling literary criticism or pulling together the tangled threads of my ideas. Instead of longer modules we study pods; this allows us to cover more topics and to vary our submission types beyond more traditional essays. I love that we have so much choice on the course – I’ve even been lucky enough to write some fairy-tale poetry and a vampire short story.  

For me, the global community of students and staff are what makes this MA so incredible. The tutors have been there every step of the way: providing support, guidance and reassurance. They really are the glue that brings everyone together as we develop our skills as researchers. This year I am one of two course representatives for Applied English and it is always inspiring and humbling to be able to represent the thoughts and ideas of such a talented group of students.  

The annual Applied English Summer School in 2022 was a real treat – it is amazing being taught by world leading researchers on the course and meeting some of them in person was truly magical. Seeing the stunning University Park campus and experiencing seminars with students who I had only previously met online was exhilarating.  

Despite my physical distance, The University of Nottingham feels like home … I finally have a place where I belong, and I am excited to see where the future leads me. 

– Gillian Walters

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As a beyond anxious yet excitable 18-year old stepping into the Derby Hall courtyard back in 2020, I saw university as a sort of adult playground, where making a solid group of life-long friends and having that “unbeatable” social life clouded any academic vision I left school with. Yet, looking back on almost three years of university life, where my experience – albeit chaotic – has exceeded any preconception, I can confidently admit the root of my university ease: my English degree.

Now, by no means am I suggesting that studying English is unchallenging and even manageable; reading three books most weeks has tested and refuted these theories. What I am saying, however, is that this degree – whilst at times painfully exhausting – has opened my eyes both socially and academically, providing anxious 18-year-old me with tools of confidence and social-awareness that have made my unparalleled experience here attainable.

1. Confidence

Whilst the universal seminar structure of university is designed to improve student confidence through class participation, I was beyond relieved to discover that Nottingham University goes one step further, targeting boldness in an academic and emotional way. As someone who was embarrassingly hesitant to even raise my hand in seminars, let alone vocalise my thoughts, I quickly adopted an unproductive, passive attitude to my learning. This was until I was approached by my personal tutor and began the compulsory ‘Academic Community’ Module in first year – read on before you roll your eyes at my seemingly formulaic praise.

Having both of these outlets as open and encouraging environments, for my often dramatized academic and personal worries, really helped erode the unnerving, fictitious student-teacher boundary previously fixed in my mind. Lila Matsumoto, my assigned tutor, quickly became a frequent point of contact, where I offloaded any concerns I had that week, and sought advice my friends couldn’t give. Even when reaching out to my tutor became too embarrassing, my ‘Academic Community’ tutor never failed to allocate seminar time to discuss everyone’s concerns and thoughts on university life. No longer scared to talk to, let alone approach, my tutors, I developed a confidence to ask questions, share concerns and speak in general to people regardless of their age, position or intellect.

2. Social awareness

Understanding the customs, dynamics and issues of our society is fortunately a deep-rooted concept in my English degree at Nottingham. Whilst studying literature teaches us of fictional or past societies, Nottingham’s language modules have explored and, more importantly, spotlighted contemporary issues that are typically overlooked in teaching. The ‘Language in Society’ and ‘Language and Feminism’ modules have not only given me a breadth of knowledge surrounding current societal injustices, but in turn augmented my appreciation for others’ contexts and beliefs. From understanding how patriarchal discourses are sustained in advertising, to how language can locate identity, these modules have taught me a social-awareness and inclusivity so necessary in our diverse and flawed society. As a previously self-acclaimed literature student, who knew nothing and honestly had no intention of learning about language, I can now confidently admit that the language modules I have taken over these three years have been the most interesting and eye-opening ones.

Recognising my growth through these skills has therefore adapted my initial perspective of university. It is not just a social, but also an academic playground that all students can thrive in at Nottingham – even if you’re just as anxious as I was on the first day!

– Isabelle Atack

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Creative writing is one of my favourite and most fulfilling parts of my English degree. Seeing a poem or a short story that I spent hours pondering over the word choice of materialise into a finished piece of work is often more satisfying than turning in an essay. For me creative writing is not just an interesting essay I spent hours writing, rather it is a reflection of my views on the world, my observations on people, nature, or a representation of my internal world. 

However, creative writing is not just an academic product, written with quotes and citations from literary critics in journals or books, instead it is a craft that relies on the ability to produce a piece of writing, even when creativity can sometimes feel like a challenge, not something that comes naturally, or from a specific inspiration.

So here are my tips on creative writing when nothing seems to click: 

1. Write down tidbits of conversations overheard on the bus, in a café or around campus.  

Often the best bits of inspiration come from random snippets of dialogue exchanged between random strangers. It can also be helpful in terms of getting used to writing dialogue, as it can often feel unnatural when starting out.  

 2. Write down your thoughts in a stream of consciousness like continuous prose 

Sometimes when I am struggling to produce a piece of creative writing my journey often begins with something along the lines of: 

Pen, paper – I don’t know what to write, what should I be writing about. Inspiration, I cannot think of inspiration. Empty pages. Smudged ink. 

Eventually I will often find a spark of inspiration, otherwise it is still writing practice. 

3. Read and consume as much literature of as many different genres as you can. 

Reading published authors work, paying attention to the descriptive, poetic and figurative language.  

By reading the work of other authors it will help you to identify styles and themes that you like, but also introduce you to a broad range of techniques that can be incorporated into your own repertoire.  

4. Play around with styles. 

Creative Writing is supposed to be fun! Trying different formats such as: Villanelles, Sonnets, Stream of Consciousness … You might even surprise yourself, and like a form or style you never would have previously considered. 

5. Don’t be afraid to draw from personal experiences. 

 Often the best pieces of literature stem from people’s personal lives, or experience of the world. The phrase ‘Write what you know’ is a cliché for a reason. 

– Georgia Krok

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Reading poetry or prose aloud has long been a popular tradition. It is an oral work of art, allowing an audience to take in the sounds and rhythms that the internal mind cannot emulate. However, it wasn’t until last year did I really come to appreciate it.

As a child, my parents would read lullabies to lull me to sleep – reading the words myself was impossible until primary school started. The rhythmic patterns of ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ was soothing and simple, the repetitive ‘twinkle’ allowing child me to remember its lines. Yet as I aged and learnt how to read, the importance of sound became secondary: reading and writing a story was more crucial. Words remained glued to a page, unable to be spoken out loud. I soon forgot that uttering these sentences to the world was just as impactful as reading them inside of my head.

People enjoy poetry and prose readings. They enjoy hearing the musicality of language. They enjoy the shared excitement between them and the speaker, the physical tension as a speech reaches its crescendo. It wasn’t until I participated in a placement at The Royal British Legion club in Beeston that I recalled the excitement of reading aloud. Alongside other students, I read various poems to an audience with mild dementia. Each person would listen attentively, absorbing catchy poems such as ‘The Tiger’ by William Blake. Afterward, we would discuss the poem and how much we liked it. Such an experience has helped with my confidence in speaking out loud, but it also means a lot to see other people appreciating oral poetry.

Words mustn’t be contained to a page; our voices are instruments and we should use them to speak and to listen to the beauty of language.

– Bethan Beddow

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Lots of blogs will tell you about ways to manage your time with conflicting responsibilities, however, what I want to discuss is: 

• How I identified my ‘why’ which helped to focus my choices.    
• How I found alternative ways to pursue my long-term goals when plans changed.  

Whilst studying part-time with Nottingham University’s distance learning MA degree in Applied English, I work full-time. I’ll be sharing my experiences, but the steps I have taken are transferable to your own circumstances. 

I was contracted to move to China in 2018 but, due to a severe family emergency, I had to pass up my year teaching adults English in Beijing. My passport with the visa landed heavily on the doormat. I wouldn’t be able to use it. My future looked unclear and I was left with the question, ‘well, what now?’. 

Unable to use: Chinese Visa. 

First, I had to ask myself why I wanted to go to Asia. What aspects of foreign travel and teaching meant the most to me? I needed to find an alternative, but closer to home.  

Foreign travel, for me, is an important opportunity to see how different cultures live and to share alternative perspectives. By studying part-time on the Applied English course at Nottingham, I can engage with international stories. Through taking the module* on ‘Southeast Asian Literature’ I loved learning about the history of these countries by studying texts by Malaysian, Thai, and Cambodian authors.   

 Applied English (AE) digital map & physical map at AE HQ – the pins show where we are all based. We are welcomed to the course with a Nottingham postcard through the letterbox, and invited to send one back from wherever we are in the world.

The international nature of my fellow MA students – we are all based around the world – means I still engage with multiple perspectives daily. I particularly enjoy hearing how it is to live in places around the globe – for example who knew hummingbirds were a commonplace critter in San Francisco?! 

I realised that teaching was important to me because it combines my drive to help people, to be a life-long learner, and to link up with local communities. Within the Applied English MA, I’m able to explore teaching methodology and discuss curriculum design with my academic tutors – many of whom are pioneers in their fields. Outside of university, I’m a leader with the Girl Guides organisation. Once a week, I help lead sessions on a whole host of topics and I use what I’m learning with my degree to plan and facilitate each term’s activities.  

In 2018, before I knew how much my life would change, I took a walk around Chinatown in London’s Soho and snapped a selfie with the ornate arch, the kind of photo I might have taken had I been able to go to Beijing. 

Sometimes chasing a long-term goal requires a more creative touch, it isn’t always linear, and good time management is vital to keep all plates spinning. However, remaining motivated with multiple priorities is possible by keeping my ‘why’ close at hand. 

I couldn’t tell you what my life would have looked like had I taken that flight. However, I’m fortunate that, through my MA and experiences at UoN, I still have the chance to chase my dreams.  

An overseas trip isn’t completely off the table either. UoN’s campuses in China and Malaysia would be excellent for a ‘research’ visit… 

– Kate Marks

*Please note: on the Applied English course we take ‘pods’, not modules. For ease of understanding, I have referred to it as a module. However, I would be remiss to call it a module as the credit-bearing aspect of the course is through the submission of a portfolio which can combine the content from a mixture of pods. If you’d like to know more, find out here: Applied English Programme (Online) MA – University of Nottingham 

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What is Period Poverty?

Period Poverty is a problem evident all around the world that can impact anyone with a menstrual cycle. Many factors have contributed to a rise in Period Poverty; one of the most prominent being inflation of prices. This has meant many people cannot access hygienic and safe sanitary products. As this continues to be a taboo subject amongst mainstream societal discussion, there remains a lack of available information and support in society for those experiencing menstruation.

Effect on education

Over 137,000 children in the UK have missed school because they cannot afford period products. As a result, they are at risk of missing out on vital education and falling behind their peers. This therefore makes it clear that many students are living in Period Poverty and that could potentially lead to gender inequality within education.

University

As an educational institution, The University of Nottingham is very aware of the issue of students potentially missing their education due to period poverty. With a focus on equality and inclusivity, they have taken action with a scheme called Project Period. This was launched by Chris Denning and Kavita Raniga from the University to provide accessible sanitary products in all bathrooms of the University of Nottingham- national and international. The products include tampons and sanitary pads and are free within the university for use by anyone with a menstrual cycle. These are provided by donations, funding and volunteers. By January 2023, the project had distributed 45,000 sanitary products.

Sustainability

As well as this, the University’s commitment to sustainability has gone the extra mile by ensuring the products are made from sustainable sources such as bamboo and do not contain plastic or harmful chemicals. This shows there is also a focus on the environment whilst tackling period poverty.

In what other ways is the University tackling this problem?

There are many other ways the University is tackling the problem! One such way is through providing interactive workshops that deliver an overview of menstruation as well as exploring different conditions such as endometriosis. By having accessible events on throughout the year, the aim is to help in reducing the stigma of this taboo subject and to get people talking to make everyone feel listened to and included in a friendly atmosphere.

It is clear that if any student is struggling with getting sanitary products or are seeking advice, the University of Nottingham is always there to help!

– Kate Hayhurst

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Picking modules can be daunting. The number of options can be overwhelming and choosing something when you’re not certain if you’ll enjoy it can be scary, especially if you get to choose modules in first year where you don’t have the foundation of the first year modules to help you make your choice. For second and third years it can be overwhelming to consider what you enjoyed, excelled at, which lecturers will take the modules, and what modules your friends are taking. That being said, whether you’re first year or third year, here are some things to consider when picking your modules. 

1. First of all, consider what you enjoy! I think this is the most important thing when it comes to choosing modules. Do you have a burning desire to do a specific module or a special interest in a certain area? See if there’s a module you can take that aligns with your interests. Why wouldn’t you want to do a whole module on Shakespeare if you love his plays? 
2. Secondly, consider whether you might want to take a module outside the School of English. Doing this isn’t for everyone but it can be interesting to see what other modules are available to you. Perhaps something will spark your interest! 
3. Also look at what types of assessments the modules have. For some people this won’t matter but others prefer essays to exams or vice versa.  
4. Lastly, I would recommend considering what you’re good at. This is not the first thing to consider because you don’t want to be stuck with a module you find boring purely because you’re good at it; however, if it comes to it and you need to pick another module, it can be nice to have one you know you’ll do well at. 

Hopefully this advice will help you as you choose which modules to pick and whatever happens, don’t worry too much as you can always change your modules in the Module Enrolment Change of Mind Period at the start of each semester. Don’t forget to reconsider all these things should you decide to do that! So go forth, pick your modules, and most importantly: enjoy them! 

– Elinor Eaglestone 

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Think about the size of your local duck pond, then multiply it by a thousand. That’s probably half the size of the University of Nottingham’s on-campus lake, and half the ducks. Other universities would struggle to provide such a scenic trip for visiting family members but there’s room for everyone on the 121-acre expanse of Highfields Park. Summer brings an affordable boat-hiring service to the lake, which is a fantastic way to get to know new friends. You can never be short of conversation when drifting past the many mysterious islands, whose resident birds include herons and cranes. Boating is also a lovely date – signing the hire form is a great time to say “Just like a marriage contract, ha ha.”

The quieter end of the lake extends into a wooded area, with water passing under a stone bridge. Standing on this bridge for a while is never a bad use of time and you might spot the odd heron along the bank. The difference between them extending their strange necks and keeping them secretively tucked in is incredible, as seen in the two pictures:

For introverted folk, it is entirely possible to arrange your schedule so that you interact with more squirrels than students. The devious creatures can be found all across campus; groups like to converge under oak trees on quiet mornings. No one knows what they talk about, but they seem busy. Equally passionate about acorns are the jays. Their quaint brown and blue plumage make them easy to spot as they hop about in the grass, and you can never unsee the black moustache once you’ve noticed it.

Access to nature is also prevalent throughout the city, providing great day trips which are helped by the free hopper buses out of the university and the cheap and efficient tram network, with a station next to Highfields Park. Night strolls are just as easy to plan. The beautifully imposing Wollaton Hall (used as Wayne Manor in Batman) is within two miles of the University, and its gates are open till 8:30pm. Certain benches offer an unobstructed view of the stars on a dark winter evening – just don’t be surprised if a deer races past!

– Lauren Isherwood

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A PhD researcher’s life is certainly varied! 2022 has been an enjoyable, successful, and productive year and I have enjoyed working with many different people. The following is a selection of highlights from this year’s research journey.

Much of my main research has involved collecting, writing, and editing the place-name survey for the Isle of Axholme. It has been fascinating putting together an analysis of early place-names, helping to visualise the landscape and the activities taking place there before major 17th-century drainage works. A wealth of significant information can be gleaned about the Axholme landscape from these early names, with many disappearing from the landscape completely in modern times.

Alongside my main research I have been actively engaged on my placement at North Lincolnshire Museum (funded by Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership). This involved co-designing and developing the Isle of Axholme exhibition which opened in March 2022 and ran until October 2022. The placement provided a valuable opportunity to share some of my research findings with the local community, combining this with gaining experience within a heritage environment. Highlights included writing a chapter about Vikings in Axholme, creating the complementary website of place-name related material, designing the lively engagement programme of six monthly lectures/writing workshops on Axholme themes, and organising the Viking contribution to the Living History Family Fun Day.

To date the website https://lnkd.in/dNE7Y83U has successfully engaged the public, both locally and internationally, and provided a legacy for the exhibition, material including a clickable map of place-names, related historical information, links to recorded talks, and downloadable educational resources (currently 1,425 visitors and 288 downloads of educational material). Additionally, at the Living History Family Fun Day I gave my first ever impromptu radio interview with BBC Radio Humberside; the day itself attracted over 800 visitors, making it the best attended Fun Day at the Museum since 2007 and contributing to raising the profile of the museum locally and re-engaging with audiences post-Covid.

During the year I have also presented several talks at various locations, including the North Lincolnshire Museum, Lincoln Records Society, International Medieval Congress in Leeds, Manorial Documents Register Conference 2022 (co-hosted by The National Archives and the University of Nottingham’s Manuscripts and Special Collections), Owston Ferry Heritage Society, and the Institute for Name Studies at the University of Nottingham.

I am very much looking forward to submitting and defending my thesis during 2023. In the meantime I am celebrating the journey so far, whilst considering further research and community projects for the future!

– Kathryn Bullen

This blog was originally posted on Kathryn’s LinkedIn account. You can view the original here.

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As we approach the end of the Autumn semester and many of us head home for Christmas, there is time to reflect. As someone who found it hard to settle into my first year at University, I remember how difficult it can be to go back home and adapt to the shift in routine after such an intense term.

Normalising the tiring and challenging lifestyle at university is extremely important and many people I know shared the experience of feeling exhausted and overwhelmed at this time of the first semester. Especially in first year after meeting so many new people and exploring new places, it is normal to still feel quite unsettled. I remember feeling excited to go home, but also sad to be apart from my new friends and apprehensive that returning in January would be like starting all over again. While sharing your feelings with your new friends may feel uncomfortable, it is often a gateway to the realisation that everyone is in the same boat, and you can all support each other.

Going home can bring lots of positives; family reunions, home comforts and a break from the non-stop nature of Nottingham life. However, this switch of routines and distance from friends can also feel strange. It can be easy to compare your university experiences to those of friends from home and feel like you’re living a kind of double life. Getting the balance between taking time to relax and keeping some structure of routine is tricky, but I would recommend trying to appreciate your time at home while also keeping in touch with uni friends no matter how spread out you may be. It is also helpful to co-ordinate when you’ll all return back to uni so this experience is less daunting. Inevitably you’ll have some assessments to work on over this period too, but from personal experience if you plan ahead, they’re not too bad!

If you feel particularly overwhelmed and are struggling to cope, the University counselling service is welcoming to anyone and is well equipped to listen and help with any concerns. The peer mentoring scheme is also a great way to talk to someone doing the same degree and who can relate to your university experiences. Having made use of these resources in my first year, I would highly recommend both for relieving any anxieties you have and making Uni life easier.

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/counselling/

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/current/peer-mentoring.aspx

– Heather Millar

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I do have to say that this is something even as a third-year student I have not perfected! The task of finding the time to work hard and put effort into your degree as well as enjoying the social aspect of university can be tricky…

But do not fear, I think that it is do-able!

The first piece of advice I would give is to remember that finding your feet in the university world does take time and finding and striking the right balance between studying and enjoying spending time with your flatmates and getting involved with societies and their socials can be a little bit overwhelming sometimes. But the thing to remember is that everyone will be feeling this way. It is completely natural to get stuff wrong and to perhaps prioritise a society social over reading an article for your lecture the next day. I admit I have done this, and I think that  choosing to go to a social event or to meet up with friends is perfectly fine and is a healthy thing to do.

Do not pile huge amounts of pressure on yourself to have perfected a work-life balance in first year. I think that first year is about exploring and growing both your studies and social life, but it can be difficult…

So, I have a few helpful tips to share!

Studies

I think having the right mindset towards your studies helps with getting this balance between studies and socialising. I would say give everything a good go on your course. I think that the more you go to your seminars and lectures, your understanding and interest in your degree will deepen and new areas of your degree will be revealed. In my opinion first year is a time when you are able to explore and experiment with your degree. The university’s School of English department offers a variety of different areas, such as Old/Middle English modules, Drama modules, Language and linguistics and literature modules!

Socialising

It is so important you find time to relax and have fun whilst you are at university. I find that knowing I have a social event in the evening motivates me and keeps me going during the day when I am focused on reading and writing.

I would highly recommend if you were feeling weighed down by a certain tricky module and/ or reading, to organise to do something fun and light with your friends or go to a society that you like social event. It is so important that you do things you enjoy which are outside of you degree, they really give your mind a rest and instantly boost your mood!

The thing key tip I think to getting a healthy balance between your studies and socials is organisation and time management.

Helpful tips for you to use to strike that balance

1. Speak with and keep informed your personal tutor: If you feel you are struggling generally with managing your studies and social life your personal tutor is a great resource and a friendly face and voice. They can also signpost you to help that is available and other sources of advice and support.
2. Make a weekly timetable: Before the beginning of the new week sit down and write a weekly timetable. Grab yourself two different colour pens (one for studies and one for your socials/socialising). Firstly, fill in you compulsory study hours and then jot down any socials you have that week in the other coloured pen. I find this a great time management tool as it visually allows you to see what is happening during the week. Moreover, the two different colours on the page allows you to see how you are spending your time during the week, helping strike that balance!
3. Try to attend all of your lectures and seminars.
4. You can say no to stuff: You have a choice whether to say yes or no to going out. But do not be peer pressured into going out, go if you want to!
5. Don’t punish yourself: Make sure that you give yourself time to relax and unwind, do not be harsh on yourself it is important that you give yourself respite from your academic work. No one has the perfect balance between work and life, so cut yourself some slack.
6. Have faith in yourself: You are far more adaptable and capable than you think, you will realise this at university!

I really hope that my advice helps you. All that is left to say is good luck and I hope you enjoy university (both the studying and the socialising!)

– Sophie Bryer

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I always find it difficult to get back into studying after a substantial time of relaxation. As an English Literature student, it can also be hard to read multiple books for seminars on top of attending lectures and making notes. New students would typically prefer to make new friends, go to parties, and focus on settling into university rather than cramming hundreds of paragraphs into their memory.

It is possible to combine such priorities with work, however. Instead of going on a simple coffee date, why not turn it into a study session where you and your classmates can sip on iced lattes and work at the same time? You could even drag your laptop around different cafés if you fancied a cake from Birds or a meal from Wetherspoons. Reward yourself with a bite when you complete a chapter. Being surrounded by other students working may also motivate you to work too; avoiding tasks is easy when home alone with Netflix flashing on the TV screen.

As a fellow student, I admit procrastination is extremely tempting. There are times where I have scrolled on my phone for hours whilst a half-finished essay sits next to me. Yet even just researching an essay is an achievement – just the smallest of efforts counts. It is much harder to start a task than to continue it and so just beginning research makes it easier to resume the task. Don’t force yourself to work for hours but take a break when you lose focus. Time the break so that you don’t fall into the arms of procrastination.

Whilst it feels like defeat if you procrastinate, believe me: procrastination is never failure. Every student succumbs to it. The tips that I have provided should, however, help you to procrastinate less.

– Bethan Beddow

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I have never lived in student accommodation; I never lived in halls, with other students, or stayed anywhere near campus. Instead, I went for the cheaper option of staying at home and commuting an hour every day for university. Blessed with hindsight, I can see that it was the less stressful option given how the pandemic affected every aspect of student life.

But still, I’m left wondering one thing: would I be a happier person if I’d moved away? I do firmly believe that it is better to live a life of consequence than one of not, so taking the safe option and living with my parents for two academic years was unusual for me, and once I had decided to continue living with them throughout university, there was little I could do to change it. Unlike some others I know, who did move away from home and then stayed with their parents when the mood struck them, I was stuck. Indeed, I had no bills to pay, very little board, and the security of a constant supply of food and I will forever be grateful for this; I lived a student life of privilege that not many people got.

Simultaneously, I watched others make friends with their roommates, I watched them get the freedom that living with parents just doesn’t allow, I watched them grow and experience new things that I, still tucked away in my nest at home, never had. I have to wonder what matters more to me, and the more I think about it, the more indecisive I am. What really does matter more, financial security or unrestricted freedom? If I had moved away, would I be as miserable about my money as I always was about the experiences I was missing out on? And honestly, if not for the pandemic and restrictions, would I only feel worse?

I saw my friends and older siblings move away and have the time of their lives throughout the semesters, while others seemed to regret all their decisions. There is no advice that will apply to everyone. There is no solution that will make everything perfect. There is only the question that we must ask ourselves when making such a decision: what matters more to me? Once we think we know the answer, we can only hope we were right.

– Liam Pearce

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The academic jump between A-levels and University can be really intimidating, especially when you’re expected to start researching and citing more for your essays. Don’t stress out about it just yet! Your tutor and professors will be willing to support you with the transition, and this article is going to cover some helpful resources to get you started.

Image source: Noémi Macavei-Katócz on Unsplash

When you’re researching and building up your ideas for an essay, the best place to start is NUSearch. NUSearch is an online resource that acts as a search engine: type in what topic you want to research or an essay/book you’re looking for. You might have to think about different ways to word specific topics so that you can find exactly what you want. However, the filter options can help you to narrow it down to specific areas like humanities and types of media (e.g articles, books). A lot of resources are accessible online, but you can also find library references if you need the physical copy and request books if they are in a different library on one of the campuses. If the University still doesn’t have it then you can request interlibrary loans! You can access other resources, by logging into sites through Sibboleth, like: JStor, VLEBooks and some books from CambridgeCore.

Image source: University of Nottingham image bank

If you’re struggling on where to start your research then you can look at the reading list for the module you’re working on. You can also check to see if there is recommended secondary reading. For example: if I were were writing my essay on The Portrait of Dorian Grey for the Studying Literature module, I would refer to that week in Moodle and see what secondary reading might have been recommended. I could then also look at the references list and try to find those essays to further my reading. If you can’t find anything then ask a professor on the module for help during their office hours. They can point you towards some recommended reading. You can also reach out to the Academic Skills team: you can find information about them in the English UG Community Hub on Moodle. You’ll also be able to find the Academic Handbook there to help you with referencing.

First year is a year to practice all of this and ease into university, so don’t be too harsh on yourself. Good luck!

– Anna Short

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The skills and disciplines you gain from an English degree are extremely wide-ranging, which can make deciding which career path to follow difficult. Until around the halfway point of my degree I, like many others, was unsure of what career path I wanted to pursue.

Although I enjoyed all the modules I had taken on the English course, my favourite was the ‘Language in Society’ module. This consisted of teaching covering Professional Communication and Advertising Discourse and essentially focused on the power of language on people. I was fascinated by the linguistic and visual creativity involved in the work produced within the Marketing and Advertising industry and was keen to learn more and gain experience in this field.

The Careers and Employability Service at UON is second to none, offering an incredible variety of schemes and opportunities to help students gain industry experience. One of these schemes includes the Nottingham Internship Scheme (NIS), which provides work experience opportunities exclusively for UON students and graduates. After speaking with a careers advisor, they recommended that I applied for some of the great Marketing internship opportunities available.

My application was successful and landed me a role as Marketing Executive at webdna, which is a design, development and marketing agency located in Nottingham. Although I was anxious to start my first office job, I was looking forward to gaining real-life experience and meeting professionals in the industry.

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship at webdna, as I was given the independence to complete tasks using my initiative and was pushed out of my comfort zone. Throughout the 8-week internship, I wrote content for clients, including writing and creating email marketing campaigns with over 17,000 recipients. I also analysed and responded to website statistics from clients’ websites and social media platforms and conducted competitor analysis and market research which was extremely interesting and skill-enhancing.

At the end of my internship, I was offered a role as a part-time Junior SEO Manager, which I currently balance alongside my English degree. The experience I have gained and continue to develop in my current position has not only cemented my interest in Marketing but has also prepared me for entering the workplace post-graduation.

I would strongly recommend any English student to undertake an internship offered through the Nottingham Internship scheme. Not only are there a wide variety of internships available for a broad range of industries, but nearly all are located in and around Nottingham. The experience you gain is invaluable and helps enhance your CV, making you extremely employable once you graduate. The rewards and benefits really are endless!

– Hannah Lowe

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At the end of August and beginning of September, I was asked to be part of a group funded by the European Union’s Erasmus + programme sent to Bulgaria to study Bulgarian heritage and culture; the particular focus of this placement was the conservation of historic buildings and archaeological monuments. The programme included first-hand experience and observation, reflecting on and discussing the particular challenges faced in sustaining heritage in Bulgaria over the 20th and 21st centuries, learning from various responses to those challenges, encompassing the successes and the downsides. The evidence of Bulgaria’s recent past abruptly juxtaposed to its deep past was a dominant impression. 

1. 4th century Rotunda of Sveti Georgi within the Presidency and the Roman walls of Serdica underneath the former Bulgarian Communist Party House, Sofia. 

Although much of the placement was conducted in English, I relished the chance to be immersed in Bulgarian language and Cyrillic script, armed with numerous dictionaries and language books, much to the amusement of the rest of my group. I had not visited Bulgaria before, although I have studied Ancient Near Eastern languages in the past – I found, then, a real fascination in places of language and cultural contact between east and west (Indo-European and Semitic families).  

Bulgaria has a phenomenally long and varied past. (The number of UNESCO World Heritage sites we visited was notable.) Highlights include what is thought to be the world’s oldest worked gold from the Varna necropolis c.mid-5thmillennium BC, and the emergence of the Thracian civilization, who by the 1st millennium BC feature significantly in Homer, Herodotus and Roman commentators. The valley containing their monumental tombs is remarkable, both for the standing archaeology of the burial mounds and for the dramatic Balkans, mountain topography – something which is relevant to my own PhD research at Nottingham. Bulgaria was the focus of much activity in the history of early Christianity. Various people in the group, including myself, work closely with historic churches in Britain, so it was extremely helpful to see so many historic monasteries and churches within the Bulgarian Patriarchate, ranging from the site of the council of the early church fathers in Serdica (now underground in a shopping mall and metro station!), the frescoes in rock-cut caves high above the Rusenski Lom or the early church at Boyana, to the equally dramatic, but far more recently rebuilt monastery at Rila. 

2. From L to R: Varna gold jewellery; the cave monastery of St Michael, Ivanovo; Thracian tomb

 3. From L to R: Thracian helmet; gold mask (possibly Teres I?); Thracian burial mound and the Balkans

4. Rila monastery, frescoes 

4. Rila monastery, mountainous settings 

Topography, history and language stood out for me. Observing how settlements evolved identity relative to their geographical surroundings is part of my ongoing research and I love a topographically constrained site: Tsarevets, the 12th century capital of Bulgaria, surrounded by the looping gorges of the Yantra, was a particular favourite. Without doubt, I am incredibly grateful for the chance to see, think about and learn from such a range of topics and people in Bulgaria. 

5. Tsarevets: Veliko Tarnovo 

– Abigail Lloyd, Midlands4Cities-funded PhD student, working on hill place-names and settlement

(For more pictures see Twitter @Abi_on_a_hill) 

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When I started at Nottingham, I immediately searched for what societies I could join here. The
pandemic was affecting all aspects of life, including the possibility of the University hosting
in-person lectures and events. Therefore, I knew that my best hope in making friends would be
through joining societies, and I was right! I originally joined a handful, relating predominantly to
my course and other interests, however the one I have stuck with throughout the entirety of my
time here has been my participation in Nottingham’s Impact Magazine.

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

I had written articles for online blogs before, and as an English student who enjoyed writing and
editing it seemed like an obvious choice, however I had no idea just how enjoyable joining the
magazine would be! Alongside gaining the invaluable experience of writing and editing articles
in a more formal manner than I had previously, I have been able to meet a wealth of incredible,
talented people who I am now lucky enough to call friends. From attending weekly meetings to
Media Zone Pub Crawls, my time as part of Impact has been one of the most rewarding part’s of
my time at University. After contributing articles in my first year, I then progressed to the role of
‘Campus News Editor’ in my second year, and am now about to start my role as ‘External
Manager’ for my third and final year here at Nottingham. The knowledge and skills I gained
within these roles have been valuable in my applications to various jobs and volunteering roles,
and have already enabled me to progress further in my writing and editing career than I ever
envisioned when I started at Nottingham.

There really is a society for everyone, related to your course or not, and I would recommend it to
anyone!

– India Marriott

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In-between completing mountains of UCAS applications, shopping for an extensive list of household items that your parents insist you ‘need,’ and signing up for university group chats, the beginning of university life can be both exciting and stressful.

Hopefully, this blog entry will help to convert these worries into hope for the new opportunities that moving to university can bring.

New Surroundings

Without a doubt, change can be overwhelming. From my own experience, it is totally okay to be confused at first. So many other students will be in the same position when trying to work out new aspects of your life that will soon become part of your daily routine, such as learning how to use the trams to get into the town center or exploring the different facilities on campus.

The University of Nottingham has a great student services facility that is easy to contact to help with student enquiries. I personally appreciated the buddy system that the university arranged, where I was paired up with a second-year student who was always available for me to contact with any questions about university life. Through my buddies’ recommendations, I discovered one of my favourite cafés in Nottingham called AvoCafe and still visit with my friends today!

With society fairs and partnered events with companies from around Nottingham, the university works hard to welcome students so that they can feel comfortable exploring. I particularly liked the different activities that were put on during the first couple of weeks so that the new students could sign up to meet each other. I attended one of Crisis’ sit-down sessions and from this met my closest friends at university who I currently live with in second year! There are many opportunities like this at the beginning of term so sign up and have fun!

Nottingham Sunset Road – Free photo on Pixabay

The Work Load

It is important to remember that everybody is different, meaning that we will all adjust to change at different rates. The jump from A-Levels to a degree sounds extremely daunting, however the University of Nottingham allows time for students to adjust to the higher level of work because first year results do not contribute to the final year mark. This was a huge relief for me as I felt as though I could get used to the teaching styles of my lecturers and trial writing degree level essays, allowing me to understand where I was lacking without it affecting my final grade.

If you feel that this transition is taking longer than your peers, that is SO okay. Remember, your tutors and lecturers are there to support you. Students get assigned personal tutors who arrange frequent meetings so that they can get to know you and help with any apprehension you may feel about the content of your course. There is always an option to book in for office hours with any of the tutors on your course, so there is always a friendly face available if you need any help.

Photo by AltumCode on Unsplash

Again, taking the big leap to move to university can be extremely overwhelming. This is your opportunity to learn more about yourself and to gain some independence. Remember, making mistakes is expected! I look back on this time as some of my fondest memories of university so far, so enjoy the freedom, embrace every opportunity thrown at you and most importantly have fun!

– Roisin Teeling

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As someone who loved English Literature A’ Level, I couldn’t wait to get started on my English BA degree at the University of Nottingham back in 2018. There was just one small thing niggling at the back of my mind. While all the other universities that I’d applied to were for an “English Literature” course, the one I had chosen at Nottingham was just “English”. I loved the fact that this meant I could pursue my passions for Creative Writing, but wasn’t sure what to expect from this mysterious “Language and Context” module that we were also required to take. A few minutes leafing through the textbook that we’d been asked to get and I was even less convinced, seeing diagrams of the mouth and the brain felt like a flashback to the science subjects I’d happily dropped after year 11. Combined with this was the fact that my school never offered English Language for A’ Level. I’d accepted their excuse that English Literature was the more important one, and assumed English Language simply involved writing summaries like in the comprehension paper we sat for GCSE.

How wrong I was. It only took a couple of weeks and I was gushing to my parents on the phone about how interesting the Language and Context lectures had been. I have vivid memories of Kevin Harvey teaching us about how forensic linguistics has been used to solve murder cases and bring killers to justice, Snow by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers being blasted through the lecture theatre to demonstrate phonoaesthetics, and a fascinating lecture on how language is used to gender children’s toys. I’d had absolutely no idea English Language meant any of, and all, these things.

In second year, the year I’d envisaged taking the opportunity to drop Language in favour of Literature, I instead found myself jumping straight for the Language and Society module, which I followed up with Language and Feminism in third year.

Flash forward and three years later, I’m 2/3 of the way through my English Studies Masters. Half of my modules will have been in English Language and I’m about to embark on a Linguistics dissertation. The aspect that made me doubt the University of Nottingham course I’ve now realised, is one of the biggest selling points of the course, and one of the reasons I’m so glad I picked it. Moral of the story: don’t let your preconceptions of topics put you off. The topic you’re not sure about might well end up being the one you enjoy most!

– Gabrielle Cracknell, English Studies MA student

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We all know that handful of people who breeze through revision and coursework deadlines. But for most of us, getting through exams, coursework, and group projects can be exceptionally stressful. Below, I have put together my top four tips for coping with and conquering exam stress!

FIND WHERE YOU WORK BEST

Finding the perfect place to work is the most difficult part of this process in my opinion. It often goes unnoticed that the environment we are in when we work immensely impacts our productivity. No one place will be perfect for everyone! A friend of mine finds that she is most productive sat on the narrow staircase of her house which is the polar opposite to where I am most productive: a really quiet and bright library. Be it a busy café, on the floor of your room, sat on a bench in the Downs, or in one of UoN’s libraries, a good place to work is the first step in coping with exam stress and being productive.

ORGANISE, ORGANISE, ORGANISE

It is so tempting to procrastinate and to leave all your work to the last minute especially when the sun is shining and work is the last thing you want to do. My biggest tip is that organising your time, creating a work schedule, and keeping on top of lectures and extra readings from the very start of the academic year will immensely reduce exam stress. I know organisation does not come naturally to everyone, but even making small to-do lists or using a planner can make such a big difference. You’ll be surprised how much more confident you feel when you get to the exam period if you have an organised work routine!

REST AND REWARD

Taking breaks in between study sessions is crucial to good productivity  and long-lasting focus. You could go for a walk for fresh air, make a quick snack or cup of coffee, stretch your muscles or chat to friends.

The Pomodoro technique is very popular and efficient! Set an alarm for 25 minutes, start working, and then rest for 5 minutes. You can repeat this process 4-6 times and then have a longer break or even grab some food.

After you feel you have done enough work for the day then a good way to stay motivated to continue studying tomorrow is to reward yourself. You could binge-watch your favourite TV show, go to the gym, nap, get your favourite sweet snack, or go out for a drink with friends. Giving yourself time to relax and enjoy your time will keep yourself motivated and feeling positive about your next study session!

CONFIDE IN SOMEONE

When I’m feeling most stressed, my instinct is to keep it inside and not tell anyone—I don’t want people to know that I am struggling. But reaching out to family or friends about how overwhelmed I felt, how I thought I was going to fail or not get the work done in time was so helpful. Even just explaining how you feel or what you’re actually stressed about to someone can be incredibly relieving and clears your mind.

UoN has a great support system in place for students who are struggling with exam stress (https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/currentstudents/healthyu/mental-health/bodymind.aspx ) with access to wellbeing apps and services such as Togetherall, which I used. This is a 24-hour service where you can post your thoughts and feelings anonymously on their website, write in a personal online journal, keep goals and a tracker for them, read and understand your feelings and how to deal with them, and post on their clinically managed message walls and receive advice.

These are only four ways to help survive exam stress, but try and find what works best for you. Remember that what your friends do may be the opposite of what you need. Good luck!

Venetia Laczko-Schroeder

(All images license free via unsplash.com)

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English degrees don’t outline a select career path. We’ve all heard the jokes with that central gist, that the only thing to do with an English degree is to become a teacher (no shade implied; I have nothing but respect for the profession!). Of course, there are plenty of other jobs available to us too. Some of us have post-university employment plans – but perhaps, most of us don’t.

Considering careers is a daunting enough task for any young person barely sure of their footing in the world, but in the midst of a pandemic, the difficulty of future planning gains an entirely new dimension. Time has become shapeless and stagnant and yet every day it rushes by us, this bewildering and weighty thing that carries with itself expectations that feel impossible to meet, pressures to still be functioning like you were in the great Before to be prepared for the inevitable After.

And it is true. The world isn’t frozen forever; seeds planted today are what grow in the future… but there isn’t just one sowing season. Future-you deserves your best efforts now, and current-you deserves recognition that sometimes, your best effort is getting through the day.

Everything you ever achieve, in all of your life, is only possible because you made it through all days up to that point. Of course, you have to put in work to achieve goals. But even if all you achieve in a day is not dying, it’s not nothing – it’s integral to anything you ever manage again, every good grade, the dream job, the life you want.

Sometimes the furthest forward I can manage to plan is what’s for breakfast the next morning.

You need to do whatever you can right now for your employment prospects, like attending online career events, or speaking to any of the excellent people from the Careers and Employability Service for guidance. Just remember, one step in the right direction is closer than you were before.

You owe yourself compassion. Take a deep breath; in the lovely, optimistic words of The Killers, ‘Everything will be alright.’

Rajdeep Nagra is a Classics and English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credit: Estee Janssens

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Three modules, three assessments, all due on the same day. The Autumn term ended, and students dispersed for the upcoming Christmas season. I work as hard as I could in between the festivities we were allowed to have among the current climate. I took a break for Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and let’s be real, a few days after that. Suddenly, it’s the first of January and my assessments were due in less than two weeks.

Panic ensued. I buckled down and focused completely on putting the finishing touches on each nearly completed assessment. A couple of days later, something wasn’t quite right. I’d begun coughing, I spiked a fever, and I felt totally drained of energy. A week away from submitting my assessments and I was getting sick. I couldn’t believe it. I told myself I could fight through it, that I had to fight through it, and finish.

The first day I literally couldn’t get out of bed, I knew the worst was true. I knew I had come down with COVID. I ordered a test, and anxiously waited two days to get my results back, all the while feeling sicker and sicker. It came back as expected. I now had only a few days left to get my assessments submitted on time.

I knew there were grace periods offered, but I had worked so hard and come so far, I was determined to submit each assessment on time. I took each short moment of clarity I was allowed, and I worked. I typed for five minutes and then rested. I read over my work for ten minutes and then rested. The day before my assessments were due, I logged onto Moodle. I went into each module in turn and hit the submit button.

As I sat back, resting, after finally completing my assessments I breathed a sigh of relief. I would’ve felt relieved in turning them in no matter what but having fought through the fog of Covid to finish and submit my assessments I was even more proud of my accomplishments. Being a Master’s student is tough in any circumstance, but it is even harder in the current climate, especially when you find yourself fighting Covid in the time of assessments.

Amanda Baker is a Creative Writing MA Student at the University of Nottingham.

If you are a student who is struggling to meet assessment deadlines, please contact your personal tutor or the Student Support and Wellbeing Officers for support. Click here for more information about student support.

Image credit: Kelly Sikkema

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As the new year unfolds, to ‘read more’ is undoubtedly many of our new year’s resolution, mine included. However, for us English students this goal becomes far greater since we aim to read more content not related to our course. My personal challenge of this year being to read more works by BAME authors.

Having found my first novel of the year in a Facebook group of all places, “Chinglish” (Winner of the YA Diverse Book Award (2020)) is a witty, ‘entirely true’ story about the life of a young girl named Jo Kwan in the late 1980s. Written in a style reminiscent to Kinney’s ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’, Jo whizzes through her crazy life (a goat explodes, I am not sure it can get crazier than that) living in a Chinese takeaway in the Midlands.

Going on to delve into heavier topics of racism and domestic violence, Chinglish inhabits a new take to the YA genre that ought to be noticed. Ideas of immigrant and ‘dual’ identities, cultural differences and micro-aggressions that even the most prolific of writers often fail to discuss. Cheung manages to capture the authenticity and seriousness of these issues that ethnic-minority communities face even in the modern day.

As someone that resonated with the character’s discussion of the British-Chinese identity, it was both a book that was at times relatable and nostalgic. It was heart-warming to be able to see such representation in the literary sphere that I would only have dreamed of as a child (and that is not me disrespecting Jacqueline Wilson). Whilst it may seem trivial and belittling for us to revert to a work that positions itself in the children’s literature realm, the simplicity of its address is what makes it successful. Thus, neglecting such a piece would be unfortunate since it strives to promote the diversity of works that are helping to shape the readership of upcoming generations.

I will admit that I struggle to read books for my own leisure, but as an easy-read that delves into friendships, family and culture I found it to be a great story. Fused with humour and intermingled with engaging illustrations, Chinglish is a book that should not be disregarded even if you are not Chinese or Asian. It is capable of offering so much more than a child’s narrative and so I encourage anyone to spare some time in giving a piece like this a chance.

I intend to read other works by BAME authors such as Kiley Reid’s ‘Such a Fun Age’, Souvankham Thammavongsa’s ‘How to Pronounce Knife’ and Paul Mendez’s ‘Rainbow Milk’ this year.

Trigger Warning: the novel deals with topics such as bullying, domestic abuse, animal abuse and racism. Please read with caution.

Ivy Chan is an English Language and Literature student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credit: Ivy Chan

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This Christmas, I was gifted Cecelia Ahern’s One Hundred Names from a family member – with their flawed logic being that if I like the Bridget Jones movies, then romance fiction should be right up my street. But when I accidentally packed it to bring back to Uni alongside all my other books, giving it a read seemed like the perfect way to avoid essay writing.

And I was right: while definitely not my usual genre, One Hundred Names was enticing from the start, but it had no right to be so. The main character, Kitty, was overwhelmingly pathetic and self-pitying after being ostracised for falsely accusing a man on live television of sexual assaulting two young girls, and the other characters weren’t much better. With a focus on normal people and their mundane lives, it’s initially hard to see what is appealing about this novel.

Despite all this, the novel’s opening themes struck me. With what feels like an eternity of news solely consisting of death and tragedy, I am not alone in feeling somewhat desensitised to the suffering that is happening on a global scale as I write this review. However, One Hundred Names specifically calls out this type of journalism: what is a story without heart? Kitty’s mentor Constance teaches her the importance of individual expressions and the idea that every story is worth telling from every person’s perspective. With the death of Constance coming soon after, Kitty vows to carry out her dying wish – to write a story about a hundred unconnected, ordinary individuals. Her disappointment that each person she interviews is sadly normal and boring is underpinned by Ahern giving each of them their own brief narrative perspective.

One Hundred Names is a novel about the human connections and acts of kindness between strangers – after living alone for the last month due to lockdown, this novel was a beautiful and much needed reminder of the goodness of people coming together. Although chick lit and romance has never been on my radar before now, Cecelia Ahern has opened my eyes to a new guilty pleasure.

Wesley Devoe is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credit: Aaron Burden

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Dark Wonders is a set of three linked dystopian short stories from Nottingham-based writer Joshua Helmer. Comparisons to Black Mirror are easy to make, as the three stories involve a dark insight into a near future in which different forms of technology have an impact on humans and the world. However, underneath this genre similarity, Helmer’s stories stand out in their own right.

The first story is ‘Boxx’, in which a travelling salesman, cynical and numb to the world, is tasked with selling a new device (the titular Boxx) along with the company’s usual inventory of fire safety equipment. The Boxx simulates the experience of being in a fire and carries the risk of potential addiction if misused.

Next, is ‘The Rig.’ Heavily influenced by the 2019 UK General Election, it addresses the lies and false promises inherent in our political system. The technology used to highlight this is the Verifier, a system that gives a score out of 100 to verify the truth of politician statements in television debates.

The final story is ‘Osea Island’, in which the protagonist Sonja receives a package from her recently deceased friend about a device, invented to help control seal behaviour, that may well have been adapted for a more nefarious use.

The stories shine a stark light on how humans and technology interact with each other, particularly highlighting how the human capacity for producing new technology can often overtake our capacity to cope with the changes it brings. These three original concepts are explored intelligently by Helmer, with lively prose, making Dark Wonders a must-read for any fan of literature, not just of dystopian sci-fi.

Dark Wonders can be purchased on Amazon, as a physical or ebook.

Harry Wilding is a Creative Writing MA student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credit: Joshua Helmer

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‘Coping with normality’ seems like an odd phrase, but it is one that is needed in these unprecedented times as tasks which seemed simple pre-2020 now seem like a challenge. Everybody knows that 2020 was a year like no other, and going into 2021 I do believe that we need to be kinder to ourselves and appreciate that we are in fact getting through these tough times, handling it much better than we think we are!

It is okay to be sad about our lack of social lives, clubbing and honestly the whole isolation associated with the online university experience. This ‘new normal’ has been unexpectedly thrown onto us and I am sure that you are not alone in finding it difficult to cope with. Through this post, I hope to provide some affirmation that you are doing better than you think you are, as well as some tips on how to manage online learning.

Picture this. A scenario which I am sure we have all been in at one point. It’s another day of online learning from your bedroom and you have started out the day by creating a highly ambitious to-do list. Burnt out from the stress of managing coursework, seminars, lectures, extracurricular commitments and online Zoom calls to maintain your friendships, the day comes to an end and the to-do list is not complete. Your first reaction may be guilt, anger or annoyance, being tempted to pull an all-nighter to finish everything. Yet instead, no matter how pressing your deadlines may be, take a moment to reflect on what you have achieved with your day, no matter how big or small that may be. Even the little things; managing to get out of bed, go for a walk, or even attempt some work even if it wasn’t a lot in your eyes. Make sure to have some time for yourself at the end of each day with a clear switch off from work before you go to bed, whether this be through watching a film, YouTube, or reading a book (if you can manage reading anymore whilst doing an English degree!). Establishing a healthy routine is extremely important – even though this may be hard to do, maintaining a distinction between work and life makes a huge impact.

Whilst managing many commitments during university is hard in normal times, the looming presence of a worldwide pandemic undoubtedly makes this harder, therefore adjusting to these times and ‘coping with normality’ (completing tasks such as coursework which seemed simpler to do and manage before 2020) is a collective experience which students across the world are experiencing. You are not alone. Looking after your mental health is extremely important; being kind to yourself and seeking help from the University if you need it is essential. But just remember – you’ve got through one semester already and with a positive mindset and a healthy routine, online learning during ‘the new normal’ will be a challenge which you will overcome.

Amrit Virdi is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credit: Yuriy Kovalev

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that an individual, experiencing the third lockdown of the year, must make the most of it, Right? I disagree. Whilst it appears that everyone according to your Instagram is learning new skills, getting ALL their university work done and maintaining a strict home workout schedule, I can state this is not realistic nor the ideal.

If we are speaking specifically as English students, there seems even more pressure and judgement to be reading the entire works of classical authors alongside all of our degree work. We are expected to read and write like Jane Austen when in reality most of us are, instead, binge-watching Bridgerton in 24hours (not speaking from my own experience of course…). Before I out my lockdown pursuits any further I want to make it clear that to be your best self, both academically and mentally, you need balance. A pandemic is not the time to be judged on your productivity but rather a stressful time which ensures you to need to take a break every so often. As deadlines for coursework and exams are around the corner, it is even more crucial that we try not to drown ourselves in essay writing. This can seem difficult when you feel like everyone around you is constantly being productive.

Recently, feeling frequently condemned by my driven flatmates, I casually brought up work ethics and, to my surprise, realised how similarly we all felt. All of us perceived each other to be constantly working and realised we had negatively created a cycle of toxic productivity. A cycle which was driven by the need to appear constantly busy. Social media acts as a wider version of this also, with influencer culture suggesting we must all be billionaires by twenty-five. I provide here a voice of reason. Don’t let your university friends or social media dictate you into thinking you need to work 24/7 to obtain a first. It isn’t necessary and, if you allow yourself an afternoon or a few days off, you will likely find yourself not only happier, but producing higher quality work. Productivity is not about doing as much work as possible but working smartly. Through a pandemic this is more important than ever, and I hope everyone allows themselves a break, as gosh don’t we all deserve one?

Jessica Page is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credit: Artem Kovalev

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Few things pack an emotional punch the way Bojack Horseman, the animated TV show about a depressed talking horse, does. When it ended at the beginning of the year, I was looking for something to fill the void; luckily, creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg had written a new short story collection published last year. Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory is a gift to those who want to see his unique style transferred to prose for the first time.

In the opening two-page story, ‘Salted Circus Cashews, Swear to God,’ a first date takes a turn when the man offers the woman a can of cashews which promises that “there certainly isn’t a fake snake wrapped around a spring that will jump out and startle you when you remove the top, if that’s what you were thinking.” The typography starts huge, and the more you read, the more the words shrink into a block of small print, as the can of cashews desperately tries to convince the woman of its innocence. The metaphor being, obviously, that opening a can of cashews is like the woman starting a new relationship, sincere in the hope that there are actually cashews waiting for her, and not snakes. The upsides are plentiful, but she has been tricked before. Will she bother again?

The story is indicative of the mood of much of the book, and Bob-Waksberg’s work as a whole. His stories are stylistically postmodern – irreverent, ironic, self-referential – but yearn far too much for meaning and sincerity to be classified as such. Instead, they exist on a pendulum swing between cynicism and naivety; irony and sincerity; optimism and doubt. It’s an example of what the cool kids are calling metamodernism: a rejection of the nihilism of postmodernism, it aims to restore meaning to a world desperately in need of some.

The stories in Damaged Glory are all about love; or at least, a yearning for connection. Bob-Waksberg experiments with form: stories are told within a poem, some board game rules, and a bullet point list of lies. Underlying it all is an unshakeable melancholy, offset by compellingly creative comedy. In ‘A Most Blessed and Auspicious Occasion’, an engaged couple are forced to decide which absurd and arbitrary wedding traditions to go along with – “‘But Peter, you have to have candles. Otherwise, how will the half-blind love-demon transcribe your names in the Book of Eternal Devotion?’” Some lines seem plucked wholesale from Bojack: “‘I never thought I could be this happy,’ she imagined one day saying to someone.”

Bob-Waksberg wears his heart too much on his sleeve for this collection to be classified as literary fiction: only Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet comes close to matching his wit and earnestness. But he injects his work with an emotional vulnerability and willingness to be sincere that most of those novels lack. Authors like Raphael Bob-Waksberg give irony-saturated audiences permission to believe in things again.

Angus Forshaw is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credit: Penguin Random House

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Mae govannen, mellon nín!*

Without contest, one of the most exciting discoveries in my journey as a language enthusiast was the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien, brought to life in no small part by the native tongues of each of the characters. A philologist, Tolkien delighted in crafting these in great detail, and there are plenty of resources online for anyone with an interest in finding out more about his linguistic work.

This is exactly how I came across a video on constructed languages (conlangs) on YouTube last year. Unexpectedly, but very happily, this video sparked so much excitement in me that I decided to finally take my passion for language seriously and plan a return to studies, many years after completing my first degree. I am now pursuing an MA in Applied English with a focus on Linguistics.

The complex links between culture, identity and self-expression exposed by Tolkien’s stories are a familiar theme for me. The child of a French mother and a Cypriot father, I grew up attending international schools in a country heavily influenced by decades of British colonial rule. I emerged from childhood with French, English and two dialects of Greek firmly rooted in my mind, and an enduring interest in what makes a language a native tongue.

If you consider the question of how to tell the difference between native and non-native speakers of a language, chances are high that one of the first things to come up will be accent. While accent is no indication of proficiency in any given language, it is one of the most salient parts of language use and one of the key things we notice when listening to someone speak. Film directors know this, and tap into the expertise of dialect coaches to help their actors embody characters from all kinds of linguistic backgrounds, real or fictional.

This is where the fateful video that encouraged me begin this journey comes in. If you love languages and fantasy literature, you will love it. Dialect coach Erik Singer analyses six conlangs, offering insights on real-world language inspiration, vocabulary, syntax, and of course phonetics and accents. Who knew Parseltongue used pharyngeal fricatives to evoke a snake’s constricting action, or that Ewokese was based on random words from the Mongolic language Kalmyk?

In line with my interests in multilingualism and phonetics, I am currently finishing work on Second Language Acquisition and plan to move on to Old Norse, Runic Inscriptions and Place Names And Language Change next. Until then, I will leave you with slightly adapted wise words from our friend Tolkien: “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, [starting a Master’s degree]. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

*”Well met, my friend!” in the Elvish language Sindarin.

Marie Georghiou is a Masters student studying Applied English at the University of Nottingham. You can find them on Twitter @mariegeorghiou.

Image credit: Petra Šolajová

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At times like these, the urge to escape from the world is greater than ever. This may be through TV, books, games, music… anything that might help someone mentally escape from the reality. And with modern technology, it is all too easy to achieve. You may not even recognise that you are doing it. It’s as simple as listening to music on your way home after a hard day, or using your lunch break to watch a show on your phone. These things are well and good, giving us a way to entertain ourselves. However, it can easily become difficult to distinguish between wanting these escapes and needing them.

Between social distancing and feeling like the world is gradually falling apart, mental health suffers and escapism flourishes. In the need to hide from the harsh realities of the world, we find ourselves drawn into others. And while I am aware of the importance of engaging with different perspectives and relaxing through different forms of entertainment, I also understand how they can take over your own sense of self.

A lot of the time, escapism is a symptom of anxious or depressive behaviour. It can also worsen such issues if the consumer becomes increasingly dependent on the content. While the free-fall into indulgent consumption of escapist behaviour can be exhilarating at first, once you finish the book, or run out of episodes, you will find yourself clinging onto that other world.

With all of this in mind, here are some tips to help understand and control escapist tendencies:

1. Moderation is key

There is a difference between binge-watching a show because you appreciate it and doing so to escape. It depends on your attitude and level of dependency on the content. If you recognise that your time and mental real estate are being occupied by escapist behaviour, acknowledge it and try cutting back. You’ll know then just how reliant you are. Usually, the thing you don’t want to do is what you need the most.

2. Reach out

One of the easiest ways to help moderate yourself is to make plans and keep busy. Whether it’s meeting up with friends, or spending time with family, the people around you will help to ground you back into the real world. And if you struggle to hold yourself accountable, you can ask them to help moderate your behaviour. Even changing your routine and simply putting yourself in a public space can help to reset your mindset.

3. Join the dots

Try tracing any negative emotions or patterns that might have led to a period of escapist behaviour. It could be tied to certain situations or thoughts. Consider when and where you feel more inclined to escape and use that information to inform your behaviour. For example, I find that I tend to escape when I’m particularly stressed or uncertain, which inevitably only makes the problem worse. However, my awareness of this means that I can try taking steps to restrict myself, such as limiting time on Netflix.

4. Find the things in your life that make you feel grateful

If escapism is traced back to escaping from issues with your world, it suggests a negative mindset at its foundation. If that is the case, then try focusing on the things in your life that you are grateful for and use them to anchor you.

5. Don’t beat yourself up for slip ups

You’re still allowed to enjoy the things that you love. The trick is to not overindulge in them to the point where it becomes a form of escapism. Finding a balance is hard and can change over time. But if you find yourself slipping, remember to give yourself a break and focus on the positives around you.

Nina Shasha is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credits: Jason Wong

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Besides (hopefully) gaining an English degree, going to University has taught me so much. From theatre practitioners, the Irish Literary Revival and the works of Alexander Pope, to key poetic techniques and the acquisition of children’s language, my degree’s breadth has equipped me with vital analytical and critical skills. Yet my University education certainly went beyond the page. Beyond the book, even. So far away from academia, and towards self-exploration and character development. Towards developing my empathy, compassion, and patience. University has taught me more than I could have anticipated. To summarise three years’ worth of experience and life lessons into 300 words would be impossible, so take this as the preface of what University life has taught me.

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” – Ernest Hemmingway

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1. Some people, in which I include myself, are incredibly good at suppressing emotions. To know how to present yourself to certain people to avoid questions, confrontations, or awkward interactions. This is not to mean these people aren’t emotional, or that they aren’t suffering with a variety of problems, just that they do well to keep their head above the surface, and smile, so convincingly that you can’t see the frantic feet fighting to keep them afloat. It is sometimes the most confident, the most positive and the most ‘put-together’ of people who might be having a hard time. So, never judge people or pretend to know the entirety of their character or make assumptions about their life before you know your conclusions are true. Because most of the time, they won’t be. Instead work to truly know a person’s character. Be kind, be inquisitive and be interested. Going to University can sometimes bring with it a pressure of meeting as many new people, and making as many new friends, as possible. But the quality of the relationships you make isn’t in their volume, but in the connections you make with individuals.

“Just when you feel you have no time to relax, know that this is the moment you most need to make time to relax.” – Matt Haig

2. You are no use to others if you are not well in yourself. University is a time of constant pressure: pressure to succeed with your studies, pressure to make friends, and even pressure to have fun. But it is vital you have time to stop. To reflect. And to really digest and think about how you are feeling. Allow yourself time alone, if not physically then mentally. It is so important to be connected with your mental health so that you can recognise when things may need to slow down.

“The only mistake you can make is not asking for help.” – Sandeep Jauhar

3. Ask for help. Frequently. Perhaps more so than actually necessary. Use the resources and academics on offer to you and take advantage of people’s emotional and intellectual advice. Asking for help and advice are critical in getting the most out of your University experience. Criticism will propel you forward. Help and encouragement will help to push you further. Do not be too proud to ask for help. No one is ever above asking for help. It may feel stressful, awkward, belittling, or unnecessary, but reaching out to others is so important. Whether it is asking a lecturer to explain something which everyone seems to understand but you, asking a friend to help with a personal problem, or attending counselling to try and solve some deeper routed issues, it is important to recognise problems and address them.

I have learnt more at University than I could have ever imagined. I know that future experiences and opportunities will benefit from what I have learnt. Never stop learning, for when we stop learning, we stop living.

Emily Hall is a third year English student at the University of Nottingham. She’s the Head of Features for Impact Magazine and a Features contributor for Her Campus. You can find her on Instagram @emi1ly_hall.

Image credits: UoN Image Bank [1, 2, 3]

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Becky Cameron is known for sending out emails. In fact, any English student’s emails are most definitely 60% Becky Cameron, which I say with the utmost fondness – especially after the day she organised on the 12th of March 2020.

I always find myself a little sceptical of Mental Health Awareness week. It sometimes feels like an empty attempt to garner favour, with no real intent or care for the students. Not the most positive outlook, I’m aware, but I feel as if the English department really made an effort to make me feel accepted during this week.

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Instead of glossing over the week, Becky Cameron arranged a day of activities in the English Common Room. I went there rather early with only the intent of grabbing a goody bag and escaping quickly (because, really, what better reason to do things than free items?). I managed to nab a Grow Your Own Sunflower in honour of my girlfriend, since it’s her favourite flower, a face mask, and hand lotion. I think a lot of Mental Health Awareness ignores the basic necessity of self-care, which has helped me a lot as I dealt with my mental health.

The simple act of caring for yourself is a form of emotional intimacy. It is having the power to say that you matter. Therefore, I readily enjoyed my little gifts – there were more things there. Pencils, pens, notebooks, Lynx bodywash, stress balls, and nail files. Clearly, a great deal of care had been taken into making sure there was a little something for everyone. Each held the simple message: you’re worth caring for.

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Ready to rush off as soon as I’d filled up a goody bag, I was stopped just before I could leave. Soon enough, I was directed towards the coffee machine by a warm, welcoming voice. There were biscuits and marshmallows available, which I indulged in one or two or six. Feeling more relaxed than before, which I’m sure is the opposite of what coffee is supposed to do, I eased myself in to painting a friend’s nails.

I was also directed towards an Exam Toolkit Booklet, which showcased many strategies for dealing with exam and essay stress. Since I tend to work myself up a lot regarding grades, I had a thorough look at the book, and I can report that it had some rather interesting strategies that I think you should go to the English Common Room to observe.

There were hand massages and a tree filled with people’s ‘Random Acts of Kindness’, but I sadly had to leave before I could complete any other activities. All in all, however, I felt very seen and heard during this period.

Danielle Smith is a second year English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credits: UoN English

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As we turned inward during lockdown, we may have felt more compelled than ever to turn to books to find refuge during these trying times. We turn to devour endless pages with imaginary places of fantasy to a world buzzing with life. A reality of social life which, to us, felt fictional and so far removed from the reality of social distancing. To be tied to the bricks and cement of our homes, feeling like we’re becoming an extension of that same home ourselves. Another brick to the building (now that’s a scary thought!).

Yet we return to our ‘normal’ by turning to the ink of the page to escape our current predicament, or to better understand it. We harbour feelings of grief, loss, hopelessness, loneliness. Feelings that we find time and time again in our books. Or, none of those emotions at all. You might have felt elated at the prospect of self-reflection and the opportunity to spend much needed time with yourself. We all responded differently. But, I think us English students are quite united in one aspect: reading! Whatever it is that we are reading, it does seem to be a kind of escape, or a way to delve deeper into the emotions and problems that we face through the eyes of others. After all, with social distancing, why should we be distanced from things that tie us together? To visual art, to books, to music, to writing. Times where we need these pursuits the most. More now than ever.

But, we will have our weapons (otherwise known as ‘books’..) at the ready, eager for face-to-face contact and bobbing along our heavy heads full of already acquired knowledge during quarantine. Whether that will be going back to Notts, or emerging from your degree after graduation, you will (at least a bit, I hope..) appreciate that time, whatever the ups and downs were. But, even better than that, you have a greater sense of gratitude for things you took for granted. Gratitude when you rejoin friends and family, when you realign yourself with what life was like before the lockdown and feeling gratitude for your studies. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll be raring to go to your 9am classes, grateful to have gotten them back!

Alys Hall is a second year English student at the University of Nottingham. She has an interest in modern literature and poetry, particularly Welsh literature, and you can follow her on Instagram @alysh81.

Image credit: Studio Media

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In the Dutch historian Rutger Bregman’s latest book Humankind, he researches a real-life version of Lord of the Flies. In June 1965, six boys from Tonga floated out to sea in a stolen boat, and found themselves washed up on a desert island for fifteen months. Unlike William Golding’s novel, however, which ends in brutality and murder, the boys worked together in harmony until being rescued, and when one boy fell off a cliff and broke his leg, the others helped him back up, set his leg, and did his work for him. (An excerpt from Humankind in The Guardian explores this in more detail.)

There’s a belief in Western culture that humans are intrinsically selfish creatures: that we are, at our very cores, individualists. I find this to be a self-perpetuated myth. I think we enjoy these cynical, Randian stories, because they excuse us for believing that individualism – and by extension, capitalism – are immutable facts of human nature, rather than a consequence of ideological and cultural influence on our nurture. Our darkest secret is our innate selfishness, we tell ourselves, ignoring the fact that while humans have been around for two hundred thousand years, capitalism has only existed for the last three hundred.

Individualism has become so ingrained in our cultural psyche in recent decades that, far from being a dark secret at the heart of Golding’s novel, we openly glorify it. It prevails through our most popular fictions, bluntly manifesting itself as the Hollywood superhero movie. In this mythos, rather than relying on democratically elected officials to save us, we put our lives in the hands of the rich and powerful: the elite, superpowered individual. We don’t follow the people on the ground, running away – they’re not important or special – instead, we live vicariously through the elite few, the aspirational Randian heroes. We fight to protect the status quo. Lip service may be paid to notions of family, teamwork and society – but in superhero movies, there is no such thing as collective action. There are just Superheroes, teaming up with other Superheroes, and punching things.

I’ve found myself growing weary of individualist stories lately. They just don’t ring true anymore. If anything comes of this pandemic, I hope it dispels the myth of the individual, and helps us to recognise that we hold a collective responsibility to each other. I like to think there has been a shift in the tide recently – Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-winning Parasite last year exposes the misery of South Korea under late capitalism, and his previous film Snowpiercer is equally charged. Ideas of the human society as a collective are common in works of East Asian authors – my personal favourite is Cixin Liu – but far rarer in Western fiction, which is a shame.

I think it’s time for a different myth. Anton Chekhov said, ‘Man will become better when you show him what he is like.’ We can create a fairer, more just world: we just need to tell a different kind of story.

Angus Forshaw is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

‘Along the River During the Qingming Festival’ by Zhang Zeduan. It has been called ‘China’s Mona Lisa’.

Image credits: Marcin Lukasik, Zhang Zeduan

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Reception of Rupi Kaur’s pared-down poetry divides her readership into those who celebrate her popularisation of poetry (Kaur sold more copies of her debut collection in 2016 than the other top ten poets combined) and those who decry her work as somehow lazy in its brevity, and lacking the vocabulary and sophistication of traditional poetry. I count myself firmly in the first camp, having discovered Kaur after the publication of her first book of poems, Milk and Honey, and found myself instantly enamoured with her work. In fact, it is precisely Kaur’s simplicity of form, her conscious rejection of the strictures of punctuation and capitalisation, and her willingness to allow her poems an abundance of blank space on the page which give her poetry its impact.

Just like the Imagist Poets of the early 20th century, Kaur distils her poetry into its finest form, using only as many words as she needs to express her meaning. Many of her poems are accompanied by refined line drawings, many of which help to elucidate the occasionally laconic texts, and which, for me, elevate the collection as a whole in the way that only the coupling of words and art can.

Kaur takes as her subject matter the importance and difficulties of self-love, the celebration of the female body, heritage, and healing. Choosing to write many of her poems in the second person allows for a rare intimacy between poet and reader; if nothing else, one comes away from a reading of her poetry with a sense of the quiet power of the mind and body, and the multitudes we contain in ourselves and our histories. If you are in need of catharsis, comfort, or just a way into the world of contemporary poetry, Kaur is the poet for you.

Sasha Gardner is a third year English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credit: Sincerely Media

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The past few weeks have been an adjustment to say the least. Thanks to Covid-19, the world has moved indoors, and university has gone online. It’s frustrating; it feels like a lot has been taken away from us. As students, we were told that these would be the best years of our lives, where we’d learn, prepare for the working world, and meet life-long friends… there were a lot of expectations. This wasn’t exactly one of them.

It is – and will be – difficult, but there are things that we can do to stay positive.

1. Structure

Without the structure of a university timetable to keep up the pace, it is easy to fall into a slump. Instead, start getting into a routine. Turn parts of your house into campus, whether that’s leaving your room, or leaving your bed. It’s harder in smaller areas but try and allocate certain areas and certain times of the day for work, and others for rest. And keep dressing for the day. It might sound silly but putting on a pair of jeans and my contact lenses helps me to kick start the day.

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2. Indoor exercise

Being restricted to where we live can have a serious impact on our physical, as well as mental, health. It is generally important to stay healthy, but strengthening your lungs immune system will also help to fight this virus. If you’re into running, we’re still allowed to go outside once a day for exercise. If not, you could try yoga, or high intensity interval training (HIIT). Youtube is full to the brim of exercise videos that you can explore. Figure out what you like to keep you physically and mentally motivated.

3. Take care of yourself

While exercise will help you to take care of yourself physically, make sure to look after yourself emotionally. How do you like to relax? Whether it’s calling a friend, making a cup of tea, watching a film, doing a face mask, meditating, painting your nails, having a warm bath or shower… there are plenty of ways to rejuvenate yourself in these stressful times. Help yourself to relax.

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4. Stay connected

We’re used to being on campus, sitting in lectures and seeing our friends everyday. While it’s different, we still have FaceTime, Skype, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Microsoft Teams… the list goes on for all of the different means of communication we have to stay connected to each other. Obviously it’s not the same as in-person, but any type of communication has shown to increase happiness. We can only do what’s available to us and try to stay positive about it.

5. Reframe

At times like this, there is an endless supply of things to complain about. It becomes an endless cycle of being miserable. Wouldn’t you get bored of complaining? I already am. Instead, I’m going to be reframing any negative thoughts I might have, focusing on all of the things that I can still do. It helps to think of the end-goal, and how the post-isolation version of me would regret having wasted my time being so gloomy.

6. Keep busy

If you haven’t caught up on university work, do that. If you’ve done all of your work, read the book that’s been sitting on your shelf for years. Watch the film that was on your Netflix ‘My List’ for months. Play the board game that’s been sitting in a cupboard for decades. Cook a new recipe, do some art, knit a scarf, learn an instrument, learn anything! In the spirit of reframing negative thoughts, we have the time to do the things we’d forgotten about. We might as well use it!

Nina Shasha is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image Credit: UoN English, Jonathan Borba & freestocks

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We are always changing. Always discovering new paths and deciding whether to pursue them. We’re on a train journey of deciding whether to get off at that station and explore the landscape or stay on the train to see what lies ahead. Most importantly, we are all different. We are all getting off at different stations and our development is dependent on our own intuition and how ready we are to face certain choices.

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Each choice takes us on different avenues which will challenge us in different ways and shape the course of our lives. And that isn’t scary at all, right? One of the biggest choices we face in our lives is a career choice. What paths exist for our wonderful world of English? What stations can we hop off to take a further look? Quite a few more than you think!

Whatever your career aspirations may or may not be, the worst think you can do is panic. You have a lot more time to ponder over it than you think you do. Rather than leave things to linger in your head, it’s time to create an action plan. The problem is that you don’t want to make an action plan because it’s scary and the world of work is a terrifying place. Only because that is what you have created it to be inside of your mind. When you think of what you want to do with your skill set, what is the first thing that pops up? What is your heart pulling you towards? What do you see on those career leaflets which piques your curiosity? When that curiosity is piqued, you need to hop onto that feeling and explore that avenue through work experience. That is the station you need to get off and explore.

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If you are panicking about careers, don’t forget about the brilliant careers advice and support that the School of English had to offer, as well as looking out for careers fairs which pop up in the Portland building. They are a great way to discover what those paths are. After all, you need a map to know all the station stops. Then, go for it. Apply to the work placements you find interesting and, better still, open new paths you hadn’t thought of before. Maybe you could stop at a station you were determined not to explore, but once you stop there you might see that career in a whole different light. We’re always discovering. It makes us who we are, and it lets us define our aspirations and goals. Above all, be adventurous. Go explore a load of stations because all the work experience you do can go on your CV. When you think that a degree in English might not fit the bill, you’ll be surprised that you are exactly what people are looking for.

Alys Hall is a second year English student at the University of Nottingham. She has an interest in modern literature and poetry, particularly Welsh literature, and you can follow her on Instagram @alysh81.

Image credit: Jens Lelie, Madeline Ragsdale, UoN Image Bank

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On a large campus, it is very easy to get swallowed up by the crowd. However, part of the university experience is getting out there and meeting new people. Not only is making connections important in making the campus feel more like a home, it is also an important skill to develop for your budding career. People tend to throw around the terms ‘introvert’ and ‘extrovert’ in a way that helps you understand or define yourself. But this can also be very limiting when it comes to what you think you are capable of.

Here are just a few tips for those of you who might feel a little intimidated by the idea of meeting new people.

1. Fake it till you make it

We are all victims of getting lost in our own heads and spiralling through our thoughts. When it comes to socialising, anyone can get a little self-conscious. This is a good thing, because it means that we care. But sometimes this can get in the way.

So why not try pretending not to care so much? Next time you feel yourself spiralling, remind yourself that you have power over your own mind, and envision yourself with the confidence of someone you admire, whether that be a friend, relative, celebrity or fictional character.

2. Sit next to people in lectures

Since the dawn of time, choosing where to sit has been a greater issue than it ever should be. It can feel awkward tying to pick a seat. Sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and sit next to someone new, or who you might not know that well. If it feels uncomfortable, remember to ‘fake it til you make it’. It is likely that they will be in the same boat as you.

3. Societies

One of the greatest perks of university is the societies. The options available are ridiculously extensive; there is something for everyone. Even if you are unsure, just try going to something new and talking to the people there. You will at least have that society in common, and probably much more.

4. Say ‘yes’!

While a cup of tea and a Netflix binge watch can be tempting, it is very important to go out into the world and make new experiences. The next time you get invited to something, say ‘yes’!

5. Make time for you

Not to contradict all my previous point, but it is worth keeping in mind that you do not have to push yourself at all times. Remember to give yourself a break, and make time to spend some quality time with yourself. In the wise words of Hannah Montana, “you get the best of both worlds!”

Nina Shasha is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credit: Elena Koycheva

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Since starting university I have become greatly accustomed to walking around campus in particular the treacherous trek up the downs. My trusted companion of choice tends to be my headphones; not only do they keep my ears warm they also decrease the chances of awkward interactions with strangers (always a win). Regardless of these factors the primary function of my headphones is of course to play music.

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Listening to music has become a seminal part of my routine and thus can greatly influence my mood. Consequently, my vast expanse of downloaded songs are meticulously organised into playlists according to mood and activity. For example, I have categories dedicated to feeling sad, happy, confident and chilled as well as playlists assigned to working out and socialising. I believe my connection to music is all encompassing as I incorporate it within all aspects of my life, yet a connection is seemingly lacking between music and my academic studies as an English student.

My preconceived notions began to change after researching the commonalities between music and poetry. Firstly, both forms of artistry involve the flow of words controlled by a rhythm and share technical vocabulary including terms such as meter and verse. Additionally, they are characterised by the expression of thoughts and feelings through emotive language. There is a specific form of poetry called a lyric that is written with the sole purpose of being performed through the medium of music. Much like lines of poetry, the lyrics of songs can be unpicked and analysed to uncover a deeper meaning for example the use of wordplay is common in rap music.

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Furthermore, music has been used in the educational sphere to help teach younger children. Ask yourself why do songs exist such as The Periodic Table Song? Because reducing facts to rhythm and rhyme increases the chances of memorisation. This can also be seen in the case of those that are new to the English language who find their language acquisition is greatly improved by listening to English songs.

Music can also work wonders for productivity outside the classroom when focusing on private studies. Personally, listening to background music instead of the humdrum of noise in the Hallward Library improves my concentration and endurance when working. Certain types of mood boosting music also increase my motivation to complete the tasks I have set myself.

English and music are inexplicably connected through their multi-faceted nature as languages. Music exists as a universal language understood and related to by all. It has the power to educate, motivate, inspire and reflect a lifetime of emotion. So, in the words of the Bard himself: “If music be the food of love, play on”.

Bethany Read is a first year English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image Credits: Dollar Gill, Fixelgraphy & Kelvin Lutan

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In times of stress or worry, I think it’s important to read literature that puts things into perspective. I am always drawn to “YOU ARE HERE”, a chapter in Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot, the most reflective and emotionally impactful work of non-fiction I have read.

The chapter describes the journey NASA’s Voyager was making in 1990 away from Earth, and the decision to snap this photo for posterity—a snapshot of our home as a speck caught in a ray of sunlight. To Sagan, this photo becomes not only a signifier of our cosmic insignificance, but a case for the values of humility and kindness.

Sagan lays out the facts of life in the surrounding chapters: throughout history, humans have taken for granted a central position in the social and scientific universe. We have always led with the conceited assumption that we are special, central, significant; and each time, have been proven wrong. Our position in space is ordinary; our epoch negligible; we came from apes. Our scientific history is an endlessly repeated cycle of exercises in humility.

For some realising the maddening insignificance of being alive requires a severe form of denialism, but Sagan sees this truth as a thing of calming beauty. All our joy and suffering… every creator and destroyer of civilisation… every superstar and supreme leader… “on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” The truth brought out of this is the absolute futility and delusion of conceit: the fallacy of a superior race, a superior gender, of nationalism, narcissism and a Creator who resembles Man. The joy of reading Sagan’s work, and any other work of astronomy for that matter, is realising egalitarianism is echoed by the stars.

The image of the pale blue dot is a reminder of how precious life is, how delicate and ephemeral. Sagan’s lesson in the face of this is “to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” These are words to live by.

Angus Forshaw is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credit: NASA

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It seemed that as soon as I arrived back to University after Christmas, all fresh-faced and bushy tailed, the prospect of (gulp) graduating and (gulp) leaving Nottingham, hit me like a tonne of bricks (or should I say books?).

I have become so accustomed to my routine as an English student at Nottingham. Weekdays are filled with common-room reading sessions, Portland Coffee dates with my nearest and dearests and walks past Highfields Lake. The idea of moving out of Nottingham and not having these little moments is really quite daunting.

I am forcing myself to not dwell in the negative. The “I’ll never do this again” and “it just won’t be the same” are being turned into “wow, how lucky was I to have this”. It is important to appreciate the experiences and opportunities I have been given as an undergraduate, rather than spend my last few months dwelling on their inevitable endings.

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The thought of graduating is the true embodiment of what they call ‘bittersweet’. I am so incredibly excited at the thought of finishing my dissertation and assessments and having a day with my loved ones to celebrate our achievements. I am already imagining the pictures we can get on campus – from the beautiful Trent building to our ‘Hollywood’ moment by the Nottingham sign (we truly are SO lucky that University Park is a haven for photo ops.) But the day will also be met with an impending sadness. My Nottingham University journey will be over. Obviously this might not be the case for some people, perhaps those doing masters or staying in Nottingham. But for me, it really will be a farewell party.

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I will miss the Portland steps in the summer months, when everyone enjoys a short break from studying or lectures and lounges freely with an iced coffee or smoothie in hand. I will miss the Impact magazine office where I have shared many laughs with my fellow editors. I will miss the beanbags on the ground floor of Hallward library, which have been there for me in some difficult times. I will miss the raspberry and white chocolate muffin from Portland Coffee. I will miss, well, being a student here – the intense and invigorating seminar discussions, the safe and encouraging environment to share work and ideas. I will miss all of it. And I will be very proud to say that I am an alumni of the University of Nottingham, and in particular, the School of English.

Emily Hall is a third year English student at the University of Nottingham. She’s the Head of Features for Impact Magazine and a Features contributor for Her Campus. You can find her on Instagram @emi1ly_hall.

Image credits: UoN Image Bank

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I have always been somebody who loves nothing better than a brand new book. As well as the excitement of fresh reading material, I love the clean-cut edges, the crisp smell of the pages, and the feeling of a factory-made object not yet sullied by human hands. A controversial opinion, I admit, but one which has been challenged by my recent work with the UoN’s Manuscripts and Special Collections department.

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There is a certain quality about books which have been handled by so many people, imbued with so much history over their lives that the evidence is physically imprinted onto the page. Books with softened corners, annotations and the odd inky thumbprint exemplify literature in its most tangible form, and there is an undeniable thrill in the realisation that the book you are holding has been read by hundreds before you.

On a more superficial note, vintage leather-bound volumes do look fantastic when lined up together on the shelf, and can lend a certain prestige to the bookshelf not quite attained by a row of the latest paperback thrillers. But, depending on your attitude towards books as visual objects in the home, you may appreciate that newer books declare their titles boldly and clearly on their spines, whereas older books often require the curious guest to peer closer at faded gold lettering.

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Given the choice, I still prefer to read new books, with uncracked spines and creamy pale pages, which I can throw in my bag without fear of the cover falling off. But I have a newfound appreciation for older books, demanding a certain amount of cautious handling and embodying their description as ‘pre-loved’. Old or new, these books deserve to be read with care and respect, regardless of their physicalities.

Sasha Gardner is a third year English student at the University of Nottingham.

Photo credits: Jason Leung, freddie marriage and Annie Pratt.

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Still one of the most watched TV shows, ‘Friends’ has somehow remained relevant. It’s popularity among younger audiences is undeniable, and has become a go-to when it comes to binge-watching a comfort programme. It is one that our generation has grown up with and makes us nostalgic for a time before us.

I have recently been re-watching ‘Friend’s, and from the many times that I have watched the show, I feel that it has taught me a few things that I consider to be important in life.

1. Value your friends

From the title of the show, it is clear that the main focus is on this group of friends that we all know and love. For ten seasons, we follow the ups and downs of this group, experiencing their hardships and joys with them.

Through these characters, we are reminded to truly value the friends who will be there for us. It serves as a reminder to cultivate our relationships and keep an open mind as to who could be that friend for you.

2. Don’t always rely on technology

Part of the appeal of the show to our generation is that it is set in the 90s, a time before social media, and people used pagers to communicate. It is all too easy for us to get caught up in the immediacy of modern-day communication. Try ditching the technology and go out for a coffee!

3. Don’t sweat the small stuff

In any given episode of the show, you will find at least one issue or one mistake for the characters to stress over. However, the beauty of the show is that we watch from the perspective of knowing that it will all work itself out.

Try injecting some of that optimism into your own life and remind yourself that we don’t always have to take life so seriously.

4. Take risks

When it comes to trying new things, or meeting new people, we should all be more open-minded. Throughout the show, we see these characters struggle and support each other as they quite jobs and ask strangers for their number. Sometimes they turned into budding relationships, and sometimes they were rejected.

But through all of their embarrassing, or even upsetting moments, they were able to rely on each other. Sometimes all we need is a little nudge to overcome our initial fears.

So why not try putting away your phone the next time you’re with a friend, or laugh at your next mistake. Ask out your crush, and cultivate those friendships with the ones who will be ‘there for you’!

Nina Shasha is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

Photo credits: Glenn Carstens-Peters, Priscilla du Preez and Thought Catalog

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“How do you find the time?” I’m asked this often. I’ve worked full-time in heritage for 20 years, I’m a trustee for a local charity and I have a side hustle. Nothing unique about that, but there’s a saying in my network that if you need something doing ask a busy person. To be honest I don’t feel that busy and neither do my busy friends.

My first job was at Hallward library in the 90s, and no one talked about work life balance back then. I’ve tried yoga, mediated with Buddhists, used a timer. None of that really worked, although the Buddhists were lovely. So, 20 years ago I started breaking the rules. That’s why I have one diary on the wall in my home, one at work and three digital calendars. Heresy! If I didn’t, I’d forget where I want to be next. That’s the key: where I want, not need, to be.

I sort tasks into couple of minutes, ten minutes or needs thinking time. If I can do something in the queue for expensive coffee (as my boss calls it) then I do, ten-minute jobs get done at lunch time or before I leave work at the end of the day. When I need to think I hide in my home office with a cup of tea listening to brown noise, then the world disappears. That’s what I need to study.

Whether it be yoga, mindfulness, sport or a quiet space, strive to find the thing that makes your world disappear. Then you will have space to create.

Ruth Imeson is a first year part time English PhD student at the University of Nottingham and manages a local archive. Find her on Twitter @nottsarchivist.

Image credit: José Martín Ramírez C

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Starting my English Degree at the University of Nottingham, a course in which you are thoroughly taken out of your comfort zone if you expect anything resembling a ‘dry degree’, nothing terrified me more than one looming module: Drama, Theatre and Performance. There is something uniquely evil in taking a shy student and forcing them to act out a scene in front of their peers, in which they can freely judge all your mistakes.

With all these nerves bubbling inside of me, and lecturers who near constantly raved about the pleasure of seeing the plays we read on stage, performed rather than simply studied, I decided to make a few trips to the theatre. There’s an endless buffet of choice in Nottingham: from the Playhouse, to the Theatre Royal, to the New Theatre. I even ventured down to the West End, to see Betrayal – which might have had more to do with Tom Hiddleston than my course, but I digress. Not only were the performances brilliant, and definitely within any student’s budget at the New Theatre and the Playhouse, but they really expanded my idea of theatre as a form.

Which is to say, even professional actors make mistakes; that doesn’t stop them from turning the stage into a place of constant flux, one where creativity is happening in that very moment, where a vision is coming to life in front of you. Every stutter and forgotten line served to amplify a performance, to cast something that might be completely extraordinary into the realms of everyday life.

I was still utterly nervous about performing, but the visualisation of a play on stage really helped me take control of my fear.

Danielle Smith is a second year English student at the University of Nottingham.

Image credit: Vlah Dumitru.

The post How Seeing Plays Helped My English Degree appeared first on Words on Words.

When we establish a routine, it almost feels like nothing in the world could ever disrupt our rhythm. The rhythm of lectures, seminars, workshops. The rhythm which binds us on a set journey towards a certain career. Some time ago, I would have shunned this rhythm. This monotony. Yet, I realise that none of it must be monotonous. Routines feel good, yet we often lose touch with reality because we’re so engrossed in what we’re doing in our degrees. We forget the present moment. But what exactly is the present moment? That question lays the foundations of mindfulness.

Mindfulness is something I have dipped in and out of over the last two years. I found it during the desperate, chaotic and stressful times of my A Levels, which in retrospect was the worst time to have found it. I used mindfulness meditation whenever I felt stressed or anxious, which was good in the short-term. Yet, I failed to understand that mindfulness is not something we should practice when life comes crashing down. Mindfulness is a habit. A habit for life. As students of English, we might feel present as we read some chapters of a book we’ve reread for the hundredth time. But the real presence comes when we lift our eyes from the lines of the page and look up to take a breather. That breather from heavy concentration. Our mind, after those moments, feels fresh when we return to the lines of the page.

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Mindfulness, you’ll be glad to hear, is more than sitting down with your eyes closed for a few minutes.

It’s about being in tune with your surroundings. It’s about getting off your phone to admire the changing autumnal leaves as you make your way to the Trent building for your Shakespeare seminar. It’s about focusing on the feeling of your feet moving against the gravel path as you rush, out of breath, to a linguistics lecture which started ten minutes ago. How often do we shut off the ceaseless internal chatter of our mind to focus on where we are right now?

Alys Hall is a second year English student at the University of Nottingham. She has an interest in modern literature and poetry, particularly Welsh literature, and you can follow her on Instagram @alysh81.

Photo credits: Lina Trochez & Fabian Møller at Unsplash.

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Reading short stories is a satisfying use of leisure time for when you’re busy or just have a short attention span. It’s also vital to getting through the Creative Writing module. For me, there is no greater master of short stories than Chinese-American sci-fi author Ted Chiang.

One of the most prestigious, least prolific authors of our age (since 1990, he’s written a grand total of fifteen short stories and zero novels), his two short story collections Stories of Your Life and Others and Exhalation: Stories were released seventeen years apart. There is good reason for this: reading his work, you can feel the meticulous research behind every word. Each story explores different scientific fields, from mathematics to linguistics to pre-scientific cosmology. The way he plots his stories as little puzzle box narratives that only click into place at the end is a truly impressive feat and relies on a precise control of the reader’s focus.

Photo credit: Mark Wilson / (CC 2.0)

For such well-researched and vigorously plotted stories, it’s surprising how human the characters are, never sacrificing story for science. A personal favourite is ‘Exhalation’, which manages to make what could slip into a dry technical explanation of GCSE Physics particle theory, one of my most enlightening and cathartic reads. The stories never outstay their welcome; just long enough to develop a tantalisingly real world—particularly true of ‘Tower of Babylon’, which depicts the intricate human mechanisms of building an infinitely tall tower to reach the heavens, where pre-scientific misconceptions about the world are actually fact. If this all sounds too mathematical for English students, take a look at ‘Story of your Life’. Recently adapted into the Denis Villeneuve film Arrival, it realistically documents the painstaking experience of translating the graphological and phonological alien language of the Heptapods. It’s a fascinating read for anyone studying a linguistics module.

If you’re already a fan of Chiang’s work, I’d also recommend Sum by David Eagleman, a collection of flash-fiction thought experiments about the afterlife with puzzle-box narratives similar to Chiang’s but on a micro scale. Likewise, Cixin Liu’s The Wandering Earth collection is a great read, whose titular story, about humanity artificially halting the Earth’s rotation, was also recently adapted to film. Where Chiang is more concerned with the poetically circular structure of his prose, Liu spends longer within each world, following human characters around as we discover the story.

Happy reading!

Angus Forshaw is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

Featured photo credit: Arturo Villarubia / (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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Freshers week. A few months ago these two simple words would make me feel an all-encompassing sense of dread. Even voicing the phrase was enough to make my mouth dry up a little. However, at present, I can proudly state I am a true survivor of this worrisome week and am offering to share some tips as to how I prepared in advance when moving to the University of Nottingham.

Photo credit: Image Bank

Get Talking

Joining a Facebook chat for my accommodation helped to ease any anxieties I had about socialising and meeting my flat mates. The group chat was great for receiving answers to a plethora of queries from: “When do we arrive on moving in day?” to “Do these flip flops match my lifeguard costume for Baywatch night?”. Whatever the issue, the group chat can often solve it! I also recommend joining a chat for your course in order to gain advice on academic preparation for the coming semester as the jump from A-Level to university standard can seem daunting to some. As an English student I made sure to continue to read for enjoyment over Summer; just to keep my brain ticking over.

Scout out Societies

Scouting out potential societies to join on the Student Union website kept me actively engaged in student life outside of the lecture hall. The vast range of societies available is proof that there is hobby suited to everyone at Nottingham. Furthermore, tickets are also released on the website for different freshers’ events such as themed club nights or a range of day trips for those who are less interested in nightlife culture. Planning activities ahead of time, including looking at my timetable of introductory lectures, gave structure to my week and alleviated my fear of the unknown.

Photo credit: Image Bank

Be Social

Lastly, I advise checking out university social media accounts such as YouTube, Instagram and Facebook pages. The videos, blogs, posts etc. acted as sources of informal and relaxed advice on university life that reminded me of the relatability of how I was feeling. Freshers fear is not some abstract phenomenon – it is completely justified! I realised that if I could prepare where necessary the rest was sure to come naturally and slowly but surely it did.

Bethany Read is a first year English student at the University of Nottingham.

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With most English undergraduates taking six modules per year, and each module carrying its own hefty reading list, it can be difficult to know how best to stay on top of such a daunting workload. Most of us are taking this course because we love to read, but finding time to read for pleasure can seem impossible. Here are a few tips for managing that ‘To Read’ stack without letting it take over:

Image credit: Thought Catalogue

Use your summer wisely.

The long summer months are a great opportunity to read some of the meatier texts you will be studying in the coming year. While official reading lists tend to be uploaded towards the end of August, module conveners will happily supply you with a provisional list when asked. Choose the longest and most daunting texts from these lists to tackle while you have the time and space – it’s difficult to spend three weeks slogging through Ulysses during term, and this will give you a chance to reflect on what you have read.

Plan ahead.

Once the term has begun, do your best to stay one step ahead of the course. You should aim to have finished each text a week before you study it, so that if anything else comes up, or a text takes longer to read than expected, you won’t get snowed under straightaway.

Image credit: freestocks.org

Balance your books.

Reading over the summer and planning ahead should give you some free time in between set texts to read books of your choosing. These should not all be course-related, but you will find that anything you read will feed into your writing in some way. Think carefully about which books will offer respite from academic reading, and which will challenge you to think further about what you are studying.

Sasha Gardner is a third year English student at the University of Nottingham.

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The University of Nottingham is a brilliant place. We are spoiled with an academic environment full of specialists, passionate about the subjects they teach. We are encouraged to read deeply and broadly, be inquisitive, be critical, be this and be that. I sometimes find myself so focused on the academic side of the course that I feel somewhat drained when it comes to being creative. When your mind is full of referencing or citations or secondary reading, it can feel like the creative juices have literally been squeezed out of you. For someone who loves creative writing, as a part of my course and in my free time, this is a problem. ‘Writer’s block’, or a ‘creative block’ more generally (if you’re one of those lucky people that is good at art) is a real thing. It is something I experience quite a lot, and therefore consider myself a bit of an expert at overcoming. Here are my three P’s for creative inspiration, which will hopefully get those juices back flowing!

The 3 P’s for Inspiration…

Photo credit: Helena Lopes

People

When talking with people, fully immerse yourself in the conversation. Be curious. Be passionate. Ask questions. Use the people around you as stimuli to get you thinking creatively. It might sound a bit odd, but trust me, it works.

Places

Find spots which make YOU feel creative. It might be somewhere quiet and peaceful. Or perhaps somewhere full of hustle and bustle.

Photo credit: Nick Morrison

Practice

Force yourself to be creative. Use short periods of time that you find yourself having and practice your creative outlet, whether that is poetry, fiction writing, drawing, singing etc. Let yourself enjoy time off academic work, don’t feel guilty about it. Learning to switch off from a critical way of thinking and adopt a more creative approach is certainly a skill, one which I am yet to master, but will continue to practice!

Emily Hall is a third year English student at the University of Nottingham. She’s the Head of Features for Impact Magazine and a Features contributor for Her Campus. You can find her on Instagram @emi1ly_hall.

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With Christmas holidays coming up and assessments looming, many of you might be concerned with how best to spend the one-month break. Depending on your degree, you may be facing upcoming exams or coursework deadlines, in which case the holidays might look like a black hole of stress. Some of you may already be planning your schedule while subconsciously knowing that you will likely procrastinate starting your essays.

However, with all of this in mind, it is a good idea to start planning how best to spend the break, which might not be the same for everyone.

Omar Lopez

Family and friends

With work towards degrees occupying much of students’ time and attention, it is easy for our work-life balance fall apart. However, the holidays are a good opportunity to go home and spend time with friends and family. Regardless of religious belief or family traditions, this is the time of year to spend indoors, escaping the cold with loved ones. Use this opportunity to relax.

Travel

Tom Barrett

Another good way to unwind is to travel. With family, friends or flying solo, travel is always a good investment. Experiencing another culture might be the perfect way for you to de-stress and enjoy the break.

Holiday jobs

With a break from the regular routine of lectures and seminars, you might want to spend your spare time at a temporary job. Certain jobs, such as tutoring, are in greater demand at this time of year, and the money can go towards the next semester.

Work

While preaching the importance of relaxing, I understand the inevitability of university work. To use your holiday most productively, try your best to work efficiently. This involves planning ahead. For example, start thinking about books you might need to borrow from the library, or questions you might have for your tutors. Planning work now will make it easier for you over the holidays and relieve a lot of stress.

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Revision

Even if you are not yet facing assessments, it is always a good idea to review your work from this semester. For year-long modules, revising now will help with exams later, and even with modules that end this semester, you might find that what you have learned will come in handy later on in your degree.

Nina Shasha is an English student at the University of Nottingham.

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This blog was written by first year English student, Harriet Mills.

Morrison gives the voice to the people who didn’t have one and for me this is what made her tale on the impact of slavery, such an interesting and eye opening read. True, we cannot empathise with the characters but such a detail on the psychological and physical effects it had on its victims aids our imagination on the brutality of such a corrupt system – the African American slave trade.

When looking at actions of the protagonist Sethe, we realise the extent of the horrors. She feels is it kinder to murder her own child then allow her to grow up and face the torment and abuse intertwined with slavery, and in some distorted way, the reader is shocked by her behaviour but they do not see it as unjust. While Sethe is a fictional character, her actions are based on a real life event. Margaret Garner was a runaway slave from Kentucky who murdered her youngest child and planned to do the same to the others then let them return to such a toxic life. That’s how bad it was.

The particular use of animalistic imagery lends us an insight into the degrading nature of slavery, and how workers were meaningless, nameless and worthless. Scenarios such as Sethe having her breast milk stolen not also shows her being stripped of her motherly duties but also is one performed on cattle, suggesting she is no more than this. Paul having an Iron bit wedged in his mouth mirrors the treatment of a horse and how his labour was similar to one performed by one.

However, I think one of the most important aspects of the text is how Morrison explores the ways in which slavery impacts you after you have left. Even though Sethe leaves Sweet Home she is still imprisoned by the memories that stay with her. By using a literal ghost Beloved, it shows us how Slavery is the metaphorical ghost that haunts you, whether through physical, or emotional mental and spiritual scars.

We see it from the perspective of the sufferers and therefore are exposed to the aspects, which may have been concealed to us from other authors.  Morrison gives you the reality as harsh as it may be.

Image: Flicker: Angela Radulescu / (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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This blog was written by second year English student, Emily Hall.

As the expanse of summer stretches out before us, many people will look forward to different things. Holidays, parties, weddings; all of the summer fun you can imagine. Perhaps something less common, but a relief for English students is knowing that you can finally read for pleasure- not for the course! No more looking on amazon and Blackwells to find a text you’re not sure whether you will enjoy reading, summer is a time in which you can read exactly what you want. Personally, I try to read a variety of books over summer, of varying genres which serve different purposes…

The first? A “page turner”. A gripping, thrilling, dramatic twisting and turning novel which you can lose yourself in for hours. For me, this is usually crime fiction. Try works by John Grisham or Paula Hawkins for some classic page turners which finish far quicker than you’d like them to.

The next is what I call an “easy read”. This is usually a novel which doesn’t require too much emotional investment or contain dramatic twists, but rather focuses on characterisation and involves some sort of romance/friendship. Giovanna Fletcher has some great ‘easy reads’ which are perfect for lounging on the beach or on the sofa on a lazy Sunday.

Summer can be a time of growth and development, and so reading a self-help book, or non-fictions which focus on improving your mental well-being can be incredibly rewarding. Look up Elizabeth Gilbert or Gabrielle Bernstein for some reflective and constructive reads.

Finally, although it can be the last thing on your mind, try looking at your reading list for next year’s modules. Just doing some light background reading on the topics you’ll be tackling can be advantageous and ease the stress of coming back to Uni.

So take a look at newspapers and magazines recommended summer reads, read online blogs, reviews and articles- read as much as you can…while you still have all that choice!

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

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This blog post was written by final year English student, Hannah Smart. 

Whilst most students on most other courses will give a collective sigh of relief at the thought of not having to read anything particularly exhaustive until next semester, here in the School of English, we cannot wait to get our heads into another book. Even so, as English students, we know all too well the feeling of guilt when we spend precious reading time on a book that is not on our reading list, firmly established in the English literary canon, or was at least shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. When we begin to think of reading as a chore and not the reason why we came to University in the first place, we know it’s time to give ourselves a break. With that in mind, here are a few tried and tested, non-English-degree-related books that I recommend you pick up at the airport this year:

Ali Smith’s Spring – The third book in Smith’s seasonal series Spring is a relevant story following lost souls in a divided Britain. Turning its attention to the migrant crisis and rising nationalism, Spring is bleaker than Autumn and Winter, but idiosyncratically witty.

Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister the Serial Killer – Braithwaite’s debut novel opens with Korede, who instantly reveals that her sister has just killed her boyfriend; something she has done twice before. My Sister the Serial Killer is less a crime thriller and more an exploration of sisterhood, morbid and funny in equal measure.

Sally Rooney’s Normal People – longlisted for the Man Booker prize, Normal People is set at Trinity College in Dublin and is, in short, about being young and in love. Critics have gone as far as to call it ‘a future classic’!

Happy Reading!

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

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This blog was written by second year English with Creative Writing student, Bethany Mitchell.  

Rachael Allen’s much anticipated first full collection of poetry (published in January this year by Faber and Faber) does not disappoint. With characteristic bluntness and fantastic attention to imagery, her poems are luminous and astonishing.

At times, Allen’s poems are abstract, and yet evoke dark and vivid imagery, thereby keeping the poems grounded. The poems in the collection pay close attention to word choice, too; almost every word feels as though it has been thoroughly considered and toyed with before making it to the page.

Here are just a few of the delightful images:

• ‘summer streams through the trees like a long blonde hair’ (from ‘Prawns of Joe’)

• ‘the moon sways over me whitely’ (from ‘Meeting you in the first place was great though’ – you can read the whole poem here)

• ‘Trees turn to veins against marbly sky’ (from ‘The Slim Man’)

Many of the poems, though abstract, have a strong narrative feel. This is especially effective in the serial format of some of the poems; Allen gathers shorter poems that form a longer one, separated as stanzas by pages. One of these sequential poems is ‘The Girls of Situations’. The poems in this piece are uncomfortable and unsettling snapshots of young women in various ‘situations’ which are unpleasant, difficult to navigate, and feel unsafe. This is a particularly effective and evocative sequence; emotive and yet – as with many poems in the collection – has its foundations in the image.

A number of the poems consider animals, and the harm and exploitation of them by humans. There seems to be a concern with hypocrisy here. The poems are implicitly positioned with explorations of female sexuality, and in a similar way the harmful treatment and exploitation of women. There are images of butchery and cruelty, and view – from a critical standpoint – woman and animals as lesser beings.

I devoured this collection, and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. It was all I expected and more. The poems are tightly and considerately composed with close attention to imagery and diction. The poems feel both alive and lively; they jump from the page in their vividness. I recommended this collection to poetry lovers, and to those who believe that poetry is stuffy and all fluffy clouds – you might be shocked!

Image: Author’s own

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This blog was written by first year English student, Phoebe Raine.

Hello, I’m Phoebe, a first-year English student. A year ago, I was sat exactly where you are – surrounded by colourful mind maps, struggling to add (or delete) those extra 500 words for coursework, and questioning whether it’s all worth it. From somebody who went through it, ate about five million custard creams, and came out alive, I can guarantee that it is worth it, and it will all be okay.

In a few short months you get to enjoy your first taste of university life – the lengthy summer holiday! I’m talking sun, sleep and screaming “YES, NO MORE TINY EXAM DESKS!”, but first, it might be worth considering a few tips that helped me get through A levels (and university exams, too).

Shake it like a Polaroid picture

I’m not suggesting you wiggle your notes around (sadly the words don’t go in by osmosis) but by changing the style of revision, and the place you do it in, you do can help to keep things more interesting.

Have you tried flashcards? Mind maps? Videos? Drawing pictures? Recording yourself? A personal favourite of mine is to find a family member or friend and try and teach them what you just revised. (Trying to teach a nine-year-old about the French Revolution was definitely one of my more taxing revision strategies…)

Look after yourself                                      

One of my biggest faults is shoving everything to the side when revision takes priority and as a result, I didn’t do my washing for about three weeks… nobody wants to smell that!

So, I would say take some time (it doesn’t have to be long) to deal with the little things. Take a shower, tidy your desk (be warned, this may take a LOT longer than anticipated) or do the washing up. Just something to keep yourself ticking over.

Motivation *dances in a motivating cheerleader style*

Know what motivates you, and keep it in moderation. It might be another biscuit (I really love custard creams, okay!) or a TV episode. Reward your hard work! Think about your end goal too – university is an amazing experience and you are almost there! A world of independence, new friends and new learning is on its way, so keep pushing.

Exercise

If you aren’t the most athletic this might make you groan. But I promise you, a little walk, jog, or internet class can be just the thing to give you a break and a boost.

Side note: if you are an exercise lover, don’t over-do it. I know the temptation of going for one more rowing session, one more jog, another game of footie…remember to sit down and get some work done before you head back out again.

Accept help

The idea of going to a teacher or lecturer for help used to bring trembles to my knees, but once I bit the bullet I got nothing but positives from them. Whether you are at uni, school or college, you still need help and people are there to help you. This year alone I went back to one of my tutors four times because I kept changing my coursework idea, and each time I was given advice and direction.

Other people can be a blessing or a curse

Coming to uni, I made more friends than I knew was possible, which is lovely in so many ways but also, when you are all stressing about exams it can get a lot. It’s okay to step away and just do your own thing for a bit. You have the whole summer to complain about question 2c and why they used that experiment or case study. Next year, if you are planning on living in halls, your friends will be readily available (sometimes just a wall away) and temptation is rife. Know what you need to focus on and don’t worry, they will still be there afterwards.

These tips helped me handle the heat and I’m now at my favourite place (cheesy I know, but it’s true). Everyone tells you ‘University is the best time of your life’ and so far, it really has been incredible.

Exams are only a little part of your life, so make the most of this time. Exams don’t get easier, you just get better at them, so by first year you will be a pro exam-taker, ready to revise AND do your washing (how to get through washing machine stress is a whole other blog post for another time). Even if it takes you chanting ‘Summer, summer, summer’ in High School Musical style, do what you need to do to get some amazing grades, because it’s worth it.

Good luck!

Image: Author’s own

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This blog was written by final year English student, Jade Braham.

The Theatre Royal hosted the Royal Shakespeare Company’s recent adaptation of William Shakespeare’s timeless love story Romeo and Juliet. Despite being more than 400 years since Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, Director Erica Whyman has managed to transform this classic into a fresh and engaging play about our world today.

It is hard to imagine from the contemporary stage design that the play is set in fair Verona. Tom Piper’s bare stage sported only one immense, rotating metallic cube that opened up on two sides, aligning itself perfectly with the edgy and contemporary focus on the 21^st century youth culture and knife crime. This versatile structure became the rock that held the performance together – acting as various locations – its imposing and solid presence became a warning nothing happy could come of these events.

Alongside the set, the modern street clothing connects the play to knife crime. In the opening scenes the stage is full to the brim with young actors ranging from the ages of early teens to mid-20s and all of whom seem to be dressed in black leggings, jeans, black leather jackets and hoodies and carrying knives. Whilst this costume choice was rather simplistic, it worked because it made these characters relatable and fully fleshed out.

The techno music of the first act continuously ushered in these young adults and made the Capulets’ party feel more like a 21^st century night club but then there was a change to more ominous and lyrical music in the second half of the show, highlighting Sound Designer, Ayse Tashkiran’s attention to detail as it mirrored the psychological and emotional changes in the young lovers which climaxed in the death scene.

Special mention must go to Charlotte Josephine who took on the role of Mercutio and made it her own. She reinvents Mercutio into a tough, crop-haired female who is feisty and always ready for a fight. When Tybalt dismisses and ‘shh’ her because of her gender the disapproval and frustration visible from both Mercutio and female members of the audience suggested that all were ready to take on and prove their strength and bravery to and against this egocentric and condescending male.

From the set, music, costume, to the inclusion of young people from schools around the country, this show now ranks first on my list of previously seen Romeo and Juliet performances. It truly deserved the loud applause and cheers from the audience!

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This blog was written by first year English student, Sasha Gardner.

Established in 1797, Hatchards in Piccadilly is the oldest bookshop in London. With customers ranging from Oscar Wilde to Bill Nighy, Hatchards holds three royal warrants and is, undoubtedly, the fanciest bookshop around. For three years, I have been lucky enough to work as a Hatchards bookseller during the holidays, a role which has proved vastly more varied, fast-paced and enjoyable than I could have hoped.

Friends and family seem to think that working in a bookshop entails reading for much of the day – sadly, this is not the case. The majority of the working day is taken up by shelving, recovery (tidying displays and shelves) and customer service, and any spare time is filled by countless unseen tasks behind the scenes. In fact, this is just what makes the job so fulfilling – each bookseller has a sense of purpose and we are all working together towards a common goal; not just reaching daily sales targets but sending books out to as many loving homes as possible. Booksellers are expected to keep up with the latest publications as far as possible, and this (along with a generous 50% employee discount) provides a convenient excuse to acquire many more books than is generally advisable. And reading the latest novels, not something I would otherwise do, has proved enormously rewarding and important in the development of my reading tastes; who knew how thrilling Zinovieff, Honeyman and Alderman could be?

The satisfaction when I finally find just the book I was looking for, when a customer buys a personal favourite book of mine, or even when a book fits just perfectly into a shelf; these small pleasures are what make the bookselling industry as wonderful as it is, and one in which I am proud and grateful to work.

Image: Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0

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This blog was written by second year English with Creative Writing student, Holly Humphreys.

It can be easy to get weighed down by essay deadlines and exam revision, especially if you find yourself holed up in your room or squirrelled away in a corner of the library to do your work. One way to combat this is through group study sessions – I find that it makes revision a lot less overwhelming and it can actually be fun!

• Studying with other people can be incredibly motivating – if everyone is studying it creates an atmosphere that encourages you to join in. An informal setting also makes revision feel less intense.

• Group study sessions are a great excuse to socialise during exam season when everyone has hectic schedules. It also makes breaks from revision more fulfilling as you can use them to catch up with friends.

• It’s also a good excuse to get out of your room – if you study in the library or even at friend’s house you’ll be able to refresh your body and your brain on the journey, and there should be fewer distractions so you can focus on your work.

• If you’re working with friends on your course, it’s a great opportunity to ask for help with anything you don’t understand. You can also bounce ideas off of each other! And even if you’re studying with friends outside of your course, you can test your knowledge by explaining the material to them. It also helps to have someone who doesn’t know the material look over your essays to make sure that they make sense.

As you can see, there are so many positive aspects of studying with friends. When exams roll around, text a few of your friends, grab a bunch of snacks and book a study room in the library for a productive and enjoyable revision session.

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

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This blog was written by first year English student, Harriet Mills.

Having nearly completed my second term at University (scary) I have looked back at some of the differences to studying English at A Level vs Degree level.

Firstly, I did 2 books for my A Levels, which seems almost too easy compared to the new book and play we get each week here. At first I thought no way can I keep up with this, impossible. However, what I soon realised is that yes it is pretty impossible to read a book, study and analyse all its meaning every single week, so what you have to do is be selective. That doesn’t mean do nothing until you find the one book you like that week. Cover them all but understand that you will prefer some books/weeks to others. Take it as a positive that you get so much choice compared to you’re A Levels where if you didn’t like the book you were studying all year then tough luck.

Secondly, as harsh as it sounds I don’t think I could give you the names of every single person I’ve spoken to or seen in my lecture halls or in the School of English. Where as for A Level, you had 1 maybe 2 teachers; here it’s someone different every week. Learning becomes much more independent and liberal allowing you to work out what is best for you in your own way.

A big change is lectures. Going from classes of 20 or less to 200 is quite a shock, but in a good way. There’s someone new to talk to every time. Also, it allows you to move at your own pace, so when the seminar comes around more like an A Level sized class you’ve had a bit of information before hand and you can be prepared to discuss it in greater detail.

Each class has a different room. Going from auditoriums to an open stage space or a classic cosy classroom. Things don’t seem as repetitive or monotonous and you get to wander around the pretty campus while you do it.

It’s a change, which at first seems like a lot, but like everyone says, you get used to it, and soon A Levels will seem like a trap compared to the freedom you get at University.

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This blog post was written by final year English student, Hannah Smart.

Last year, podcasts ceased to be niche and became mainstream. The podcast is a valuable resource, particularly to an English student, since, unlike a Kindle book, for example, the podcast is an addition to, rather than a replacement of, our usual content consumption (which, as literature students in particular, is high). Whilst there exists a podcast relevant to the obscurest of interests – see Muse Stories: An Unusual History of Gnomes for evidence of this – there is also a myriad podcasts that are relevant to your English degree. The below come highly recommended, so perhaps give them a listen; surely anything that means less time in the library is worth a try?

NT Talks: One of the National Theatre’s podcasts in which they interview actors, directors, and playwrights. This one is great if you’re taking a theatre module. There’s almost ten years’ worth of content on there, including plenty on Shakespeare.

BBC Radio 4’s Bookclub: James Naughtie and the other readers in the Bookclub have interviewed Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith, David Nicholls, Naomi Alderman, Khaled Hosseini, Hilary Mantel, to name but a few; this podcast is unmissable if you are enrolled onto a contemporary fiction module.

The Penguin Podcast: Salman Rushdie and Michael Morpurgo amongst other famous faces feature on The Penguin Podcast, the format of which usually involves an author presenting an object or story that inspired some of their greatest work.

The Poetry Exchange: The Poetry Exchange claims to “celebrate poems as friends”. The podcast explores work by poets such as WB Yeats, Philip Larkin and Carol Anne Duffy, and readers offer their interpretations of well-known verses.

World Book Club: Celest Ng on Everything I Never Told You, Mark Haddon on The Curious Dog in the Night-time, and Elizabeth Gilbert on Eat, Pray, Love. The World Book Club podcast is great for avid readers and contemporary literature students alike.

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This blog was written by second year English student, Emily Hall.

After recently working as a student ambassador for the School of English’s offer holder day, where prospective students are invited to have a final look around the University before making their final choice of where they will be studying. It got me thinking about all the open days I went to, I think about 9 in total, at 7 different Universities. As someone who doesn’t like making decisions, I wanted to make sure I was absolutely positive about where I wanted to spend such an important 3 years of my life. In all honesty I was also reluctant to make the decision, because it meant that I was to leave my small bubble of college life and move away from home, but I am so glad I chose Nottingham. Seeing all the prospective students and hearing their questions made me think about what I use to look for when visiting a University, and how Nottingham managed to top all the other Universities I looked at around the country. These are the four things I always made notes on when visiting a University…

• The Course

No matter how important the societies of a University are, or the beautiful grounds its on, the course itself is so important. Every University will have different ways of approaching the subject, offer different modules and different ways of teaching. Nottingham’s English BA is so diverse, and the opportunity to do English Literature, English Language, Drama and Creative Writing in my first year was exactly what I was looking for.

• Accommodation

It may seem that University accommodations all seem quite similar, but there are some important factors to think about. Catered vs self-catered? On or off campus? Does it have a social space? Laundrette? What is the security like? And of course, the price is an important factor.

• The Campus

The campus itself played a massive role into why I chose Nottingham. From the sloping green hills and gorgeous boating lake, I could imagine myself walking around the campus with a coffee in hand and feeling rather at home. It is important to think about what you want from the campus, and whether you want it to have more of a city or rural feel. Are there any shops on campus? What places are there to eat or socialise? You will be spending an awful lot of time (or not, I’m not one to judge…) on campus and so want it to be somewhere you feel comfortable and happy.

• The City

If you’re moving to a different area, it is important to have a look around and again judge whether it is somewhere you can see yourself living. Nottingham is the perfect mix for me, with beautiful rural places like Wollaton Park, to the fantastic shopping possibilities in the city centre. It is useful to look at transport links too, whether that is bus or tram routes around the city, transport around campus, or to the train station.

Other honourable mentions of things to do on an open day…

*Chat to current students. They know what going to the University is like better than anyone else.

*Have a wander. Look at notice boards, see what is going on at the University and something might catch your eye that you’d like to be a part of.

*Have a look at the Student’s Union. It will give you a real taste of Uni life.

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This blog was written by second year English student, Megan Bowie. 

As I started to think about my formative essays this week, I realised I got easily distracted in my room by my surroundings whilst being at home. This made me think of where I could go to have an effective study day whilst on campus. Check out some of the places I found around University Park to be conducive to studying:

1. The Library

Hallward and George Green both offer various study areas to get some quiet time to focus on your task. They have the silent zones but also areas to do group work if needed to give you a suitable study space.

Hallward Library

George Green Library

2. Grab a Coffee on Campus

Our campus has a wide selection of coffee shops offering a change of scenery when working especially if the library is busy. My personal favourites are Trent café on the ground floor of Trent building and Lakeside art gallery, next to the music building by the entrance to university. They provide a relaxed environment but with a little bit of background noise if that’s what motivates you.

Trent Cafe, Trent Building

3. The Great Outdoors

Now the warm weather is approaching (fingers crossed!), our university grounds are the best location to get you out of the house. They provide a beautiful surrounding and some well needed fresh air. Hot spots include the grass by the lake, The Downs or even Millennium Gardens (behind the new Teaching and Learning building). These outdoor areas are vast so no worry of not getting a seat or breaking the bank.

These are just a few options of where around the university has to offer so grab your books and even a friend and go and have a productive day, because it’s great to stimulate your mind away from your four walls!

Millennium Gardens

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This blog was written by second year English with Creative Writing student, Holly Humphreys.

Emily Dickinson once said “If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me, I know that it is poetry.” I think about this quote a lot. Poetry can be many things – evocative, comforting, entertaining – and yet I believe it is sorely underappreciated outside of academic contexts, and sometimes even within academic contexts. People are often caught off guard when they ask for my favourite book and I give them the name of a poetry book before saying ‘my favourite novel, however…’ (forgive me for being pedantic). Similarly, I have many friends who love to read but struggle to name a poem that they like.

Many people think of poetry in its traditional formats – haikus, sonnets, and the like – but there is so much more poetry out there waiting to be discovered, and in forms other than just written on a page. Instagram poets (poets such as Trista Mateer who post pictures of short pieces of writing often accompanied by illustrations) are becoming more mainstream, plus this is a fun and accessible way of engaging with and creating poetry. Slam poetry and spoken word are also great if you prefer performance over paper and there are loads of open mic events going on in Nottingham throughout the year. Poetry can also be combined with digital media such as photography and filmmaking.

Poetry is an exciting way to express yourself and to connect with other people, and there is so much scope for experimentation. If I find a short poem that I really love I always try and memorise it. This is not only good exercise for your brain – it also allows you to carry a little piece of art inside you wherever you go.

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This blog post was written by final year English student, Hannah Smart.

For many of us, University is our first time living away from home. It is important to remember that your homesickness is valid even if you haven’t moved miles and miles away to university; it perhaps correlates better to time away from home, rather than distance. As a final year student, I know all to well the awkwardness of accidentally referring to my university town as “home” in front of offended family members and friends, but it did take time to think of Nottingham in this way. A certain pressure exists at university to have the best time of your life, which is perhaps why homesickness can be such an isolating or even shameful feeling. If you’re finding the transition difficult, try the below tips:

1. Home perhaps never feels further away than when you are feeling under the weather. Signing up to the campus GP and dentist before you need them means that your well equipped to handle a bald cold or a bout of tonsillitis on your own, and less likely to wish you were at home being looked after!

2. Getting to know bus routes, finding a favourite coffee shop and knowing your nearest supermarket/post office/petrol station/gym can really help to make a place feel like home, so take some time to explore the town, preferably on foot!

3. Plastering your walls with photographs of your family and friends from home is tempting, but can be counter-productive if you’re suffering from home sickness. Think of other home-comforts – perhaps a certain food or TV show – and treat yourself to them when you’re particularly missing home.

4. Having said this, don’t be too proud, and visit home if you really need to. Scheduling your trips home in advance is perhaps healthier than waiting until it all gets a bit too much, and this way, you can look forward to it and arrange to meet up with family and friends to get the most out of the visit!

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This blog was written by second year English student, Emily Hall.

If you are a poetry lover, you need to buy this book. If you know a poetry lover, you need to buy them this book! It was given to me by my mum just before Christmas and is absolutely wonderful. The title is rather self-explanatory, and the book contains 365 poems, assigned to each day of the year. Compiled by Allie Esiri, the book has a twin called ‘A poem for every day of the year’ which I will certainly be purchasing. There is something very satisfying about the continuity and regularity of having a poem to read every day, as well as broadening your reading repertoire, and coming across poets which you may not otherwise have heard of.

I have always loved seasonal poetry, words that can encapsulate the cosiness of winter or the burning amber colours of autumn. This book takes this to a new level, as we are treated to poems which all take a different approach or stance to the season it has been allocated. As a self-proclaimed Christmas lover, the poems from December 1^st to 25^th heightened my festive spirit enormously, and as I sat with the book and a hot chocolate, I felt sufficiently content.

The book includes poems of varying forms, from sonnets to haikus to free-verse; it is a poetry lovers Aladdin’s Cave. The range of poets is extraordinary, from the familiar voices of Yeats, Rossetti, Shakespeare to exciting contemporary voices. You are sure to want to look up a few people’s names after scanning through the book.

I try to be strict and read the poems on the correct assigned day, however I would be lying if I said I hadn’t already had a peak to see what the pages of spring and summer hold.  Therefore, it isn’t only entertaining and educational, but also practices your levels of restraint and patience!

Here are some of my favourite poems which I have encountered so far in January and February…

For 3^rd January- The Months by Sara Coleridge

For 14^th January- Doors by Carl Sandburg

For 19^th January- To a Snowdrop by William Wordsworth

For 9^th February- Mix a Pancake by Christina Rossetti

For 13^th February- How Do I Love Thee? By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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This blog was written by second year English student, Megan Bowie.

With the arrival of results day, receiving a result that wasn’t as high as you were expecting can be disappointing, especially when you have put in all of your efforts. It is easy to feel disheartened and this is totally normal yet it doesn’t always mean bad news! Receiving a low grade can motivate you to try harder in your next piece of work, maybe an extra proof read was all it was missing for those few extra marks. I know after receiving a grade lower than I expected, I took the opportunity to go and speak to my lecturer who marked the essay. These are the people who can give great advice on why you are just missing that next grade up, and without receiving that grade that had just fallen short, that advice may not have seemed like something you needed but extra advice is good advice! Also, go and speak to your personal tutor, they can help give an overview of what you have been doing and try give you pointers on how to improve. They are also there for pastoral support, if anything has affected your grade down to a personal matter they can point you in the right direction for further advice. The university offers a fantastic range of support so if there is something stopping you achieving your best, go and speak to somebody about it as they want the best from you as well! The university also offers a free counselling service if you need an additional point of support. Just remember, a bad grade doesn’t define you and this grade can give you a boost and motivation to turn things around for your next piece of work.

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This blog was written by second year English with Creative Writing student, Bethany Mitchell. 

I adore books as much as the next English student, so libraries are often my favourite places to be. Many of Nottingham’s fantastic libraries offer much more than just books, though! They are host to events and workshops, historical tours, and rare magazines and journals. Here are three great libraries which offer something a bit different:

Bromley House Library

Bromley House Library, situated on Angel Row in Nottingham city centre, was established in 1816 and houses over 47,000 books and manuscripts. The library takes applications for membership, but you can take a peak without having to sign up! Bromley House offers regular tours for as little as £2 per person for 90 minutes – plenty of time to take in their four floors and hidden garden. They also host a number of events, some of which are open to non-members, such as an upcoming one about women’s writing after suffrage.

Women’s Centre Library

If you identify as a woman and you’re interested in women’s writing, then you will love the Women’s Centre Library, located on Chaucer Street in the city centre. The library is free to browse, but a small fee is charged for membership if you wish to take out an item. A rare gem, and the only one of its kind in the East Midlands, the library holds many rare feminist magazines which were donated in the 70s and 80s when it first opened (as well as much contemporary writing!) This includes a number of independently published zines, including this fantastic publication created in a poetry workshop recently held at the Nottingham Women’s Centre.

Beeston Library (and other ‘Inspire’ Libraries in Notts)

If you like the idea of attending a creative workshop, the Inspire libraries dotted around Nottingham are the place to look. Beeston Library is relatively close to the University of Nottingham’s university park campus, and offers a range of activities, workshops and events. You can find craft workshops, such as for knitting, sewing, or flower arranging, and they host arts and heritage workshops, as well as author events. Their spoken word event – ‘WORD!’ – is one of the longest running poetry nights in the country! Beeston Library also offer regular ‘Tea and Tech’ workshops, in which they offer help with technology whilst you have a cuppa. The ‘Tea and Tech’ sessions are offered for free, but other events and workshops do have fees which vary, though concessionary prices are available.

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This blog was written by final year English student, Jade Braham.

• Author: Anthony Trollope
• Published: 1858
• Rating: 4/5

Having seen the ITV’s mini-series of Anthony Trollope’s Doctor Thorne I was inspired to read his novel.  Published in 1858, it is the third novel in Trollope’s series known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire. The principal story starts with Frank Gresham’s coming of age party (he is the eldest and only Gresham son). Foolishly, he announces his love to Mary and proposes.  This has negative consequences as he is sent by his family to meet Miss Dunstable, a wealthy heiress, whilst Mary is banished and isolated from the Gresham’s household. Throughout the novel we follow the trying tribulations of these two young lovers and the political corruption and gender inequality that not only prevents love from conquering all but demonstrates how such issues are troublingly still relevant to today.

The most striking and interesting element of the novel is its exploration into political, and probably not so surprising, masculine power. Politics and the voting system are at the heart of this story and instead of Trollope’s novel being a form of escapism it seems to reinforce the idea that as a civilisation and as a country we have failed to improve and progress from the abuses of political power that control and dominate the way society and its inhabitants live. This can be seen in its parallelisms to wire-tapping, allegations of voter fraud, claims that the British electorate was misled and accusations about the misuse of public funds against candidates. Such allegations have had an effect on our lives today and it certainly governed how individuals perceived each other in the novel. In addition, this political corruption heightened the male patriarchal values that not only limit women but foreground how lower classes and destitute aristocratic families were sadly at the mercy (or lack of) of those in government.

Furthermore, the novel provides a harsh truth about the brutal conditions for women. There was neither opportunity for expressions of thought nor any chance to speak out against male domination. Women were considered inferior, were expected to be submissive and passive and were defined and referred to through their husband’s social standing. Interestingly then, this novel details through the main love story how women were often brutally treated with little hope of help from their male counterparts. Sound familiar?

If you’re looking for something educational and thought-provoking then this novel is for you!

Image: Anthony Trollope/Chapman and Hall [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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This blog was written by first year English student, Sasha Gardner.

Having spent the past few months reading those texts deemed ‘canonical’ by the University of Nottingham English department, I was on the hunt for something a little more light-hearted and current. I found Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader, a pocket-sized paperback lining the tills of Waterstones everywhere. Very much light-hearted, and laugh-out-loud funny at points, this book imagines what would happen if the Queen, at her advanced age, were to discover the joys of reading. She throws herself wholeheartedly into her new hobby, foisting books on her grandchildren and Prime Minister alike, to such an extent that her public duties begin to suffer – the Queen cuts short royal visits, itching to get back to the book stowed in her handbag. But this newfound enthusiasm doesn’t go unnoticed, and her equerries quickly begin plotting how best to mitigate Her Majesty’s obsession with reading.

Bennett uses the Queen’s quiet moments of introspection and rumination to explore the art of reading – why we do it, and what we take away from the books that we read. In response to the vice-chancellor’s admiration of books, the Queen comments ‘At the risk of sounding like a piece of steak, they tenderise one.’ Like any good reader, she reads with a pencil, noting down such aphorisms as ‘Etiquette may be bad but embarrassment is worse.’ The Queen reads widely and critically (perhaps a good model for the English undergraduate!), devouring everything from Plath to Proust, and never hesitating to make her opinions known to those around her.

The Uncommon Reader is ideal for reading between lectures, or in one sitting on an afternoon off. At just over a hundred (small) pages, Bennet’s book is the perfect study break for any student seeking some whimsy.

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This blog was written by second year English with Creative Writing student, Holly Humphreys.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is an absolute brick of a novel; a gruelling journey of 720 pages each brimming with gorgeous, intricate prose. Despite the book’s size I found myself itching to read more every time I had to put it down – I read it on the train, between writing essays, staying up late into the night promising myself just one more chapter before I went to bed.

The narrative follows the interwoven lives of four friends as they grow from adolescence into middle-age and centres on Jude, a man with a torrid past that he keeps locked deep within himself despite his friends’ pleas to let them in. The title is misleading in the best way possible – the characters’ lives are anything but little, spanning decades and reaching millions of people in some cases, yet all of that pales in comparison to the complexities of the relationships between the main characters.

The depth of Yanagihara’s storytelling makes the minutiae of everyday life, the comforting predictability of friendships spanning decades, seem as vast and important as the more shocking events in the book, namely Jude’s childhood abuse and his struggles with self-harm as a result. Her prose is so rich with detail, delicate descriptions of buildings and landscapes juxtaposed with harsh, blunt depictions of violence, that you are immediately sucked into the world of these characters, empathising with their successes and their struggles as though you were living them yourself.

Although the book has many overarching themes including trauma and uncertainty about the future, to me the most significant is friendship. One of my favourite quotes from the book is spoken by Willem, a farmhand’s son from the American Midwest who becomes an international movie star – ‘”I know my life is meaningful because…because I’m a good friend. I love my friends, and I care about them, and I think I make them happy.”’ The issues in this novel are challenging, but in spite of this (or maybe because of this) it is an undeniably moving story about found-family and the pleasure that life can hold if spent with good people.

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This blog was written by first year English student, Harriet Mills.

After an intense start to University, on the last day of term, I decided to ditch the metaphors for the mountains. I grabbed the essentials, my skis and a warm coat and embraced the 24-hour coach journey to Avoriaz with the snow sports society.

As much as I hate the clichéd ‘if you know, you know’ phrase, Avoriaz essentially mirrored any French ski resort / fairytale. It had Boulangeries, filled with pastries where the smell alone emanating from them transfixed your brain into thinking it was necessary to have one (or four.) Lively, but cosy bars where it was beer o’clock every hour, or a place to get a ‘chocolat chaud’ in the hope of regaining the feeling in your fingers. And interestingly numerous horse and carriages to replace the no car rule, which accommodated the pleasantly archaic nature of Avoriaz.

Image: Author’s own

After doing a ski season, the prospect of getting back on the slopes alongside friends was one I jumped at. Going with the university also turned the trip into a social event. Meeting new people and living in accommodation where privacy was as non-existent as the cars meant we all got to know each other pretty well.

So our ‘clique’ hit the mountains everyday, we glided through the white blankets laid out between trees and caught chair lifts that lent our eyes the most spectacular views of the white peaks.

Image: Author’s own

Like any student, with anything they do, you’re always doing it on a budget and skiing itself isn’t exactly the cheapest hobby. However, on the days when pasta and ketchup (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it), didn’t suffice we treated ourselves to some alpine style pizzas and burgers, which at the time seemed worth the price.

Alongside all the skiing and eating, the ‘dancing on tables’ with anyone and everyone until the early hours was how we all chose to end our day.

In a constant attempt to make sure we took full advantage of our time in the mountains, the week passed by in a matter of moments and before I knew it we were back on the bus home.

Image: Author’s own

But nonetheless it was a week full of sun, snow and sipping on vin chaud.

Well done Avoriaz, you were snow-mazing.

Image: Author’s own

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This blog was written by final year English student, Hannah Smart.

With exam season drawing to a close, we are all promising ourselves that next semester, it will be different. We will not make the same mistakes; we will start revising earlier, work longer hours, choose our coursework questions as soon as they are released, and submit before 2.55pm on deadline day. As a final year student, I know all too well that feeling of regret of having not done more that pervades exam season, and – with the help of other third year students – have compiled a list of tips on how to best to prepare for exams and coursework deadlines next semester, in which all advice is based on good (and not-so-good) experience!

Arrange to revise with someone else

“If you struggle with self-discipline, arranging to meet someone else at the library means that you’re not only letting yourself down if you don’t show. If you also agree to leave together, it means you can’t pack up the second you lose motivation!”
Maya, Final Year Psychology Student.

Treat revision like a job

“I find it really helpful to do a 9-5 day at the library with a lunch break, like any working adult. I stay and work until 5pm even if I have nothing urgent to do that day, so I don’t have to do really long hours in the days before deadlines. I find that this way, I have a healthy relationship with revision and work.”
Emily, Final Year History Student

Try to keep your work space and your living space separate

“Use the library and the extra study spaces offered by the University over exam season to revise and work on essays. This way, your home and bedroom is kept for relaxation, and exam stress is less likely to interfere with your sleep pattern.”

Hannah, Final Year English Student

Give yourself time to reset

Every day, try to do something, anything, other than work and sleep. This could be going to a gym class, taking the time to walk to and from the library to listen to music or a podcast, or watching one episode of a show you like during your lunch break. Don’t underestimate the power of a break!

Image: by Chloe Lane

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This blog was written by second year English student, Emily Hall.

We are influenced so much by the World around us; by the food we eat, the people we meet and the sights we see. Therefore when looking to be creative, expressive or reflective, surely we should take more notice of the space we are in and whether it is encouraging or restricting what we wish to achieve.

University Park Campus is beautiful with its sloping landscapes and abundance of coffee spots, perfect for an hour reading break between lectures. Yet if you want to venture off campus, there are some fantastic spaces to get your creative juices flowing, and these are just a few of my favourites…

1) Rye Cafe- Beeston

Since the first week of my first year as an English student, Rye Cafe has been a writer’s haven for me. With a gorgeous rustic interior, comfy lounge style seating and a great variety of food, I have spent hours sitting by the window with a book in one hand and coffee in the other (if you like people watching, definitely bag a window seat.) The relaxed atmosphere encourages creativity, and most of my first year creative writing assessments were completed on one of the incredibly comfortable arm chairs.

2) Wollaton Park

Especially for the spring and summer months, this is one of my favourite places to get creative or enjoy some quiet reading. If you head to the cafe courtyards, the outdoor seating area is perfect to enjoy a cool ice lemonade whilst reading. Take inspiration from the beautiful Wollaton Hall, a place of spectacular opulence and endless writing possibilities. The lake also provides such serenity and so take a leisurely walk alongside it and take some photos, which could be used as inspiration for a writing piece one day.

3) Five Leaves Bookshop, City Centre

Nothing beats a small independent bookshop, especially if you’re looking for inspiration. Full to the brim of all sorts of literature, from classics to graphic novels, Five Leaves will spark all of your literary love and remind you of why you chose to study English. If you’re lucky, there is a small table and chairs outside, which is perfect for starting a new book or jotting down some poetry ideas. Don’t be afraid to spark up conversations with people. If they’re looking at a book that you’ve read, tell them about it. Ask the shop worker if there is anything they’d recommend. Ask about upcoming events or reading groups. The more you engulf yourself in reading culture, you’ll find tons of amazing opportunities.

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This blog was written by second year English student, Megan Bowie.

As an English student, one of my favorite things to do in my spare time is read. However, with large reading lists and minimal time sometimes finding the time for recreational reading can sometimes be difficult. With deadlines approaching, I found myself one evening with nothing set to read as I had finished my essays and it enabled me to stop and think about what I would like to read. I am going on holiday soon so decided to read some travel articles about what to do and where to go. It wasn’t a novel, but it was a positive way to spend my time, reading about something interesting and that is what is important remember, to read for fun not just what has been specified for your course. However, take enjoyment out of what you have been set, university is a great way to broaden your horizons and read things you wouldn’t normally select yourself. The great thing about an English degree is sitting nose deep in a good read is actually doing work for your degree, how great is that! When reading something set by the university try to still read for leisure, your own personal choice. Whether that be another novel, a travel guide, a cook book or an article, reading opens the mind and is a great way to relax, even just for ten minutes aside from your set texts. Reading is fun and if you love it like me, try and engage with something personally selected. Ask a friend for a book recommendation, buy a magazine or simply read a news article, whatever it is, you’ll fall back in love with reading like I have as recently, I had forgotten just how great reading for pleasure can be.

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This blog was written by second year English with Creative Writing student, Bethany Mitchell.

I am currently enrolled in the ‘Arts in the Community’ Nottingham Advantage Award module at Lakeside Arts. The module focuses on volunteering in gallery education alongside Lakeside staff, providing learning opportunities to the public in a gallery environment, encouraging visitors to the centre to develop an understanding of art and galleries in creative ways. I have been fortunate to fill a number of my required volunteering hours for the Advantage Award by undertaking work at Lakeside Arts as a Trainee Assistant, working on the gallery’s Art Investigator Max (AIM) workshops which provide free family art activities. The workshop (held on Saturday afternoons during term-time, when exhibitions are running) aims to attract new visitors to the galleries and to enrich public visits to them.

At the start of the academic year, myself and another Trainee Assistant for AIM had the chance to plan some of these sessions with the Galleries Learning Officer which would tie to upcoming exhibitions, such as Rana Begum’s ‘Space Light Colour’, the annual University Exhibition, and ‘After Camden Town: The Late Works of Harold Gilman’. The sessions offer activities such as print making, collage and building 3D shapes, which have been designed to relate to the exhibitions on offer. As an AIM assistant, I have had the opportunity to run and facilitate a number of these workshops and have seen my creative confidence grow, and my understanding and appreciation of the galleries at Lakeside develop.

Aside from my work with the AIM sessions, I’ve also had some great opportunities to learn more about work in a gallery environment as part of the award. The module offered an introductory session to Nottingham Lakeside Arts, which outlined the diverse programme of art the centre has to offer, followed by a tour of Lakeside and its facilities. Nottingham Advantage Award students have also had tutorials and goal setting meetings, as well as the chance to meet a number of staff in a Q&A session, offering an insight into roles in a gallery context, such as those in education, curation, marketing, retail and visual arts programming including curation and conservation. The module is a fantastic platform for any student who enjoys the arts, or who is considering a career in a gallery context.

Lakeside Arts is open to the public year-round. You can follow this link to see what exhibitions and events are currently on offer, and to find information for students, outlining current opportunities, placements and internships: https://www.lakesidearts.org.uk/

Image: Author’s own

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This blog was written by final year English student, Jade Braham.

Under Adam Penford’s ingenious direction Alan Bennett’s masterpiece The Madness of George III finally hit the Nottingham Playhouse’s stage. Set in 1788, it follows the journey of the king who, having reigned from 1760, finds his life and the Nation’s stability threatened by his unexpected descent into madness. With its elaborate set design and extraordinary Olivier Award-winning cast, with Mark Gatiss as the lead, the production foregrounded questions surrounding power and identity.

It is rare to have the atmosphere of the play transpire into the auditorium before its onset but Designer Robert Jones has outdone himself. By transforming the stage curtain to a lavish gold and purple replica of an embellished cloth or fabric spoke loudly of the Royal Court’s opulence. The decision to paint this, as opposed to acquiring coloured fabric, gave the allusion of reality, of 3D. It wasn’t until much later on when the King announced “I’ve always been myself, even when I was ill. Only now I seem myself. And that’s the important thing.” did I realise the curtain’s part in spearheading the plays theme of appearance vs. reality.

In conjunction, sound designer Tom Gibbons’ meticulous use of music, brought the King’s regality to each individual in the audience. The inclusion of the King’s favourite composer George Handel, the loud sound effects of crowds cheering and religious, almost overpowering, operatic-sounding choral songs made his entrances and exits dramatically prominent. Similarly, Wardrobe Supervisor, Poppy Hall’s attention to history brought the image of 1788 to life. The pristine outfits of the King’s staff to the excessive and powerful clothing adorned by the monarchy contrasted the simplicity and increasingly dirty looking clothes and nightgown worn by the mad King.

Alongside the King’s costume was Mark Gatiss’ outstanding performance. His characterisation of the King’s transformation into madness was truthful to the extent of it becoming uncomfortable and emotionally painful to watch. The attention to his physicality and body language was astonishing – the walking on the instep of the left foot created a limp and lopsided stance whilst his raised but limp left arm hinted at his inability to control anything. It became even more heart-breaking when wheeled onto stage, the once tall, perfect postured king, was curled into a ball with his knees tucked into his abdomen and his shoulder hunched forward, causing his head to droop.

The production was a knockout success. I found myself crying and laughing simultaneously, wishing I could re-watch it.

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This blog was written by second year English with Creative Writing student, Holly Humphreys.

When I tell people that I study English, I’m usually met with one of two questions: ‘So, do you want to go into teaching?’ or ‘What kind of books do you like?’ My response is usually to smile a little awkwardly, tell them that no, I don’t consider teaching to be the right career path for me, and in fact the non-literature part of my degree interests me more!

English tends to have connotations of old books and close-text analysis – don’t get me wrong, reading is a big part of an English degree, but there can also be so much more to it. What drew me to Nottingham when I was applying to university (it feels so long ago now!) was the expansive approach they took to English studies. They covered modules including drama, linguistics and creative writing, options not offered by many of the other universities I visited. In my first year, whilst I still had exams and coursework based on books, I was also assessed on my ability to direct a short extract from a play and my poetry and prose writing skills.

Picking my second-year modules proved that there are so many paths I could follow with my degree. The module I was most excited about was ‘The Psychology of Bilingualism and Language Learning’ which looks at the way we acquire language as children as well as the ways that second languages are taught in schools. This paves the way for third year modules which look at how our brains actually process and store language, which in turn can lead to careers in areas such as speech therapy. This almost scientific approach to English is a refreshing contrast to literature modules.

Books aren’t for everyone. This doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t study English. You’d be surprised at just how diverse a discipline English really is, particularly here in the School of English.

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This blog was written by first year English student, Sasha Gardner.

With the release of the latest book in Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch series (First Prize for The Worst Witch), fans of all ages have been revisiting these delightful stories recounting the trials and triumphs of Mildred Hubble, the most disaster-prone witch Cackle’s Academy has ever seen. The original book was published in 1974, well before J.K Rowling had begun to think up The Philosopher’s Stone, yet the two have a lot in common. We follow Mildred through her first year of witching school, where she tries (and fails) to teach her cat to fly, quarrels with her nasty potions teacher, and eventually saves the school from a terrible plot.

I love the magic of this book, but most of all I love the parts of it which are not magic at all – Mildred’s close friendship with the sensible Maud Spellbody, her fondness for animals and propensity for disaster all make her a loveable protagonist. Unlike Harry Potter, Mildred isn’t new to the world of magic, and so the reader is given an insight into the academy from the perspective of an ordinary student, and can imagine just what it is like to sleep in a school with no glass in the windows, and bats nesting on the curtain rails.

Murphy (who also wrote the picture book ‘Five Minute’s Peace’) makes use of her time at Chelsea Art School and accompanies the story with detailed illustrations. Reading the books as a child, I didn’t take much notice of these, but they are beautifully intricate and really do bring the story to life. This book may be aimed at younger readers, but a story as well-written and illustrated as this one deserves to be read by witches of all ages, and continues to delight every time I pick it up.

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This blog post was written by first year English student, Harriet Mills.

To Kill A Mockingbird was the novel that made me see that books are about way more than just the plot or ‘telling a story.’ After reading such a powerful book that explores the power of stereotypes and contextually the deep-rooted injustice within 1930s Southern America, I learned that literature considers fundamental messages through characterisation and symbolism.

It becomes apparent that Lee purposefully creates vulnerable and helpless characters that are subject to ongoing prejudice to make a comment on social issues at the time. She explores how discrimination and forcing people to live in perpetual suffering was a scapegoat to extreme poverty during the great depression.

The story focus’ upon the trial of Tom Robinson who is wrongly accused but is helpless due to being literally trapped in the colour of his skin and the racial prejudice that comes with this. He therefore relies on the moral voice of Atticus who understands it is a ‘sin to kill a mockingbird,’ in other words proving the unjust nature of tormenting the innocent.

Characters such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley who represent these metaphorical mockingbirds are compared with Bob Ewell, the antagonist who is described as a ‘bantam cock,’ to magnify the contrast in respect and morals between the good and evil. At the end of the novel, the fact that Boo Radley kills Bob Ewell can be seen as almost a victory for the innocent in eradicating this deep-rooted evil.

In this book Lee teaches us that even though in extreme cases social codes can overpower legal ones it is important to disregard previous stereotypes and not to judge someone because ‘you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.’

Image: Kristin / CC BY 2.0

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This blog post was written by final year English student, Hannah Smart. 

Here in Nottingham, temperatures have dropped and evenings stood shivering in club queues are making us feel wintery in all the wrong ways. To make sure this really is the most wonderful time of the year, below are just five of the festive opportunities on offer for students this season:

1. From the 15^th November, Old Market Square becomes Nottingham’s answer to Winter Wonderland.

Complete with the UK’s biggest mobile ice rink and over 70 traditional craft and food stalls, there are also four bars. These include Altitude, an elevated all-glass bar promising Instagram-worthy panoramic views of the city, where mulled wine or a Bailey’s hot chocolate will set you back £5.00, and ski-lodge-style chalet bar Sur La Piste, the kitchen of which is being taken over this year by the wildly popular Bar Iberico. You can also pre-book entry to the Ice Bar; tickets, which include two drinks and glove/jacket hire, are £13.00 each.

Image: by Chloe Lane

2. Electric Garden at Hockley Arts Club

From December, Hockley Arts Club transform their top floor bar into a Narnia-esque Winter Wonderland, complete with a Christmas-inspired cocktail list.  In keeping with the Narnia theme, the entrance is easily missed; find it on Carlton Street opposite Lost Property Bar. A student top tip? Opt for a sharing cocktail, which can work out to £5.80 each.

Image: Hockley Arts Club by Chloe Lane

3. Santa Paws event at Wollaton Hall
What do University students miss most about home? Their dogs. On the 15^th and 16^th December, Wollaton Hall hosts its Santa Paws event. All donations go to the Jerry Green Dog Rescue charity, so you can support a good cause whilst tending to your own homesickness!

4. Maria Carey All I Want for Christmas is You tour
Potentially out of our price range as students, but still absolutely worth mentioning, is the fact that the All I Want for Christmas is You tour returns to Nottingham this year. When you inevitably tire of strangers singing the Christmas classic to you on nights out throughout the season, catch the real thing at the Motorpoint Arena on the 9^th.

5. Souprunners
Available to participate in all year round, but particularly important when temperatures drop, is University of Nottingham’s Souprun. Two evenings a week, students make and hand out soups, sandwiches, hot drinks and snacks to those who need it in Nottingham City Centre. Head to their Facebook page to sign up to the next run!

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This blog post was written by second year English student, Emily Hall.

Throughout my school life, I put an awful lot of pressure on myself when it came to revision and studying. Since coming to University, I have not only learnt about a broad range of Literature, linguistics and drama, but how to enjoy studying them! There are so many other ways to learn about authors and texts, which don’t involve burying yourself in a book for hours upon hours in the library until your eyes start to droop. Here are two of my favourite ways to broaden your learning and try out some different resources.

1- Podcasts

Whether on iTunes, Spotify or another platform, podcasts are a great way to hear different interpretations and thoughts on a text. One of my favourites is BBC Radio 4’s ‘In Our Time- Culture’ podcast, which always has a panel of academics discussing key authors, texts or historical periods. Author Whiskey Emerson’s ‘Legacy: the Artists behind the Legends’ is an informal podcast which offers an informal and interesting interpretation of authors. Podcasts are great to listen to if you’re on public transport, waiting between lectures, or just want a break from reading or writing (but still want to feel productive!)

2- Youtube

A video sharing platform which goes further than makeup tutorials and music videos, YouTube can also be a great revision resource! ‘Tedx talks’ do a variety of speeches and presentations on a range of subjects, which include authors and Literary periods. Lots of Universities have their own YouTube accounts, where professors discuss a given subject, so it’s worth having a search if you’re studying a text that you could do with another academics view on. A word of warning, anyone can upload to YouTube, which is it’s beauty and it’s curse, so make sure that if you’re going to reference something it is a credible source! It’s always great to hear other people’s thoughts on texts, as they might stimulate or change an idea you had, but if mentioning them in an academic paper, a bit of a background check couldn’t go amiss.

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This blog post was written by second year English student, Megan Bowie.

This summer I studied abroad for two weeks with our intercampus Overseas Summer School programme at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus! I chose the Creative Writing course because as a joint honours student last year (I am now single honours), I didn’t get to pick this module and wanted to try something new. The first day we were welcomed by an amazing showcase of traditional Malaysian dances and a delicious welcome meal to get us settled in.

Starting our courses (which varied from business or politics to creative writing), we sat in lectures on the basics of creative writing, what was involved and what we could expect from the course and got straight into writing poetry. This was the first poem I’d ever written (disregarding my primary school fireworks masterpiece) and I found it really exciting and different to the content I was writing at university. Throughout the two weeks we wrote more poems, flash fiction and short stories, including going to visit an English author who had moved to Malaysia. She told us about the industry and how she was inspired from her life in England and in Malaysia and I could see why.

During the Summer School, not only were we writing and learning in the classroom but we were learning about the culture and lifestyle of the beautiful country in Southeast Asia. The time was filled with trying new food and visiting many places of interest like Kuala Lumpur and the Batu Caves. We visited temples and climbed hills and above all, made friends for life with people from Nottingham and all over the world. It was the most exciting and eye opening fortnight of my life that gave me a short but sweet taster of studying abroad. It immersed me into the stunning Asian surroundings that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do so without studying at the University of Nottingham.

Image: Author’s own

Image: Author’s own

Image: Author’s own

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This blog post was written by second year English with Creative Writing student, Bethany Mitchell.

In a culture where electronic note-taking becomes ever more prevalent, I find myself reflecting on the simple pleasures of the notebook.

When we write or make notes on laptops, tablets, or even phones, we erase our thoughts and ideas moments after they become tangible, editing as we go. In a notebook, however, these thoughts become archived, providing an unwavering reference point. A sentence or phrase could be harvested months later for use in an essay or a piece of creative writing. We might discover the seed of an idea, grown without our own realisation since it was first recorded. We can watch our thoughts develop, and review our processes.

A good notebook – one we love to use – can inspire us to write. We want to take it out of our bags or pockets, to take it with us on the bus or to the park, allowing us to capture moments and ideas that might otherwise slip away before we have chance to pin them down. Writing is the English student’s bread and butter, so this is valuable practice.

Equally, it’s important not to become too precious about our notebooks. There’s no need to fret if we spill coffee on them, distort our inky marks in the rain, or tear out pages for shopping lists: these deformations make our notebooks even more unique and full of story. Nor is there a need to be too articulate in our notebooks. This is our space for freedom and expression – we can edit later if necessary, perhaps for an assessment (or a blog post). In our notebooks, nothing is a mistake. We’ll find no squiggly red lines following us. A notebook is the English student’s science experiment.

Whatever your current approach to note-taking, I advocate experimentation: find a notebook you enjoy, and observe what happens when you have fun with your process.

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How do academics also act as a support network, both academically and personally, within the School of English at the University of Nottingham?

Given the opportunity to partake in a period of work experience at the termination of my year 12 studies I opted to spend the week within the School of English at the University of Nottingham. As an individual possessing great passion for the subject, I felt that such would serve as a means of me sourcing an insight into how my favourite A-levels would transfer to that of degree-level study.

As a constituent to this experience, I had the chance to interview Professor Peter Stockwell regarding the nature of the personal tutoring system that operates here at the School. I felt that the discussion that arose from such may serve as a source of reassurement for other prospective applicants regarding the support available and thus wish to share my findings through this medium.

Coming into this placement with no real prior knowledge into the role of the personal tutor, I found the response to my initial question, simply the brief elicitation ‘what does your role of personal tutor entail?’, vastly reassuring. A personal tutor carries out this somewhat pastoral role alongside both their research, teaching and other responsibilities – they are, in many cases, the worried student’s first port of call. This individual is somebody whom can pass you on to the varying services available throughout the university, whether that be to Disability Support to sort out access arrangements for examinations or to the counselling services for any other issues that arise which could be supported through such.

But, do not worry, you will by no means be forgotten about here if you are the type of person who is fairly autonomous in your studies, not regularly requiring external support. In response to the larger and more diverse student body that we see in higher education instituions today a scheme was developed around ten years ago for first-year students, a core module called ‘Academic Support’. This essentially encompasses mandatory meetings with your tutor on a fortnightly basis, a constituent to the first-year curriculum as it were. Tutors are even given an agenda to work through to ensure that the experience for students is comparable across tutors. Accessing this support through a scheme really allows you to get to know your personal tutor and come to trust and feel comfortable seeking them out in any potential point of need; this relationship shall be especially useful later on in your second and third years I am told.

Although, as it stands, I have predominately placed the emphasis on the benefits of this scheme for the student, I perceive the notion that tutors also see such as a rewarding process to be a crucial point to note. In frequently spending additional time engaging in often intellectual discussion with the students as part of these sessions, tutors do not just get to know them on a personal level but also gain insight into their thought processes and the manner through which they learn – understanding the academic nature of the student is pivotal in the holistic comprehension of their later work.

In engaging in the previously mentioned discussion the inseparable nature of the ‘academic’ and the ‘personal’ were really highlighted to me as standing at the forefront of not only the scheme but also the dynamic role of the ‘lecturer’. Whilst you are studying here within the School of English at the University of Nottingham you will always be personally supported in your academic tasks. Contrary to popular belief, your lecturer may well do more than just teach…

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

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This blog post was written by second year English and Philosophy student, Emily Patel.

In just over a week, my second year at university will be over. I know I’ve repeated this in my previous blogs, but it’s hard to believe it has gone by so quickly! All my coursework has been handed in so I just have exams left – as I’m sure is the case for most of you if you haven’t finished already (good luck!). This gives me the opportunity to reflect on what I have learnt through my course this year.

My favourite English module has definitely been ‘Language in Society’, in which we discussed topics in sociolinguistics. This includes how language varies across groups around the world, and how different contexts have an impact on the language that we use in written and spoken texts. I found it extremely interesting to look into how the media has an influence on the public through the language choices used. We had a range of topics we could do our coursework on, and I decided to research how immigrants were presented in right – wing newspaper articles. I found that they spread conservative ideologies which are generally against large levels of immigration into Britain. I have also enjoyed the module ‘Twentieth Century Plays’, in which we read plays including ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.

Although I preferred studying literature before university, I am now more interested in studying language. I have also realised that through a lot of my work, I have enjoyed writing about how marginalised groups are presented within texts (including themes of race, gender, and sexuality). As well as my English modules, this semester I did a philosophy module about race. Due to these reasons, I have decided to do a discourse analysis for my dissertation about how certain groups (probably women and immigrants) are presented in the media. Although my coursework involved these ideas, I was told it was fine to repeat the theme as long as I changed it in some ways. Surprisingly, a dissertation is not compulsory for my course, but I have decided to do one despite previously being unsure about what to do for it.

As well as a dissertation, the other English modules I am doing next year are ‘The discourse of Health and Work’ and ‘Dystopian and Gothic Fiction.’ Through my language module this year, I enjoyed exploring how our language changes when we are in professional settings. In ‘Dystopian fiction’, we will read books such as Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty – Four’, which I look forward to!

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This blog post was written by (2+2) English Language and Literature student, Yangyang Zheng.

Last year in Easter, I flew from China to Exeter, UK for the Change Agents Network (CAN) conference with one of my team members, Sonia (Lexiao PENG). Our group focused on changing the Reading Circle program to be student-led and student-oriented and we applied for building an NAA module for it. The program is now running smoothly back at UNNC campus, providing the first-year students a reading-friendly environment. We even published an article as co-authors on Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change. It had been an incredible experience, presenting on a conference and changing ideas with teachers and students from other universities (mostly from UK) talking about the role that students can play in the changes in teaching and learning.

According to Peter Sturman, the Student Support Officer, one of our tutor supervisors, it was the first time for the university (UNNC campus) to pay for two students to fly to another country to do a presentation at a conference. Mr. Richard Silburn, outgoing Head of CELE (Center for English Language Education) approved the funding for us to fly to Exeter. It was a rush decision and we had to have everything sorted out in less than 3 weeks. It is quite a story describing how we prepared for this trip, especially for the presentation. We changed and practiced our script and presentation many times and received helpful feedback from CELE tutors. By the time we boarded our first flight, we were packed with tips on how to do a good presentation and a newly-edited script.

We flew from Ningbo to Beijing, Beijing to Manchester and then from Manchester to Exeter. Almost two days on the way, which tired us out. What refreshed me was Exeter’s beautiful scenery. The conference was to be held at the University of Exeter and we also stayed on the campus. The CAN aims to promote students’ role in changing universities and it builds a platform for different groups to demonstrate what they have achieved so far. Although it is about students taking part in university changes, most of the participants at this conference were still teachers. Thus, we were special not only because we were from China, but also because we were student presenters. Our presentation lasted twenty minutes excluding the question session. We had more than a dozen in the audience out of approximately 100 participants because there were parallel sessions going on. We introduced our Reading Circle Mentor NAA Program and what we had done to make a change in promoting extensive reading at UNNC. We received positive feedback about our project (“Students taking control”) and they were also quite interested in how Chinese as First Language speakers read English literature. We also went to other presentations and workshops by teams from other universities and received many ideas about what students can do in changing the university. The conference argued that students should form partnerships with the teachers to make changes happen on their campus and slowly even take charge of those changes. We also talked to different teachers from other universities and made friends with them during lunches. We networked over discussions about the presentations, our universities and exchanged email addresses to stay in touch in the future.

It will take another 500 words to describe in detail our adventure in Exeter. It was amazing to be on a trip like this and attend the conference, exchange ideas and insights with people who care about the same thing. Our presentation, in my not-so-humble words, was a success. We see changes happen every day because of the efforts of students and those changes are going to make a difference at UNNC in a positive way and I believe the same thing can happen or is happening in UNUK as well.

Image: Author’s own

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This blog post was written by second year English student, Jaya Prabhakar.

Whether you have exams, coursework deadlines or both coming up, it’s safe to say that the exam period can be a stressful time and, like many of you reading this I’m sure, in the past I have struggled with the task of staying motivated at times. That being said, I have gleaned some knowledge which has helped me through the past exam periods and many long essays, so, with deadlines and exams on the horizon, here are some top tips to help you keep going during the exam period.

1. Try to plan out your day – this isn’t to say that you need to have a minute-by-minute regimen that you stick to without fail, because that just isn’t realistic. However, try planning out slots for working, eating, going to the gym etc. When you know what you want to tackle and how much you want to achieve by the end of that slot it will hopefully help you to stay more motivated and complete things without delaying.
2. Avoid places or things which make you procrastinate – everyone has experienced the strange slippage of time which only happens during the exam period where a 5 minute peek at Facebook turns into an hour of mindless scrolling (don’t deny it, I’m not the only one). It may be hard to stay focused, but if you know you struggle then force yourself to work; go to the library instead of sitting at home (if you’re worried about the noise or you’d rather sit on your own then book a single private study room in either of the libraries) or reward yourself with a treat after completing a certain amount of work. Minimise the time you spend on your phone and don’t go on the internet unless you absolutely have to – apps like Freedom allow you to schedule times where you are unable to use any of the apps that distract you from your work. Because Shakespeare is way cooler than Snapchat, right? Or, if you’re still struggling…
3. Try out productive procrastination – now I know that this sounds paradoxical but for me this has worked. When you feel yourself getting less productive but you don’t want to take a break, instead of slogging away at revision or an essay half-heartedly, switch it up! Try working on something else you need to do, whether its revision for another module, writing a bit of another essay, or even tidying up your workspace (tidy desk = tidy mind) and when you come back to your previous work you’ll be able to have a good go at it again.
4. Take longer breaks – I know this sounds counterproductive, but instead of sneakily taking lots of little breaks whilst telling yourself that they aren’t real breaks leading to you doing near to no work, take longer breaks but make sure you work solidly for a longer length of time.
5. Remember: exams and essays are not the end of the world – while they might be very important, your mental health is so much more important. Don’t let the workload or the deadlines and exams stop you from looking after yourself; make sure you are eating properly (I use cooking myself a nice dinner as a way to destress and chill), take regular breaks because there is no point in overworking yourself before you can even sit the exam or hand the essay in, and, most importantly, ask for help. The lecturers want to help you do well so drop them an email or reach out to organise a meeting if you aren’t sure about something or ask a friend if they have some insight. If you are really struggling then contact your personal tutor and they can help you figure out a way to deal with the stress, which is way better than trying to cope on your own.

Hopefully these tips will help you out as much as they have helped me. Good luck!!

Image: Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

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This blog post was written by first year English student, Polly Moss.

Having reread the first Harry Potter book over Easter for my course, I was struck both by how nostalgic the book made me, as well as how far it was possible to continue to appreciate the series as both a child and as an adult. As a child, the magic and world of wizardry is wondrous, and Harry’s adventures are exciting to partake in as a reader. As an adult, these things are still true however the book’s darker themes of death, sacrifice and unconditional love can be appreciated on a new level. This led me to think of other books written for children that I would love to return to as an adult.

‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ are another popular children’s series that can be returned to as an adult and still enjoyed and appreciated despite their intended demographic. Not only can Lewis’ worldbuilding be appreciated on another level once we have grown up, but the series’ themes and lessons, as with the Harry Potter series, are ones that can be reflected upon more deeply once we are older. Though there has been much academic discussion surrounding the Christian influence on the books, powerful moments such as Aslan’s self-sacrifice can be appreciated regardless of age or religion.

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge is a novel which has been a personal favourite of mine since I was very young. Unlike the other books I have discussed there is less fantasy to this novel and a less clear fight between good and evil. The story of the orphan Maria, who tries to fix her family’s centuries old feud with another local family having moved to live with her uncle perfectly balances realism with a slight touch of magic in a way that could capture both a child’s or adult’s imagination. Overall it is a beautiful story that is the perfect type to curl up with and enjoy with a cup of tea and a blanket.

We should not disregard literature simply because its intended demographic is children. I would encourage everyone to return to some of their childhood favourites for both the feeling of nostalgia as well as to see just what lessons we can learn from old favourites with our new experience.

Image: Image: lozikiki / CC BY-ND 2.0

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This blog post was written by second year English and Philosophy student, Emily Patel.

I don’t read much for pleasure outside of my studies, sadly, but going on holiday recently gave me the chance to delve into a book. I got a few books for Christmas, and I decided to start with ‘Never Let Me Go.’ Although it is a well – known book and film, I had never read or watched it before. Ishiguro has won a Nobel Prize in literature, so I had high expectations for the novel – and I was not disappointed.

Due to the title, I thought it would be a more romantic novel. Romantic relationships were explored, but it was not what I had expected (in a good way!). Instead, it is a dystopian, science fiction novel which followed the story of Kathy and her friends (particularly Ruth and Tommy), who grew up together in a school named Hailsham. The reader soon discovers that the school is in fact isolated from society, and there were a few strange aspects of their lives; for example, their parents were never mentioned. This left me wondering why these children were in the school, away from the ‘outside’ world. Without giving too much away, it is revealed that they were brought into the world for a certain purpose.

It is clear why Ishiguro has won awards, as it was written incredibly well. The novel is split into three sections, each following different stages of their lives. ‘Never Let Me Go’ is a very emotional book, exploring friendship and love. The students seem strangely accepting of their fate when they find out the truth. This novel really made me think about the situation, questioning whether it is ethical for people to suffer if it means helping a larger number of people. Another issue that was raised is whether or not the students should be told what would happen to them, or if they should remain in a blissful state of ignorance. Also, in terms of how groups of people have been divided and segregated from society, scarily the novel is not far from reality in some ways.

I would highly recommend ‘Never Let Me Go’, and I look forward to reading Ishiguro’s other novels. I also plan to watch the film as I enjoy comparing it to the book, but in my opinion the book is always better than the film!

Image: Author’s own

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This blog post was written by (2+2) English Language and Literature student, Yangyang Zheng.

I was introduced to British Parliamentary Style Debate in my first year at UNNC. I joined the Nottingham Debating Union China (NDUC), and later, in my second year, became its president. Debating has always been a great way to force me to be in others’ shoes and to think from multiple perspectives. It also requires me to pay attention to news from around the world about all kinds of different topics and absorb as much knowledge as possible. NDUC has its own training activities but we encouraged our members to go to different workshops and tournaments and practice their skills by brain-storming with debaters from other schools and clubs. We also held the 3^rd China Debate Camp last July, which was a seven-day workshop with a small tournament. Here at UNUK, I didn’t find much time for club activities, yet I volunteered at the Nottingham Open Debate that took place on 24^th and 25^th February, hoping to relive my previous debating experiences.

Image: Author’s own

The Nottingham Open Debate is open to debaters from different universities. I went to similar tournaments such as the Shanghai International Debate Open and the Canton Inter-Varsity with other members of NDUC when I was an active debater. Yet, one has to keep practicing in order to remain fluent in debating. This is even more the case for someone like me who speaks English as a second language. So, this time, I preferred to take up the opportunity to try my luck on the other side of the podium by volunteering and listening to the debates from the back row. My job as a volunteer was basically pointing people in the direction of the debate room, collecting balance sheets and cleaning the classrooms after the debates had finished. The event started at 9 on Saturday morning. There were 7 rounds in total: 5 rounds plus a semi-final and a final. Motions or debate topics cover fields such as feminism, economics, and philosophy. On Saturday night, there was a chance for sharing pizza and socialising after the day’s debate. I would normally stay close to my friends because I’m not very good at chit-chat, but I didn’t bring any friends this time, so I was slightly nervous about being left alone. Luckily, I was invited to share a pizza with debaters from Cardiff and Nottingham Trent University. Having debating as a common hobby, there’s a lot to talk about, and I saw this is a good chance for me to actually talk to people outside seminars and group work.

Nottingham Debating Union China (NDUC): 3rd China Debate Camp

What debating has brought to me is more than words can describe. It breaks the boundaries of “a standard answer” and ask me to come to conclusions of my own. Debating in English also builds my confidence in using a second language. It enhances my ability to explain certain concepts or things that I lack the right vocabulary for, which links to what Professor Dörnyei, an expert in these kinds of things from the School of English, might call Strategic Competence. While in China, I also made close friends in NDUC, some of which will be studying here at UNUK next semester. I believe they’ll also find debating here challenging, but great fun and very rewarding!

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This blog post was written by third year English student, Anna Parry.

It is nearly six months now since I’ve been home from my ten weeks volunteering abroad in Tanzania, Africa with Raleigh International. The experience that I had was incredible, a summer I will never forget. Looking back now, it seems that I lived a different life, one completely unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. It is impossible to truly describe the moments I had or the relationships I built: every time I try the inferiority of my recollection is strikingly apparent.

Image: Author’s own

Looking back, I find it difficult to relive the goodbyes that had to be said – first to the villagers, then to our Tanzanian counterparts, and finally to the other UK volunteers. All the people who made the experience so special, who were there for support through the toughest weeks and the best of times, were now going their separate ways. These moments were filled to the brim with so much sadness, but also so much happiness. We got to know each other in such unique and special ways, crossing cultural boundaries and sharing the most challenging experiences of our lives together. The recognition that it was all coming to an end was difficult for all of us to cope with.

I think that might be what made it so hard – not just that we were saying goodbye to our home-stay families, or to our fellow volunteers, or even to the village itself, but to the collection of small parts and moments which made up the entirety of our experience.

Image: Author’s own

I have struggled far more with coming back to the UK, and with the experience coming to an end, than I ever thought I would. Home has not changed since I have left, and I have. My time away in Africa has altered my perceptions and changed me in so many ways, my concept of the world as it is having been broadened both physically and emotionally. But to everyone else it seems to be the same as it’s always been. Their eyes haven’t been opened by the reality of life in third world countries; of laughing children enthralled by footballs made of rubbish or necklaces of bottle caps threaded on to a piece of string; of families who work from dawn to dusk to feed and support their loves ones and scared foreign volunteers whom they do not know as they settle into life so far from the luxury of the home comforts that they take for granted; of the reality of a 20 minute walk to collect water; of child malnutrition and disease; of inopportunity and poverty and oppression.

These are parts of the volunteer experience which, although they may break my heart a little as I look back in a strange twist of sadness and joy, are the moments and memories that I will treasure. They have taught me so much humility and I would not trade them for anything.

I truly believe that every person should get involved in some capacity with volunteering abroad with a charity that works in a sustainable capacity. Coming from the Western world of education, endless access to information and knowledge, and of technological advancement, we have such a lot to give and to teach, but even more to learn. Lessons that have been lost amongst the whirlwind of technology and social media, comfort and ease, and a rejection of personal and moral responsibility in a society where we are fortunate enough to have everything we could ever need at our fingertips.

Though it is okay to be sad about leaving, it is also okay to be happy to be home. The world may not be perfect, and it may seem like we are leaving so much behind us that needs to be challenged, developed and changed. And, for now, there is so much we can do to help out our local communities and that is enough for me.

Image: Author’s own

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This blog post was written by second year English student, Jaya Prabhakar.

Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita has been recommended to me multiple times, so finally I sat down and began reading it…and couldn’t stop. The novel chronicling Humbert Humbert’s ‘passion’ for Lolita is as engaging as it is disconcerting. Avoiding spoilers, the novel is written from the perspective of Humbert Humbert, a man in his late thirties at the beginning of the book, and relates the story of his passion for, or rather his obsession with a 12 year-old girl, Lolita. Nabokov explores the world of the unreliable narrator and subverts the trope of the typical love story, as the ideas of love and depraved obsession are confused with each other.

As well as engaging with interesting themes, Nabokov’s narrative style is ingenious; not only does it succeed in depicting the mind of a criminal, but it also illustrates the ease with which the reader’s interpretation of events can be swayed with a convincing narrative, even if it is completely wrong. The multi-layered and complex narrative not only reflects the convoluted mind of Humbert Humbert, but also serves to skew and confuse the reader’s viewpoint, sweeping us along until we realise we are accepting the viewpoint of a criminal.

I found myself comparing this narrative to today’s media and their tendency to portray women and men of all ages as over-sexualised objects of desire, whilst society increasingly, and worryingly, accepts this behaviour, making it seem normal. Nabokov’s tragic tale of Lolita, cloaked in Humbert Humbert’s twisted, deluded and at times humorous ‘love story’ is a reminder of the power of the narrator to alter reality, be it in literature, the media, or in a courtroom (as in the book). It is the job of others to distinguish the truth in the unreliable narratives we may read and hear every day, protecting those who are victimised and preyed upon.

The brilliant thing about literature is that these issues are brought to our attention through fictional worlds, perhaps teaching us how to approach situations in reality. Although I wouldn’t call Lolita an easy read, I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you’re looking for something to really make you think.

Image: Porsche Brosseau / CC BY-2.0

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This blog post was written by first year English student, Polly Moss.

When walking into a Waterstones or WHSmith and heading to the Young Adult section nowadays it is not uncommon to come across a shelf reserved specifically for books written by YouTubers. Nestled among the vampire romance and dystopian fiction many remember as the books that defined their teens, are numerous texts written by (ordinarily) attractive twenty-somethings whether it is an autobiography or a work of fiction.

It would be easy to consider all these books as a means for internet stars to make more money off their often very young impressionable audiences (for example, if we consider the scandal surrounding Zoe Sugg aka Zoella having a ghost writer for her novel),however there is an undeniable merit to them.

As someone whose teen years correlated with the time that YouTubers began to make money off their videos, I have been and often still am someone who watches videos on the site to tune out. As a result of this, I have read some books written by creators on the site, and I believe they have their place. Carrie Hope Fletcher’s novel On the Other Side is a heart-wrenching romance and similarly, Dodie Clark’s autobiography Secrets for the Mad is a beautifully written self-reflection on her life so far from her experience of the mental illness depersonalisation to anecdotes on relationships and growing up.

Similarly, despite the controversy surrounding her own novel, Zoe Sugg’s book club in partnership with WHSmith is helping young teenagers pick up books and read – something which cannot be a bad thing in a world saturated by the fear that a love of reading is slowly dying. Ultimately then, if the books put out by YouTubers are getting preteens reading then this should be something to celebrate rather than condemn.

Image: Author’s own: Secrets For The Mad by Dodie Clark

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Hi, I’m Yangyang majoring in English Literature. It’s my first year here and a pleasure to share my blog with you.

My preparation for studying in the UK at the University of Nottingham started a year ago. Before that, living in the UK was just an abstract idea. I was barely prepared to fit into another culture 8 time zones away from home. My favorite writers are from Britain as well asthe debating style that I’m practicing, but being in the culture that I had only read or heard about was another world away. For those who are now preparing to study here this blog offers my bits and pieces on the 2+2 program majoring in English and hopefully this may help to portray the image.

The two years of study in UNNC under the same teaching schedule prepared me well for the study over here. The familiarity made studying a comforting experience especially when I was homesick or recovering from the culture shock. It is always good to have something solid to hold on to when the environment shifts significantly. The first lecture will make clear the assessments and instructions and the materials will always be on Moodle. I made the mistake of rushing through all reading lists a week before the module started but they were for the previous year’s course. It’s good to read extra things but my point is that one doesn’t have to be too anxious about the modules and assessments. It is common to have pressure about failing to catch up with the native speakers in modules focusing on their mother tongue. Studying literature does require more than looking up in dictionaries and google, which is time consuming. The modules in linguistics are more friendly to us. In some modules, being an ESL even helps me to have my own observation of the learning. I’ve also received help from the tutors by annoying them (hopefully not) with emails or in office hours. I prefer an email where I can paraphrase every sentence. Still, it won’t hurt to try ideas of an essay in a face-to-face appointment. Ideals and stammers are both respected in class. I may not talk much about it, or express myself outside the class, but I am glad of those small talks with my classmates, before seminar begins.

Even though negative feelings may build up when the worries, homesickness and culture shock strike all at once, help could always be found for those who seek for it. I especially appreciate the help offered by the staff in the School of English and the exchange officer Christina (Dr. Lee). She and other staff take the issue of negative emotion seriously. Though I haven’t asked for them, it is always good to know that there is a place where I can find people to talk to.

These are my thoughts about my first year in UNUK. Hopefully it helps give a rough idea of studying here. And I do appreciate any feedback or comments given. And a Happy Lunar New Year!

Image: Author’s own

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This blog post was written by second year English and Philosophy student, Emily Patel

Now that I am in my second year of university, many things are different. I am now living in a house instead of halls, and I have new modules. Both of these changes are for the better – although living in halls was fun and a great way to meet people, sharing a house allows more independence (though we could all definitely be a bit tidier). I am enjoying my new modules, for example last semester I studied ‘Romanticism’, which involved texts from the 17-1800s. Even though there was a lot of poetry which I found challenging, I found the coursework really interesting. We had a lot of choice over the topics we could write on, and I chose to explore how women are presented in Jonathan Swift’s texts (including ‘Gulliver’s Travels’) and Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice.’

Although second year has been going well so far, the daunting truth is that soon my degree will be over! So my aim is to focus more on what I want to do after university and possible career paths. This is quite scary as I am not sure what I want to do and as I haven’t yet found an internship that I want to do, I will try to do more research into this and further explore the possibilities that are out there to do at the end of the year because this will be my last summer before I finish university. Careers and Employability service has been helpful. I am doing a work placement module, in which members of the service talked to us about various skills (interview skills, writing a CV/ cover letter and more). They also hold workshops and presentations for various job sectors, so I would advise students to attend these to get all the help they can.

Despite the uncertainties of not knowing what to do after graduation, doing a work placement has been beneficial. I found out about it through the School of English, as they advertise many work placements which is suitable for people doing the course. It is at ‘Think for the Future’, a social enterprise which aims to improve students’ behaviour and other issues through mentoring and running workshops in schools around Nottingham. My role is their marketing and communications assistant, and I have particularly enjoyed bid writing (writing letters asking for funding to help the company), as I believe it is for a great cause. I have also completed various tasks such as posting on their social media pages and filling out spreadsheets with information on the students. This placement has given me the opportunity to work in a professional setting, for a company that holds values that I am passionate about.

Image: Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

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This blog post was written by third year Classical Civilisation and English student, Rosanna Bell.

When people would say ‘university years are the best years of your life’, I took it as pressure to make it so. Suddenly, in my third and final year, I’m increasingly questioning whether my university experience will fulfil this expectation. One thing I may be certain of is how much I’ve grown up since my parents first dropped me off three years ago. First year throws you into a whirlwind of countless people and free time. This newfound freedom is as much an opportunity for new friendships and activities, but also opportunity for loneliness if not handled correctly. My time going abroad in second year proved a major factor in helping me grow and see that life isn’t one big party. I came out feeling very grateful for the semester away, however as I had initially hoped to spend a full year abroad, I forced myself into believing that the universe had a plan for me. Four months in to my time abroad – having already made great friends and immersing myself in my classes, I still couldn’t help but feel unsure about my situation. I still found myself wishing that I had chosen another route, allowing me a longer time studying in America, like I had always envisioned.

Image: Author’s own

Well what do you know? My Exchange University had an underdog basketball team that just so happened to win the USA Basketball National Championships. The one semester I find myself in the tiny town of Chapel Hill, on a semester abroad that I had never truly been sure about, I got to experience a celebration that thousands of college kids can only dream of. In that moment of pure triumph, pride and celebration, something clicked and I knew this was the path I was supposed to have taken. Now I am a third year (a senior) and while I still have some way to go before graduating, I know to relax and simply trust the process.

The night of the championship including 55,000 people rushing the main street: Franklin street. Total town population was 65,000.

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This blog post was written by third year English student, Anna Parry.

Like many students at University, I wanted to volunteer my time and give something back to my community. For a year I convinced myself that it would be too difficult; too time consuming; and that my help wasn’t wanted or needed. It wasn’t until I heard about Souprunners that I realised how easy it would be to get involved and help out. Souprunners is a University of Nottingham student-led organisation who organise a soup-run for the homeless every Tuesday and Sunday evening, preparing sandwiches, crisps, fruit and biscuits which are handed out in Nottingham town centre. We also take flasks of hot water with us to make tea, coffee, hot chocolate and cup-of-soups, gratefully appreciated on cold evenings. This project is such a great way for students to get involved within and have an impact upon their local community. It is far too easy to get caught up in the bubble of University life, forgetting that just on our doorsteps are very real issues affecting real people. Undertaking voluntary work acts a good reminder for all of us of how fortunate we are for the opportunities and experiences that we have had.

Indeed, Framework stated that 2016 saw the highest number of rough sleepers in Nottingham for over 20 years, and even in the short time that I have been a student at the University I have noticed more and more people sleeping rough around the city centre. This is not an issue we can brush off and treat with an out of sight, out of mind mentality: as students living in Nottingham it is our responsibility to get involved. It is not just those who are homeless who can receive help from the Souprunners, but anyone who is struggling or vulnerable. Just knowing that there is someone who cares enough to give up their time to hand out food and hot drinks, and sometimes even more importantly just to chat, can have the biggest impact on someone’s life. In fact, nearly all volunteers come away from the experience acknowledging how little time it takes and how nice it is to make a small difference to someone’s day.

You can find out more about Souprunners and how to get involved on the Souprunners Nottingham Facebook page. There are weekly posts asking for volunteers so you can start making a difference today!

Image: Souprunners Nottingham Facebook Page

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This blog post was written by second year English student, Jaya Prabhakar.

During my final year of A-Levels, I mentioned to my English teacher that it would be fun to start a book club with my friends once, I was at university. I was, admittedly, confused when she rebuked my idea with a laugh, saying, “Don’t be silly, you won’t have time to read extra books!”. While I ignored this seemingly pessimistic view at the time, looking back over the autumn semester of my first year, I reluctantly had to admit that she was right – I had already stopped reading books outside of my course. I decided to remedy this issue, and on a leisurely stroll through Waterstones I picked up a copy of We Need to Talk About Kevin. I had heard raving reviews of this book, so I decided to give it a go. I was immediately enraptured by Shriver’s use of form and narrative voice, combined with her emotive portrayal of motherhood and exploration of nature versus nurture. Although the novel is heartbreakingly tragic, it is incredibly captivating and respectful of its subject matter, remaining one of my favourite books – one I would highly recommend to everyone.

The experience of my first semester at University and of reading this book still sticks with me a year later as it serves as a reminder that it’s so easy to be swept along with the persistent tide of texts on a reading list. However, it is possible to read books outside of the university curriculum (contrary to the beliefs of my A-Level English teacher) and it is something I’ve loved doing alongside my course. If you’re feeling stressed out with your extensive reading list, or your brain is frazzled from writing essays, I would encourage you to pick up a book that isn’t on your course and let it work its magic!

Image: Annie Spratt on Unsplash

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This blog post was written by first year English student, Polly Moss.

Set in a world in which women gain the biological ability to release jolts of electricity through their hands and fingers, Naomi Alderman’s, ‘The Power’, portrays the potential consequences of a total social overhaul in which women become the dominant sex. First awoken in teenage girls who then teach their elders how to wield it, the power sparks a worldwide revolution.

Told from multiple perspectives (from a male journalist who documents first-hand the effects of the power in poorer countries to an outcast teenage girl who becomes the figurehead for a female-centric version of Christianity), Alderman explores the global effect of the titular concept. Sex slaves overcome their oppressors, women no longer feel afraid to walk alone at night and the politically and socially voiceless are all given a voice. Sounds exactly like the world that the current equality movement strives for, right?

Except Alderman takes it one step further and we are left with a rather uncomfortable reality: that power can be abused no matter which gender wields it. Some of the most uncomfortable scenes in the novel focus on the oppression that men begin to face, from segregation in schools to regular sexual violence. By switching around the traditional roles of each sex, Alderman suggests that no gender should have ultimate dominance. She acknowledges the issues faced by women, whilst drawing attention to male vulnerability: something that despite a generally patriarchal society, does exist.

As a result, this 21^st century sister of The Handmaid’s Tale seems to advocate a true gender equality. Alderman does not wholly condemn women gaining power, however when emancipation becomes violent domination, the consequences are frightening. In a world where feminists and men’s rights activists seem to refuse to listen to one another despite having a shared goal of equality, it seems tome that Alderman’s message is one that should be listened to.

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This blog post was written by third year English student, Emily Harbottle.

It can be difficult to know where to start when looking for work experience and internships whilst at University, and is often a very daunting task, especially considering the likelihood of repeated rejection.

When I decided to apply for a placement with Catena Network through the School of English at UoN, I had already been rejected from various other placements I had applied for. This meant I applied for the role as Editor with a certain sense of trepidation. Nonetheless, when reading the profile I realised how suitable this role would be for me, spurring me on to research more about the company and do some preparatory work before my interview, something I would always advise people going for interviews, since it shows you’re passionate about the job.

I was incredibly lucky to be offered the job with Catena, and I quickly realised my passion for designing and editing. I was already a part of the Uni magazine, Impact, so writing and editing articles was second nature to me, but having the opportunity to write all my own content, and have the free reign to design a magazine was incredibly exciting. Since December, I have produced six editions of the Catena Magazine, as well as taking on the role as Editor of the weekly Catenary newsletter, an undeniably brilliant opportunity and experience.

I would highly recommend doing an internship, because of all the fantastic skills I have gained, all of which look great on the CV. I’ve had the opportunity to attend Networking Events, interview CEO’s of Businesses, write articles, design magazine pages and so much more.

Image: © Catena (Nottingham) Ltd.

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Hi, my name’s Chris, I’m an A level student studying in Nottingham. For my work experience I spent a week in the School Of English. During my time here I had the opportunity to speak to staff about studying English at university, finding out information which I couldn’t find anywhere else. I thought this would be useful to share to anyone thinking about studying English at degree level.

Image: Author’s own: Chris Meadowcroft

How will my time on the English course be spent?

In year 1, you will have a minimum of 12 hours contact time a week. In year 2, a minimum of 10 hours, and in year 3 a minimum of 8 hours. Contact time decreases as you progress through your degree as you are expected to do more independent study in these years.

These contact hours are divided between lectures and seminars, depending on the structure of the module. Some modules may be purely seminars, some lectures, some a mixture of the two.

Over the course of the academic year a similar amount of time will be spent in lectures and seminars.

Seminars usually consist of 12-25 people, with the average being around 20. These provide an opportunity to explore topics by discussion, and identify and correct any misunderstandings.

Students are expected to work a lot outside of these contact hours. They should spend twice the amount of contact time they have doing independent study.

The pace of undergraduate study is a big step up from A level study. Each module will cover a text a week, this could mean studying 3 or 4 texts every week. However, this is balanced out between longer texts and shorter texts to help with the workload.

What should I put in my personal statement?

To study English, you’ll have to be an analytical individual with great communication skills, and you should try and demonstrate this in your personal statement.

Whilst Nottingham put an emphasis on predicted grades and academic achievement, personal statements also play an important role in the admissions process.

One key thing to make sure you include in your personal statement is your enthusiasm!  Talk about why you love English, your wider reading (outside of your set A level texts) and what really interests you- whether it be Chaucer, post-colonial literature, or language development. Be honest about what interests you, don’t try to cover all bases and say you have a passion for every single author and time period. The personal statement, should be personal and allow the university to learn about who you are and your interests, not what you think they want to hear.

Ensure you make all of the points in your personal statement relevant, relate them directly to the English course, and say why these skills you have developed through extracurricular activities will make you a good candidate. For example, if you have done part-time work alongside your A levels (or alternative qualifications) explain why this means you’d be suited to an English degree. It could be that this helped you develop communication skills and confidence which means you are suited to discussions and presenting ideas, or you have good time management skills which means you could cope with the level of independent study expected at university.

Try to avoid over complicating your writing. Use clear and concise language to explain why you want to do this course, and why you would be suited to it.

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Why the dinosaur puns? Those prehistoric creatures helped to train my English academic skills into digital marketing abilities, through a placement which the University of Nottingham’s School of English arranged. This is the story of how a bewildered English student became a digital marketing executive at a leading agency.

It’s a fact that many people find hard to accept – not all English students want to be teachers. Shocking, I know. I realised this quite early on. However, I did know that I enjoyed writing andwanted to involve myself with technology and business. Digital marketing fuses all of these things, but this was not something I was aware of, until I attended a talk set up by the University’s careers department.

I was fresh into second year and decided that I should probably use the careers service at least once this year, and I attended a talk where many marketers were attending. I had no clue what the industry meant, or what ‘digital marketing’ even was – but that was the point of this talk.

Here, I met digital marketing agency Impression who introduced me to search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay per click (PPC) advertising. SEO involves helping websites rank higher on Google and perform better as a website, while PPC involves creating campaigns that drive traffic to websites. I could discuss these in a lot of detail, but for a better understanding, Google gives you the lowdown in a free course over at their Digital Garage.

I later applied for an English placement with Impression a year after that talk, and later received a graduate role, so definitely check out those opportunities in your inbox!

How does an English degree help with digital marketing?

To discuss this I shall mention two projects I was working on, and learning from, during my placement, and later continued in my graduate role with Impression. One centred around engaging kids with a dino drawing competition inspired by the Dinosaurs of China exhibit, and another was a tool created to compare cities – the north and south war continues even outside of uni.

English encourages you to research, learn, adapt, write, change your methods and then write some more. These base level skills allow you to learn just about anything with ease and efficiency.

Multi-tasking

In an agency setting, you’re going to be working on a lot of varied clients hour after hour. Taking these two examples, switching your brain from dinosaurs to housing prices can be difficult. Apart from the fact that throughout my degree I would be reading 19th-century fiction then learning which part of the brain is responsible for certain linguistic features. The variety of English means your brain is primed for multitasking in a fast paced digital environment.

Researching

Every essay you’re writing is a good ¾ research, and by the end of your second year, you will be a pro at Googling, scanning text and understanding if something is going to be valuable to you or not. Those skills are hard to teach quickly, but they are invaluable to client work. In my role, a lot of time is spent researching publications or businesses that would be interested in the piece of content I am creating. You may also be doing keyword research to understand the mind of customers and make sure your content is satisfying their Googling curiosity.

Discussing how kids can get involved with my dinosaurs campaign meant talking to schools, local publications, bloggers, craft and art websites and a load of kids magazines. Getting as many kids involved was the goal, and spreading the word about the competition was the way to achieve this.

Writing

As an English student, your mastery of the pen (or keyboard) is going to be integral to roles in digital marketing. Emails are essential to all office roles today, and you do not want to be spelling things wrong, ever. SEO positions also involve a lot of writing for blogs, website pages and press releases. Writing is a big portion of my job and my short attention span is satisfied by writing for different clients and projects every couple of hours.

For example, some bloggers and websites are open to having guest posts on their site, so you may have to emulate the style of a client to write about t-rexes or why Nottingham is far cheaper (and better) than London.

Don’t be afraid of numbers

Spreadsheets and numbers are unheard of for English students. I went to a careers event by the Uni employability service (they are the secret to employment), and they showed me basic tips and tricks for maths, going over percentages and basic formulas.

Specifically, with the ‘Is The Grass Greener’, city comparison project I was working on, I had to manipulate a lot of data using Google Sheets formulas to help the tool even work. This was not where I thought my English degree would lead me, but it was something different and challenging that my academic resilience helped with.

Concerning SEO, spreadsheets are used all the time to analyse ranking positions, keyword traffic and what percentage of this traffic your website is gathering. This allows you to feedback to clients all the positive impact your words are having on their business.

In short

• Use the careers and employability service. I wish I had used them more, but when I did use them I learnt a lot and it stopped me from caving to expectations and signing up for my PGCE course.
• Apply for the internships/placements sent to your email – it might even lead to a graduate role.
• English students have unique abilities in being well rounded, so a lot of jobs are easily accessible.
• Never underestimate how much roar-some writing abilities are valued in digital marketing.

For any questions feel free to tweet me @DriscollDigital or head over to the careers and employability service.

© 2017 Impression Digital Ltd.

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This blog post was written by first year English and Philosophy student, Emily Patel.

As I walked out of my last exam, I realised that my first year of being a student was officially over. I had six exams which felt like a lot, and I was ready to celebrate that evening. That didn’t quite go to plan, as I ended up staying in. Other than that, I think my exams went well overall. I had all my English ones first – I was jealous of my friends who studied single honours English, as they finished before me! The best one was ‘Studying Literature’, as the questions were really good. I studied ‘Goblin Market’ by Rossetti, and we were asked to explore the theme of sexuality in the poem, which I found particularly interesting. This is because many other Victorian texts shared similar themes, and Rossetti herself worked with ‘fallen women’ (woman who had sex before marriage, for example). To summarise, the girl exchanging the goblins fruit for a lock of her hair and a tear from her eye (a part of her body) seemed to represent losing her virginity.

Followed by the English exams, I had all my philosophy ones. Now that they are over, it is nice to be in Nottingham without having to do work! There are nice areas to explore in Nottingham, such as Wollaton Park which is a short walk from the university campus. I went during the weekend, and there was a display of vintage vehicles which I wasn’t expecting. It was the last thing I thought I would find interesting, but to my surprise I enjoyed it. There were a lot of cute dogs too which pleasantly added to the experience.

Image: Author’s own – Vintage Car Fair and Wollaton Park

Image: Author’s own

Image: Author’s own

Now that I have completed first year, I feel I can give advice to students who are about to start university. I have two key pieces of advice; firstly, try not to worry if you find your course difficult at the beginning. It is a different level to what you are used to but you will get the hang of it. Secondly, I know everyone says this but join some clubs or societies. It’s a perfect opportunity to learn something new (there are so many options), and meet new people.

I’m looking forward to the modules I will study next year, as I have more choice. I am excited to study ‘Language in society’, which explores how language affects us in different contexts, such as the impact of the language that the media uses. I did my coursework on an article about bird flu, and how the language would affect the reader, and I found it fascinating because it was clear that the language aimed to scare readers, encouraging them to seek further information from the media to find out about the illness. I am also looking forward to the ‘School of Humanities Work Placement’ through philosophy, as I hope to gain advice about my future career. However, I am sharing a house next year which I’m a bit worried about, as I lived in catered halls this year so I will need to cook for myself. I have realised that I will also need to be more conscious about money as we will pay rent more regularly. At least I get on with all the people I will live with, which is important!

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This blog post was written by second year English student, Josie Severn.

With it being exam and deadline time of year, a tough time which can often make you question why you are here working so hard at this degree, I thought it would be fun to reflect on my life in books. I will be sharing with you all the literature that has had a significant impact on my life, from just a tiny baby to what has led me to be here, finishing my second year of this English degree at the University of Nottingham.

1. Babyhood
I can’t say I particularly remember this one well and I admit I had to ask my family for some advice, but apparently my favourite picture books as a baby were Alan Ahlberg’s The Baby Catalogue and Peepo! Little did I know it would be these books that would start off my love of literature. We all have to start somewhere…

2. Enid Blyton- The Magic Faraway Tree
I still to this day shyly admit that this is one of my favourite books, and the only book I’ve ever read at least ten times over. Adventures up the tree with Moonface, Silky the Fairy and Saucepanman are the best adventures I’ve ever had and are happy memories of my childhood. I’ll definitely be first to the cinema when the rumoured film adaptation is released and I’m not afraid to admit it. A special mention also has to go to Blyton’s Naughty Amelia Jane series and Mallory Towers. I have fond memories of my mum reading Amelia Jane to me, and memories of wanting to rebel and join in with the midnight feasts in Mallory Towers.

3. Jacqueline Wilson
There’s not much more to say than were you really an early teenage bookworm if you didn’t read Jacqueline Wilson? Wilson transported us from a fantasy childhood world to dealing with issues of the real world we would later encounter in literature and in real life. I doubt I will be alone by saying that her books had a significant impact on my life. I don’t like to show off or anything but I still have her book Kiss signed by Wilson herself.

Image: Martin Pettitt / CC BY-SA 2

4. The Notebook- Nicholas Sparks
We’ve all seen the film adaptation, but this novel is a definite case of the book is always better than the film. This book deserves a special mention because it’s the first book that I ever cried at and evoked a major emotional response from me.

Image: Geoffrey Chandler / CC BY-SA 2

5. Frankenstein- Mary Shelley
This novel has had the most major impact on my life so far and this is why I’m going to boldly claim that it is my favourite book. I discovered my love for the gothic genre during my A levels, something I’d never dare venture in to before. There’s much more to this book than just a monster. I grew so passionate about this book that I’m convinced this came across in my A level assessment, therefore I got that all-important grade to get me where I am now, studying this wonderful English degree at the University of Nottingham.

Image: Chris Drum / CC BY-SA 2

6. Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen
This one deserved a mention because it is the text I’ve most enjoyed studying throughout my second year during the From Talking Horses to Romantic Revolutionaries module. Many people love it and for good reason. Austen satirically deals with issues of gender, class and money but will make you fall in love all at the same time.

Image: Thalita Carvalho / CC BY-SA 2

Which works of literature have most impacted your life and led you to where you are today? I’d love to know.

Josie Severn

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This blog post was written by third year English student, Elizabeth Ingham. It originally appeared in the Manuscripts and Special Collections newsletter, Discover. You can view the full issue here.

Which course are you studying here at the University?

I’m doing an English BA degree.

Why did you apply for a Student Placement in Manuscripts and Special Collections?

I knew at the end of the first year of my degree course that I was interested in the conservation of books and manuscripts, and really loved the idea of being able to combine volunteering at Manuscripts and Special Collections with my third year Project Dissertation module. Also, in order to get a place on a relevant postgraduate course I would need to have some practical experience, and this placement provided the perfect opportunity. I’ve loved doing the module and although I’m doing an English degree, the module gives you the chance to be a literary historian, which has been an amazing opportunity.

Elizabeth carrying out archival work at Manuscripts and Special Collections

Which collection are you working on and what does that work involve?

I’m working on the papers of Connie Ford, who was born in 1912 and qualified as a vet in 1933. The collection contains a huge variety of material, which all needs sorting and listing. I’m going through everything and making notes about what’s in each box, so for example, I’m reading all the letters, grouping them by person, and putting them in folders. Once all the sorting has been done, everything can be grouped in a more organised way and then catalogued by an archivist.

Connie seems to have kept just about everything and I never know what I’m going to find when I open a box. It’s like delving into someone’s private life and you do get emotionally attached. A typical box might contain items as varied as birthday cards, letters from important political figures, and parking tickets! I even found a small cuddly toy animal in one box, and a signed napkin in another. The earliest item in the collection is a description of the city of Cambridge, written by Connie when she was just six years old. Another interesting item is a letter from a fellow vet, sympathising with Connie’s struggle to find work after graduating in what was then a male-dominated profession. She was awarded an MBE in 1970 and the actual award is amongst her papers.

She was a very prolific letter-writer and in return she received an astonishing amount of correspondence. There are letters from penfriends, one of which contains a pressed snowdrop, sent by a Swedish penfriend in 1936. Other letters touch on her career, interests and hobbies. She was a life-long supporter of communism and received letters from many important political figures. I’m amazed that she was in contact with so many influential people.

She loved writing poetry and there are several letters from fellow authors who, like Connie, struggled to publish their work. Writing under various pen-names, such as Olive Pugh and Connie Rivers, Connie did eventually self-publish some of her poems, and her biography of Aleen Cust (Britain’s first recognised female veterinary surgeon) was published posthumously in 1990. Her interest in politics was often combined with poetry. She wrote an ode to the British Marxist philosopher Maurice Cornforth called ‘M.C.’, and another poem called ‘The General’ was written on the back of a letter she received from the Thatcher government.

The Connie Ford papers will form the basis of my third year dissertation, which will hopefully be comprised of a small edition of Connie’s poems and a reflective piece of writing considering the significance of materiality and textual interpretation based on my experiences with the collection. If I had to sum up Connie’s life I would say that she was a trailblazer on the fringes of history. The strength of her determination in veterinary science, politics and in her literary work is remarkable.

Selection of material from Connie Ford papers

How will your experience here influence your future career plans?

I’ve applied for an MA in Conservation, but through the scheme I have been bitten by the volunteering bug, and will undoubtedly try to continue volunteering wherever my future career will take me.

Would you recommend the Student Placement scheme to other students?

Yes, I’d recommend it to everyone, it is such an invaluable and rewarding experience. But be warned – you will get attached to the collection you’re working on!

[Content and images reproduced with permission from Manuscripts and Special Collections]

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This blog post was written by second year English and Philosophy student, Ayisha Sharma.

The question ‘So you’re going to be a teacher then?’ has become almost as common a fixture in the life of an English student as critical analysis and thematic essays. I’m a Joint Honours student studying English and Philosophy, and in spring term, I took part in the Learning Leaders project which involves teaching philosophy to primary school children to find out exactly what the profession involves.

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

The project began with two training sessions, as part of which I was taught everything from learning styles to how to deal with bad behaviour. A key strategy I encountered was differentiation-designing activities that were suitable for students of all abilities but could be tweaked to challenge further those who completed them with ease.

As we formed teams and began to plan our lessons, I was struck by the creativity of my fellow teachers in simplifying major philosophical topics into fifty minute sessions applicable to ten year olds. Our Ethics lesson plan focused on what you should do if your parents accidentally gave you extra pocket money, while our Personal Identity lesson plan explored the scenario of switching bodies with your best friend.

I was admittedly a little nervous before our first class, having never worked with children before. But as soon as I entered the room, I was greeted by a multitude of eager smiles and bright eyes which set me quite at ease.

More often than not, a teacher must think on their feet. You shouldn’t, for instance, explicitly tell a child that they are wrong as this can prove discouraging. So when I asked a student what she thought philosophy was and she answered ‘it’s about art and drawings’, I explained that one area of philosophy does indeed explore the definition of art and the value of beauty, but this does not cover the entire subject.

The most important thing I learned was that a teacher does not simply provide answers. Instead, they facilitate students in reasoning their own way to the answers. Much of our time in class was spent not in standing in front of the whiteboard and explaining concepts, but in initiating group discussions and ensuring everyone had a chance to express and justify their point of view.

This experience has renewed my appreciation for teachers and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is doing Joint Honours with a subject that is part of the Learning Leaders project. This project also contributes towards the ‘Inspiring Young People’ module, which counts as one of the three necessary for the Nottingham Advantage Award.

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

Ayisha Sharma

The post Becoming a Learning Leader appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by first year English student, Georgina Pittman.

Quite honestly, I was overwhelmed by the variety of pathways available for volunteering at the University when I arrived in September 2016. I was, however, certain I wanted to work towards obtaining the Nottingham Advantage Award (NAA). The Literacy Support Project (LSP) immediately stood out as a way of combining community volunteering and the NAA whilst utilising some of the language concepts I was learning in my degree.

Georgina Pittman

Through the scheme, UoN students volunteer a couple of hours each week at primary schools in the Bilborough area with the aim of boosting literacy levels among the pupils. Participation in the NAA is optional, however, so there’s no need to worry if you’d rather avoid the paperwork side of the project. The main difference between the LSP and its NAA module is some minor ‘coursework’ and evening classes that aid the development of your ideas for approaching this. ‘To NAA, or not to NAA’ is a matter of personal preference but I’d say the additional write-ups are easy if completed as you go, so please don’t feel put off by that!

As someone who already had a fair amount of experience in teaching, I was excited to gain an insight into the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of the teaching world. This best happened once the children went home for the day, meaning I had ‘fly on the wall’ access to such things as literacy assessment results, reading log paperwork and parents evening preparations. Unfortunately for me, although my volunteering was most valuable to the children during the school day, I benefitted most from the time spent there after hours, which was obviously a reduced time in comparison. Having said this, though, I loved meeting small creative minds with an eagerness to progress. I think that was also a major benefit of working with a younger age group. My fellow volunteers showed a strong preference for working with older students, but I found that the younger ones seemed more enthusiastic, easier to motivate and less restricted by inhibition than older children.

Surprisingly, one of the major things I learned through volunteering was how to navigate Nottingham’s public transport. It sounds like such a simple thing to get a grasp of but my primary school was the furthest away and I could only take one bus route there. My bus didn’t come onto campus and wasn’t always reliable so it took a few weeks to adapt to this and to know how best to act when things went wrong.

Although not the most obvious of ways I personally improved through the project, I think independent growth is important to note. Whether through gaining familiarity with public transport, ensuring communication with teachers, or even developing self-motivation in attending the NAA evening sessions or staying on top of the paperwork – all of this experience is useful.

My favourite thing about the project is that, for every one thing a volunteer takes away from the project, each child walks away having learned so much more. Whether you’re looking to contribute to the LSP for personal development or to improve the lives of others, the scheme is undoubtedly rewarding. Granted, working with children isn’t for everybody, but if you never try, how will you know if it’s right for you?

If you’d like to find out more information regarding the project, please email any queries to: english-literacy@nottingham.ac.uk.

Georgina Pittman

The post Student Volunteering: The Literacy Support Project appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by second year English student, Josie Severn.

It’s the Easter break, which can only mean one thing: deadlines and exams are on the horizon. However, it is a break after all and everyone needs some rest and fun once in a while to stay focused. Whether you’re looking for something to do in Nottingham over the break or you’re already planning those after-exam celebrations, I’ve put together a list of literary inspired places to eat, drink and visit so you feel a little bit less guilty and a bit more like you’re contributing to your English degree.

1. Curious Manor

Take a tumble down the rabbit hole into Curious Manor in Trinity Square. This restaurant, bar and café is one of the most impressively decorated places I’ve ever visited, themed on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Have afternoon tea like the Mad Hatter in the tea garden, sip on a cocktail that will leave you smiling like the Cheshire cat, or curiously sample a wide range of pizzas, burgers, breakfasts and Sunday roasts. It’s bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret: all the best places are.

Website: http://www.curiousmanor.co.uk

Image: John Tenniell / Public Domain Mark 1.0

2. The Wonderland Café

Another Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland inspired café, but this time slightly smaller and more tea party focused. Even the evil Queen of Hearts would approve of the cupcakes, cookies and EAT ME brownies. Situated on Station Street, it is in the perfect location to visit before you travel.

Website: https://en-gb.facebook.com/wonderlandcafenottingham/

Image: Author’s own

3. Lost Property

This newly-opened bar is mysteriously placed at 7 ½ Carlton Street in Hockley, situated underground beneath a hotel. Go back in time to the world of The Great Gatsby – think speakeasies and prohibition – as you push past the doorway hidden by suitcases into an old speakeasy disguised as a hotel serving speciality cocktails and a wide range of other drinks. I don’t want to say too much as this one needs to remain a surprise. In fact it is so secret, it doesn’t even have a website or Facebook page.

Website: none!

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

4. Newstead Abbey

Famously once home to poet Lord Byron, Newstead Abbey is often overlooked by Nottingham students as it is situated a bit further afield than the city’s other popular houses, such as Wollaton Hall. It’s definitely worth a visit for all English students though. The beautiful grounds are perfect for a walk and to sunbathe in and you’re sure to be left having learnt something new about Lord Byron’s crazy life. Be careful though, rumour has it the ghost of Byron’s dog roams the grounds…

Website: http://www.newsteadabbey.org.uk

Image: Andy Stephenson / CC BY-SA 2

5. Kitty Café

Perhaps not as literary inspired as my other suggestions, but definitely guaranteed to put a smile on even the most stressed student’s face, the Kitty Café on Friar Lane will transport you to the world of T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. One of my favourite cats was called Heathcliff from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, so if that, and a guaranteed cat cuddle and yummy cake, can’t persuade you English students to go, I don’t know what will.

Website: https://kittycafe.co.uk

Image: Author’s own

What are your favourite literary inspired things to do in Nottingham?

Josie Severn

The post Literary Inspired Places in Nottingham Everyone Should Visit appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by Emily Talbut, a second year English with Creative Writing student.

Emily Talbut

Back in April of 1^st year, all English students began to receive emails about potential placements available for us beginning in September. The one with First Story immediately caught my attention, and after a short online application and follow-up interview, I was successful in gaining a place!

First Story is a national literacy charity that works with published authors, connecting them with local schools in challenging areas to run weekly creative writing workshops. The end goal is to produce an anthology of work featuring all the students, who also contribute to designing the cover and choosing the name.

My role was Shadow Writer, going along to the workshops and assisting the lovely Paula Rawsthorne, who has won multiple awards for her two young-adult novels, The Truth About Celia Frost and Blood Tracks.

After an introductory email, my first workshop was scheduled for late October at Farnborough Academy, just a short bus ride away in Clifton. My nerves were immediately settled upon arrival by the librarian, Toni, who welcomed me to the school, before meeting a very enthusiastic and friendly Paula, always armed with her CD player and a piece of music to inspire the kids at the start of each session.

The sessions took place in the school library every Wednesday, and could last anywhere from an hour up to nearly two when the kids were feeling particularly creative! What started out as a small group of six or seven reluctant students, out of whom we struggled to wrangle a few sentences each week, quickly grew to incorporate a variety of students from all year groups who became eager to share their work with each other.

As their attention levels improved across the year, Paula encouraged me to start writing and sharing my own work as well, stimulating my imagination in new ways outside of my usual university seminars.

Over cups of squash and cornflake cakes we began writing about what we’d pack in a suitcase for life, imagined ourselves as an abandoned Christmas tree ornament petitioning for our place in the holiday festivities, and even wrote love letters to our favourite food or object – mine had to be cheesecake!

Suitcase for life

One particularly rewarding part of the placement was arranging, with the other shadow writers and First Story coordinators, an event to be held on University Park campus where all the participating schools in Nottingham would visit to partake in various creative writing workshops. They also had the chance to tour the campus, and I got to take the kids I knew around, watching their eyes widen as they realized that, yes, we have Starbucks on campus, whilst also marveling at the lake.

My role after each session was to type up all the work before sending it across to Paula, resulting in a document for each student to edit in the final few weeks, several of them notably stunned at just how much they’d produced.

With the anthology edited, covered and titled, all that remained was for one last session complete with crisps, cookies and party hats. It seemed so strange to say goodbye to them all – and not just because, after several requests, we were pulling Christmas crackers in March!

I’ve gained so much from my placement, last of all being a beautiful bouquet of flowers I have to somehow find a place for in my university house! I’d encourage any student interested in writing, teaching or community work to apply for the First Story placement next year, as I’m sure whichever school and writer you’re paired with will make for an extremely enjoyable year.

First Story event at the University of Nottingham

Emily Talbut

The post Student Placement: Shadow Writer and First Story appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by second year English student, Rhiannon Morris.

For many, Pride and Prejudice is a book that has become ingrained in them through the various stages of education; from high school through to university. However, for me, the first time I ever read the book was last week for a second-year module. How did I manage to get by so long without reading it, you ask? It has been on my bookshelf for years and, as such an iconic book, I’ve always had the intention to read it, but have never got round to it until I finally had to study it. Despite it being a household name, with everyone knowing who Mr Darcy is, I didn’t even know the basics of the plot, besides its links with Bridget Jones’s Diary!

I never thought classic literature was my sort of thing; however, after reading Jane Eyre in first year, the enjoyment of that broadened my mind and encouraged me to try other widely renowned classics, such as Pride and Prejudice. Although the style of the writing isn’t something I’d typically choose, this novel felt rather refreshing and not as arduous as other classic literature. I’d go as far as labelling it as an early romantic comedy, which is, perhaps, why I enjoyed it so much.

I’ll try not to spoil the plot for anyone that hasn’t read it, but as you can imagine it involves plenty of intertwining relationships, along with love rivals and jealousy, and of course pride and prejudice. Mr and Mrs Bennet have five unmarried daughters, who, are unable to inherit their father’s estate. As a result, Mrs Bennet attempts to marry them off to men she thinks will prove some advantage to the family. When Mr Bingley and his friend Mr Darcy arrive in town, plenty of tension is created and results in one of the most adored love stories from English Literature between the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, and Mr Darcy. Austen also explores the strict nature of social class and gender conformity of the period. Despite these outdated themes, however, the book is relatable through the recurring idea of marrying for love, rather than simply for social prestige or necessity. Elizabeth herself is a compelling character due to her intelligence and witty personality; she has an independent spirit and a strong sense of right and wrong through which she isn’t afraid to defy social conventions. This makes her, in my opinion, intensely likable as the protagonist of the novel.

Many may roll their eyes at a typical literature student raving about Austen, but this was my first experience of reading her work and it did not disappoint. Therefore, I would fully recommend that you stop putting it off and pick Pride and Prejudice up! I found myself bound up in the stigma that is often associated with ‘boring’ classic literature, but I have been proven wrong and will now willingly pick up anything that I once looked at in contempt and give it a go. I suggest that those of you with similar thoughts to me do the same!

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

Rhiannon Morris

The post Book Review: <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by final year English student, Vicky Lorriman.

It’s the end of March already?! Yes, the deadlines are approaching us once again and it’s tough to find some downtime without feeling guilty for not studying. Don’t fret! Have a go at these quick and easy study breaks that will help to boost your creativity not just in written assignments but in everyday life:

#1 – Take a load of pictures and do something with them. You could create a collage, arrange them on your bedroom wall, cut them up and stick them back together again somehow… No matter what pictures you take or what you do with them, you’ll be engaging with subtle details of the images, which encourages attention to detail.

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

#2 – Colouring, drawing and painting. These activities are a lot of fun and free the mind from word overload!

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

#3 – Meditation. A slightly off-the-wall suggestion, but stay with me on this one. A simple five-minute breathing meditation, where you focus on your breathing and nothing else (no thoughts!), is incredibly helpful for clearing your mind of daily stress and clutter.

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

#4 – Creative Writing. Keeping a diary, writing some poetry or putting together a blog doesn’t have to be so serious; writing occasional short and snappy pieces to yourself is enjoyable, funny and stimulates creativity.

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

#5 – Go for a walk in nature. There’s nothing like a good old walk, is there? Go for a walk around the Arboretum (near Nottingham Trent University), Wollaton Park or even the parks in Lenton; any contact with nature calms and inspires the mind.

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

Vicky Lorriman

The post My Top 5 Creative Study Breaks appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by first year English and Philosophy student, Emily Patel.

Although it is currently raining as I write this (unsurprisingly), the past few days have been quite sunny. While the sun was shining, it made me realise again how amazing the campuses at Nottingham are – the sun does make everything look better. The main campus, University Park, is home to beautiful buildings such as the Trent building, where the School of English is located.

Image: UoN Image Bank

Not only are the buildings cool, but there is a lot of greenery and geese roaming around on the grass.

Image: UoN Image Bank

There is also a lake on the campus, and it is relaxing to walk around it sometimes to clear your head during the stress of approaching deadlines and exams! There was a great atmosphere on campus this week, especially at Mooch (the Student Union bar). The sun and mild weather meant it was completely full in the outside seating area – a great place to go and catch up with your friends.

Image: UoN Image Bank

I live on Jubilee Campus which is just as good as University Park, if not better. There are modern buildings, including a red one which looks like it is made of giant Lego bricks, and another lake with a fountain.

Image: UoN Image Bank

Image: UoN Image Bank

In terms of my course, I am more confident with it than I was at the start of the year. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I was looking forward to the reading for my ‘Studying Literature’ module, as I enjoy short stories and novels. I had never read any Sherlock Holmes stories as I thought that I would not find detective fiction interesting. However, I found them compelling and we discussed how issues of class were explored in the stories. At the moment, I have language coursework to do, which seems daunting as we must devise our own question and carry out some independent research. As with many things, I just need to start it and once I get into it, it may not be as bad as it seems.

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

My course is not just about studying – the English Society hosts social events too. Last month, they joined with the American and Civil Engineering societies to hold a boat party. It involved a meal and a free bar, which is always good! Of course, there was the boat trip itself (held by Princess River Cruises) and an after party at the nightclub Pom Pom. For all this, and transport included, we paid £26. I couldn’t refuse such a good deal, and I had a great night. Events like this have helped me to meet people and settle into my first year as a student, and it’s hard to believe that this year is nearly over!

Image: UoN English Society

Emily Patel

The post Settling into campus life appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by second year English with Creative Writing student, Thomas Hughes.

Formative essays, internship deadlines, society elections – yep, we are reaching the business end of the year again.

Somehow we are already well into March and there is less than a month left of the spring term. Some English students are already submitting coursework for upcoming deadlines, when it feels like only yesterday that we were opening our brown envelopes on autumn semester Feedback Day. There is a sense that we are already approaching the home straight of the academic year.

And it is not only the course that just got serious. Internship and placement deadlines are coming thick and fast. These opportunities are more heavily associated with other degrees, but someone like me with an interest in journalism or marketing needs to take all the work experience opportunities they can get. It is good, then, that there is no shortage of opportunities: I have a long to-do list of deadlines, and it will be impossible to apply for everything.

Image: Author’s own

Then there is extra-curricular activity. Whether you play a sport or not, you will be aware that Varsity is just around the corner, while for me personally the second stage of the Handball University Championships is the biggest sporting event of the calendar (in playing terms obviously – somehow I doubt it attracts as many viewers as the Champions League final). Meanwhile it is almost time to elect new committees for the many societies, not least Impact magazine, which is being re-structured next year (in the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for more articles by yours truly).

In other words, it is that time of year when we have to start getting stuff done. For second years like me, we have now passed the halfway mark of our degree (a scary thought, I know), and it is natural to feel an obligation to cram your CV with as much as possible before the grind of third year.

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

Yet it is also important to remember not to take on too much. Yes, we all want to make the most of our short and sweet time at university, but we cannot do everything. Focus on the things you want to do, rather than the things you feel you should do. Another company name on your CV can only be a good thing, but if you do not actually enjoy an internship, then how beneficial can it be?

So as we enter the business end of the year, do yourself a favour and cut down on unnecessary stress. We are only here for three years, so we should make the most of it. But at the same time, we are only here for three years, so how about we enjoy it?

Thomas Hughes

The post The Business End of the Year appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by second year English and Philosophy student, Ayisha Sharma.

Jane Austen, one of the first names that springs to mind when you think of English Literature, seems to attract polarised views. She’s either a timeless social satirist or the complete opposite; a writer very much of her time. While I wouldn’t consider myself a die-hard Austen fan, I do enjoy occasionally perusing the pages of Pride and Prejudice. So I thought I’d contribute a few of my thoughts to the debate.

Image: Wikimedia Commons (Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.) / CC0 1.0

One supposedly alienating feature of Austen is that her protagonists fall into the niche category of middle-class women. Her plots are thus centred on the concerns of such women, whether they’re as major as making a suitable marriage or as minor as trimming hats. But considering Austen’s own position in the lower gentry, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, isn’t writing about the issues closest to one a logical, and even wise, thing to do?

So maybe it’s not Austen’s content that’s at issue so much as her stylistic expression of it. An ironic omniscient narrator may indeed elicit the occasional chuckle from a reader but social issues, it can be argued, have been explored in much more imaginative ways.

Think Swift’s fantastical world of Lilliput in Gulliver’s Travels or the quirky bathos of Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. These works possess an instant attraction that Austen seems to lack. But I think it’s commendable that Austen wrote about women in a fairly direct manner, omitting the glossy sheen of major stylistic experimentation. In doing so, she was able to focus better on the heart of the issue.

Image: Wikimedia Commons / CC0 1.0

Perhaps the most contentious question regarding Austen is whether her works continue to strike a chord with today’s readership; a readership in which women are no longer totally preoccupied with balls and bonnets and individualism is not as frowned upon. The immediate answer would be a resounding ‘no’.

It’s too difficult to see oneself in the naïvely romantic Marianne or the emotionally repressed Eleanor. And it’s too easy to be utterly confused by Catherine’s immersion in Gothic literature to the point that she wrongly cries murder.

But it’s not at all difficult to go wrong in an attempt to balance one’s emotion and reason, as the sisters of Sense and Sensibility do. And it’s easier still to immerse oneself in escapism to the point that the lines between appearance and reality become dangerously blurred, as Catherine finds in Northanger Abbey.

So if you’re at a loss for which book to dive into next, why not consider some Austen? You may find it an enriching and even pleasurable experience.

Ayisha Sharma

The post The Austen Debate appeared first on Words on Words.

…and why every UoN student should visit Nottingham’s theatres.

This blog post was written by second year English student, Josie Severn.

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of watching Sister Act the musical at Nottingham Theatre Royal and it got me thinking: not enough students take advantage of the great theatres we have here in Nottingham. Visiting them before you graduate is a must. The Theatre Royal plays host to a variety of plays, ballets, musicals straight from London’s West End, and much more. Next door you’ll find the Royal Concert hall, purpose built for better sound quality and here you’ll find concerts, more musicals and comedy. Tickets are usually cheaper Mondays to Thursdays and you can even save money by becoming a member, so there’s no excuse. The Nottingham Playhouse also put on a good show and you’ll be pleased to know they offer a discount for students at around 10%. Keep a look out – they often show performances based on texts you’ll be studying here at Nottingham. In fact, Paradise Lost will be showing on 10^th March. First years and Literature and Popular Culture students, this one’s for you!

Image: Stephen Richards / CC BY-SA 2.0

“I pray and I pray ‘til you sweep me away”

As the song above from Sister Act suggests, this is exactly what happened as I was watching the show unfold onstage. Strictly Come Dancing’s Craig Revel Horwood has turned Joseph Howard’s film in to a heavenly musical of sisterhood, friendship and a celebration of all things Motown, soul and disco, topped off with his signature Strictly-style moves even he would have given a score of 10. This was a performance everyone could enjoy with the right mix of laughter and emotion. It did what every good musical should: leave you singing the songs for weeks after and even contemplating downloading the soundtrack to listen to on the bus.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the plot, Sister Act follows the story of club singer Deloris Van Cartier who witnesses her boyfriend Curtis murder one of his friends and is then forced to hide in a convent for her own safety. Deloris doesn’t take too well to this lifestyle but begins to enjoy herself when she decides to do what she does best: sing and improve the convent’s choir.

The performance I attended was meant to star past X Factor winner Alexandra Burke as Deloris, but due to injury the part was played by Joanna Francis. This was a blessing in disguise as Francis is a true leading lady and I was left in awe of her vocals. Joe Vetch made a hilarious Eddie and Karen Mann was a convincing strict mother superior.

The part I found most impressive was that the cast played their instruments while performing on stage, blending the orchestra and cast together. This technique is something I’ve never seen before, even as an avid theatregoer, and it made the show truly special. Or in the words of Deloris, “simply too divine”.

All that is left to say is that I hope my review of Sister Act has inspired you to visit one of Nottingham’s many theatres while you’re studying. The musical itself is currently touring the UK, so if you’re quick you can catch it in a nearby city and tickets are still available on the Sister Act UK tour website.

And Hallelujah!

Image: Stage Entertainment UK / CC BY-SA 3.0

Josie Severn

The post “One terrific Sister Act!”: A Review of <i>Sister Act</i> at Nottingham Theatre Royal appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by second year English student, Rhiannon Morris.

For a lot of people confidence is incredibly challenging, especially when it comes to public speaking. Looking back on when I first started university, it’s clear to see that I’ve changed for the better in terms of my confidence, and starting university will most likely do the same for you. This blog is about learning to develop your confidence for situations that you may well encounter during your university experience. Some of you might have already experienced these things, and not realised how they will have helped you on a long-term basis.

1. Even if you think your confidence is the lowest it can be, the very experience of going to university will have given you a bit of a boost through being thrust into a new place, with new people from all different backgrounds to interact with! Going to university itself takes a lot of confidence as you may have to move away from the familiar surroundings of your home to a (sometimes) completely different place, often not knowing a single person. Through doing this, you’ve overcome the first hurdle.

2. For those who spend the first year in halls of residence, you are required to talk to new people and get to know people you wouldn’t typically socialise with. This need is heightened by living with them 24/7. These sorts of daily encounters will have helped your confidence, if only on a small scale, as you will have had to get to know all of the new people suddenly surrounding you.

3. In order to make the most of the learning opportunities available, you can’t really get by without taking part in group discussions and contributing your own ideas. In these circumstances, you will have to work with people you may have never spoken to before, and collaborate with them to make the most of your time and learning. As an English student, a lot of important ideas will come from your peers, so take the time to listen to what they have to say and make sure you input your own opinions, which will be equally valuable to others.

4. For me, the biggest hurdle in terms of confidence was public speaking. This has been the hardest thing to overcome during my time at university so far. It might sound mad to you now, but to conquer these fears it is better to face them head on. Despite the nerves and shakes prior to the big event, there is always a huge sense of relief and accomplishment after standing up and doing something that has always been a huge hurdle. It’s pretty unlikely that you’re going to get through uni life without doing some sort of presentation, whether it be in a group or by yourself. My tips for situations like this would be to practice and to know what you’re saying: there’s nothing worse than standing in front of a group of people without being prepared. The biggest barrier is the first time you do it – after that, it will get progressively easier!

Rhiannon Morris

[Featured images: University of Nottingham Image Bank]

The post A Chat about Confidence appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by final year English student, Vicky Lorriman.

It’s the question many an Arts student dreads: ‘So, once you finish your degree, what are you actually going to DO?’ Or, even worse: ‘Ah, right, you study English? Are you going to be a teacher, then?’ As a third year English student, these questions concern me not only because the first implies that the Arts are not “real” subjects (a conundrum that is far too complex to tackle here), but because they pigeonhole students of the Arts as only able to apply what they have learned within an educational context. After having to answer these questions far too many times, I have decided to share a few skills that I have picked up whilst studying towards my undergraduate degree in English, to demonstrate that a degree in the Arts actually equips us with many transferable skills that are valued by employers across a range of employment sectors – so when your Great Uncle John asks you that dreaded question, for the seventh time, you can reply with a sound answer.

Remember that group project you had to do which was pretty challenging and involved copious amounts of late-night messaging on Facebook and group meetings just to get it done? Tiring, yes. Pointless? No. Imagine yourself in an interview situation for a role in project management. Wait… Project management? We wrote a group essay on the representation of masculinity in Twelfth Night. That may well be so, but what if the employer asks, ‘Can you give me an example of a time in which you had to work with others to meet a set deadline?’ Undertaking any form of group project, albeit about Twelfth Night, involves creating logically-organised plans with a clear path that take into account any problems or milestones necessary to complete the task for the deadline. Group members must monitor, summarise and discuss their progress with other group members. You may have set your own mini-deadlines along the way. Perhaps you are more suited to project management than you think.

And what about that nerve-wracking oral presentation that you spent ages practising and cutting down words to ensure the presentation was exactly five minutes long? Working in marketing requires you to be able to relay quickly fact-based insights to your colleagues, in order to address needs and problems of the business. Working in any part of communications necessitates an ability to extract key information from large documents, alongside the structured synthesis and evaluation of this information. So, what exactly do you think you were doing when you gathered all those critical quotes, shuffled them around and applied them to your opinion on Waiting for Godot?

Hopefully, these brief pointers toward the potential career options open to Arts students will help you to realise your own capabilities, and encourage you to investigate a wide range of employment opportunities once you have graduated. Even if you’re still unsure about a future career, then at least you can appease the grandparents.

Vicky Lorriman

[Featured images Pixabay / CC0 1.0]

The post What My Arts Degree Taught Me appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by first year English and Philosophy student, Emily Patel.

The Christmas holidays were finally here – although I was happy that I could go home for a month and spend time with friends and family, I felt a bit weird at the same time. It was hard to believe that my first semester at Nottingham was over, as it seemed to go by so quickly and I felt like I had done so much! My older brother, who also went to university, told me that my first year would fly by, but I had never paid much attention. Now that I’m in the same boat, I realise that he was right.

The hardest thing for me about starting university was the course, as I had to learn to be much more independent with my learning compared to when I was at school. I am studying a joint honours degree (English and Philosophy), and when I first started, I had doubts about whether I would continue with both subjects in my second year. At the moment, though, I have no reason not to continue with both of them, as I feel able to cope with the variety of both subjects. Just remember that some decisions require a lot of consideration, even if it feels like you should rush into deciding.

During the term, I felt like I was really struggling with my course and it made me anxious, but looking back on it, it wasn’t that bad! It was just a shock for me as I had to learn to transition from what I was used to at school, where the pace of learning was slower and I didn’t need to be so independent. The hardest module for me was called ‘Language and Context’ – although I did language as part of my English A level, studying it at university level was completely different. However, when I revised the work in my own time, I understood it more and found it less difficult.

If you feel overwhelmed in your first semester, I would try not to worry too much – it’s important to remember that you cannot always learn how to do things straight away.  Plus it may not seem like it, but I can assure you that many people feel the same way. This semester, I look forward to getting back into my course and reading some novels for my ‘Studying Literature’ module, including Lady Susan by Jane Austen (I mean I am an English student, I love reading).

Image author’s own

A key piece of advice that I would give to all students starting out at university is that you should get as involved as you can with clubs and societies. This may sound cheesy, but university offers so many opportunities for gaining new experiences and meeting new people. I am a volunteer for Nottingham Night Owls, an organisation which helps students during nights out in the city. We go out in groups and patrol a certain area of the city, making sure that people are safe and helping them if necessary – for example, we will walk them home if they have lost their friends. Before we go to patrol our designated area, we have a briefing and are given rucksacks packed with all sorts of supplies that we might need. These include first aid products, water and food and ‘spikeys’ (stoppers that fit into the tops of bottles to prevent drinks being spiked – we give these out to raise awareness about drink spiking). Doing these things not only helps others and is good for your personal development, but it also boosts your CV.

Image: Nottingham Night Owls

Look for societies at the University of Nottingham here.

Find out more about Nottingham Night Owls here.

Emily Patel

The post Entering my second semester appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by second year English with Creative Writing student, Thomas Hughes.

Keeping a journal is one of those things many of us say we’re going to do, yet never quite get round to doing. We’re so busy that we forget about it, we’re too tired at the end of the day to write, or we’re simply too lazy to buy one.

I had been using the above excuses for years, yet for Christmas 2016 one of my presents was a Game of Thrones Lannister journal (have always thought of myself as a Stark but never mind). Being such a nice journal, I simply had to fill its pages.

Author’s own image

And since then (not every day, I must admit), for the first time in my life I have been keeping a journal. For someone who wants to be a writer, this seems long overdue, and since starting I have asked myself several times why on earth I didn’t make this change a long time ago.

Sometimes I write at the end of the day, sometimes first thing the next morning. The writing itself is a mixture of what happened during the day and, more prominently, the thoughts and feelings that coloured it (note that this is why it is a journal and not just a diary). Much of the writing is not of the highest quality, but as the only reader is myself, this hardly matters.

Indeed I am writing it for myself. Many writers say that their craft is therapeutic, and writing candidly about your own hopes, worries and expectations is especially so.

For me, the best way to make sense of confusing feelings and get rid of anxieties that keep whirling around my head is to ‘write them out’ (in a similar way to Professor Dumbledore pulling his memories out of his head with his wand and ‘casting them away’ into the Pensieve). Get your thoughts down on paper, and your head feels clearer.

Image: MyPixa / CC0 1.0

Writing a chronological, day-by-day account of your university life is also a great way of tracking your progress, not just as a student but as a human being. Occasionally, I flick back a few pages in my journal and read about insecurities that I have conquered, challenges I have overcome. A journal can be a reminder that day-to-day concerns are trivial compared to the bigger picture of your growth as a person.

You may have given up on several New Year’s resolutions already, but it’s never too late to change your life. With a bit of discipline, keeping a journal isn’t difficult, so why not try it?

If nothing else, it’ll give you an excuse to buy a cool piece of stationery.

Thomas Hughes

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This blog post was written by second year English and Philosophy student, Ayisha Sharma.

I find it impossible to answer the question ‘What’s your favourite book?’. I simply wouldn’t know where to start. But I can answer ‘Which book occupies your thoughts the most?’. Wide Sargasso Sea is the text that haunts me.

Rhys’ post-colonial sketch of Brönte’s ‘mad woman’ oddly strikes a chord with me. I say oddly because, on the surface, the novel’s nineteenth-century Jamaican setting seems a world away from me and who I am. But, as a British-Nepalese woman, my connection with the novel lies in my diasporic identity.

The Sargasso Sea, the only sea without a coastline, can be interpreted as a symbol of suspension and drifting. Such a symbol resonates with the way in which I defined myself as a young child in relation to two contrasting notions: the ‘conservatism’ of my Nepalese origin and the ‘progressiveness’ of Britain. I saw myself as a perplexed agent drifting between these opposing discourses.

Image: Freshwater and Marine Image Bank / CC0 1.0

But, just as assuming that the systematic privilege of being a white woman in Jamaica automatically entails Antoinette’s happiness in Wide Sargasso Sea is grossly simplistic, so too was my view of British and Nepalese ideologies.

I’ve witnessed British politicians claim that same-sex marriage causes flooding and I’ve observed Nepal take steps towards becoming the first South Asian nation to provide constitutional protection for LGBT individuals. I’ve studied intersectional feminism and sociology and I’d like to think I know a little better than before. I’d like to think I’m on solid ground.

Yet when I return to Nepal, I see my step-mother being admonished for failing to attend to guests while she is busy feeding my step-brother. The justification given for such unfair treatment is that servile women constitute an integral aspect of Nepalese culture. Given my Nepalese roots, such culture is also embedded, in part, in me. And I’m drifting again, unsure of exactly who I am.

I suppose this is where much of the struggle lies. In Rhys’s novel, Antoinette is hated by white characters for her Creole background and hated by black characters for her ancestral tie to slavery. She thus occupies a liminal space in which Self and Other become confused. While I’ve thankfully never known hatred, I’ve also found it difficult to differentiate what exactly constitutes Self and Other.

I sometimes catch myself othering the very place I’m told I belong, whether it’s the traffic-heavy, dust-clad roads of the Kathmandu valley or the lush green hills that cushion it on every side. To echo Rhys’ Rochester, Nepal is “a beautiful place”, but the beauty is elusive, consisting in a “secret” that perhaps “I [will] never know”.[1]

Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0

Ayisha Sharma

[1] Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea [1966] (London: Penguin, 2000), pp. 54, 111.

The post <i>Wide Sargasso Sea</i> and Me appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by second year English student, Josie Severn.

In recent years, it has been observed that the third Monday in January is officially the most depressing day of the year due to Christmas comedown, bills and failed New Year’s resolutions. If, like me, you’ve spent the Christmas holidays watching Love Actually on a loop and indulging in too many Quality Streets then you’re probably lacking in motivation. With January exams and deadlines in sight, I have put together my best tips to stay motivated and as stress free as possible in the New Year.

1. Find your tune

I know many people say that listening to music while studying is distracting and counter-productive but I would suggest otherwise. I’m not suggesting you blast out the Crisis pre-drinks playlist but sometimes in a busy house/halls some chilled music is best to keep you in the zone and motivated. My personal favourite is the ‘Easy’ playlist by Spotify.

2. You’re never fully dressed without…

Sometimes studying in your pyjamas is comfortable and the thought of getting dressed up to do nothing else is painful. But I’ve found getting dressed, styling my hair and putting on a bit of makeup actually makes me more motivated and ready for work in the day ahead.

4. Treat yourself

Writing essays and revising is tiring and sometimes repetitive, so you do need small breaks to remain focused. I find small treats like catching up on my favourite TV shows after writing a certain amount of words, a cup of tea after revising a topic or a snack makes it a bit more bearable.

4. Read

This is going to sound crazy to all of my fellow English students, because keeping on top of reading is high on our priority list, but hear me out. Sometimes we have to admit that our texts can be, while enjoyable, heavy going. This Christmas I re-read some of my favourite books and it reminded me why I love my course so much and made me a lot more motivated to start my essays.

5. Sleep solves everything

Sleep is important to perform at your best but sometimes at this time of year our brains just will not switch off. Creating a cut-off point for when to stop working, for example 8pm, gives you some time  to empty your stressful thoughts from your mind and wind down before sleep.

6. Friends

I don’t mean catching up with Rachel, Ross, Joey, Phoebe, Monica and Chandler, unfortunately! But if things are getting too stressful, speaking to a friend and reminding yourself that everyone is in the same boat can be reassuring.

7. Be Yourself

Without sounding too contradictory to my previous point, try not to compare yourself to the progress of others too much. Everyone has their own study techniques that work for them and everyone has unique ideas. Do what works for you and stick to it.

What are your best pieces of advice for beating blue Monday?

Josie Severn

[Images: Pixabay / CC0 1.0]

The post 7 Ways to Beat Blue Monday appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by second year English student, Rhiannon Morris.

To a lot of people Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, so the last thing you want to be doing is sapping the enjoyment out of the holidays by spending copious amounts of time doing coursework and revising. However, as a hard-working student it is inevitable that the break will consist of an abundance of work due to the looming January exams and deadlines that threaten to put a dampener on your Christmas, and more importantly, time at home with your family. It is vital that during this time you manage the heavy workload sufficiently to adequately dedicate enough time to both your studies and home life.  Here are some tips for doing just that:

1. Everyone works and manages time differently. For me, it is essential that I can relax and balance work with having fun! The holidays this year begin on the 17th December, so there is an entire week before the main event of Christmas day. I suggest using this week to completely enjoy Christmas and schedule it free of university work. With the exam period starting on the 16th of January, this allocates a further three weeks that can be dedicated to revision and coursework once the excitement of Santa has been and gone!
2. Make a revision timetable. Keeping to a set schedule will allow you to stay on top of your workload and manage your time well. A schedule will make it easier to organise your work time around other events and a very important part of Christmas: socialising.
3. To be fully focused on work during the Christmas break it is important to allow yourself time to relax and spend time with family and friends. This will improve your attitude to revision and coursework as you will be more cheerful and optimistic.
4. Don’t panic. Despite the worry of exams and coursework, stressing too much will only hinder your ability to produce clear and beneficial thoughts. So stay positive, work hard, and share your worries with your family and friends when it all gets a bit too much.

Here’s to a relaxing and productive Christmas break!

Rhiannon Morris

Images Pexels / CC0

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This blog post was written by Annalise Grice, a researcher from the School of English and the current Production Manager of The Letters Page.

 “I’m a big fan of The Letters Page. Texts and emails are fine, but there’s nothing like a hand-written letter.” – Roddy Doyle

The Letters Page, a literary journal in letters founded and edited by author and academic Jon McGregor, launched the first of its annual printed editions with two celebratory events on 2 November 2016. In case you don’t already know, The Letters Page is a project initiated by the School of English at the University of Nottingham, where Jon is a writer in residence and Professor of Creative Writing. He edits the journal with the assistance of a team of Creative Writing students, and the invaluable support of the School. All submissions to The Letters Page are handwritten letters, sent and received by post.

After three years as a digital publication – publishing stories, essays and poems by contributors including Colum McCann, Magnus Mills, Eimear McBride, Andrey Kurkov and Evie Wyld – The Letters Page has published a limited-edition boxed set containing loose-leaf reproductions of the contributors’ original handwritten letters alongside an illustrated booklet of transcriptions. The edition, produced in partnership with Book Ex Machina (an independent publisher based in Cyprus), contains a selection of highlights from our first seven issues, including letters by George Saunders, Naomi Alderman, Kevin Barry and Joanna Walsh, as well as a selection of new letters.

The first, on-campus event was a light lunch, featuring a delectable batch of Letters Page branded cupcakes. Attendees perused the letters and we made our first sale to a former contributor who turned up especially for the occasion. Jon made a speech thanking the School of English for its generous support.

Image author’s own

The second, evening event was held at a brand new creative space in Nottingham town centre: THiNK, at Cobden Chambers. The venue was, in fact, so new that when we arrived to set up the party, the decorators were still there painting the front door a glossy white. By the time our guests rolled up, however, they were greeted with wine and a mezze platter artfully produced by Beth Marriott of the Kiosk in Sherwood, and the space soon filled with the buzz of literary conversation.

Jon addressed the audience, who were then treated to spirited readings by two of the journal’s contributors, Joanna Walsh and Sam Riviere. Both of these authors also helped run a fascinating creative writing workshop put on for School of English students the following morning.

Incidentally, The Letters Page, Vol. I makes a perfect Christmas gift, and copies can be ordered directly from the publisher’s website, or purchased from the School of English Management and Research Office (A90, Trent Building).

You might also like to know that the first seven issues were published, between Oct 2012 and Dec 2015, as downloadable PDFs. The archive is available here.

Image reproduced with permission from Book Ex Machina

Annalise Grice

The post Introducing…The Letters Page, Vol 1 appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by English student, Amy Wilcockson.

After stumbling upon a placement in a museum in second year, which I thoroughly enjoyed, a career in heritage has looked increasingly likely for me. But I’ve never really known how to get into this extremely competitive field from a fresh-from-uni point of view. Enter Eleanor Matthews, ex-University of Nottingham English student, and the current Assistant Curator of Art for the Northern Territories at English Heritage. Last week, students in the School of English, myself included, were treated to a careers talk with Eleanor. During the hour, Eleanor showed us the route she took into the prestigious job she’s working in now, gave us advice for getting a job, and highlighted how studying English is beneficial in the heritage profession.

Dr Kevin Harvey introducing visiting speaker, Eleanor Matthews

After completing her undergraduate English degree at Nottingham, Eleanor went on to do an MA in Middle English Literature at Oxford. She told us that after completing this, she considered a PhD, but ultimately wanted to work in a sector where she could use her knowledge of literature, but that wasn’t exclusively academia. Her first steps into the world of heritage came after successfully securing an internship at the Wordsworth Trust, where she developed a wide range of skills and took part in many projects, including community outreach and education workshops. It was inspiring to see that this internship provided the basis for her later jobs, and even more so to know that the internship with the Wordsworth Trust still runs today! Application here I come!

After working in Assistant roles on a temporary basis, where, amongst other things, Eleanor told us, she qualified as a forklift driver (essential life skill right there!), she then applied for a role as Assistant Curator of Art for the Northern Territories at English Heritage. And the rest, as they say, is history. Being an incredibly varied job that includes researching collections, acquiring objects, assisting researchers, and writing academic papers, it is safe to say that for an English student with a passion for the past, Eleanor’s job would be a dream role. I mean, if Eleanor ever wants to step down from her job, I’m right here willing to give it a shot!

Eleanor Matthews rounds up her talk on getting into the Heritage sector

So why work in heritage? Eleanor chose this career path as she believes heritage is a bridge between academic knowledge and the wider community. The fact that every day is different, and that you get the chance to handle history on a daily basis, also had a role to play in her decision to pursue a career in heritage. English is a fantastic choice of degree for this career path, as an English student naturally has the subject specialist knowledge, research, presentation, and interpretation skills, as well as the ability to write for different audiences – all skills that are a key part of Eleanor’s and other heritage workers’ jobs.

The most enlightening part of Eleanor’s talk was her advice for getting a job in a museum, gallery, or historic house. She stressed that you need an MA unless you’ve had a lot of practical experience, and you need to be prepared to travel, as jobs are wide-ranging and in a variety of places. She also advised joining a university society, being on a committee, organising events, writing for the university magazine (such as Nottingham’s Impact), and learning how to manage a budget – all key skills for a potential career in heritage.

Most of all, Eleanor stressed a love for the job, and an acquisition of the basic skills needed. Lucky, then, that our English degree gives us all of those skills and more!

Amy Wilcockson

The post Collecting, Curating and Careers appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by Emily Harbottle, a second-year English student.

The idea of networking in the conventional sense has always been something that panics me slightly, because the few times I’ve had to do it, it’s been a rather painful experience, and one I’m always glad to finish. You might ask why, then, when the English Placements Provider sent through a role in Catena Network, a (yep you guessed it) networking company, I went for it. Having got through the interview, and offered the placement, my next hurdle was to attend a networking event (*gulp*). Contrary to my fears, the event was very different from what I expected. Claire, the owner of the business, places a lot of emphasis on networking being a relaxed yet advantageous experience. She sits everyone on tables with people they’ve expressed a desire to meet. Instead of a name badge, everyone has a ‘would like to meet’ piece of paper, to help them meet the people they’d like to. As an intern, I didn’t expect anyone to be that interested in me, however to my pleasant surprise (and with a bit of guts on my behalf) I met and spoke to many people there, all of whom were willing to chat about their careers, how they got into their various roles, and to offer me advice for the future. I also acquired several business cards which will hopefully come in useful soon. Besides all this, the food on offer was pretty delicious, and, as a poor, often hungry student, the lure of free food was all too tempting and a definite bonus!

I asked several guests at the networking event what and why it is they like going to these events. Their response, quite overwhelmingly, was that networking is ‘invaluable’ as it helps you be visible, accessible, and contactable. Many people commented that the charm of a good networking event is that it isn’t as ruthless as some can be, where people spend 30 seconds speaking to people, hand over their business card, and move on. As Richard Baker, the guest speaker, commented, it’s all to do with our ears – we can get so much out of people by simply listening. The mix of people from different companies, and the relaxed way that the event was run is, in my opinion, a much nicer way to network, and certainly helped to assuage my fear of it in general. It’s also definitely worth it for the scones!

Emily Harbottle

[Featured image (cropped) by Ghozt Tramp [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons]

[Second image by Takeaway (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons]

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The theme of this year’s National Poetry Day is ‘messages’. Having recently relocated to Nottingham from Glasgow, I think of how messages can be interpreted the Scottish way, meaning ‘groceries’ (a celebration of poems about the supermarket – Allen Ginsberg would surely approve). The generosity of the theme is intriguing – for me, the theme implies that all poems are messages, whether found on a lover’s pillow like in W.S. Graham’s poem, or scratched on the back of an envelope as many of Emily Dickinson’s poem were. If all poems are messages, can we also say the converse, that all messages are potential poems? As Edwin Morgan stated and versified, ‘Nothing Not Giving Messages’. Everything pulsates with a voice.

Here in the School of English, we are celebrating National Poetry Day in a variety of ways. On Thursday, Creative Writing lecturer Matthew Welton is launching his new poetry collection The Number Poems at Lakeside Arts. He will be joined by Ruth Fainlight and Henry Normal. Matthew’s writing has been called ‘musical, maddening, irresistible’ by the Guardian and we’re looking forward to the event, which begins at 7.30pm.

We’re also delighted to publish here the work of two poets on the MA Creative Writing programme, who have kindly agreed to share their poems with us.

Poetry Day

What does it all mean,
this poetry thing?
People sat in offices
skewing eyeballs
at passersby,
feeling superior
in their heightened
position.

Forty line maximum:
I’m forty-seven.
I never thought I’d get
to twenty-seven.
‘Beware All Ye Who Enter Here’
should be the disclaimer
on each birth certificate.

I even lost that,
or at least,
it was stolen.
And, now, I am returning
to poetry. I haven’t sat with
it for thirty years.
I haven’t let its ring
catch my ears or its arms
embrace my deadness.

Poetry Day is apt for October
and the first morning frosts.
I feel the cold too much, again.

– Sally Taylor

AN ORDINARY WOMAN

Creased, she felt her struggles
Soft and excavating,
Deep, those lines were rash
They narrated the tale of an ordinary woman
On the brink of absorption,
Fond yet lucent.
Nobody bothered if she was sated
Neither did she
Though in those moments of sky and deep
She traversed life.
A little than the others, too little
She moved ahead,
Aware of the radiance and iniquity alike
She withheld wisdom in those untouched eyes,
Unaltered they were loyal to her being,
Savouring and shielding,
They hid her blunders.
It all began libertine
When time in exclusive bowed to her beauty,
when nature missed its vicious games,
when realization was promiscuous,
when nights loitered longer,
the unhurriedness of onslaught was cleverly concealed.
Slowness pained
Excruciating and inevitable
Graces lost their charm,
Deception became acceptance,
Beauty withered irretrievable,
Credence became deceased,
Colours were white.
As she traced her sterile skin
She felt courteous,
Majestic of her clambering,
Loose and sagging
Her bright eyes true than ever
Swallowed her graciousness.
Enticing peaceful existence
When time again bowed down,
This time leading her the way.

– Kavya Sharma

Finally, look out for a special poetry exhibition in the corridors of Trent Building, as well as staff members’ favourite poems posted on their office doors. They can also be viewed on the School of English Facebook page: www.facebook.com/UoNEnglish.

The post National Poetry Day – October 6th 2016 appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by Lauren Capon, who studied in the School of English.

It was October. Third year was in full swing, and numerous emails with somewhat formidable phrases like ‘career fair’ and ‘assessment centre’ were beginning to arrive in my uni inbox. After years of deliberation I’d finally decided to pursue a career in marketing, but where on earth was I going to start? As I started trawling through job site after job site it seemed there were plenty of grad jobs and internship schemes available. With a predicted 2.1 degree in English from a top university, I was confident I would be set with something by the end of term one.

I was wrong. Having thrown my CV in the direction of countless London availabilities and received next to nothing in response, I was feeling pretty down and uninspired. Which is why when, earlier this year, on receiving an email from the School of English advertising a digital marketing placement, I jumped at the opportunity. I recognised the company name, Impression Digital, from a careers talk I had been to months before. Ignoring my parents’ dissuasion about doing an internship alongside my finals, I submitted my application.

A whole month went by before I heard anything, but once my interview date was confirmed the process was a swift one. I went into the interview apprehensive but left strangely confident, reassured by the relaxed atmosphere in the agency office and the warm, friendly manner of my two interviewers. I’d already had some experience in marketing thanks to my involvement with a small independent business I’ve worked at since my first year at university, and felt sure that the fact I knew my stuff had impressed Impression.

When, the following morning, I woke up to an email saying I’d been chosen for the placement, I was over the moon. I felt sure that for whatever reason, this placement would be the key to my post-uni employability. It would be an understatement to say I merely enjoyed my placement – I loved everything about it, from the tasks I was given, the skills I learned, and the people I worked alongside. I looked forward to every placement day immensely, even more so as it meant I could escape the monotonous library routine for a few hours every week.

Until my sixth week I’d received little feedback on the work I’d done, and so when I was called for a “chat” at the end of the day I naturally feared the worst. You can imagine my surprise when I was not criticised, but in fact offered a full time job at Impression. Essentially, I had a weekend to decide what to do with my life in the near future but I took the job, which I am due to embark on at the start of September. I couldn’t be happier with my decision to do so or more excited to start the new chapter of my life (I’m writing this, in fact, on the train to view potential one-bedroom apartments for the next year!)

I can’t thank Impression enough for giving me this brilliant opportunity, and am hugely looking forward to being part of a team that are so fantastic at what they do.

Lauren Capon

© 2016 Impression Digital Ltd.

For more information about placement and volunteering opportunities in the School of English, please see our webpages.

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This blog was written by Ana Pellicer–Sánchez, Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics

The School of English at the University of Nottingham hosted the annual meeting of the BAAL Vocabulary Studies special interest group (SIG) on the 7^th and 8^th of July. The event was a great success with over 60 attendees from different countries, including the UK, Spain, Italy, Korea, Poland, Belgium, China and Japan. We had 14 high-quality paper presentations on a range of vocabulary topics, including the acquisition and processing of multi-word sequences, the assessment of vocabulary, the learning of new vocabulary from different modes of exposure, and the examination of oral and written development. Two poster sessions were also part of the programme, with eight posters in each session. Everyone enjoyed the discussions that these sessions generated. It was great seeing everyone walking around and discussing the projects presented in the posters! The two plenary talks by Professor Meara and Professor Schmitt took the audience through the past and present of vocabulary research. There was also a bit of time for socialising during the Thursday conference. We finished the event with the announcement of five prizes sponsored by TextInspector and British Council and voted by the audience to the best posters and best student presentations.   It was great to have two days dedicated to vocabulary research. It was an excellent opportunity to discuss ideas and meet old and new colleagues! Attendees commented on the supportive environment and friendly atmosphere. This made the event particularly useful for PhD students who had the opportunity to receive feedback on their studies from key figures in the field. We all enjoyed the conference and left with lots of new and interesting ideas for vocabulary research! The event also demonstrated that the BAAL Vocab SIG keeps growing and, as the organizers said, let’s keep the group growing! We are looking forward to next year’s event! Huge thanks to everyone who made this event possible!

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This blog was written by Peter Kirwan, Assistant Professor in Shakespeare & Early Modern Drama

Rona Munro’s trilogy The James Plays is a unique piece of event theatre. Three plays performed by one ensemble of actors, focusing in turn on the reigns of James I, James II and James III of Scotland; staged on an epic scale; touching on the biggest issues of the day: Scottish devolution, European relations, the responsibility of rulers, the rights of the individual. On June 11-12^th, the trilogy descended on Nottingham’s Theatre Royal, and the School of English was there to greet it.

‘The James Plays Debates’, a unique collaboration spanning the School’s areas of expertise, marked the significance of The James Plays with three different events catering to the diverse communities invested in the plays. Four academics with different vested interests in the plays – Sarah Grandage (performance and language), Joe Jackson (contemporary Scotland), Peter Kirwan (history plays and event theatre) and Nicola Royan (Scots history and literature) – led the events, drawing together some of the biggest names in Scottish theatre.

The events began with a half-day symposium on June 10^th. Taking place in Nottingham’s Great Hall to the somewhat appropriate sound of explosive thunderstorms, two round-table sessions discussed the role of the history play as a genre, the politics of performing Scottish history in England, and the particular achievement of The James Plays. On the first panel, ‘Theatre, Politics and Scotland’, Joe Jackson was joined by Emeritus Professor Brean Hammond, author of the new play Ben and Jamie (2016); the theatre scholar Trish Reid, author of Theatre and Scotland (Palgrave, 2012); and playwright and historian Ian Brown, author of History as Theatrical Metaphor: History, Myth and National Identities in Modern Scottish Drama (Palgrave, 2016). The panel brought their experience to bear on the question of the responsibilities and influences of history plays in relation to questions of education, historical ‘fact’ and contemporary politics.

The second panel, chaired by Sarah Grandage and David Longford of Nottingham Theatre Royal, was entitled ‘Performing History, Performing Scotland’. Joining Sarah and David were Eleanor Rycroft of Bristol University, who was a lead researcher on the Staging and Representing the Scottish Court project in 2013; and Roxana Silbert, artistic director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre, whose many acclaimed stage works include the debut production of David Greig’s history play and Macbeth sequel Dunsinane (2010). This panel considered the work that goes into creating plays rooted in Scottish history for contemporary theatre audiences, as well as contextualising The James Plays within the broader context of modern Scottish history plays.

In the evening of the 10^th, the action began shifting to the Theatre Royal as Nicola Royan interviewed Rona Munro herself, with a large local audience getting the opportunity to ask questions of the plays’ author. Rona’s extensive experience as a writer for film and television has culminated here with an opportunity rarely afforded a playwright- the opportunity to write a nine-hour cycle for a large company. Rona discussed her progression from ‘indifferent’ history student to passionate advocate of medieval Scots history; her use of diverse sources; and her intention to go on to the next three James’s in due course.

Finally, on Saturday and Sunday morning, the Nottingham academics ran a ‘breakfast briefing’ for the hardy souls about to spend a long day in the theatre watching the trilogy. Sarah, Joe, Peter and Nicola gave short talks about their own areas of interest in the plays, offering suggestions for how to survive a marathon theatre event and points to watch out for. With Lorne sausage and tattie scones laid on by the Theatre Royal, this was an informal and fun way to kick off two marathon days of theatre.

This was a new kind of collaboration between the University and the Theatre Royal, creating a series of events designed to provide something for everyone from first-time theatregoers to academics, the local Scots community to drama students. We’re grateful to our phenomenal admin team, Becs and Tracy-Ann, for making it happen, and to the National Theatre of Scotland and  the Theatre Royal for helping us to mark an extraordinary trilogy which resonated with passions across the School of English. Hopefully it’ll be the first of many such collaborations in the future.

The post Staging The James Plays in Nottingham appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by second year English student, Victoria Lorriman from the School of English.

Most of us have now finished exams, and after being constantly engaged in hours of revision and writing a long summer break seems to be exactly what we need. However, the transition from intense involvement in studies to suddenly sitting back into an un-timetabled routine might leave you feeling slightly lethargic, longing for something to do. Although it is crucial to take some time out to relax, immersing yourself in a new challenge, even for just one day, will prove refreshing and re-energizing, whilst creating a sense of fulfillment and purpose. In this blog post, I hope to inspire those of you who are looking for something stimulating to do during the holidays to try your hand at one-off volunteering – a challenge that comes hand-in-hand with self-improvement and a CV boost.

On 20^th May 2016, I volunteered as a Team Leader during ‘Give and Gain Day’ at Brocklewood Primary School. The role involved leading a group of ten Year 5/6 children from four different schools situated around the Bulwell area through a series of outdoor and team building activities, such as obstacle courses, shelter building, and code cracking. The pupils had never met before, so I was responsible for encouraging them to build relationships with new people, work together effectively, and surpass expectations of their own intellectual capacities whilst undertaking the challenges. It was extremely rewarding leading the group throughout the day, witnessing their bonds and collective capabilities strengthen to assist them in solving problems.

A benefit of one-off voluntary work is that it does not involve any long term commitments, but does allow you to develop skills that are impressive to future employers. For instance, my position as Team Leader helped me to develop a range of skills and responsibilities, including ensuring that health and safety regulations were adhered to at all times; playing an active part in the team by delegating opportunities for quieter group members to speak up so that the pupils could collectively formulate a strategy to complete a challenge; creating and leading ice-breaking games to help the children get to know one another; and using problem-solving abilities when finding ways to engage children who did not initially want to get involved in the activities. In short, one-off volunteering enables the development of a strong set of transferable skills that can be adapted depending on the diverse job positions you may decide to apply for.

It is also the opportunities for personal development that any form of volunteering grants that makes it so worthwhile. The children at ‘Give and Gain Day’ have grown up in a disadvantaged area, and many do not have positive role models at home. It is the interaction with motivated, encouraging, enthusiastic volunteers that helps them to realise that they can succeed in intellectual, emotional, and physical challenges, and outshine their own perceptions of their abilities, no matter their background. Voluntary work in this instance, even if it is only a one off, helps to inspire children to become successful, and I believe that the volunteer’s action as a positive role model is what gives the role such value and purpose.

In my experience, it is this sense of purposefulness that provides the drive for pursuing or even exceeding aspirations, be they career or personally orientated. By volunteering on a one-off basis, I not only developed my transferable skills to enhance my employability, but also became more determined to work voluntarily with children in the future. Why not volunteer too and see what transferable skills you can develop or what interests might be sparked?

Photo: Pixabay (featured image cropped) / CC0 Public Domain

Feeling inspired? There are many websites that you can use to find one-off volunteering experiences in and around Nottingham. Here are just a few:

• Keep an eye out on the University of Nottingham’s one-off volunteering page for students.
• Sign up as a volunteer with Maggie’s Centre. They do have ongoing voluntary roles, but mostly they need extra pairs of hands at events they run (races, Christmas fairs, fundraisers, races etc.). Once you’re on their list, they will e-mail out opportunities as and when they come up, and if you can join in that’s great, but if not, no problem.
• Sign up with the Nottingham Community and Voluntary Service. They are a similar service to the University of Nottingham’s one-off volunteering page, but they find volunteering opportunities for everyone, not just students. Their office is situated in town near the Victoria Centre, where their co-ordinators are happy to let you know about how they work.
• Take part in Clicksilver, a project that runs twice a year on campus. It involves student volunteers working one-on-one with older people to teach them basic computer and iPad skills. It isn’t one-off volunteering, but it is a short-term voluntary role, as it only lasts for 6 weeks.

Victoria Lorriman

The post The Benefits of One-Off Volunteering appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog was written by Norbert Schmitt, Professor of Applied Linguistics, School of English.

Thursday 7th July, 2016, 13.00-17.00 and Friday 8th July, 2016, 10.00-16.30

University of Nottingham

Vocabulary is an essential aspect of learning any language.  While much of vocabulary is acquired incidentally as a young child when learning a first language, second language learners often struggle to learn a sufficient number of words to operate in their new language.  Research has given many insights into the nature of vocabulary, how it is stored in the mind, and the most effective ways of teaching it.

This Special Interest Group (SIG) conference will feature two days of presentations and posters on various aspects of vocabulary study.  The plenary speakers include Prof. Paul Meara, who will discuss the key findings of vocabulary research that complement that of one of the key figures in the field, Prof. Paul Nation.  The second plenary speaker is Prof. Norbert Schmitt, who will review and critique the last quarter-century of vocabulary research.  Fourteen papers will be presented by an international range of vocabulary specialists and PhD students.  There will also be two dedicated poster sessions, with a total of 18 posters.

Prizes will be given for the best PhD presentation, and the best poster on Thursday, and the best poster on Friday.  There will also be a conference dinner on Thursday night.  Registration closes 15th June 2016.

Details of the conference are available at:

https://baalvocabsig.wordpress.com/

Register for the conference at the following website: 

http://store.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&deptid=9&catid=90&prodid=756

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This blog post was written by final year English and Philosophy student, Rishi Davda.

As much as it pains me to say it, the years at university go by way too fast. From running around the freshers’ fair for free pizza to panicking in Hallward come mid-May, the ups and downs seem to speed past at an increasing rate each year. As a result, that mammoth 3 month summer seems to come around in the blink of an eye. I’m just about to finish university, and so this coming summer will most likely be filled with a career crisis and me weighing up the positives and negatives of working for my dad. However, there are a few important bits of advice and information for those of you who like me worry a little bit every summer about the lack of ‘stuff’ you are doing. Regardless of your year, I think these tips will prove helpful in some way, and help to provide some clarity for a festival- and Pimms-filled summer.

Tip 1: Do Something (simple as that!)

In all seriousness, three months is a long time. Doing something will not mean that you are forgoing your ‘much-needed’ chill time after your ‘stressful’ year at university. From waiting tables, to doing an internship, to travelling around the world – all these experiences will enrich you as a person in some way. Work place experience, corporate exposure, or an appreciation for global perspectives are all valuable summer-gained skills and, whilst possibly shaping your future career, they will for sure keep you off the sofa watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians from the beginning. Trust me…it’s not worth it!

Tip 2: Don’t stress!

Okay, so you really want to do an internship at Goldman Sachs and that is all you want to do. Unfortunately, you don’t get it. That means it is time to pull your hair out, live in a dark room, and get a questionable tattoo. INCORRECT! Don’t let your summer adventures be dictated by one specific job or opportunity. There are loads of different things you can do and if Plan A doesn’t work, there are still 25 more letters to work your way through. Don’t approach your summer as a rigid schedule; give yourself some freedom and find something you want to do and that will benefit you in the long term. Someone closing a door to you should just act as incentive to go and find more doors to open.

Tip 3: Do get a bit of rest!

I know I’ve said to make sure you do something and this is very true, but you do need to remember it is a holiday. Don’t work 12 hours a day for 12 weeks continuously and then come back to uni and get straight into lectures. I know we are young, but we still need some rest. Work, recuperate, and relax. Then come back to uni with more on your CV, more energy, and your summer reading list completed (kidding!!).

ENJOY THE SUMMER…even if the weather would have you believe it is winter!

Photo by Jeremy Tarling (featured image cropped) / CC BY-SA 2.0

Rishi Davda

The post I know what you did last summer… appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by Katie Randall, a final year student from the School of English.

1. Having immense pride that the School of English is housed in the beautiful Trent building – by far the best building on campus.

2. Realising that Jem Bloomfield is a Twitter superstar and knowing that if he retweets you, you’ll feel like a superstar too.

3. Arguably the biggest test of your degree was having to wade through the 600+ pages of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall in Freshers week.

4. Always seeming to finish deadlines and exams waaaaay before everybody else.

5. Nobody understanding that essays are just as stressful – if not more so – than exams.

6. Getting confused between the MHRA (footnotes) and Harvard (author-date) referencing systems and getting really annoyed when you have to switch between the two when writing literature and language assignments.

7. The name Kevin Harvey needs no further explanation. (For those of you not in the know: his jokes are legendary.)

8. Taking a while to realise what your Academic Community module is at the start of first year.

9. Wishing you’d not been so lazy and applied for one of the amazing placements that the School offers.

10. Posting an obligatory dissertation selfie outside of the Trent building at the end of the three (or four) years of your degree!

Photos by Katie Randall and Emma Zimmerman

Katie Randall

The post 10 Signs You’re an English Student at UoN appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by final year student, Una Kunhya, from the School of English.

So that’s it for me, I have just handed in my final pieces of coursework and completed my last exam. It is an exciting moment as I look towards the future, but also remember all the memories of my three years at Nottingham. I feel like a veteran – I know the best times to find a seat with a plug socket in Hallward during exam season, and even know the 34 bus timetable by heart (maybe that part’s a bit sad). However, I do have some other words of advice for those who still have a few more years at this University I am proud to call home.

Photo by Una Kunhya

Join in!

Partaking in University activities is not restricted to the 200+ societies the SU has to offer. Although it is a regret of mine for not being more involved with societies, there are other ways to get involved in University life. For example, you can become a Student Ambassador assisting University staff setting up and closing open day events or talking to young people about the transition to higher education. There are also opportunities to become Welcome Mentors and support students arriving at University! Keep an eye out on the UoNSU Twitter or Facebook pages for more insights into the available roles they have to offer.

Here’s me participating in the University’s Accommodation video and photo shoot! Photo by University of Nottingham

Stop the book buying panic!

Buying books for modules is not only a chore but can be painful for the bank balance. I have spoken to a few first and second year students who had no idea that there were other ways to buy books other than from Amazon! If Amazon is your first port of call, check out their second hand books as they are normally much cheaper than brand new copies. The same goes for AbeBooks; they too have a load of second hand books for under three quid. For any rare or expensive books, check out Blackwells on campus as sometimes they are cheaper than both Amazon or AbeBooks. Also, don’t forget to follow the English Society on Facebook or Twitter as at the start of each semester they hold a book sale where you can sell your old books or buy discounted books from students in the years above.

Just keep swimming!

My best words of wisdom are saved for last. It is ok to be unsure about the future. We have the rest of our lives to find a job and settle down, so we should make the most of our young years where we have the freedom to do anything. Many final year students are taking a break from education and delaying the world of work to volunteer, to travel, or to teach abroad. We’re never going to have the opportunity again not to be confined by family or work commitments. So definitely take this time to explore the world or different work environments to find what suits you.

Photo by Una Kunhya

I hope you all enjoy your final few years, months, or weeks at The University of Nottingham!

Una Kunhya

The post Wisdom From a Final Year appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by final year English student, Sophia Harris.

I’m currently in the final year of my English degree, in the midst of writing the last essays I will ever compose, teaching at a primary school and, resisting the urge to plan a sunny holiday, I am an intern at Derby Book Festival. I got the placement after being sent an email from the School of English with the words ‘Children’s book trail organiser’ emblazoned in the subject line – as a shameless hoarder of old editions of Alice in Wonderland this was a job that dreams were made of. I envisioned hours spent rereading favourite books from my childhood, attending literary events galore, working with children in the local community, and slightly less appealing stints of tea making; naturally I had to apply.

Photo courtesy of Derby Book Festival

After being lucky enough to secure my internship with one of my closest course friends, Izzy, I realised that getting work experience is nowhere near as daunting as you think it will be when you are genuinely enthusiastic about your potential job. My interview involved chatting about my favourite children’s books, quizzing Derby Book Festival founders, Jenny Denton and Sian Hoyle, on what founding a successful book festival with over 10,000 participants is really like, and presenting our own ideas for the book trail. We both left the interview excited, laughing, and with reams of plans for the event – and when we got our placement we felt well prepared.

By the end of my first day I was one of the organising group rather than ‘just an intern’ – I had helped compose an email to Philip Pullman and tea making was a far cry from the actual job.

Jenny, Sian, and the rest of the team really make the internship what it is – their drive, passion, and love of reading is infectious, and the responsibility they have consistently given us has made us both more confident, creative, and resourceful.

Photo courtesy of Derby Book Festival

So what is the trail all about? The children’s book trail will include the likes of Harry Potter, The BFG, and Horrid Henry: each child is given a quiz sheet with the name of some of their favourite characters. They simply have to spot them in the shop windows of the stores involved for a chance to win special (currently top-secret) prizes. It’s such a fun event that puts adventure back into reading – I am very likely to have a go myself.

A typical day setting up the trail involves stopping by a few of the 37 businesses we are responsible for, which means networking, checking that they are aware of any expectations for our children’s event, and making sure they are in the loop with recent updates. Our day might also include writing press releases for our book trail launch, drawing up concept designs for our children’s illustration-themed window displays, creating a design brief for marketing materials, catching up with the rest of the team, and sourcing all the children’s books we can get our hands on. Less typical days include a BBC radio appearance (which is coming up soon), smiling ear to ear upon hearing the positive impact on the community the festival is having, and planning my Cat in the Hat launch day fancy dress (I’m far too excited about this for a 22 year old!).

If you are thinking of doing a placement with the School of English my advice is to find one you are really keen on and apply. Do it now. Don’t expect everything to go to plan, and definitely don’t assume you’ll be on tea making duty all day, but do give it your all and be enthusiastic from the get go – it will be one of the best things you do at university.

The Children’s Book Trail launches on 27th May on Sadler Gate in Derby city centre from 11am.

Find out more about Derby Book Festival and peruse our wonderful literary events on sale by clicking here!

Sophia Harris

The post Life as an Intern: Derby Book Festival appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by Second Year student Louisa Cluett.

Poets Laureate Then and Now will be a day of poetry readings and discussions about the public role of poetry both in the past and present, and how it affects our local and national identity. There will be four high profile poets reading at the event; Patience Agbabi, Matthew Welton, Angela Leighton and Helen Mort. This is an exciting and diverse range of guests, and it is not often that an opportunity to see such poets is free of charge to all the community. Whilst I am excited to see their readings (these will be taking place mainly in the morning of the event), as an English Literature student I am also looking forward to discussions about the importance of the public role of poetry. Studying poetry, I have learnt that whilst it can often be seen as indulgent or inward looking, it I can be of great importance on a public level, and can give insight into the past. Ranging from Viking poetry to the present day, this event will show just that, as well as the public role of poetry in today’s society. For the discussions to be made up of a mixture of the voices of academics, poets and the wider community is bound to be an interesting combination; paramount, in fact, when taking into account the subject of the talks.

The event is one open to anyone and everyone, and you are welcome to come for part or all of it. There will be a free lunch and free tea, both in the morning and afternoon. For me, and other students, it will be a great event to attend after the pressure of deadlines and exams. For others, perhaps just something a bit different to do at the weekend. Whether you are a poetry reader, writer, student or teacher, or even completely new to it, everyone is sure to take something away from this event.

The event runs from 10am to 5pm in Highfields House, University of Nottingham.

For full details please see the website 

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This blog post was written by English and Hispanic student, Sally Hirst.

With the end of the exam period barely on the horizon, it may seem pre-emptive to consider how to fill your free time between the final deadline and results day, but it’s a good form of motivation. In Nottingham there are plenty of attractions, unusual cafés, and a range of bars in which to pass all your new-found free time – it’s well worth exploring the city to see what’s on offer.

Wollaton Hall and the surrounding grounds just over the road from University Park Campus are excellent for a sunny afternoon, and if you have a penchant for taxidermy there is an extensive collection inside the house! Alternatively, if the British weather doesn’t hold, Nottingham Castle and the city’s network of caves are also interesting sites to visit.

Photo by Lee Haywood (featured photo cropped) / CC BY-SA 2.0

If the usual student club nights aren’t appealing, Nottingham has a wealth of interesting bars that can provide an enjoyable alternative. Tilt, just off Market Square, has a very relaxed atmosphere and live blues music, all set in a cosy, intimate venue complete with a large menu of unusual cocktails as well as the classic favourites. Although acquiring a table here can sometimes be a challenge, it’s worth the wait. Filthy’s Nottingham and Pelican Club also provide a range of drinks and a great mix of live music (both cover bands and artists playing their original tracks) in larger venues.

Photo by Josetxu / CC0 1.0

For those who want to unwind in daylight hours, the city centre boasts a range of independent coffee and tea shops alongside the big chains. Chocolate Utopia is a quaint chocolate shop just off Maid Marian Way and with a free chocolate to accompany every hot drink it’s the perfect place to give in to sugar cravings. Lee Rosy’s is a little less indulgent on the chocolate front, but offers an enormous range of loose leaf teas to suit any taste alongside a delicious range of cakes. You can even buy packages of their tea to expand your own collection at home.

Photo by Charlotte L / CC BY 2.0

This is only a small sample of what’s on offer in Nottingham to fill your free time after exams and up until results day – Nottingham really is a city full of variety. So whatever your interests or tastes, there’s always somewhere to visit. Happy exploring!

Sally Hirst

The post Exploring Nottingham, post-exams appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by third-year English with Creative Writing student, Amina Youssef.

The publishing world is renowned for being one of the most difficult sectors to enter, but despite this I am determined to achieve a career in the industry. The best way to gain a step onto the ladder is through work experience, but it certainly proved a lot harder to secure than I had originally anticipated. Over the space of a year, I sent numerous emails, CVs, and cover letters to a whole host of different publishing houses and often wouldn’t even hear back from them. However, I did not let this halt my aspirations and attended a ‘Spotlight On’ event, given by the University at the start of the academic year. It focused on publishing and showcased five speakers who were all involved in different areas of the industry. Having known beforehand that there would be a guest speaker from HarperCollins, I approached him directly after the talk so that I could personally engage with him. I then asked if there would be any opportunity for work experience with the company and presented him with a pre-prepared CV and cover letter. Although I wasn’t certain that this would secure me work experience, I knew there was no harm in asking, as there is much more of a chance of being remembered in person than from an online application form. He said that he was impressed by my enthusiasm and initiative and gave me his contact details. From there I managed to obtain a two week placement at HarperCollins in the Children’s Department for the Easter holidays.

During my time at HarperCollins, I worked closely with the Publishing Operations and Editorial teams, connecting with a variety of people within these departments. The main task I carried out was an independent research project which looked at the way online retailers, such as Amazon and Waterstones, market and promote products published by HarperCollins and their competitors. This concluded in my giving a forty-five minute presentation to the Directors from Publishing Operations and members of the Sales team. I was told later that they were going to act upon aspects of my report and, as a result, contact their retailers – it was great to know that my research had been valuable to the company.

Additionally, I was involved in editing and technically polishing the synopsis for books that were being re-covered and also proof-reading new manuscripts with a critical eye. The work I did alongside the Editorial department was by far my favourite aspect of the placement. I learnt a great deal in a short space of time and it has cemented my desire to pursue an editorial position in the future. Therefore, my advice for those seeking experience within publishing is to not give up: remain confident and always stay alert to the opportunity of speaking to a publishing professional face-to-face. It worked for me – now it’s your chance!

A selection of free books that I was lucky enough to receive from other imprints within HarperCollins

Amina Youssef

[Featured image: author’s own]

The post The Experience of Working for One of the Big Five Publishing Companies: HarperCollins appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by second year English student, Victoria Lorriman from the School of English.

Radio Alwan started life in 2013 in Northern Syria as a small station only broadcasting for four hours each day from an aerial fixed onto a van [1]. The radio station rapidly expanded, its independent updates on the civil war and oppression triggered by the 2011 protests providing a trustworthy source of information for the Syrian community. Despite having been exiled from Syria, Radio Alwan now operates from a secret location in Istanbul, broadcasting daily to areas around Aleppo and Idlib in Syria, and to countries within Europe [2]. Transmission to Aleppo is, however, currently suspended following an attack on the station’s offices there [3].

Each week, an episode of the station’s drama serial, Sad Northern Nights, is transmitted; a series that follows the story of a Syrian mother and her teenage son living inside the country through these devastating days. In this blog, I’d like to spend some time considering the drama serial as not just a way for those listening from within Syria to enjoy some entertainment, but also a reflection of the dedication of the Radio Alwan team in putting together a work of art that they left their lives behind in Syria to complete.

‘Alwan’ in Arabic means ‘colours’, a concept that reflects the contrasting shades of the programmes broadcasted [4]. Political updates are frequent in news bulletins, untainted by government censoring or opinion. The weekly installment of Sad Northern Nights provides a moment of relief for those living inside Syria; the difficulties experienced by the mother and son simultaneously reflecting and absorbing Syrians in shared problems deriving from political unrest. In a recent BBC News article, scriptwriter Mahmoud pinpointed the extent to which the story resonates with Syrian life:

Is it really so unbelievable that a disillusioned teenager whose father has been killed by the regime should prove easy pickings for IS? That a desperate widow should think of joining the migrant trail? Or that an educated lawyer and founding member of the free Syrian Army should think of nothing but revenge after his entire family is wiped out in an air strike? [5]

These are some of the horrific experiences Syrians have to deal with every day. By dealing with such issues, Sad Northern Nights is a moment in which the collective Syrian body can share its troubles, but is also a cathartic opportunity to become absorbed in someone else’s problems – at least for 15 minutes.

The Radio Alwan team put the drama serial together on a tight budget and it has become increasingly difficult for them to broadcast their programmes. They were forced out of Syria as political conflict intensified, in an effort to keep their news updates and dramas independent. Members of staff left their homes and families behind, uncertain of ever seeing them again. The team succeeded in finding a new base in a western suburb of Istanbul from which to broadcast uncensored information and sustain the vital weekly transmission of Sad Northern Nights.

Even soap operas are susceptible to political manipulation, and the staff’s desire to keep Radio Alwan independent from the voices of politics resulted in a brutal, physical attack on those present in the Aleppo office this March [6]. The Radio Alwan team nevertheless persist relentlessly in updating and entertaining their listeners whilst facing the continual threat of violence and loss of loved ones back in Syria. As long as broadcasting continues, their efforts will not go unrecognised, nor will the momentary relief from the challenging daily experiences of those living in war-torn Syria subside.

You can listen to Radio Alwan on the BBC World Service here.

There is a Between the Ears documentary, ‘Inside Radio Alwan’, available on the BBC. You can listen to it here.

Victoria Lorriman

References

[1] ‘Inside Radio Alwan’, Between the Ears, BBC Radio 3 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b074z3n9> [Accessed 21 April 2016].

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Emma Jane Kirby, ‘The hard-hitting soap for a country at war’, BBC News (18 April 2016) <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36035117> [Accessed 21 April 2016].

[6] ‘Inside Radio Alwan’.

[Photo by Andréanne Germain (featured photo cropped) / CC BY 2.0]

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This blog post was written by School of English PhD student, Xiaofan Xu.

At first glance, T. S. Eliot and surrealism just do not seem to click. Eliot is known to have rejected a manuscript on French surrealism in 1926 for publication in his Criterion, with a dismissive comment that ‘I cannot feel that the theories of the surréalistes are of sufficient importance to justify us in treating them with so much care’ [1]. However, the following decade seems to have witnessed a change in his attitude towards surrealism. He attended the London Surrealist Exhibition in 1936, and even before that, he had published a few distinctly surrealist works in quick succession in the Criterion, all by British authors. These included works by the fledgling surrealist poets Hugh Sykes Davies, Charles Madge, Roger Roughton, the then up-and-coming Dylan Thomas, along with reviews on two books by David Gascoyne.

Fig 1. Cover of the London Surrealist Exhibition catalogue, 11 June – 4 July 1936. Photo credit: Prodan Romanian Cultural Foundation.

Fig 2. Cover of the Parisian high surrealist magazine, Minotaure, 7 June 1935, where Herbert Read published his provocatively titled ‘Why the English have no taste’, in which he argues for the necessity of a British surrealism. Photo credit: Xiaofan Xu, taken in the British Library.

As I progress with my doctoral thesis, I am increasingly fascinated by the reason behind such a sea-change on Eliot’s part. The sound of surrealism was certainly not music to the ears of Eliot’s respectable contemporaries. It was disreputable, to say the least. The 1936 London Surrealist Exhibition stirred a mild succès de scandale. Clement Greenberg, in his influential reflection upon the Avant Garde in 1939, also denigrates the surrealist plastic arts as being only secondary to the ‘good avant-garde’ in his classification, given its reactionary focus upon the ‘“outside” subject matter’ [2]. This brand of ‘bad taste’, however, might just have worked to Eliot’s benefit. Like Baudelaire who would ‘invent a cliche’ in defiance of the bourgeois propriety of his age, Eliot seeks to reshape literary taste for his own age by way of the ‘profane illuminations’ of surrealism [3]. Viewed in this light, Eliot’s publication of British surrealist works might thus be regarded as his combat with the banality of established taste (a difficult task given that he was himself part of the establishment) and an attempt to tap into the subversive potential of surrealist ‘bad taste’.

Fig 3. Lobster Telephone, Salvador Dalí, 1936, © Salvador Dali, Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation/DACS, London 2016. Compare with the abject image in the chorus of Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral (1935): ‘I have tasted | The living lobster, the crab, the oyster, the whelk and the prawn.’ Photo credit: © Tate, London [2016].

Fig 4. Cover of Herbert Read’s The Green Child (Penguin, [1935] 1979). Photo credit: Xiaofan Xu.

[1] Eliot’s letter to Theodora Bosanquet, 21 June 1926, in The Letters of T. S. Eliot, ed. by Valerie Eliot and John Haffenden (London: Faber, 2012), III, p. 189.

[2] Clement Greenberg, ‘Avant-Garde and Kitsch’, Partisan Review, 6 (Fall 1939), pp. 34-49 (n. 2).

[3] See the analysis of Charles Baudelaire’s ‘Fusees’ in Svetlana Boym, Common Places (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009), p. 17.

[4] Graham Sutherland, ‘A Trend in English Draughtsmanship’, Signature, 3 (July 1936), pp. 7-13 (p. 11).

[5] T. S. Eliot, Notes Toward the Definition of Culture (London: Faber, 1948), p. 52.

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This blog post was written by final year English and Philosophy student, Rishi Davda.

As a final year, I try to balance my time between reading lists, sleeping, and job applications. Occasionally one of those job applications, which you submit six minutes before the deadline, actually goes beyond the dreaded mass email response beginning with ‘Unfortunately’, or as I call it ‘the computerised slap in the face’. Recently, one of my many applications resulted in an invitation to an assessment day. Having never been to an assessment day, I didn’t quite know what to expect. Now mine took place at a media company, however I thought I would share some helpful tips with you, which I am sure will be applicable to any assessment day/interview you may encounter in the near future.

Tip 1: Dress smart

Unless told otherwise, dressing smart is a must. An assessment day/interview is basically like an audition in which your assessor will definitely judge a book by its cover. Be sure to tidy yourself up. Nothing is a bigger turn off for a potential employer than someone who has sleep in their eyes, one shoe lace missing or miss-matching socks (this may be hipster on campus but not in the real world). Get suited and booted before the big day – it will increase your confidence hugely and present the best possible version of yourself. Don’t worry about being overdressed – you can always remove a tie or take off a jacket, however it is difficult to make a Game of Thrones T-shirt look more formal.

Tip 2: Without sounding like your mum…just be yourself!

An assessor I spoke to prior to my assessment said that there is nothing worse than a candidate coming in and being totally overbearing and antisocial in an attempt to impress those at the top. She said they can spot falsity a mile away and if you are in a situation where you are asked to work in a team, they expect you to do just that and not try to commandeer the whole exercise. There is no ‘I’ in assessment day. I know it sounds simple, but in such a high pressure situation nerves can often take over. Just be cool, calm, collected, and collaborative rather than selfish, shouty, and single-minded.

Tip 3: Do preparation

Wow, was I thrown in at the deep end when they asked me to do a quiz about the media industry at about 10:15 in the morning. Assessment Days and interviews are meant to be a chance to showcase and test your passion and knowledge for a specific sector. Make sure you have the knowledge, both sector-specific and general. As university students, we very often find ourselves in a utopic bubble without paying attention to the goings-on in the post-education world. Be sure to keep up-to-date with relevant current affairs so that you don’t go in for a job you really want and end up feeling like you didn’t do your best because you didn’t do your homework.

GOOD LUCK!

Rishi Davda

[Featured image: http://www.yourinterviewcoach.co.uk/assessmentcentre.html]

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This blog post was written by Dr. John Baker, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Name-Studies.

We’re familiar with stories about richly furnished burials such as Taplow in Buckinghamshire and Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, where the dead were placed under large mounds and accompanied by treasures. Increasingly, we’re able to shed light on the wider landscape of these cemeteries. What was life like for those those who, in death, were buried at places like Sutton Hoo? Where and how did they live and what was their experience of the landscape? These are matters that will be addressed in two free events taking place in the Senate Chamber, University of Nottingham, on 5^th May.

To tell us more about these things, Professor Chris Scull will be giving a lecture on Rendlesham, Suffolk, where recent survey has identified an exceptionally extensive and materially wealthy settlement of the 5th to 8th centuries AD that can be identified as the site of the 7th century East Anglian royal settlement recorded by Bede. Dr Kelly Kilpatrick, a researcher at the Institute for Name-Studies, has recently completed work on the place-names of Suffolk, and this will form the subject of an afternoon seminar. She will examine the place-names of the Deben valley and their importance for our understanding of the wider landscape of Rendlesham and Sutton Hoo.

Afternoon seminar, 2pm, 5^th May, Senate Chamber

Dr Kelly Kilpatrick, ‘The Place-Names of Rendlesham and the Deben Valley: the toponymic history of a Royal, Anglo-Saxon Landscape’

Tea and coffee provided.

Please RSVP to confirm your attendance.

Evening lecture 6pm, 5^th May, Senate Chamber

Prof Chris Scull, ‘Archaeology at Rendlesham, Suffolk: an East Anglian royal settlement of the time of Sutton Hoo’.

The lecture will be followed by a wine reception.

Please RSVP to confirm your attendance.

Visit the Institute for Name Studies

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This blog post was written by final year American Studies and English student, Radhika Chond, from the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies.

It’s that time of year again when Easter is somehow all done and dusted and you’re caught out wondering where the time has raced off to…

In and amongst those academic tomes, you may be wondering how best to unwind and if yet another book is seriously an option…

Well, as the sun starts to peep weakly through masses of frothy cloud and the skies begin to take on an array of pretty colours, I have prepared a list of suggested books to read as we move towards summer.

For me, reading fiction is not complete without a cup of tea or coffee, so I’ve decided to combine these summer suggestions with my love of Lee Rosy’s Tea Room in Hockley. Why not head there yourself with a good book and enjoy losing yourself in its cosy confines.

Lee Rosy’s

If you have a bit more time on your hands and fancy going all-out with a lavish tea experience, Nottingham boasts an array of amazing teashops, so why not take some time out on a Sunday and see how many you can tick off the list before term ends!

1. The Improbability of Love – Hannah Rothschild

This novel is longlisted for the Bailey’s Woman Prize for Fiction 2016 and follows the lovelorn Annie McDee as she stumbles across a grubby painting in a junk shop that turns her life upside down. Unknowingly she throws herself into the tumultuous London Art World and is soon pursued by many scheming buyers. The painting –  a lost eighteenth-century masterpiece – is called ‘The Improbability of Love’. Whilst Annie uncovers the painting’s history, will she also uncover, and fall into, love once more?

Suggested Tea Infusion at Lee Rosy’s:

Green Tea & Peach

Take it along to this Afternoon Tea:

Lazy Daisy’s Afternoon Tea at Wollaton Hall

The Improbability of Love with Green Tea & Peach

2. The Little Paris Bookshop – Nina George

This novel is the Waterstones Book Club Choice 2016 and is an international bestseller. The protagonist Jean Perdu’s gift is that he can soothe his customer’s souls with books he personally selects for them. He is unable to soothe himself however, until he unlocks his past by reading a letter left for him 21 years ago.

Does he possess the gift to soothe your soul?

Suggested Tea Infusion at Lee Rosy’s:

China Rose Tea

Take it along to this Afternoon Tea:

Time For Tea, Vintage Tea Room in Beeston

The Little Paris Bookshop with China Rose Tea

3. The Last Good Kiss – James Crumley

Fancy a thriller? Delve into Private Detective C. W. Sughrue’s life: he’s the one committing crimes, not solving them, and it’s all washed down with a hearty dose of whisky and regret. Accompanied by an alcoholic bulldog, he delves into the depths of San Francisco’s urban underbelly – will you join him?

Suggested Tea Infusion at Lee Rosy’s:

Earl Grey Blue Flower

Take it along to this Afternoon Tea:

The Ned Ludd, Friar Lane, Nottingham City Centre. Or take it to the Victorian afternoon tea at the D. H. Lawrence Bistro in Eastwood.

The Last Good Kiss with Earl Grey Blue Flower

4. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami

One of my all-time favourite authors – any Murakami novel is worth reading! Here Toru Okada loses his job, his cat, and then his wife. His pursuit of the latter leads him to a motley crew of unusual characters and situations, from two psychic sisters to a sleazy politician. It’s unsettling, borderline frustrating, yet highly intriguing. This bizarre chain of events propels you to race through the book and find a conclusion. Come and travel through contemporary Japan with Murakami’s Toru.

Suggested Tea Infusion at Lee Rosy’s:

Green Tea Blue Sky

Take it along to this Afternoon Tea:

Thea Caffea, Low Pavement, Nottingham City Centre

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle with Green Tea Blue Sky

5. Charlotte Street – Danny Wallace

Laugh along with Danny Wallace who gives us a classic boy meets girl tale with a twist as the protagonist Jason Priestley tries to track down the object of his affection using photos from her disposable camera…

Suggested Tea Infusion at Lee Rosy’s:

Passionfruit & Orange

Take it along to this Afternoon Tea:

White Rabbit Teahouse, Bridlesmith Walk and Hounds Gate, Nottingham City Centre.

Charlotte Street with Passionfruit & Orange Tea

6. Rads’s Rewind Pick:

Rewind to your childhood past with this true classic, suggested to me by Kish Manek: Charlie and The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

Accompany it with either a Mocha or Lee Rosy’s Chocolate Truffle Tea.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Chocolate Truffle Tea

Radhika Chond

[Featured images: http://www.lee-rosy.co.uk and https://www.waterstones.com]

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Taken from the Research Blog posted on April 1, 2016, by Michael Jennings

This is the fourth of our monthly Q&As with our five Global Research Theme (GRT) leads, for you to find out about who they are, their research and what it means to lead one of the University’s five GRTs. Read previous Q&As from Professor Georgina Endfield, GRT lead for Sustainable Societies, Professor Neil Champness, GRT lead for Transformative Technologies and Professor Victoria Chapman, GRT Lead for Health and Wellbeing.

Find more information on our new Research Strategy 2015-2020, Global Research Themes, Research Priority Areas on Campus News.

1. Can you explain what your research is about?

Language is central to any kind of human endeavour, yet we still know relatively little about the complex and dynamic patterns at play when we communicate with each other. My research aims to develop our understanding of those patterns that we can observe in everyday written and spoken communication. For a long time, researchers mainly referred to their own intuitions when describing a language. However, technology now makes it possible to extract key patterns of language use at the touch of a button, using as a basis very large collections of spoken and written texts (language corpora). This has revolutionised our understanding of language used across different contexts. It allows us to address key questions, such as how frequent individual words and phrases are, how they tend to co-occur with other words and phrases, how and when new words and phrases enter a language, and the patterning between speech and gestures. So, in short, my research aims to develop better descriptions of the English language and, in turn, improve applications that are based on those descriptions.

2. What inspired you to pursue this area of research?

I’ve always been curious about language and communication, and why some uses of language seem to be more successful or lead to different outcomes than others. I remember being hugely inspired by reading some of the early research articles on corpus linguistics and its applications which made me want to explore how technological advances could improve language description even further. I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time when I started my PhD at Nottingham. The School of English here was building one of the first ‘large scale’ (for those days) corpora of contemporary spoken English in collaboration with Cambridge University Press. The project was led by my supervisor who is one of the most inspiring academics I know, and I was able to get closely involved in the construction and analysis of the corpus.

The focus at the time was on the development of corpus-informed English language teaching materials; however, the same corpus has since been used for many different applications. Once you have a solid corpus resource, the research possibilities are endless.

3. How will your research affect the average person?

We all regularly come into contact with applications that rely on advanced descriptions of the English language, including modern dictionaries and grammars or spellcheckers, for example. These tend to be informed by corpus linguistics and natural language processing. Equally, drawing on this kind of research allows us to develop more personalised information material based on communicative practices, in the area of health promotion, for example, that ensures that language is accessible to the target audience.

4. What’s been the greatest moment of your career so far?

There have been quite a few highlights over the years including the usual milestones such as getting the PhD, having a paper or book accepted for publication, successful grant applications and serving on national committees, alongside the successes of PhD students and colleagues. However, the greatest moments for me have probably happened during creative and productive research collaborations. I get a real buzz out of the amazing new ideas and energy that can emerge, often from a single meeting.

5. What advice would you give to someone starting out in your field?

Stay curious about advances in your discipline and open to ideas from other areas. And don’t get too disheartened when things don’t work out immediately – it’s important to take a long-term view of progress in academia.

6. What’s the biggest challenge facing researchers in your field?

There are huge expectations on researchers to deliver high-quality work across a broad portfolio of activities. At the same time, the fast pace of the research environment itself means that researchers have to be flexible and quick to adapt to new trends. This includes trends that result from increased global connectivity and communication, emerging interdisciplinary directions, new skills and opportunities that come with new technological developments, as well as changes in the funding landscape. Navigating this context successfully can be a big challenge.

7. You lead the Cultures and Communication Global Research Theme (GRT) at Nottingham. What does this entail?

Research into cultures and communication helps us to understand what it means to be human across our past, present and future, locally and globally. Our internationally-renowned researchers work in interdisciplinary teams to find solutions to complex problems facing the human world. Through six Research Priority Areas (RPAs), we’re pioneering new approaches to historical and contemporary issues in rights and justice; the cultural and creative industries; health and wellbeing relevant to policy, education and practice; the way in which communication shapes, and is shaped, by society; understanding British identities; and the integration of digital innovations in new opportunities for knowledge documentation and preservation, cultural exchange, and societal wellbeing.

This work will not only advance our knowledge of questions relating, for example, to ethics, democracy, diversity and inter-cultural communication, but in turn it will also address key concerns of our public, private and third sector partners.

8. How does your work fit within the Cultures and Communication GRT?

My research is interdisciplinary and straddles the boundaries of humanities, social sciences and science. It is also fundamentally applied research: the research questions are regularly user-based and impact-oriented with applications that have repercussions in education, the digital economy, health sciences, business communication and intercultural analysis. The Cultures and Communication GRT offers an environment where this kind of research can be brought to bear on a range of research challenges both within and across its RPAs.

9. How does being based at the University allow you to fulfil your research aspirations?

The kinds of research challenges that are at the heart of our understanding of language and communication are often complex, and require the co-development of multi- and interdisciplinary approaches with colleagues and collaborators across and outside the university. The University of Nottingham actively fosters and supports this kind of interaction in a number of ways, and the GRT/RPA network is one example of this.

Svenja Adolphs is Professor of English Language and Linguistics in the School of English. She holds an MA and PhD from the University of Nottingham where she is the lead for Nottingham’s Cultures and Communication Global Research Theme and Director of the Centre for Research in Applied Linguistics. She is a member of the Capability Committee of the Economic and Social Research Council and a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

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This blog post was written by second-year English student, Emma White.

In the autumn term, we were encouraged as second-year creative writers to embrace our potential to be contemporary. I found myself writing performance scripts without feeling restricted by traditional methods; instead, I was building on them. My characters had individual desires which controlled the plot sequences. Once this foundational idea was established, I could create whatever situation I wanted to.

Ambergate Reservoir was so fun to write that I kept adding to it after finishing the module. I saw fringe plays at the Nottingham New Theatre, and realised how open the student theatre is to experimenting with a variety of performance types. I proposed my play, and found advice from other student writers to be vital.

Ambergate Reservoir, performed at Nottingham New Theatre

My producer liked my contemporary style, and we decided to use unconventional staging: theatre in the round. The auditions were really exciting; we saw so many interpretations of my script. The rehearsals were even more fun, as the play started to become a comedy. As it involves audience participation, rehearsals with actual audience members were extremely rewarding. I was open to adapting the script during this process, which allowed other members of my creative team to voice their ideas. Consequently, the performance itself was an amalgamation of several interpretations of my script, which improved it.

The play had a great response, with 10/10 from Impact Magazine. You can read the article which gives details of the plot here.

Being able to direct Ambergate Reservoir meant that I could use skills from both creative writing and drama modules. My understanding of how to interpret a text improved significantly, and I now enjoy my course significantly more.

Emma White

The post The Experience of Writing and Directing Ambergate Reservoir appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by Judith Jesch,  Professor of Viking Studies in the School of English.

The Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea between Britain and Ireland, was conquered by Vikings in the ninth century, and it was ruled by Viking and Norse kings until the thirteenth century. It is now a self-governing Crown dependency, but not a part of the United Kingdom, and its island parliament still meets at Tynwald, the ancient Viking assembly site. Because of its location, Man’s cultural heritage is a complex mixture of Celtic and Norse, and both are regularly celebrated, as in the ten-shilling note pictured above, with its Viking ship motif but also Celtic-style crosses in the corners. This banknote was first issued in 1961 when Lieutenant-Governor Garvey was working to improve the Manx economy by allowing the island to set its own domestic tax rates and giving control over the issue of currency to the Manx government, thus setting up the current prosperous situation of the island. The banknote suggests that Garvey took at least some of his inspiration from those great taxers and traders the Vikings!

If you look carefully, you will see that the Viking ship has four figures in it, each wearing a horned helmet. Now even back in 1961 it was hardly news that not only were helmets rare in the Viking Age but that they certainly never had horns on them. Yet this is a motif that continues to be used to represent the Vikings even today, as any quick internet search will show. More than anything else, the persistence of the horned helmet underlines the gap there often is between public understanding of the Viking Age, and academic research into the period and its culture. For over a decade now, the three Midlands universities of Nottingham, Birmingham and Leicester have worked to bridge this gap by organising, on a rotating basis, the Midlands Viking Symposium, every year towards the end of April. Since its founding in 2005 by Christina Lee, the Symposium has brought together students, academics, heritage professionals and amateur enthusiasts to share ideas, experiences and knowledge about the Vikings and their Age. Over the years, symposium themes have included ‘Connecting Islands’, ‘Viking Masculinities’, ‘Viking Ways: Bones to Berserks’, ‘On the Trail of the Vikings: from Snails to Tales’ and ‘Traders, Raiders, Drinkers and Thinkers’. In 2011, the Symposium took a holiday and went to Dublin, eventually spawning a great big book, The Vikings in Ireland and Beyond, ed. Howard Clarke and Ruth Johnson (2015).

This year, the Symposium has been organised by Judith Jesch and will take place in Nottingham on 23 April, promising a feast of talks giving guidance on how to interpret the Viking Age. You can find out how crabs can save the Oseberg ship, how the latest scientific technologies can illuminate the movements of people in the Viking Age, what place-names and archaeological discoveries can tell us about the period, and how the mythologising of the Viking Age began already in medieval Iceland. There will also be a resident craftsman showing how he interprets Viking Age archaeology through the replicas he makes. For more information about the Symposium, please visit our event listing (click on the link), where you can download a flier, and find out how to register (deadline 19 April).

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This blog post was written by Michael Leahy, a Teaching Associate in the School of English.

Today, a good deal of controversy surrounds the issue of medicalisation as an increasing amount of behaviours or complaints assume a medical character. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome and generalised anxiety disorder are all examples of conditions that have in recent years become defined as treatable disorders. Debates surrounding medicalisation, and the extent to which it subjects individuals to scrutiny and control by governments and multinationals, can benefit from a greater consideration of the cultural history of medicine. Studying late medieval representations of diseases and illnesses reveals that the boundaries between the “medical” and the “nonmedical” have always been porous.

An example of a condition present in many late medieval medical treatises, and notably absent from the A-Z of medical conditions on the NHS website, is amor hereos, better known as lovesickness. Writers, influenced by classical works and their Arabic commentaries, advised readers on how to identify and treat the “disease”. Typical signs and symptoms included anxiety, confusion, dry eyes, loss of appetite, sallow skin and a disordered pulse. Physicians were required to try to distract the patient by encouraging him to listen to soothing music, to speak to old women who disparage the object of the lover’s affections and to sleep with other women. (It is notable that for most medical authors lovesickness was a condition suffered exclusively by men).

In his adaptation of the story of two Trojan lovers, Troilus and Criseyde, the fourteenth-century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer shows signs of reading these accounts of lovesickness. He depicts the love-struck Troilus lying in bed, pale and confused, professing that he is about to die. But Chaucer also probes the extent to which lovesickness should be understood entirely as a malady. This is exemplified in an encounter between Troilus and his cynical advisor Pandarus. Pandarus wants Troilus to act sick in order to lure Criseyde into an intimate meeting with him. An exasperated Troilus counters

“Iwis, thow nedeles

Conseilest me that siklich I me feyne,

For I am sik in ernest, douteles,

So that wel neigh I sterve for the peyne”.

Quod Pandarus, “Thow shalt the bettre pleyne,

And hast the lasse need to countrefete,

For hym men demen hoot that men seen swete”. [1]

(“Indeed, you counsel me needlessly that I should feign sickness, because, without doubt, I am truly sick so that the pain has almost killed me.” Pandarus replied, “You shall complain all the better and have less of a need to counterfeit. For men judge that a man is hot when they see him sweat.”)

The wily Pandarus understands that it is the pose of sickness, not its physical reality, which is most important in advancing Troilus’s cause of winning Criseyde. While insisting that bodily signs can reveal internal, subjective symptoms, his insistence that Troilus counterfeit his illness suggests that lovesickness could be seen as a courtly pose rather than simply a set of bodily imperatives.

Chaucer’s characterisation of lovesickness as both a set of symptoms and a type of performance has relevance for our understanding of medicine and medicalisation today. To what extent do particular illnesses generate corresponding identities?  Does being sick require patients to act in specific ways? It also suggests that the identification of some medical conditions may reflect the concerns of a particular culture. From this perspective, it makes sense that late medieval culture, with its ideal behavioural model of courtly love, would regard an excessive amount of amorous emotions as a medical issue. Similarly, a fast-paced, consumer-focused modernity privileges and seeks medical cures for anxiety-related conditions while leaving lifestyle experts, advice columnists and clairvoyants to treat lovesickness.

[1] Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, in The Riverside Chaucer, gen. ed. Larry D. Benson, 3rd edn. (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1987) Book II, 1527-33.

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This blog post was written by final year student, Katie Randall, from the School of English.

As English students we’re required to read a lot of books. As there aren’t infinite copies of the core texts in the library, here are a few alternative places you can try looking, which also happen to be cheaper than Waterstones or Blackwell’s. Not all of the places listed will stock your required texts, but you’ll definitely be able to get your hands on some quirky books or journals instead, and by shopping in these places it often means you’ll be supporting local businesses and/or charities.

Five Leaves Bookshop

Tucked away down a side street, you might not have found Five Leaves yet, but you must have heard of it. Take some time out of your weekend to find this hidden gem and explore their alternative stock of books. Five Leaves often holds events like book launches and talks, so make sure you keep an eye on their social media so you don’t miss out.

Five Leaves

Page 45

The best stock of graphic novels in town! Page 45 is a comic book fan’s heaven and the little shop has super friendly staff and student discount, so you can save on what might normally be an investment purchase.

Page 45

Ideas on Paper

Another shop that you’ll need to look a little harder to find, Ideas on Paper is hidden away in Cobden Chambers in the Creative Quarter of town. There are more magazines and journals stocked here than books, but the tiny shop is packed full of beautiful and interesting publications to leaf through.

Ideas on Paper

Oxfam Books

The instantly recognisable Oxfam logo makes both the Nottingham and Beeston stores easy to find. Both have a surprisingly good selection of fiction and non-fiction to choose from, and you’ll be sure that your money is going to a fantastic cause.

Oxfam Books & Music

Bookwise

Head over to Hockley to explore the best secondhand books and music store about, where all the proceeds go towards a local charity: Music for Everyone. The stock is varied and, if you’re lucky, you might find what you’re looking for. In fact, it’s so cheap you might as well stick your head in and have a rummage anyway. The staff are really friendly too and are always happy to chat.

Bookwise

Happy reading!

Katie Randall

[Featured images from:
http://fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk
http://www.page45.com
http://ideasonpapernottingham.co.uk
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/local-shops/oxfam-books-music-beeston
https://www.music-for-everyone.org/support-us/bookwise/]

The post Alternative Places to Buy Books in Nottingham appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by English and Hispanic student, Sally Hirst.

Whilst at university, free time can often involve a certain degree of guilt due to the buckets of critical reading, revision, and activities which need to be completed outside of contact hours – just because not many hours are spent in class, doesn’t mean we don’t have a lot of work to complete. I sometimes find that the hours I work at my part-time jobs can eat into the time I set aside for university work. Juggling university with placements and part-time jobs can be particularly difficult at times, but it is definitely possible and often rewarding.

As somebody who loves to be kept busy, this full workload feels challenging, but entirely worthwhile. There is, however, the small problem of maintaining an active social life amongst my degree, my two part-time jobs, and my placement. It can be hard to make time to see my friends, socialise, and just mindlessly flick through Netflix. Time for relaxation is crucial for sustaining a busy lifestyle and a healthy balance of work and play. If all hours are spent studying or working, it can be damaging to your health and general happiness. Half the value of university is the experience; meeting a variety of new people, living in a new area, and enjoying new-found independence.

Going out with friends or partners shouldn’t always have to involve an internal debate, and although that piece of critical reading for Thursday is important, time should also be set aside to unwind in front of another few episodes of Hell’s Kitchen. A guilt-free balance between work and play can be found. With the summer exams fast approaching, it’s crucial to keep this in mind.

Sally Hirst

[Featured images from: http://prescottcollegelife.blogspot.co.uk/2012_12_01_archive.html]

The post The Amazing Study/Work/Social Life Balancing Act appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by final year student, Una Kunhya, from the School of English.

Currently, I am on the Exploring Health Communication module and we have been looking at doctor-patient interactions. There have been various instances where patients have come into GP surgeries feeling down, depressed, or even suicidal. Their reasoning for “being down” ranged from being unemployed to family problems. Not once, however, did I see a doctor say to them “get over it” and get a job. Or “get over it” and ignore your family issues. So if a doctor doesn’t say it, why should a friend say it to me, when I am having a crisis about work, jobs, or life in general?

Now it may look from the outside that I’m simply complaining about university work and job applications, but people sometimes forget the bigger picture. To give two examples, I spent my summer holidays in Nottingham and although I loved the job I was doing here I found living alone in Lenton a lonely experience, with my friends having returned home for the holidays. Although my bubbly housemates soon returned and helped to make the house feel homely again, it still sometimes reminds me of those lonely days over the summer. More recently, a school friend of mine passed away. Aged 20 it is something I never thought I would have to experience so soon. I remember returning to Nottingham from his memorial service on the same day as our house Christmas meal. The juxtaposition of emotions was intense and something I probably didn’t address properly because I thought the right thing to do was to bottle things up – to “get over it” –  and get on with life.

What I really want to highlight in this blog is that your mental health is SO important, especially during final year when there are more intensive deadlines, job applications, and preparations for life after university. Everyone needs to know that it is okay to have a cry now and again, or take a few days off. I think we all need to remember that 15 years ago we were learning to read and write and soon we’re coming out of university into the wide world – that’s daunting!

For all students out there, just remember that there are people there for you, whether friends, family, or someone at the university itself. You can always speak to your personal tutor or year tutor about any problems and the SU provides a counselling service. I hope you all look after your mental health whilst at university and keep in mind that there are lots of options for seeking support.

I would like to dedicate this to Rio who would always put others before himself and would want us to look after ourselves. To all the final year students, keep powering through. We can do it.

Una Kunhya

[Featured image from: http://www.itsamessylife.com/blog/2014/8/18/motivational-monday-making-time-for-yourself]

The post “Get over it” – attitudes towards personal wellbeing appeared first on Words on Words.

This blog post was written by second year English student, Victoria Lorriman from the School of English.

On for a limited time only at the Nottingham Playhouse, Any Means Necessary is a new commission written by Kefi Chadwick that examines the true stories of women deceived into relationships with undercover police officers. Having interviewed the real women who disclosed the events that caused them to put their hearts into the hands of these men and their false personas, Kefi ensures her drama presents a powerful case that is both horrifying and unsettlingly close to home. I was lucky enough to watch the play last week and it has inspired me to explore its riveting back story in a little more detail…

January 2011 saw the exposure of undercover police officer Mark Kennedy, deployed to infiltrate a group of environmental activists who had planned to reside in, and temporarily shut down, a coal-fired power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire in April 2009. An unmasking of similar underground operations, set up to infiltrate protest groups from as far back as 1968, followed. Recent investigations in January 2016 have unearthed another undercover officer using the name Carlo Neri, who proposed to a woman whilst under the guise of this fake persona. The woman in question started legal proceedings against the Metropolitan Police for ‘psychological torture’ [1].

Through a framing device of a Parliamentary hearing, Kefi explores the stories of women affected by such a misogynistic abuse of power. By centring her production on the story of a character named Mel, Kefi demonstrates the length of time over which such abuses were carried out, and the overwhelming suffering caused by betrayal and broken trust. When Mel meets Dave, a supposed carpenter who wants to get involved in the protest movement, she is convinced she has found her soul mate. Dave soon becomes a key figure in both Mel’s life and that of her activist friends, but ‘decent Dave’ is not who Mel believes him to be. Kefi’s intimate production gives audiences a sense of the methods used by police officers who will use any means necessary to dig up information to relay to their seniors involving radical political, social, or environmental movements, and hints at the institutional sexism within the Metropolitan Police.

Founded upon the arrests that charged the environmental activists inhabiting Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station with trespass, Any Means Necessary profoundly demonstrates the exploitation of human rights that exposed one of the largest national police scandals of all time. The unveiling of strategies used by police officers to target women and extract information from them within the context of a long-term, sometimes sexual, relationship resulted in a public apology from the Metropolitan Police alongside a confession that the behaviour of their officers was ‘abusive, deceitful, manipulative and wrong’ [2].

Summer 2016 sees the beginnings of a major public inquiry into undercover policing, with almost 150 participants called to give evidence. The inquiry is not only an investigation into the ‘gross violation of personal dignity and integrity’ of the affected women, but a provocateur of questions about the composition of undercover policing itself [3]. The police admitted that the deployments had not been properly managed, even though seemingly rigorous legal controls had been introduced years ago. With such lax legal regulation, it is unsurprising that activists are monitored too closely, and that police officers could, potentially, prompt a protest themselves.

Kefi feels privileged to bring these matters and ‘events to life on the stage at Nottingham, where one of the worst offenders lived and spied’ [4]. Any Means Necessary is a telling of the stories of women whose lives undercover police officers have torn apart and presents the struggle towards justice for these women that the Metropolitan Police treated as expendable.

The production ran from Friday 5th February – Saturday 20th February 2016 at Nottingham Playhouse. More information and photos from the production are available here.

Victoria Lorriman

References:

[1] Richard Watson & Maria Polachowska, ‘Undercover policeman proposed to activist’, BBC News, 18 January 2016 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35345802> [accessed 22 February 2016].

[2] Tom Morgan, ‘Scotland Yard’s multi-million pound apology to seven women deceived into relationships with officers’, Telegraph, 20 November 2015 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/12007287/Scotland-Yard-apologises-to-seven-women-deceived-into-relationships-with-undercover-officers.html> [accessed 22 February 2016].

[3] Dominic Casciani, ‘Met Police apology for women tricked into relationships’, BBC News, 20 November 2015 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34875197> [accessed 22 February 2016].

[4] ‘Pre-Show talk with Kefi Chadwick and Merrick Badger’, Nottingham Playhouse, 2016 <http://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/whats-on/spoken-word/pre-show-talk-with-kefi-chadwick/> [accessed 22 February 2016].

[Featured images from: http://www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/whats-on/drama/any-means-necessary/]

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With most of my poems the writing process has been all about the drafting – crossing things out and jigging stuff around and starting again until eventually there is something I can’t improve on. Other times, though, it’s more like something I imagine a Zen monk might do – years of study and contemplation followed by a brief focused flourish in which the right words somehow fall into place.

For the last two or three years I have rarely left the house without a Thomas A. Clark book in my rucksack; I think there is something very beautiful about the minimalistic way his poems respond to the flowers, trees or birds he encounters on his daily walks. Last summer I took part in a week-long writing course at the Arvon Foundation centre in Heptonstall on which Tom was the tutor. On the first morning, he suggested the students restrict their poems to four six-syllable lines, then sent us off to wander into the valley. I was surprised by how quickly I came up with something, though perhaps less surprised that I found myself trying to imitate Tom’s style.

Back in Nottingham I bundled up my new poems and submitted them to Granta magazine, and am very pleased that they have now been published in the Winter 2016 issue. The title is Eight pieces in imitation of Thomas A. Clark. The people who’ve seen them so far have told me how similar they are to my other poems. Maybe that just means that sounding like other poets’ work is part of what makes my poems my own.

Matt’s poem can be found in Granta (134), ‘No Man’s Land’.

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This blog post was written by English and Philosophy student, Rishi Davda.

So you’ve just picked up that scary brown envelope that bystanders must think is on fire from the way you handle it. You walk down the corridor to a place where there are fewer eagle eyes. Out comes the sheet… Whether they are good, bad, or middling there are so many lessons that can be learnt from the contents of that A4 envelope of expectation. As an experienced third year, I have picked up more of these hellish packets than I care to remember. However, these experiences have put me in a good position to impart some wisdom to those of you who are searching for your named envelope for the first time, or even to those of you who dread exams and the resultant Feedback Day.

1. Space is King

Having looked at your results, you are able to decide pretty comprehensively whether your study techniques have been successful. Whether you are a slave to Hallward, a home-studier, or an up-all-nighter, these results are a good indicator of the effectiveness of your revision techniques and study habits. Over the years, I have learnt that the best way to master any form of study is to master your space. Firstly, you definitely need space. Try and avoid working next to your best friend, in such close proximity that you can hear her/him secretly listening to the greatest hits of Celine Dion. Give yourself room. Enough room to ensure no overlapping of textbooks or notes on your laptop keyboard. A clearer work space will allow you to save time searching for things, remove distraction, and most of all give you a clearer and more organised mindset. Try this next exam period (sorry for mentioning it, I know the previous exam period is still in the rear-view mirror)!

2. Wait… What did I just read?

I know that, as frugal English students, we very often have to read numerous lengthy texts. Purchasing all of these would be extremely unkind on our already depleted wallets. So, we do our best to find ebook versions on Ebrary, or scan an important chapter from the Short Loan copies in Hallward, and comb through those pages hour after hour. Now, while reading short texts on a screen is great and easy, I have lots of friends who concur that reading hundreds of pages on a screen is challenging in that most of it goes into your eyes, through to your brain, and swiftly disappears into the abyss filled with MC Hammer lyrics. You kind of remember them but not really. Where possible, try to read hard copies of books. Whether you buy them, borrow them, photocopy a section, or print off scans of key passages, I know that reading hard copies will be hugely beneficial to your comprehension and engagement with these mammoth English texts.

3. Your order will be delivered in 30 minutes.

I am well aware that this point will make me sound like a nagging mother but just run with me. In second year, I found out the hard way that takeaways every night during revision are not the way forward. They may save time, but in some cases they are just horrible surprises covered in melted cheese. I have been ill on the back on some questionable takeaway food – I should have known, when the delivery man turned up with four of his mates in his car about two hours after I placed my order. Never again… Never. Cooking your own food is not only healthier, but it provides you with a natural break in which you can give your brain a rest and consolidate your thoughts. You may end up only eating noodles but it’s better than a dodgy takeaway and a regretful few hours the following day. I cooked for myself during this exam period and spent less money, felt less lethargic, and was more productive. Try it!

Give these tips a go when it comes to your next essay deadline or exam. They were definitely worthwhile for me and when it comes to crunch time, they are helping hands in giving you the best possible chance of a successful brown envelope collection.

Rishi Davda

[Featured image from: http://neodesignofhome.webcam/decors/funny-dp-for-exams]

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This week I had the pleasure of attending The English Showcase which featured an impressive array of work from our students – and, in one instance, a former student who has gone on to publish a novel she began on the MA course. Clare Harvey’s novel, The Gunner Girl, was released last November, with a sequel forthcoming in 2017. Rather than emphasising the tricks and techniques of landing an agent, however, she focussed on the crucial issues of her writing process. Clare spent years writing novels that she didn’t complete or find satisfactory before enroling on the MA course, where her goal of getting her work published was gradually replaced with a desire to write the most engaging work possible. ‘Write the best book you possibly can and don’t worry about publication,’ became her motto. Paradoxically, it turned out to be the key to publication success when an agent found her novel so enthralling that she immediately took on Clare as a client.

Clare also raised some fascinating points about historical research – most notably, that historical accuracy and authenticity aren’t necessarily the same thing – and how the needs of the marketplace may shape the packaging, but not the content, of one’s creative work. It was an insightful discussion, though for me the most enjoyable part was her reading from the opening pages of The Gunner Girl, which I recall seeing as a much earlier draft years ago. Her journey from the classroom to the bookshop was instructive and inspiring.

Thomas Legendre

School of English
University of Nottingham
11 Feb 2016

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This blog post was written by final year student, Una Kunhya, from the School of English.

When I first arrived at Nottingham, the University heavily promoted the Nottingham Advantage Award. Initially, I had no idea what it entailed and it just seemed like a lot of extra work. However, since completing the Award I can definitely say that first year Una was completely wrong! Below, I have answered some common questions about the Award and hopefully my answers will inspire you to start your very own Nottingham Advantage Award journey.

What is the Nottingham Advantage Award and how does it all work?

The Nottingham Advantage Award is an award which accredits your extracurricular activities both within and outside of the university. Anything from sports to work experience can contribute towards your award. It is completely free for all UoN students and you can start at any time, but it does take a minimum of two years to complete. In order to complete the Award you must pass 30 credits of modules (with most modules being 10 credits each), but you cannot do more than 20 credits in a year.

Why did you choose to do the Nottingham Advantage Award?

When I was in my first year a few girls in their final year told me about the Award and how it had really enhanced their time at Nottingham. They also told me how it would improve my employability chances by providing me with a variety of examples of skills and experience to use in interviews or on application forms. In addition, it was a chance to get involved with more extra-curricular activities in and around the university. I decided to wait until my second year to start the Award, so that I could get to grips with my studies and in the meantime find out more about the various modules on offer.

What modules did you choose and why?

There are over 250 modules to choose from nine different categories, ranging from buddying, mentoring, and peer support to employer-led modules, so it was hard to pick just three! In my second year, I began with Peer Mentoring for English Students. I wanted to help out a group of first years since my own peer mentor had been so helpful to me when I first started university. To pass the module I simply had to attend a few short lectures and write up a mini project about my mentoring experience. It was useful to reflect on the experience, because I realise that now I can use peer mentoring as an example of leadership in interviews.

My second module was Career Skills for English students. I wanted to secure an internship for the summer holiday, so this was the perfect place to go to for help with writing my CV and cover letter, and preparing for interviews. This module is a must for those wanting to get into the competitive business world as the career service really is an invaluable resource for helping you to show off your best qualities, especially your knowledge and experience.

Most recently, I completed the Internships and Placements module. This was a bit different from the other two modules as I didn’t attend regular sessions; rather, I answered work-related questions on an online forum. The module then concluded with a short presentation at the end of the semester. This module was great: firstly, because it was so flexible, being predominantly online, and secondly, because it allowed me the chance to consolidate all the skills and qualities I had learnt whilst on my internship.

What advice would you give students considering taking part in the Award?

I would definitely recommend the Award for the skills you gain, and since the job market is continuing to get more competitive it is always good to have something unique to set you apart from other applicants. There are also hundreds of modules to choose from, so there will definitely be something that catches your eye!

For more information about the Nottingham Advantage Award, click here.

Una Kunhya

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This blog post was written by final year student, Katie Randall, from the School of English.

There are many opportunities available as an English student at the University of Nottingham, one of which is the option to take part in the Nottingham Advantage Award. Although the Award is open to all students at the university and relevant to a large range of disciplines, I chose to complete two of the modules specifically tailored for English students: Career Skills for English Students and Peer Mentoring. Both have been really useful in helping me to develop a variety of skills, from perfecting my CV to simply building up my confidence in certain situations; for example a mock assessment centre, which otherwise I would never have had the opportunity to experience!

This term, however, I have decided to branch out and participate in a module that is not so course specific – that is, the Save the Children Enterprise module. Starting a few weeks ago, everyone was given a choice either to put on a fundraiser or back a Save the Children campaign. Coincidentally, this year’s proposed campaign has turned out to be particularly relevant to my studies, and also close to my heart. The Read On. Get On. Campaign encourages literacy in early years education, and, as an English student, reading is obviously one of my passions. So, I was deeply shocked when I learnt that 1 in 5 children fall behind in their language skills before they even reach school, and that the language development of children from lower income families can be up to 15 months behind that of children from higher-income families. I hadn’t thought that the difference between the two social demographics would be quite so vast, and clearly this is a major issue within our society that needs to be resolved.