English Literature & Creative Writing at Lancaster University

English Literature & Creative Writing at Lancaster University Official page for the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing at Lancaster University. Past, present and future students welcome!

Official page for the Department of English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University.

It's fascinating listening to and chat in the staff kitchen so we highly recommend attending kwasu in conversation wit...
29/05/2026

It's fascinating listening to and chat in the staff kitchen so we highly recommend attending kwasu in conversation with Ollie on 2nd June, 3pm Beach cafe, Morecambe Bay where they will be discussing the philosophy of time travel in Kwasu Tembo's latest book Trauma in 21st Century Time Travel Cinema.

A few photos from tonight's studio reading of Andy Ainscough's new play, There's Something Amongst the Trees: A Story o...
28/05/2026

A few photos from tonight's studio reading of Andy Ainscough's new play, There's Something Amongst the Trees: A Story of Bigfoot, Breakdowns and Doing Better.

Read out by creative writing colleagues and friends, it was great to get out of our offices and away from Teams to be in a creative space together

27/05/2026

It's all about the memories ❤️

Highlights from our May Gathering 2026.

Photos by Rebecca Mcskeane, Zoe Lambert and Vincent Gaine.

Would you like to develop your journalism in a free workshop? Thrive, Food Futures community based magazine offers a fre...
22/05/2026

Would you like to develop your journalism in a free workshop? Thrive, Food Futures community based magazine offers a free monthly writing workshop. So, if you want to get involved with something community based, are interested in local food and ecological issues, or want to expand your journalism writing, then this is for you.

The next workshop is May 26th and focuses on:

Sugar, spice and all things.... AI?! What are you feeding into your writing ecosystem?

This workshop is on how to feed your writing ecosystem and make sure you are nourishing it correctly.

Visit foodfutures.org.uk/thrive to have a browse through the latest issue.

Tuesday 26 May
5.30-6.30
Cost: free!
The Cornerstone
Sulyard Street
LA1 1PX

To book your place, email [email protected] or just turn up!

If you like critical theory, politics and jazz, then please come to:Jazz, Philosophy, Spirit: two talks @ The Waterside ...
22/05/2026

If you like critical theory, politics and jazz, then please come to:

Jazz, Philosophy, Spirit: two talks @ The Waterside Library (aka LICA A36)

Tuesday May 26, 3-4pm

Chair: Professor John Schad with tea, coffee and biscuits.

Overshadowing Derrida: Jazz, Anti-racism, and Spirit
Dr Jeremy Stewart (Regent College, Vancouver)

An Ethics of Error: Jazz, Contingency, and Discovery.
Dr Kwasu Tembo (Lancaster)

Both Kwasu and Jeremy are critics, theorists and musicians.

Dr. Jeremy Stewart is a Scholar-in-Residence at Regent College (Vancouver, Canada). His first monograph, I, Daniel: An Illegitimate Reading of Jacques Derrida’s “Envois,” on Derrida and the biblical Book of Daniel, was written while he was a SSHRC Doctoral Fellow at the University of Lancaster, and published in 2025 by Peter Lang Verlag. An electric guitarist, Stewart is the Artistic Director of Casse-Tête: A Festival of Experimental Music. He is a Veritas Scholar in the Visual and Performing Arts cohort under the mentorship of Dr. Mia Chung. He is also the author of three poetry collections.

Yesterday, nearly 30 English Literature and Creative Writing UG students gathered at the Castle for 6 lit crit (and/or c...
21/05/2026

Yesterday, nearly 30 English Literature and Creative Writing UG students gathered at the Castle for 6 lit crit (and/or crit-creative) papers and readings.

It was the 4th annual Eng Lit UG castle seminar. Our biggest and best yet!

Professor John Schad said, 'I was enormously impressed by these papers and readings, often brilliantly theorized and/or wonderfully close in their reading. Equally impressive was the attention that listening students gave to those speaking and the discussions that then followed -- witness to the fact that our students are not only a learning community but also an intellectual and creative community in their own right.'

Well done everyone! 🥰🥰🥰

Don't forget, it's the May Gathering tonight (21st May) at The Priory. 7.30pm. 🥂🍾

Professor Catherine Spooner is excelling in all areas. After recently winning 3rd place in the prestigious Magma Editors...
20/05/2026

Professor Catherine Spooner is excelling in all areas. After recently winning 3rd place in the prestigious Magma Editors poetry prize, she has also been out and about as our Prof of Goth. Here she is in Glasgow for the Royal Society of Edinburgh Investigates public lecture series, talking with Professor Christine Ferguson of the University of Stirling and Professor Jeremy Smith of the University of Glasgow about the evolution of the word Gothic.

Somehow, they got from the 4th-century Goths to Siouxsie and the Banshees in 45 minutes - taking in Gothic literature and fashion on the way!

That gorgeous image you can see behind Catherine is silent film star Theda Bara posing with a raven in a promotional shot for the lost 1915 film 'Sin'.

AND, if you click on you will find Catherine talking about this month's 's read, the classic Dracula by Bram Stoker. The whole interview can be found on their You Tube channel.

AND, Catherine will be speaking at a free lecture in Sheffield on Women in White and the New Gothic Cinema: Reinventing the Gothic Heroine

6pm, June 18th
Showroom Cinema
Paternoster Row
Sheffield City Centre

Book via eventbrite.

If you need an excuse to watch some children's TV, then watch the new series of Zog on CBeebies. The episode 'The Great ...
19/05/2026

If you need an excuse to watch some children's TV, then watch the new series of Zog on CBeebies. The episode 'The Great Gnome Games' was written by our lecturer in script writing, Dr Tajinder Hayer Singh, and has just gone live on iPLayer.

Based on the award-winning films ‘Zog’ and ‘Zog and the Flying Doctors’ and books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Zog features an array of colourful characters and centres on caring for yourself, for others and for the weird and wonderful world around you.

Dr Hayer was invited to write the episode by Magic Light Pictures after they came across his previous work for CBeebies (NumTums) and his stage writing (The Cyclops for the National Theatre/Doncaster Cast in 2023).

The episode features the comically grouchy Gnanna Gnome as she is coached by Zog, a lovable orange dragon, and the Flying Doctors for the upcoming Great Gnome Games. It explores healthy eating, exercise and ageing for young audiences.

Enjoy!

Who has the best students? We do! Our fabulous UG students will be sharing their research in our special UG seminarWeds...
15/05/2026

Who has the best students?

We do!

Our fabulous UG students will be sharing their research in our special UG seminar

Weds 20 May, 2-4pm
The Castle

We will be hearing from....

Ivy Cunningham
Friendship in Jane Austen

Elsa May Dormon
Gilgamesh and the Dream of Return

Gloria Goncalves
Beckett, Borges and Obsession

Tom Hetherington
Language and Silence in Emily Dickinson and Frederick Douglass.

Ray Lewis
Vampires, Vulnerability, and Violence

Martha Munro
Amalia: Elena Ferrante’s Troubling Love

Chair: John Schad

free - all welcome (friends, family etc) - no registration required

Includes tea/coffee/biscuits …

Thanks to everyone who came to our second annual Godwords event at the Chaplaincy. This was an inclusive and multi-faith...
14/05/2026

Thanks to everyone who came to our second annual Godwords event at the Chaplaincy. This was an inclusive and multi-faith celebration of all kinds of godly words, with poems and writing read by students and staff. Works included were from poets such as Mahmoud Darwish and Gerard Manley Hopkins, as well as poems written by students from different faith backgrounds.

Here are a few photos from the readings. I am particularly impressed by the comfy couches.

Big thanks to legendary Prof John Schad for organising this wonderful event.

Address

Department Of English Literature And Creative Writing, County College, Lancaster University
Lancaster
LA14YD

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441524592233

Website

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