Surrey English Blog

The University of Surrey Music and Drama Society’s first production of the year was utter filth – and I loved it. Written by and starring Laurence Williams (4th Year, English Literature with Creative Writing) and co-directed by Emily Clegg (2nd Year, English Literature with Creative Writing) and Chris Evans, You’ve Been Tagged was a relentlessly […]

As part of the University of Surrey Careers Service’s ‘Welcome to my World’ series of talks on Wednesday 21st November our students had the opportunity to attend a fascinating talk from Jonathan Steffen on the topic of how to make a living as a writer. Jonathan Steffen has specialised in international corporate communications for twenty-five […]

The first Veer Books publication to be produced at the University of Surrey, Peter Larkin’s Imparkments, was launched as part of the Veer Books readings on Saturday November 17th at the Small Publishers Fair 2012 at the Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1. The SPF is organized by RGAP (Research Group for Artists Publications), […]

What does the House of Laity have in common with Hilary Mantel’s novel Wolf Hall? On Tuesday, the draft Measure for the consecration of women bishops was defeated in the House of Laity. The arguments against the Measure were complex. Some were concerned with the terms of the legislation, and some were made on theological […]

A placement year in a degree like English Literature might not seem like a natural fit at first. Other degrees pair off quite nicely with certain jobs; Aerospace Engineers do plane engineering, a Psychology student might do psychiatry, Biochemists do experiments on chemicals in the body in research institutes (forgive me if this is vague, […]

James Bond and Alfred Tennyson seem like an odd pairing. In their own ways, though, they’re both British institutions, old-fashioned and perhaps outdated. They might be loved or tolerated for their place in cultural history, but, arguably, they’re not immediately relevant to twenty-first-century concerns. This issue is directly addressed in the latest 007 film, Skyfall, […]

When looking for evidence of how the gothic manifests itself in contemporary culture, we could do worse than consider the film Paranormal Activity 4, currently in cinemas this Halloween. The idea which runs through the Paranormal Activity series is that the visual technology which is so much a part of contemporary life might just capture […]

“Being a graduate student is like becoming all of the seven dwarves. In the beginning you’re Dopey and Bashful. In the middle, you’re usually sick (Sneezy), tired (Sleepy), and irritable (Grumpy). But at the end, they call you Doc, and then you’re Happy.” – Ronald T. Azuma There are many different ways of describing the […]

What comes to your mind when you think of Burma? To me, I think of a nation silenced, but also, a nation full of hope. In a country that has one of the worst human rights records in the world, the fight for freedom of speech is an ongoing battle, and one that is slowly […]

 It’s been an exciting week for Creative Writing at the University of Surrey, with the first writer to graduate from our Creative Writing PhD programme, Liam Bell, being awarded both his doctorate and Arts Council funding to complete his second novel.  Liam’s first novel, So It Is – which also formed the basis of his […]