Festival Review
(Festival organisers: Georgie Evans, Peter Adkins, Joel Tennant)
I don’t think any of us had quite envisioned quite how much fun (and hard work) hosting a week of literary-related events was going to be. Nor did we expect the sense of excitement that The Full English Festival instilled in the various students and staff members we spoke to throughout the week. Proceedings kicked off with the launch of The Creative Writing Anthology, an evening of free wine and pizza and the chance to listen to readings of some truly inspiring work by the contributors. The literary talent of Kent University was in full flow once again with the launch of the Box[Ed.] Magazine, which offers fresh and interesting writing in an unconventional form. Free wine and pies provided a perfect accompaniment to the readings.
We were keen for the festival programme to offer a broad spectrum of events, of which Bruno Tomasello’s talk on physics and literature certainly delivered. Drawing on Michael Frayn’s play ‘Copenhagen’, as well as everything from Hamlet to Pink Floyd, Bruno, physics postgraduate at the University, explored how questions of semantics and ethics interacted with the development of quantum physics and nuclear weapons. Delivered to a rapt audience of both science and humanities students (something you don’t get very often!), it was a real highlight of the week. This was followed by an equally intellectually-provocative talk by Ben Hickman on war poetry that took place in our very own Full English Festival marquee! True festival style! (minus the stinky portaloos and over-priced beer). The marquee also hosted novelist and UKC lecturer Alex Preston, who read from his new novel In Love and War to a packed-out marquee, shedding light on his experiences writing a historical novel and taking questions from the audience. It felt particularly special since Blackwells had been able to source copies of the book almost a month before the official release date, and so UKC students were amongst the very first people able to buy and read Alex’s new novel! The evening was rounded off with a free BBQ, with everyone enjoying good food, good company and the very last of the sunshine.
The festival also made history with the UK’s first ever undergraduate creative writing conference titled ‘Vox‘ and organised by UKC student Sam O’Hana. Students presented either creative writing of their own or critical writing on theories of creative writing/practice as part of themed panels, including topics such as ‘Within, Without and Beyond: Reframing Voice and Thought’. We also had the chance to witness the true literary talent of keynote speakers Sam Riviere, a Faber & Faber poet, and Kate Duckney, from the University of East Anglia, as they read out some of their own work.
“Feminism and the Language Problem” was the title of the English Language and Linguistics Society’s first event in which President Joel Tennant chaired a panel discussion between Professor Jennifer Coates, from the University of Roehampton, and Ms Heidi Colthup, from the University of Kent, who discussed the effect of language in shaping the feminist movement and its ability to both help and hinder positive progress. Professor Coates recalled her recent scrapes with the press when her comments in a TES interview hit the headlines of national newspapers, and Ms Colthup elaborated on the experiences of identifying as a woman on the internet and of the culture of sexism and misogyny that is ingrained in so much of society. A final, thunderous applause after an exhilarating Q & A session marked what had been a real eye-opener of an event.
The festival’s headline guest was BBC Newsnight presenter and our newly appointed Chancellor, Gavin Elser. A very personable and enthusiastic speaker, Gavin offered great advice of the presentation of the self in the media and shared some fascinating and hilarious stories of his career, from interviewing the likes of Dolly Parton and Angelina Jolie to Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. The talk was followed by a drinks reception in which we had the chance to compare our own experiences at the University, of which he was once a student.
The Full English Festival was something the entire team is incredibly proud to have been part of and the positive feedback received from students and staff alike has made all the hard work worth it. Let’s hope for an even better and bigger (or should that be fuller) Full English Festival next year!