Category Archives: Continuing Education

Lunchtime Literature Lectures in Liverpool 2010-2011

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If you live or work in Liverpool and feel like spending your lunchtime doing something interesting, you could do worse than attend these lunchtime lectures at the University of Liverpool. They are organised (by me) through the Centre for Lifelong Learning, and cover a great range of topics, from Shakespeare, to crime fiction, and contemporary poetry. All the lectures are delivered at 126 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, opposite the Catholic Cathedral. They all start at 12.30 and are around 50 minutes long.

18 October, 2010: Nature and Rural Life in Contemporary Poetry. By Andy Jurgis.

Nature and rural life are again important themes in poetry following on from earlier poetic traditions. This lecture will include reference to major figures Seamus Heaney (Ireland) and Gillian Clarke (Wales) alongside key Scottish poets John Burnside and Kathleen Jamie. 15884 engl 942

19 January, 2011: Patrick O’Brian. By Mary Weston.

What can you do with Patrick O’Brian’s books but celebrate them? In this lunchtime lecture we’ll pull out some of the best passages from the series: Naval battles, natural history, espionage, love, and most of all friendship. 15885 engl 942

24 February, 2011: Environmental Writing Today:  Including Mark Cocker, Kathleen Jamie and Robert McFarlane. By Andy Jurgis.

There is a growing interest in developing the genre of environmental non-fiction. The lecture will include reference to the prose writings of poets Gillian Clarke and Kathleen Jamie, alongside the highly regarded nature writers Mark Cocker and Robert MacFarlane. 15886 engl 942

16 March, 2011: J.D. Salinger and the Catcher in the Rye. By Mary Weston.

Why do so many of us identify with Holden Caulfield? Are we all outsiders? Why do The Catcher in the Rye and the Glass family stories still speak to us, after half a century and more? 15887 engl 942

13 April, 2011: Shakespeare. By Esme Miskimmin. 15888 engl 942

4 May, 2011: Golden Age Crime Fiction. By Esme Miskimmin. 15889 engl 942

All lectures cost £8.

To book a place for any of these, or to see the range of courses on offer, visit http://www.liv.ac.uk/conted/

Continuing Education in the Centre for Lifelong Learning
University of Liverpool
126 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L69 3GR
0151-794 6900
Office open 9.00 am-5.00 pm (you may leave a message at other times)
Enquiryline: 0151-794 6952 (24 hr answerphone)
Fax: 0151 794 2544

Malcolm Lowry Centenary Exhibition and Book

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This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Malcolm Lowry, author of Under the Volcano. His home city of Liverpool will be commemorating the event with an exhibition at the Bluecoat Arts Centre between September 25th and November 22nd. Ahead of that though comes the release of a book about Lowry and Liverpool co-edited by poet Helen Tookey and Bryan Biggs. Helen writes:

It includes twelve new pieces of writing (critical and creative) and some fabulous images from artists who have been influenced and inspired by Lowry. You can buy it from the well known online bookshop whose name begins with an A, or indeed from Liverpool University Press’s own website (click here). Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing for the centenary exhibition Under the Volcano at the Bluecoat, which will include visual art, film, and fascinating archival material relating to Lowry – described by biographer Gordon Bowker in his essay for our book as ‘probably the most neglected genius of modern English literature’. [Read More]

Helen is also running a short five-week course on Lowry at Liverpool University, in the Continuing Education department entitled Voyaging Under the Volcano: An Introduction to Malcolm Lowry. For more information visit the Continuing Education English webpage or contact the Centre for Lifelong Learning t cll@liverpool.ac.uk Enrolment ends on Monday September 21st.

Continuing Education Courses in Liverpool

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If you’re based near Liverpool and have an interest in reading and books you might like to take a look at the Continuing Education catalogue at Liverpool University. These courses have a good friendly atmosphere about them and are often quirky and interesting. There are still spaces left on a couple of one day only courses coming up soon:

STELLA GIBBONS’ ‘COLD COMFORT FARM’. Sat 29 Nov by Dr Lisa Regan. Enrolment closing date Thur 20 Nov.

‘Literature or . . . just sheer flapdoodle’? Revisit Stella Gibbons’funny and enjoyable classic tale to experience Flora Poste’s foray into the Brontëesque world of the eccentric Starkadders’farm, replete with wry wit, comic characters and romantic match-making.

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CHAUCER, SEX AND VIOLENCE. Sat 29 Nov by Dr William Rossiter. Enrolment closing date Thur 20 Nov.

Chaucer’s Tales include all aspects of the human experience but have also been blamed for modern tabloid culture. Explore this charge in context of the recent television series of the Canterbury Tales, starring Billie Piper, John Simm and Julie Walters.

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Here is the information you need to enrol.

Pitching Poetry

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Last Wednesday I went to Ness Gardens on the Wirral to teach a poetry course based on the themes of gardens, nature, and Spring. I’ve been organising this kind of course in Continuing Education at the University of Liverpool for a few years now but this was the first time I’ve actually taught on one. I have to admit it was a great pleasure, but it also threw into relief the other teaching I’ve done recently. The students, who were mostly retired, were well-read and attentive, and more importantly willing to play the game. In my recent experience many modern undergraduates are a lot less prepared to accept the presupposition–even for the purposes of classroom discussion–that what they are reading is worth reading and talking about for its own sake. This doesn’t apply to all of them of course, probably not even a majority, but a a large enough number to have an effect on the way a seminar group works.

If my impression is right this is going to be quite a challenge for educators in the very near future. Not only has the authority of academics and institutions been eroded–with some justification–over the last 20 or 30 years, but the value of what they are teaching is no longer taken as a given. While scepticism can be healthy in some contexts, it’s not always so useful in a trusted educational setting. Students should certainly ask questions of their tutors–and the students on the poetry course last week were not soft–but if there isn’t some agreement on the fundamental value of what is being taught, a lot of time is going to be wasted doing sales pitches rather than teaching.

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Continuing Education

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For the past few years I’ve been organising courses in English Literature and Language in the Continuing Education department at Liverpool University. The summer 2007 programme has just been announced and I think there are some interesting things on it. Literature courses in Liverpool can be found here, and those in Southport are here. There are also courses going on at Ness Botanic Gardens near Neston, South Wirral, including a poetry course I’m co-teaching with Esme Miskimmin. You can find the Ness Gardens courses here.

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