Faculty of English, University of Oxford

This Pericles webinar is taking place online next Monday, 2 November with Dr Edel Semple and Prof Emma Smith. All welcome! The discussion will be followed by a Q&A. Online via Zoom 6-7pm Register: shakespeare-webinar-pericles.eventbrite.co.uk #ShakespeareSky #Pericles

The #Utopia Now! conference is taking place on 14-15 Nov at the Schwarzman Centre. It brings together writers & thinkers from across disciplines, to produce a mobile critical picture of the condition of #utopian thought now. Keynotes by Ali Smith, Kiran Desai, Homi Bhabha. Find out more >>

Join award-winning literary and cultural historian Professor Alison Light for the launch of 'Red, Red, Robin', in conversation with Dr Kate Kennedy. A conversation about memoir, memory and history. @engfac.bsky.social 📅 17 Nov | 🕠 17:30 📍 @wolfsonoxford.bsky.social & online 🔗 buff.ly/P7AkphR

We have released a new recording of Ælfric of Cerne's work, read by Emma Nihill Alcorta in the original Old English. This week's recording is: The Shorter Creed. Watch on YouTube >> youtu.be/EVB5SkIMeOI #Aelfric #OldEnglish

Join us for our next #Shakespeare webinar on 2 November at 6pm. This time Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social will be joined by Edel Semple to discuss PERICLES. All welcome - register via Eventbrite for your free ticket: shakespeare-webinar-pericles.eventbrite.co.uk #Pericles

Today's ideas shape tomorrow's books, research, and creative practice. Support the Laura Marcus Fund and help ensure the Laura Marcus Life-Writing Workshops continue to bring people together to think, write, and create. @engfac.bsky.social @torchoxford.bsky.social buff.ly/VGoQUdu

We're delighted to announce the launch of a series of short films of readings of works by Ælfric of Cerne, read in the original Old English with subtitles and filmed on location in Cerne. Bruc ealles wel (Make good use of it!) #OldEnglish #Aelfric english.web.ox.ac.uk/article/aelf...

English Faculty/OWC #Shakespeare Webinar on Richard III with Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social and Susan L. Anderson 🗓️5 October 🕑6-7.15pm 📍Online via Zoom All welcome! The discussion will be followed by a Q&A. #RichardIII FREE but booking required:

The Fantasy Literature Seminar Series: The Weird and the Wonderful continues from 15 Oct. Aimed at students & members of the public, the talks act as introductions to a range of writers & texts in the field of fantasy literature/weird fiction. #BookSky Find out more and register:

Next up in our #Shakespeare webinar series is RICHARD III. Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social will be joined by Susan L. Anderson (Mary Baldwin University) to discuss the new Oxford World's Classics edition of the play. 5 October | 6-7.15pm (BST) This is a free public event & all are welcome!

We can't wait! You can register for the webinar here: shakespeare-webinar-pericles.eventbrite.co.uk

We look forward to welcoming everyone to the Oxford University Open Day tomorrow (18 Sept)! Come and visit the English Faculty in the Schwarzman Centre for taster lectures, info talks, and Q&As with current students! No booking required: english.web.ox.ac.uk/event/open-d...

We're delighted to invite state school English & Drama teachers to a special pre-show event at the Schwarzman Centre on 30 Sept, exploring Burning Down the House, a new theatre production by Breach Theatre inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. #TeamEnglish #Ibsen #ADollsHouse

The English Faculty & St Catherine’s College are seeking applications for the Thomas Warton Professorship. The Warton Professor will maintain & enhance the University’s global reputation in the study of literature in English during the ‘long’ eighteenth century. #18thcentury #academicjobs

So pleased, the view from Tasmania! ! @oxfordlifewriting.bsky.social @engfac.bsky.social @stjohnsox.bsky.social

How do you reconstruct a life when so much of it remains hidden? Join renowned biographer Hermione Lee (@engfac.bsky.social) as she discusses her new biography, 'Anita Brookner: Art & Life', with @drkkennedy.bsky.social 3 Nov | 17:30 📍@wolfsonoxford.bsky.social FREE & OPEN TO ALL 🔗 buff.ly/86RKXjJ

There's still time to register for this evening's #Shakespeare webinar at 6pm. Prof Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social will be joined by Dr Harry Newman to discuss the new OWC edition of The Winter’s Tale. Followed by a Q&A. All welcome! Free but registration required:

Are you interested in finding out more about studying English at Oxford? Join us at our next #OxOpenDay on 18 Sept at the Schwarzman Centre for taster lectures by Prof Marion Turner & Prof Devyani Sharma & info talks. Plus our students will be available to answer all your questions!

Congratulations to Dr Stephen Turton @stephenturton.bsky.social who has been awarded a prestigious ERC Starting Grant for his project ENCOED, which will create a digital edition of the letters of James A. H. Murray, the first chief editor of the #OED. Find out more:

Our live #Shakespeare webinars continue on 7 Sept at 6pm. Prof Emma Smith will be joined by Dr Harry Newman to explore the new OWC edition of The Winter's Tale, which offers fresh readings of the play’s provocations on genre, psychology, game-play, gender & the role of the non-human. Register now:

Save the date! The next Dorothy Whitelock Lecture will take place on 3 December at 4pm in the Schwarzman Centre. Prof Joyce Hill will talk on 'Nostri didascalus aevi: Pedagogic Creativity in the work of Bede and Ælfric’. All welcome! No booking required english.web.ox.ac.uk/event/nostri...

Prof Michèle Mendelssohn @mendelight.bsky.social has co-authored this essay with Charlie Tyson on joyless #decadence. "We have inherited the surfaces of decadence – luxury, excess, artifice, bodily display – but have surrendered the fin de siècle’s commitment to pleasure." Read now >>

Congratulations to Professor Laura Ashe @lauraashe.bsky.social who has been awarded the New #Chaucer Society's 2026 Publication Prize for her book 'Chaucer’s Ethical Philosophy' (OUP 2025).

Save the date for our next #Shakespeare Webinar with Prof Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social. On 7 September at 6pm she will be joined by Dr Harry Newman (Royal Holloway) to explore The Winter's Tale. #WintersTale Free, but registration required. Find out more:

We’re delighted to announce that Professor Leah Price has been appointed to the Professorship of Bibliography and Modern Book History.

We're recruiting for an Academic Administration Manager who will be responsible for overseeing the administration and delivery of undergraduate and graduate programmes. The role combines people management, process improvement & operational oversight. Apply by noon on 31 July.

Prof Elleke Boehmer & DPhil candidate Luan Staphorst have recently been awarded the George Parkin Award for their work on an inscription acknowledging the difficult Rhodes legacy. In this interview with Elleke & Luan, we find out more about the project & their contribution.

Congratulations to Prof Nandini Das @rentravailer.bsky.social who has been elected a Fellow of the British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social She is 1 of 6 Oxford Uni academics elected to the Fellowship in 2026 in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the humanities & social sciences.

Writers Make Worlds (WMW) has published a new profile on Kit de Waal. The profile includes a biography of de Waal, plus links to resources, including a new interview by @ellekeboehmer.bsky.social. WMW is a free resource for Black & Asian British writing today. @oxfordlifewriting.bsky.social

We were delighted to welcome Bernardine Evaristo to Oxford as this year's Visiting Professor of Creative Media. You can watch an excerpt from her talk 'The Girl from Woolwich: A Creative Life' on our website: #creativemedia

Congratulations to Professor Ankhi Mukherjee who has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature! "Being elected to this society takes me back to first principles: reading deeply & widely, writing like your life depends on it, bringing new readerships into being, & protecting books."

Day 2 of the Open Days has begun! Join us at the Schwarzman Centre to learn more about English at Oxford & meet our current students: 10:30 Taster Lecture 11:00 Taster Lecture 11:45 Information Talk ‘English at Oxford’ 12:30 Joint Schools Q&A No booking needed - just turn up! #OxOpenDays

We're looking forward to welcoming everyone to our first Open Day in the English Faculty's new home, the Schwarzman Centre, on 1 & 2 July. Join us for taster lectures & info talks. We'll also have current students on hand to answer all your questions. See the programme on our website. #OxOpenDays

Join us at the Schwarzman Centre on 1 & 2 July for the University of Oxford Open Days! You can chat with current students & ask questions about studying #English & life at Oxford. Plus we'll have taster lectures & info talks. #OxOpenDays ALL WELCOME! english.web.ox.ac.uk/open-days

We're delighted to announce that Cate Blanchett has been appointed as the next Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at St Catherine’s College. More info ⬇️ https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-06-15-cate-blanchett-appointed-cameron-mackintosh-visiting-professor-of-contemporary

JOB OPPORTUNITY: We're recruiting for a Departmental Lecturer with a core focus on literature in #English from 1830-1914. Closing date: 26th June 2026, 12:00 #AcademicJobs #EnglishLiterature #AcademicSky english.web.ox.ac.uk/job-vacancies

Happy Pride Month from the English Faculty! 🌈

Dr Sebastian Egholm Lund has written in The Conversation @theconversation.com about an unsung hero of science, William Adams, a Bombay bureaucrat whose vision of a #solar future was dashed by colonial conservatism.

The next webinar is The Winter's Tale in September: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/english-fa... If you'd like to hear a great production, there's currently one on #BBCSounds - but it'll only be there for another 29 days: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... #Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama @engfac.bsky.social

There's still time to register for our upcoming live #Shakespeare webinar on 1 June. This time Prof Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social will be exploring ARDEN OF FAVERSHAM with guest Dr Iman Sheeha. 🗓️1 June 2026 at 6pm 📍Online via Zoom All welcome! Free but registration required.

Join us for a pre-screening podcast & discussion about Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’ with @mikemuncer.bsky.social & @bunnydarke.bsky.social of @evolutionofhorror.bsky.social and Leila Latif, cultural critic & host of of Truth & Movies: A Little White Lies podcast. 🗓️Sunday 31 May, 6pm 📍Schwarzman Centre

What can the unruliness of the natural world teach us about writing the self? Amy Tan and Professor Andrew Gosler discuss attention, grief, and memoir in The Backyard Bird Chronicles. @engfac.bsky.social @wolfsonoxford.bsky.social 10 June | 17:30–19:00 @wolfsonoxford.bsky.social buff.ly/xqgXPyt

Some books stay with us for a lifetime. 📚 Honorary Fellow and author @ellekeboehmer.bsky.social shares why Katherine Mansfield’s The Garden Party has meant so much to her, both as a reader and as a writer. #NationalYearOfReading2026 #YearOfReading2026 #GoAllIn2026 youtube.com/shorts/za9im...

Next up in our #Shakespeare webinar series is the new OWC edition of ARDEN OF FAVERSHAM on 1 June at 6pm. Prof Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social will be joined by the writer of the intro, Dr Iman Sheeha (Brunel University London). All welcome! Free but booking required.

We have a few tickets remaining for this evening's O'Donnell Lecture in Celtic Studies. Join us at 5.30pm to hear Dr Aaron Griffith talk on ‘Old #Irish: plenty of variation, but of what kind?’. This is a public lecture & all are welcome! Register here: www.schwarzmancentre.ox.ac.uk/spektrix/Cho...

This was excellent - and a reminder that Shakespeare's less well known plays are always worth investigating. Should be available on the @engfac.bsky.social YouTube channel in due course: youtube.com/@facultyofen...