Literature Courses in Detail

LIT 01: Book Club 1

Co-ordinator: Janet Edwards
Day and time: 2nd Monday of the month 2.30 - 4.00
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 10
This is a book group that will read books that are available both in paperback printed version and in audio version, available from the public library, to enable partially sighted and blind members to participate. Please indicate when making application if you are visually impaired.
The group will generally read contemporary fiction. When places have been allocated Janet Edwards will let members know the title of the book to be discussed at the first meeting.
NB This is one of two book groups which accommodate partially sighted or blind members.
Note: Starts 11th October.

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LIT 02: Book Club 2

Co-ordinator: Wendy Jones
Day and time: 2nd Wednesday of the month 12.00 - 1.00
Venue: Room 3, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 10
This is the second of the two book clubs which cater for those wishing to have audio versions of novels as well as those who read the paperback editions. We read mostly contemporary novels with an occasional classic included. Members of the group choose the books and new members are welcome.
Note: Starts 20th October.

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LIT 03: Book Club 3

Co-ordinator: Rosemary Polack
Day and time: 3rd Wednesday of the month 10.00 - 11.30
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 11
Members of the group decide together on books to be read - fiction or non fiction - and with a wide range of authors and subjects. The book for the October meeting will be chosen at the last meeting of the summer term and confirmed by post or email.
Note: Starts 20th October.

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LIT 04: Book Club 4

Organiser: Judith Findlay
Day and time: 2nd Monday of the month 2.00 - 3.00
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 8
Members of the group discuss the books to be read. Contemporary fiction is the most popular choice, but we also read classics, biography and autobiography. Judith will choose the book to be discussed at the October meeting and let members know the title well in advance.
Note: Starts 11th October.

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LIT 05: Book Club 5

Co-ordinator: Brenda Wilson
Day and time: 4th Monday of the month 2.30 – 3.30
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 12
Our books are chosen from members' interests which in the past have covered modern, classic and biography. Our first book will be Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. It won the Booker prize last year and is now out in paperback.
Note: Starts 25th October.

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LIT 06: Book Club 6

Co-ordinators: Kay Bispham & Roger Salmon
Day and time: 2nd Monday of the month 2.00 - 3.30
Venue: St Andrew's Hall, Chesterton
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 12
The focus of the group will be on contemporary literature, but biography and autobiography can be included. The books to be discussed will be agreed together by members - everyone is asked to bring ideas for books, available in paperback or from the library. Members will lead the discussion of the book in turn, but willingness to do this is not a requirement for joining.
Note: Starts 11th October.

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LIT 07: Book Club 7

Co-ordinator: Liz Dean
Day and time: 1st Wednesday of the month 7.15 PM
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 10
Our books are suggested by members of the group. You can find out what we have chosen to read for October by e-mailing me. Otherwise come with a book of your own choice.
Note: Starts 13th October.

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LIT 08: Book Club 8

Co-ordinator: Elizabeth Newlands
Day and time: 2nd Wednesday of the month 7.15 - 8.30 PM
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 12
Members of the group will decide together what to read. Come with a book or suggestion of your choice, fiction or non-fiction, crime or autobiography or a book you have omitted to read. Our first book title will be e-mailed or posted to members well in advance.
Note: Starts 10th November.

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LIT 09: Book Club 9

Co-ordinator: Bob Finch
Day and time: 3rd Monday of the month 2.30 - 4.00
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, possibly spring.
Number of places: 12
The focus of the group will be on reading (or re-reading) some of the great short stories and short novels of the nineteenth and early twentieth century; to include Chekhov, Mansfield, Tolstoy, Wharton, Lawrence, and others chosen by the group.
Note: Starts 18th October.

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LIT 10: Book Group - Penguin 20th Century Modern Classics

Co-ordinator: Colin Whitworth
Day and time: 1st Tuesday of the month 10.00 - 11.00
Venue: Room 3, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 12
It can be claimed that Penguin set a benchmark for the finest novel writing of the 20th century with their Modern Classics series. The group will choose a book a month from PMC list for discussion, starting with The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.
Note: Starts 5th October.

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LIT 11: Anne Stevenson's Stone Milk

Tutors: Ian Gordon & Rosemary Polack
Day and time: Tuesday 2.00 - 3.30
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.
Number of places: 15
Anne Stevenson (1933-present) is a distinguished contemporary Anglo-American poet, recently described by Andrew Motion as 'one of the most remarkable poetic voices to have emerged on either side of the Atlantic in the last fifty years.' She has published ten separate collections of poems; two sets of Collected Poems; a book of essays and literary criticism; a biography of Sylvia Plath, Bitter Fame; and two critical studies of Elizabeth Bishop. This course will read aloud from her most recent collection of poems, Stone Milk, Bloodaxe Books, 2007, £7.95 (the required text for the course). It is planned that the course will include a visit to Cambridge University Library to look at the manuscripts of some of the poems studied. It is also hoped that Anne Stevenson will visit Cambridge and read some of the poems to members of the class. No previous knowledge of Anne Stevenson's poetry is required.

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LIT 12: The Arabian Nights: Tales from 1,001 Nights

Tutor: Lenore Abraham
Day and time: Thursday 12.45 - 1.45
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.
Number of places: 12
"Full of mischief, valor, ribaldry and romance, The Arabian Nights has enthralled readers for centuries. These are the tales that saved the life of Shahrazad, whose husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of marriage. Beginning an enchanting story each evening, Shahrazad always withheld the ending: 1,001 nights later, her life was spared for ever." We will read the 2001 Modern Library edition of Sir Richard Burton's translation. Class members will take turns in suggesting questions for class discussion inspired by that week's reading.

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LIT 13: The Arabian Nights: Tales from 1,001 Nights (spring term)

Tutor: Lenore Abraham
Day and time: Thursday 12.45 - 1.45
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Spring.
Number of places: 12
As per the course description for LIT 12.

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LIT 14: Classical Greek Tragedy in English Translation

Leader: Margaret Sakellaridis
Day and time: Thursday 10.45 - 12.15
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 12
In the Autumn Term we shall read together and discuss Euripides Hecabe (Hecuba), a tragedy written during the Peloponnesian war to show the effects of war on winners and losers. It deals with events immediately after the fall of Troy. In the Spring Term, in contrast, we plan to read Aristophanes' Clouds, a comedy with Socrates as a character and with Sophistic education as the theme. Applicants may find it useful to enrol also for the class 'The Problem of Socrates' (this must be done separately). Please bring to the first class Medea and other plays, Euripides, translated by Philip Vellacott, Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-140-44129-8

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LIT 15: Enjoying Short Stories

Leader: Enid Turner
Day and time: Thursday 10.30 - 12.00
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 8
After the initial meeting our group will decide together the choice of stories from The Oxford Book of Short Stories edited by A.S. Byatt. Each week an introductory profile of the chosen author will be offered by a different member and will form part of the ensuing discussion.
Throughout the course we will ask ourselves 'What makes a good story?' 'Why is it different from a novel?' What is "short short fiction" or "flash fiction"?
There will be plenty to discuss and contributions from all members will be encouraged.
Note: Starts 21st October.

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LIT 16: The Guano Trade

Leader: Carlos De La Riva
Day and time: Tuesday 10.00 - 11.00
Venue: St Andrew's Hall, Chesterton
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 12
We will read and discuss Damn Guano (Guano Maldito) by Joaquin Aguirre-Lavayen in which the author describes in an allegorical historical format many details of the Pacific Guano trade of the 1800's, the role of the European Nations involved with such commodity and the consequences for some Latin American nation's politics and geography. (For book details, contact the tutor)

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LIT 17: Ibsen's Women

Tutor: Bob Finch
Day and time: Monday 12.00 - 1.00
Venue: Room 2, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, possibly spring.
Number of places: 12
Through studying and reading from a selection of Ibsen's plays* we will follow the development of Ibsen as a playwright and the dramatic emergence of women both in his plays and in society. Please bring Henrik Ibsen's Four Major Plays, Oxford Paperbacks OUP.
* A Doll's House, Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder.

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LIT 18: Kipling Reading Group

Leader: Dr Jeffery Lewins
Day and time: Tuesday 10.30 - 11.30
Venue: Buckingham Room, Magdalene College
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 20
Our group meets weekly in Autumn and Spring Terms in the Buckingham Room, Magdalene College, to continue our study of Rudyard Kipling. We read aloud and discuss points arising. This year we focus on Kipling the short story writer, early Indian stories first, followed by the later stories, many set in England. Copies will be available but bring, if you can, Plain Tales from the Hills, and Many Inventions. New members will be very welcome.

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LIT 19: The Life, Times and Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway

Tutor: David Price
Day and time: Wednesday 10.00 - 11.00
Venue: Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane
Terms: Autumn.
Number of places: 14
We will examine and enjoy Hemingway's outstanding short stories. New members welcome. Required reading, Ernest Hemingway The First Forty-Nine Stories (paperback).
Note: Starts 20th October.

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LIT 20: The Life, Times and Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway (spring term)

Tutor: David Price
Day and time: Monday 10.30 - 11.30
Venue: Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane
Terms: Spring.
Number of places: 14
Course description as LIT 19.

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LIT 21: Literature in the post-war world of the 1950's

Leader: Louise Wigan
Day and time: Monday 2.00 - 3.00
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 12
This will follow on from last year's course on literature in the Second World War, focusing as before on writers reflecting their awareness of contemporary issues and the social world of their own day.
We will start with the experiences of British writers Philip Larkin, George Orwell (1984) and Anthony Powell, and probably Iris Murdoch, Elizabeth Taylor, CP Snow and Angus Wilson. We may continue with European and North American post-war literature.

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LIT 22: Little Dorrit (continued)

Tutor: Eric Southern
Day and time: Friday 12.30 - 1.30
Venue: Room 2, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 12
This notably serious novel of Dickens' is divided into 2 books. We have not yet reached book 2, so we will spend one term considering its literary, narrative and social specialities.

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LIT 23: Myths, Fairy Tales and Lost Religions (summer term)

Tutor: Lenore Abraham
Day and time: Thursday 12.45 - 1.45
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Summer.
Number of places: 12
When Native Americans told ancestral folk tales to early anthropologists, they would not discuss their sacred meanings: this could not be revealed to outsiders. Similarly the mythic tales of many other peoples have come down to us only in their literal form, as stories for children. Sometimes, however, the terms in which these stories are told leave a trace of what they may once have meant. We shall explore such stories from Russia, Rumania, Turkey, Norway, Greece and Zimbabwe, before turning to stories of medieval and Anglo-Saxon England. Texts will be provided, but participants may wish to bring their own copy of Beowulf.

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LIT 24: Perspectives on Plays

Tutor: Richard Peoples
Day and time: Monday 1.00 - 2.30
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 16
In this class we look at plays past and present, discovering how plots, characters and dramatic techniques have evolved over the centuries. We read extracts from a number of plays, including contemporary and classic comedies and tragedies. Script extracts, plot synopses and notes are provided in advance by email or in hard copy in the class, and course members can suggest plays to be read. They have the option of reading parts aloud or just listening before discussing the plays. We plan to organise some theatre trips as part of the course.

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LIT 25: Perspectives on Plays 2

Tutor: Richard Peoples
Day and time: Monday 3.30 - 5.00
Venue: Room 2, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.
Number of places: 16
This is a follow-up to the Perspective on Plays course, but you don't have to take that course first in order to enjoy this course. It will follow a similar pattern, looking at a different set of plays ranging from ancient Greek and Roman classics to some great modern drama. Script extracts, synopses and notes will be provided and course members have the option of reading parts or just listening before discussing the plays. They can also suggest plays for us to read and we'll also try to arrange some theatre trips.

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LIT 26: Play reading - Ancient and Modern

Leader: Tom Mor
Organiser: John Jeremy
Day and time: Monday 1.45 - 3.00
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 5
Mixed plays from the sixteenth century until the twentieth century. Play sets are provided at the venue - no prior research required. A short summary of the authors life and details of first performances are given prior to the first reading of each play.

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LIT 27: Classic Playreading - COURSE CANCELLED

Leader: Sarah Fermi
Day and time: Tuesday 2.00 - 4.00
Terms: Autumn.
Number of places: 10
The plays we will read will include works by Chekov and Ibsen, but other possibilities will be decided by the group. The first play will be Uncle Vanya, and I hope group members will read it before the first meeting. Time for discussion of the plays will be scheduled at each meeting. Actors are very welcome!

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LIT 28: Play reading from Agatha Christie to Shakespeare

Leader: Rosalie Picton
Day and time: Wednesday 10.15 - 11.15 (followed by coffee)
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 10
We shall be reading a variety of plays - comedy, thrillers, dramas. Please bring a copy of Much Ado About Nothing for the beginning of the Autumn Term. It will be necessary to purchase copies of different plays during the year.

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LIT 29: Play reading - You never can tell

Leader: Denis Bartlett
Day and time: Friday 10.30 - 11.45
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 10
This course will include two of Christopher Marlowe's plays - Dido, Queen of Carthage and Massacre at Paris, and three of Bernard Shaw's plays - The Apple Cart, Heartbreak House and The Admirable Bashville. It may be possible to include one, or both of Iris Murdoch's plays from Acastos (Penguin Paperback Books, 1987). Members are requested to bring their own copy of the play being read. (Six spare copies of Shaw's plays will be available).

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LIT 30: Poets Writing in English from 1900 to the present day

Leader: Monique Turpin
Day and time: Friday 10.15 - 11.30
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 9
In the group we will read poems by poets from around the globe writing in English in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Each week a member of the group will present a poet of their choice, give a brief background introduction and select poems for everyone to read aloud in turn and then discuss. All members of the group will be expected to take part and present a poet.

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LIT 31: The Problem of Socrates

Leader: Margaret Sakellaridis
Day and time: Thursday 12.30 - 1.30
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.
Number of places: 12
We shall endeavour to place Socrates within his historical context and understand his influence on western philosophy, using as a basis Socrates by Sean Sheehan (Haus Publishing) or Socrates: A very short introduction by C. C. W. Taylor, or similar. Members, either individually, or in groups will lead discussion of various relevant topics. This class is intended for those attending the 'Classical Greek Tragedy in English Translation' course. It will provide the background knowledge necessary for an understanding of the comedy that will be read in the spring term of that course. Those who wish to attend must apply separately for each class.
Note: Starts 28th October.

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LIT 32: Roman Plays of Shakespeare

Tutor: Eric Southern
Day and time: Wednesday 11.00 - 12.00
Venue: Room 2, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 12
What did Shakespeare the dramatist make of, and make from, reading North's version of Plutard the biographer? We will start with Antony and Cleopatra.

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LIT 33: Seventy Years of Feminism 1938 - 2010

Leader: Barbara Sheppard
Day and time: Alternate Thursdays 10.00 - 12.00
Venue: St Andrew's Hall, Chesterton
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 10
This will be the third year for a group that has been reading some of the books that deal with the key issues of feminism and the development of feminist thinking.
We shall meet during the Autumn and Spring Terms and this year we shall be reading:
Three Guineas Virginia Woolf (1938)
In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution Susan Brownmiller (1999)
The New Feminism Natasha Walter (2001)
Living Dolls: the Return of Sexism Natasha Walter (2010)
The Equality Illusion: the Truth about Women and Men Today Kat Banyard (2010)
One Dimensional Woman Nina Power (2010)
New members will be most welcome.
Note: Starts 21st October.

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LIT 34: Shakespeare in Love

Lecturer: Dr Ron Gray
Day and time: Thursday 11.00 - 12.00
Venue: Lecture Theatre, Queen's Building, Emmanuel College
Terms: Autumn.
Number of places: 140
Who were Mr. W. H. and the Dark Lady, the man and the woman to whom and about whom Shakespeare's Sonnets were written? I really don't know, for all the speculation there has been. More to my liking are the ideas and the experiences that inspired him, particularly in Plato, St. Paul, Jesus and the Quest for the Philosophers' Stone, or Elixir of Life. I also like to find passages in the plays, corresponding to the sonnets. This is partly controversial, but don't be put off by that. Give it a go.
Note: 8 weeks only, starts 7th October.

* See PHL 05 for Dr Gray's spring term course

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LIT 35: Shakespeare: Text, Film and Video (spring term)

Tutor: Ann Turner
Day and time: Wednesday 2.00 - 4.00
Terms: Spring.
Number of places: 10
Shakespeare's plays provide wonderfully challenging material for the media-maker. The course will study aspects of particular texts and compare different film and media interpretations of certain plays: e.g. Laurence Olivier's and Kenneth Branagh's versions of Henry V. Other sessions will examine Orson Welles' Othello, Max Reinhardt's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the full RSC musical version of The Comedy of Errors and other classic media productions.

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LIT 36: Sleuths from Scotland (spring term)

Tutor: Judith Braid
Day and time: Alternate Wednesdays 1.30 - 3.00
Venue: Room 2, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Spring.
Number of places: 12
An investigation into crime writing form North of the Border, starting with the novels of Josphine Tey. Then discussing current authors, such as Ann Cleeves, Alex Gray, Joyce Holms, Stuart MacBride, Ian Rankin and Aline Templeton.
Note: Starts 12th January.

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LIT 37: Some Plays by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (summer term)

Leader: Christine Speirs
Day and time: Tuesday 10.15 - 11.30
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Summer.
Number of places: 10
We shall be reading Sheridan's The Rivals, A Trip to Scarborough and The School for Scandal. These and two shorter plays are all available in a book of plays called The School for Scandal and Other Plays published by Oxford World's Classics at £8.99 a copy. It would be a good idea for us all to read from this publication.

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LIT 38: Two Dorset Poets (spring term)

Tutor: Richard Howlett Jones
Day and time: Wednesday 3.00 - 4.00
Venue: Room 3, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Spring.
Number of places: 10
Thomas Hardy and William Barnes were good friends for many years though in their writings and beliefs they varied a great deal. The county of Dorset was a common ground and grounding. I hope to use: Selected Poems of William Barnes (ed. A Motion) Penguin Classics and Selected Poems of Thomas Hardy (ed. H Thomas) as an approach to them. We will also listen to some of the musical settings, particularly of Hardy.

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LIT 39: William Blake's Illuminated Poetry and Art

Tutor: Dr David Whitmarsh
Day and time: Thursday 2.00 - 3.00
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 15
Opening with Blake's best known works like Jerusalem, Tyger, and London from The Songs of Innocence and Experience, members can explore Blake's art and myth, even in Blake's longer works like The Marriage of Heaven and Hell or The Book of Urizen, and if wished, members can be introduced to the great prophecies like The Four Zoas, Milton and Jerusalem. The Fitzwilliam has several original works by Blake and it is hoped that a visit can be arranged. A copy of Blake's Complete Poetry would be handy.

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