Fay Weldon speaks up for creative writing.

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I would like to see a new discipline, called simply Literacy, taught in our universities and schools, so that the current outpouring of muddy texts can be replaced by a flow of elegant, informative and crystal-clear information – to the benefit of our national pride and dignity. In the meanwhile employers should note that an employee with a qualification in creative writing can be trusted not just to write simply and well, but to be empathic (the fiction writer spends a lot of time pretending to be other people) so is less likely to write tactless emails and cause a scandal unless intentionally. Creative writing is a degree in the effective management of words and emotion and an understanding of how they relate, and yes, it can be taught. And if I might add, should be.

Source: Fay Weldon in Times Higher Education.

 

Read some old books and do yourself a favour. My ancient classics reading list.

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Odysseus resisting the Sirens.

Odysseus resisting the Sirens.

Having posted a couple of reading lists recently I thought I’d compile one of my own.

The list forms an easy introduction to some of the classic works of western civilisation. “Classic” here refers to ancient Greece and Rome plus the Bible, which was produced in the same period.

I’ve put it together partly for my own benefit, to prompt me to do some re-reading but partly in the hope that others will use it. I’m thinking particularly of students of English literature, since an acquaintance with these and other works will prove invaluable in understanding and appreciating many of the texts they’ll be studying.

The texts have been spaced generously over a 12-month period so they can be easily accommodated in other reading.

The video The Essential Value of a Classical Education by Jeffrey Brenzel is a great intro to the whole area.

If anyone finds the list useful or wants to discuss any of the works included, please get in touch. You can always join me on Google+.

CLASSICAL FOUNDATION READING LIST/SCHEDULE

Month 1: The Theban Plays, Sophocles*

Month 2: The Iliad, Homer

Month 3: The Oresteia, Aeschylus**

Month 4: The Odyssey, Homer

Month 5: The Last Days of Socrates, Plato***

Month 6: Metamorphoses, Ovid

Month 7: Odes, Horace

Month 8: The Aeneid, Virgil

Month 9: The Nature of the Universe, Lucretius

Month 10: The Bible (King James Version only).The Old Testament: Genesis; Exodus

Month 11: The Old Testament: Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes

Month 12: The New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, plus Revelation.

* The Theban Plays: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone.

** The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Choephori (The Libation-Bearers), The Eumenides.

*** The Last Days of Socrates: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo.

NB I haven’t specified which translations or versions of the texts. Most of my copies are old Penguin editions, but I will be buying newer ones and perhaps comparing different versions.

The only book where I have specified the version is the Bible. The King James (Authorised) version is important because the language itself has had such a powerful and lasting influence on literature in English.

UCL student wonders if English undergrads are getting a rotten deal?

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The other day I sat in a two-hour seminar on an 800-page novel and began to despair about studying English. The novel was a set text for an exam and that seminar was the only one we would have on it. I decided, yet again, I’d probably have to turn to SparkNotes.

When I applied to read English at UCL, I wish someone had told me I’d spend the next three years predominantly on my own. As Oxford student Anna Tankel puts it: “Sometimes I feel like I’m paying £9,000 a year to sit in a library with fancier desks than my public library.”

Read the article for yourself (source: Guardian).

Many students arrive not realising that studying at university is not the same as it is at school. If you’re studying English Literature then by definition you’ll be spending a lot of time on your own – reading books.

I’m sure the writer of the article is an assiduous student who turns up for all the lectures and seminars on her timetable. A lot of students don’t, though, which rather suggests they’re not bothered about having more contact time.

 

The B S Johnson Journal.

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BSJ is a new peer-reviewed journal aimed at promoting the work of B.S. Johnson through academic criticism, essays, interviews, review and creative work. Affiliated with The B.S. Johnson Society, the journal seeks to reflect the multi-disciplinary approach of the writer himself whilst celebrating and analysing his on-going influence within contemporary culture.

Source: A Piece of Monologue.

The Larkin and East Riding Poetry Competition 2013.

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The prestigious Larkin and East Riding Poetry Competition is now open for entries.

Shortlisted entries will be judged by one the UK’s most influential poets, Jackie Kay. Poems are submitted anonymously so each entry is judged on its own merits. Winners and commended poets will be invited to read their poems at the Bridlington Poetry Festival (14-16 June 2013) in the company of some of the UK’s finest poets, including the Prize’s Judge, Jackie Kay.

Further details here.