Free talks in Whitechapel about poetry and Charles Dickens
Budding poets can learn how to perform their poetry at the first event in a new series called Big Ideas
Budding poets can learn how to perform their poetry and listen to Whitechapel residents read their own work at the Idea Store Whitechapel.
The poetry reading is part of a new five-month series of events, called Big Ideas, organised by Birkbeck.
Liane Strauss (pictured, right), an Anglo-American poet and Creative Writing lecturer at Birkbeck, will be on hand to help people perform their poems at the workshop starting at 6:15pm on Friday 22 November. This will be followed at 6:45pm by readings from Birkbeck Creative Writing students and Whitechapel residents. Their works will embrace the city as the “new nature”, drawing their imagery, rhetoric, attitude and rhythm from urban life in the twenty-first century.
Charles Dickens and Christmas
Next month, there will also be a literary focus to the Big Ideas event. On Friday 13 December from 6:45pm-8:45pm, Dr Nicola Bown, senior lecturer in Victorian Studies at Birkbeck, will discuss how one of Charles Dickens’ best-known books, A Christmas Carol, created the idea of a traditional family Christmas. From the moment it was published in 1843, the story captured the imagination of Victorian Britain. Santa Claus, Christmas cards and crackers were invented around the same time, but it was Dickens’ book that boosted the craze for Christmas, above all promoting the idea that Christmas is best celebrated with the family.
Big Ideas in 2014
In the New Year there will be more events led by academics from Birkbeck exploring thought-provoking topics, including how to be happy, local lives in the queer metropolis, and women’s work in the twenty-first century. The Big Ideas series of events is organised by the Widening Access and Retention Team at Birkbeck.
All the events take place at the Idea Store Whitechapel, 321 Whitechapel Road, London, E1 1BU. Refreshments will be provided at all events. The Idea Store Whitechapel is an innovative library, learning and information service created by Tower Hamlets Council.
Bookings for the events can be made online.
For more information about studying at Birkbeck visit the webpage with free support and advice for prospective students or email mybirkbeckfeedback@bbk.ac.uk .