Three Newsy Things

Today's post comes to you in three parts: 1) Great Writers Inspire, an Open Educational Resource Project; 2) the 2012 Oxford University English Graduate Conference; and 3) University College London's English Graduate Conference, which I'll be speaking at!

1)  Great Writers Inspire

I've recently had the good fortune to become a student ambassador for the Great Writers Inspire project, which is based out of the University of Oxford and funded by JISC.  This is an open educational resource highlighting great writers and overall literary themes.  The website (when live) will put together introductory essays, podcasts by Oxford faculty, e-texts, and other resources that can be reused in educational settings.  I think this is a great way to share a love of literature.  At the moment, new content is being released on the blog, where you can find my very first post on why poor, overlooked Anne Bronte is a great writer.


2)  2012 Oxford University English Graduate Conference: Return to the Political: Literary Aesthetics and the Influence of Political Thought

As some of you may know, I'm on the organizing committee for the English Faculty's graduate conference, taking place on June 1st.  The deadline for submission of abstracts is speedily approaching (March 1st), so if you happen to be an English graduate student, please do send along a proposal.  I need to write mine up too...  More information on the lovely website.  If you aren't interested in giving a paper, consider registering to attend the conference: our keynote speaker is Booker-winner Ben Okri and there will be a lively panel discussion around the question of "What is a Classic?".  Plus, graduate student papers, of course.

3)  2012 University College London English Graduate Conference: Intersections

I'm going to be giving another paper at this conference, on March 9th as part of a student panel on Collaboration and Allusion (which begins at 4:30 pm if you are interested in attending).  My paper is called "Homosocial Bonds and Sibling Rivalry in the Collaborative Early Writing of Charlotte and Branwell Bronte."  Thankfully, this material will end up in the first chapter of my thesis as well, so that relieves some of the stress of working up a conference paper.  Also, this means I will get to speak at Senate House, which is a gorgeous and huge early 20th century building, quite close to the British Museum.