Friday 30 August 2013

Seamus Heaney 1939 - 2013 (aged 74)


The sad news broke today that Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney passed away after a short illness.  

See below for reactions and coverage to this sad news:


In honour of Seamus Heaney, we would like to post our favourite poem written by him.
Here, Heaney is reading his poem 'Scaffolding' at the Faber offices on the occasion of his 70th birthday:


Thursday 29 August 2013

Welcome Back!


"There are two motives for reading a book:
one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about."
 
- Bertrand Russell
 
 
Welcome back everyone to the beginning of a brand new school year.  No doubt you are all fully rested after a wonderful summer and you are looking forward to exploring many new and exciting worlds that your novels, plays and poems will offer you over the next nine months.
 
Hopefully some of you read some really interesting novels over the summer months and we, in the English Department, would love to hear what novels captivated you!  Please send us an email naming the novel(s) you read with a short paragraph telling us your thoughts.  We look forward to reading your reviews and sharing them with everyone here!
 
"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you can call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it."
 
- J.D. Salinger