Department of English Literature at The University of Reading

22/01/2026

Recent Reading graduate will be leading Creative Writing workshops every second and fourth Saturdays in the month—all welcome.

30/04/2025

The Canvas Issue 4 available now here:

https://thecanvasartsmagazine.com/Home

Work by students and staff from the University of Reading

21/05/2024

Wednesday 5 June 7 pm South Street Arts Centre, launch of READING POETS: A NEW ANTHOLOGY, edited by Vic Pickup, one of our PhD students, and including poets who have been undergraduates with us, are currently undergraduates with us, are currently MA students with us, or have studied or are studying for PhDs here. There are also many poets from the Reading area. Come along and celebrate the publication and the vitality of poetry in Reading.

Launch event for an exciting new anthology published by local publisher Two Rivers Press, featuring poetry readings from 20 poets. ‘Reading Poets: A New Anthology’ is edited by award-winning poet Vic Pickup, and presents a vibrant and diverse collection, reflecting the energy and variety of the ...

21/03/2024

I was recently asked to help contribute to World Poetry Day, and though I might showcase some of the work of MA and PhD students I'm currently working with. They agreed to share a poem from their projects and here they are. I hope you enjoy them—

Having spent most of my life studying literature and attempting to write and publish poetry, I feel especially fortunate to find myself the current supervisor of four practice-based doctoral theses and two masters dissertations focused on contemporary poetry here at the University of Reading. As a c...

17/04/2023

MASTER’S SUBJECT TASTER: MA ENGLISH LITERATURE
Thursday 20 April 2023, 15:00-17:00 BST, Whiteknights Campus

Gain a taster of our postgraduate teaching in English Literature. Focusing on ‘Oscar Wilde and Actresses’, Dr. John Scholar will invite you to explore a moment in history when actresses first became global celebrities, appearing in mass media and endorsing products. Oscar Wilde apparently worshipped a trio of these starlets, writing them ardent poems. But was this genuine fandom, or a sly career move?
Click here to access the event and booking details https://na.eventscloud.com/ereg/newreg.php?eventid=744210&