About this day
For A-level students of the AQA A specification
This inspirational and highly enjoyable study day will provide comprehensive support for students preparing for the AQA A A-Level option ‘Love through the ages’. During the day, a series of outstanding speakers will enthuse, inform and entertain with a diverse and relevant range of talks on poetry, prose and drama. The day will end with an unmissable presentation by award-winning poet Owen Sheers, who will read from and discuss his poetry before taking questions from the audience. The programme will give students the vital information, expert insights and new-found confidence to achieve maximum examination success this year.
Programme & speakers
Poetry reading with Owen Sheers Owen Sheers, Poet, Author and Playwright
Award-winning Welsh poet, author and playwright Owen Sheers will introduce and read selected works from his collections of poetry. He will discuss the meaning and inspiration behind the words and answer questions from the audience.
About Owen Sheers
Owen Sheers is a poet, author and scriptwriter, whose many awards include Somerset Maugham for Skirrid Hill and Blue Book, and Welsh Book of the Year for The Dust Diaries and Pink Mist. He is Professor of Creative Writing the University of Swansea.
Love in Shakespeare Emma Smith, University of Oxford
Professor Emma Smith explores how Shakespeare presents and stages ideas about love and romance across tragedy and comedy using examples from selected texts. There will be an opportunity for questions. (Image credit: Othello’s Lamentation/William Salter/Folger Shakespeare Library/CC-BY-SA-4.0)
About Professor Emma Smith
Professor Emma Smith is Lecturer in English at the University of Oxford, Professor of Shakespeare Studies and Fellow of Hertford College. Her research focuses on Shakespeare and early modern drama. She has worked with theatre companies including at the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre and Donmar Warehouse, contributed to numerous radio programmes and served as a consultant for TV and film.
Tell me the truth about love: love poetry through the ages Luke McBratney, Author and former Principal Examiner
Drawing on examples from the sixteenth century to the present day, examiner and writer Luke McBratney examines some of the important styles and subgenres of love poetry including the sonnet and the song.
About Luke McBratney
Luke McBratney is an examiner, author and editor. A former Principal Examiner and specification writer for a major examining board, he is a member of the English Review editorial board and co-series editor of the Hodder Study and Revise guides to set texts for A-level English Literature. He is co-author of a textbook for A-level English Literature (OUP) and author of guides to love poetry, including Skirrid Hill and New Selected Poems.
Reading narratives of love over time Michael Meeuwis, University of Warwick
Michael will consider how love is shaped by social, political and historical factors. He will draw on Tess of the D’Urbevilles, The Great Gatsby and Persuasion and highlight a range of issues which students can apply to their own course texts. (Image credit: Leo DiCaprio great gatsby raising glass gif/Raul Pacheco-Vega/Flickr/CC-BY-ND 2.0)
About Dr Michael Meeuwis
Dr Michael Meeuwis is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Warwick. His research interests include nineteenth-century British literature, Romantic and Victorian poetry and nineteenth-century drama and performance studies.
Reading for meaning: an examiner's perspective Julia Geddes, Examiner, teacher, textbook author
This lecture will address how to engage effectively with the questions set, to select material wisely and ensure that all assessment objectives are clearly signposted. There are no ‘right’ answers in English Literature but there are ‘right’ ways to address tasks and to support ideas.
About Julia Geddes
Julia Geddes is a Senior Examiner and Moderator and has been the author of several A-level study guides. She works at a highly successful sixth form college in the North of England and presents conferences for students, providing support for teachers working with A-level and GCSE specifications across the country.