READ: Research in English At Durham

05/06/2026

Dr Katharina Herold-Zanker's new book 'Transforming Orality: Articulating Social Change in Nineteenth-Century Britain' is now published by University Press:
👉https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781805966791

This publication is paywalled and only available to subscribers, but you can also explore Durham Research Online, which includes a range of open access articles, chapters, and books from our colleagues across our Department. 📚
👉 https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/orgunit/155342/department-of-english-studies/outputs

03/06/2026

🎉 Unifresher Awards Success 🎉

We are delighted to have placed 2nd in the UK for English Literature according to the Unifresher Rankings, achieving outstanding ratings for student satisfaction, teaching quality, and academic support. 🎉

Durham University has also been recognised as the UK's leading Russell Group university, further reflecting our aim to provide the highest standards of student support and academic research. 📚

If you want to study English Literature or Creative Writing at a consistently high-ranking UK university, there's still time to apply for our October 2026 MA programmes: https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/english-studies/postgraduate-study/taught-courses/

Or get a taste for studying at Durham at one of our Undergraduate open days: https://www.durham.ac.uk/visit-us/open-days/

Read more about our Unifresher success here:
https://unifresher.co.uk/uni-prep/rankings/best-universities-for-english-language-and-literature/

Our English Literary Studies (MA) gives you choice, flexibility and the opportunity to specialise, as you develop your skills and interests over 12 months (full-time) or 24 months (part-time).

02/06/2026

📢 Coming up: 20th MEMSA Conference 📢

There's still time to register for this year's Medieval and Early Modern Student Association (MEMSA) at Durham University . The conference promises to be an exciting programme of talks for the 20th anniversary of the conference.

Our colleague Dr Natalie Goodison, Dr Lisa Kattenberg, and Professor Stuart Carroll will lead the conference which will also include a special collections library tour and tour of Durham city.

Register below by 20th June:
👉https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=i9hQcmhLKUW-RNWaLYpvlFFYknFXEpJOkqwtgqakMuZUMkZGTE1aTEVEUFVVTEE3NlVVOTRMMlRSSi4u&route=shorturl

📅13-14th July
📍St. John's College, Durham

01/06/2026

📚 North East Book Events: June Highlights 📚

See our newsletter for the full event details:
👉 https://readdurhamenglish.wordpress.com/events/english-literature-events-in-durham-newcastle-and-the-north-east/

Various Author Talks
📍The bound, FORUM Books, Waterstones, and Collected Books

Crossing the Tees Book Festival
📅 11th-29th June
📍Stockton-on-Tees

Various events at The Lit & Phil, including 'Phantoms at the Phil'
📍The Lit and Phil, Newcastle

A Measure of Success: Durham Almunus Miles Hudson
📅8/6/2026
📍Hild Bede College, Durham University

Conversations with Northern Writers from the Royal Literary Fund
📅19 and 25/6/2026
📍Poetry Pharmacy, York and Ormesby Library, Middlesborough

Our monthly what’s on guide captures the literature and book chat, lectures, readings and other events in Durham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Teesside, and the North East UK.

22/05/2026

Dr Maryam Mirza's new paper ‘"What’s Gone is Gone”: Partition, Ownership, and Loss in Geetanjali Shree’s Tomb of Sand’ is now published by Taylor & Francis Group. Read for free:
👉 https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5073892/whats-gone-is-gone-partition-ownership-and-loss-in-geetanjali-shrees-tomb-of-sand

Find out more about Maryam’s research at:
👉https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/maryam-mirza/

15/05/2026

Professor Alastair Renfrew's new paper ‘Lenin as an Object of Formalist Discourse’ is now published by Wiley at:
👉 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/russ.70129

Find out more about Alastair’s research at:
👉 https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/alastair-renfrew2/

13/05/2026

📢 MEMSA Conference 2026 📢

Register by 20th June for the 20th Medieval and Early Modern Student Association (MEMSA) Conference at Durham University. The theme of this year's conference is 'Connection, Conversation, and Contention: Encounters in the Medieval and Early Modern World', featuring papers by postgraduates from around the world.

Our colleague Dr Natalie Goodison, Dr Lisa Kattenberg, and Professor Stuart Carroll will lead the conference which will also include a special collections library tour and tour of Durham city.

Register below by 20th June:
👉https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=i9hQcmhLKUW-RNWaLYpvlFFYknFXEpJOkqwtgqakMuZUMkZGTE1aTEVEUFVVTEE3NlVVOTRMMlRSSi4u&route=shorturl

📅13-14th July
📍St. John's College, Durham

11/05/2026

🕵 The Cambridge Spy Ring: 75 Years since the first defections 🕵

Tickets are now available for the second event in The Afterlives of Cambridge Spies project, funded by the and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and led by our colleague Professor James Smith and Professor Michael Goodman (King's College London). Gordon Corera and Gill Bennett will discuss the legacy of the spies, 75 years on, investigating how the public revelations about the spies unfolded and how they changed British society.

This event will take place both in-person at National Archives and online. Book your place here:
👉

Join Gordon Corera in discussion with Gill Bennett as they investigate the legacy of the Cambridge Spies, 75 years on.

07/05/2026

📚 North East Book Events: May Highlights 📚

There are various literary events happening across the North East this month, so here are our highlights:
Visit our full newsletter for more:
https://readdurhamenglish.wordpress.com/events/english-literature-events-in-durham-newcastle-and-the-north-east/

Author events at Collected Books
Hope Reese and Laura Tisdall discuss their newest books, hosted by local Durham bookshop Collected.
📅6th May (Hope Reese), 7th May (Laura Tisdall)
📍Collected Books

Royal Literary Fund Event
'Writer's Block: Conversations with Writers from The Royal Literary Fund', hosted by North East writers Tahmina Ali, Bridget Deane, and Harry Man, explores the writing process and what really happens when authors experiences 'writer's block'.
📅16th May
📍Middlesbrough Library

'Writing Folklore' workshop
The People's Bookshop in association with the North East Folklore Society and Carnyx Press are hosting a panel of guests discussing contemporary resurgence of interest in folklore and folkloric writing.
📅19th May
📍People's Bookshop

Our monthly what’s on guide captures the literature and book chat, lectures, readings and other events in Durham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Teesside, and the North East UK.

06/05/2026

📢 'The Relationship is the Therapy': A Collaborative Symposium 📢

This Friday, our colleague Dr Josh Pugh, in collaboration with the Institute for Medical Humanities is hosting a symposium on therapy research and practice.

The hybrid symposium explores the therapeutic relationship from cross-sectoral perspective, inviting scholars from the humanities and social sciences and experts in therapy research and policy, as well as clinicians spanning the spectrum of contemporary therapies.

More info here:
👉 https://www.durham.ac.uk/research/institutes-and-centres/medical-humanities/events/the-relationship-is-the-therapy-a-symposium-on-therapy-research--practice/

📅Friday 8th May
Institute for Medical Humanities