This week marked Francis Holland School’s first Literary Festival, co-organised by the English and Drama Departments.
On Monday, as part of our Women of Influence series, we had the pleasure of welcoming actors Samantha Bond and her daughter, Molly Hanson, to speak to the Sixth Form about being women in theatre, TV and film, as well as tips for auditioning. Pupils found their insights and experiences about gender and bias in the industry particularly illuminating. Bond and Hanson also spoke in earnest about Shakespeare, sharing their joint belief that an actor must truly understand what the character is saying and feeling in order to effectively transmit Shakespeare’s language as it was intended to be conveyed. Several pupils left feeling motivated and inspired to apply for drama school!
Dr de Bono enticed us with two talks on Tuesday! Firstly, de Bono spoke to the LV about waves of feminism, genre, textuality and female stereotypes in literature. Pupils then read and analysed Angela Carter’s short story, The Snow Child, producing mature and sharp answers. During lunch break, De de Bono delivered a session to the UV, LVI and UVI at Lit Soc on Alice Walker’s short stories, providing the pupils with excellent contextual details and fabulous literary analysis, enhancing their knowledge for the Women in Literature unit at A Level.
On Wednesday, author A. M. Dassu delivered an excellent session on her new novel, Boy, Everywhere to the Thirds. They considered how refugees are written about and depicted in popular culture before exploring what it must be feel like to have to flee your home country. Dassu educated pupils on the Syrian conflict, deconstructing stereotypical perceptions of refugees. Pupils found this fascinating and are keen to write letters imagining themselves as refugees in their English lessons!
Pupils on Thursday lunchtime were delighted to attend a poetry-writing workshop run by Alumnae Helena McBurney as part of their weekly Creative Writing Club. Helena, who graduated from Cambridge last year, gave pupils a number of intriguing objects to write about and encouraged them to explore the political potential of poetry. In just 30 minutes, pupils used the objects to write about the female experience, the gap between rich and poor, and the commodification of the environment. It was a thought-provoking (yet highly enjoyable!) session.
On Thursday afternoon, pupils in the LIV had the privilege of meeting Melissa Welliver, author of the The Undying Tower, the first in a trilogy of dystopian novels. Melissa read from her novel and taught the pupils about world-building: that the best ideas come from situations, not plots, and ultimately boil down to a ‘what if’ statement. Pupils had a lot of fun brainstorming what would happen if they had to live on Mars, or if everyone had a superpower, or if they had to swap bodies with their dog! It was a really fun session, and a fantastic inspiration for budding writers at FHS.
Finally, Friday concluded the Festival with a brilliant talk from K.L. Kettle for the UIVs.
Huge thank you to all who made the Literary Festival so enjoyable, and we already cannot wait for the next one.
Ms Chapman, Head of English
