KENT_Autumn_06_AW:KENT 1 - University of Kent

KENT
The Magazine for The University of Kent Autumn 2006 No. 47

Since the last issue of KENT, there’s been a lot
to celebrate at the University – not least being
shortlisted for the Times Higher Education
Supplement’s Institution of the Year Award. The
winner will be announced on 15 November, so
fingers crossed!
There were further celebrations when Dr Dan
Lloyd received his National Teaching Fellowship
Award at a gala dinner in London on 19 September.
Readers of the last issue of KENT will have seen
work by Dr Dan Lloyd’s science communication
students and so won’t be surprised to learn that he
has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship
Award, one of only 50 to be awarded nationwide.
This is the third year running Kent lecturers have
won this award.
Having focused on the sciences in the last issue, we
decided that it was high time that we threw open
KENT to the University’s literary side. Kent has
long had a literary bias – underpinned by initiatives
such as the T.S.Eliot prize which supports poetry
writing among students – and work by alumni, staff
and current students is critically acclaimed, both
nationally and internationally.
For example, novelist David Mitchell, who graduated
from Kent with a degree in English and American
Literature and an MA in Comparative Literature,
has had two books, number9dream and Cloud Atlas
shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for fiction.
Delia Jarrett-Macaulay, who did a PhD in English and
taught part-time on the Women’s Studies
programme, won the Orwell prize for her first
novel, Moses, Citizen and Me, about a child soldier
and his family in Sierra Leone. Incidentally, she also
recently made a documentary about Sierra Leone,
broadcast on BBC Radio 4 earlier this year.
We hope you enjoy this issue – we are particularly
pleased to be able to showcase some of the work
of our Creative Writing students and we would
also like to thank Abdulrazak Gurnah for giving
us permission to reproduce an extract from his
book, Desertion.
And don’t forget, send us any suggestions or
comments you may have about KENT, we really
want to hear them.
Killara Burn
Posie Bogan
Editors
Dear Editors
I was quite amused to read the letter from Patricia
Johnson in the Spring 2006 edition of the magazine.
Not directly by its contents, let me hasten to add,
but by the fact that you have printed, in white text
on a coloured background, a letter saying you should
reconsider your practice of printing letters in white
text on a coloured background.
Ian Gordon D83
Editors’ reply
Please bear with us – we hoped that by having a
stronger background colour this would make the text
easier to read as, according to the RNIB guidelines,
‘the better the contrast between the background
and the text, the more legible the text will be.’
The guidelines also highlight that the contrast will
be affected by the size and weight of the type
which is something we are now paying particular
attention to. A text version of KENT is available at
www.kent.ac.uk/alumni/news/kent/
Front cover detail: Literature
With the publication of Night
Train 4, KENT is celebrating
the University’s longstanding
literary reputation by focusing
on the achievements of alumni,
staff and students in this area.
Special thanks to
Chris Lancaster and Lesley Farr
in the University Print Unit;
David Clark (R82); Karen Bayfield
and Karen Donaghay in C&DO.
Photographs by Robert Berry,
Joanna Eldridge Morrissey;
Mark Pringle
Editors
Killara Burn and Posie Bogan
Communications &
Development Office
University of Kent
Canterbury CT2 7NZ
Tel. 01227 824345/823581
Fax. 01227 827912
Email kent-the-mag@kent.ac.uk
www.kent.ac.uk/alumni
KENT replaces the Kent Bulletin
and is published in spring and
autumn every year for alumni,
staff and friends of the University
of Kent. It is sent to all alumni
worldwide who regularly update
or confirm their contact details
with us.
KENT, the magazine for alumni,
staff and friends of the University
of Kent – 47
Autumn 2006
Design
Third Eye Design
Tel: 0141 332 3335
www.thirdeyedesign.co.uk
Printers
Broglia Press
Tel: 01202 621621
Opposite
Abdulrazak Gurnah (page 18)
2

Contents
4 News 7 Development News 8 Shaping the
World 10 Constant Gardner 11 Night Train
15 Business Links 16 New Frontiers 18 Best of
Both Worlds 20 Keeping up with Kent Graduates
– Visual Arts 21 Who’s What Where 24 Events
3

1 Drill Hall Library,
Medway campus
2 Jo Brand
3 Professor Sir Robert
Worcester
4 David Mitchell
5 Alison Coll
6 Medway Building
1
Kent shortlisted as
‘Institution of the Year’
Kent is one of five universities shortlisted for the
Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) ‘Institution
of the Year’ 2006.
The awards are open to all higher education
institutions in the UK. Their aim is ‘to raise awareness
of and reward the huge contribution British
universities make to the economic and cultural health
of the country’ and ‘to shine a light on a few of the
many achievements that have made UK universities
among the best in the world’.
This, in particular, has been a milestone year for Kent,
with its innovative campus development in Medway,
its unique collaboration with France and its great
strides in widening participation while improving
its research performance – all underpinned by its
dynamic approach to partnership in Europe and the
UK. Kent’s success is further demonstrated by step
changes in league tables and performance indicators.
Vice-Chancellor Professor David Melville said, ‘This
is a year in which the inspired work of all our staff
in redefining the University of Kent over the past few
years has come to fruition in so many ways. We are
delighted that this has been recognised in our being
shortlisted for HE Institution of the Year 2006.’
The 2006 awards presentation will be held later this
year at the London Hilton Hotel. Many of the leading
names in education as well as sponsors and all the
shortlisted category finalists will attend the event.
New Chancellor
Professor Sir Robert Worcester was installed as
Kent’s new Chancellor during a degree ceremony
held at Canterbury Cathedral in July 2006. He took
up his new role on 1 August 2006, succeeding Sir
Crispin Tickell, who retired after 10 years as the
University’s Chancellor. During a degree ceremony
on Wednesday 12 July, Sir Robert received an
honorary degree from the University.
Sir Robert is founder of MORI (Market & Opinion
Research International) London, and has well
established links with the University. In 2005 he was
appointed a Knight Commander of the Most
Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Her
Majesty the Queen. He was appointed Chancellor
following a unanimous decision by the University
Court earlier this year.
A frequent broadcaster, he is a regular contributor
to national newspapers including the Financial Times
and The Observer and is a columnist for Profile and
The Parliamentary Monitor. He has written more than
a dozen books.
Rewriting the
history books
The University recently hosted a unique symposium
as part of the national programme of events to
commemorate the 400th anniversary of Jamestown,
the first permanent English settlement in North America.
Rewriting the history books, a one-day public event,
brought together Virginia Indian chiefs and academic
experts and gave those attending the chance to
learn about the history and explore issues of cultural
diversity. The Virginia Indian chiefs gave their views
on historical events and on what lessons have been
learnt for the future. Additional speakers included
Helen Rountree, Dr Warren Billings and Dr Peter
Thompson who are historians of Virginia.
4
NEWS

2 3
League table rise
Honorary degrees
4
Design awards
for Medway
Kent has increased its presence in the Guardian’s 2006
Higher Education League Tables and now ranks 29
out of 122 higher education institutions in the UK, an
increase of six places from the 2005 printed rankings.
In the subject rankings, the Department of Electronics
is new to the top five for Electrical Engineering, and
Religious Studies has retained its position within the
top five for Theology. American Studies, Anthropology,
Art & Design, Classics and Social Work at Kent are
also within their respective top 20, with Archaeology,
Computer Sciences & IT, Drama, Physics and Sociology
new to their top 20 for this year.
Awarding excellence
in teaching
Dr Dan Lloyd, Lecturer in Pharmacology in Biosciences,
has been awarded his National Teaching Fellowship
Award. Funded by the Higher Education Funding
Council for England (HEFCE) and the Department
for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland,
the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS)
recognises and rewards outstanding teachers or
learning support staff in higher education in England
and Northern Ireland.
Dr Lloyd was one of 50 of the best lecturers and
learning support staff to be recognised for their
excellence at the event. This year’s awards received
a record 242 nominations.
Speaking of Dan’s award, Dr Liz Beaty, Director
(Learning and Teaching) of HEFCE, said: ‘You have been
recognised by your institution and by a distinguished
panel of educationalists for the excellence of your
contribution. You have inspired your students and you
have inspired your colleagues. You have won because
you are excellent at influencing others, at inspiring
learners and other teachers.’
Historian Dr David Starkey, composer Sir Richard
Rodney Bennett and Baroness Helena Kennedy were
among those who received honorary degrees from
the University at the degree ceremonies held at
Canterbury Cathedral this summer. Honorary degrees
were also awarded to Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart,
Chairman of the Local Government Association and
County Councillor for Maidstone Rural East; Professor
Gabriel Josipovici, novelist, critic and playwright; Dr
Declan Doogan, Senior Vice-President, Head of
Worldwide Development, Pfizer, and Paul Bennett,
Director of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust
The autumn degree ceremonies at Canterbury will
also see honorary degrees awarded to Jo Brand,
who is one of the best known comics in the country
and David Mitchell, whose novels which include
Ghostwritten, number9dream, Cloud Atlas and Black
Swan Green have earned him a place among Granta
magazine’s twenty Best Young British Novelists. At the
Rochester Cathedral ceremony, an honorary degree
will also be presented to Hilary Lister who last year
became the first quadriplegic to sail, single-handed,
across the English Channel. She made the crossing
in six hours 13 minutes and now plans to sail
around Britain.
The University of Kent at Medway is celebrating
its double honours in a new award scheme. The
University’s flagship Medway Building was twice voted
a winner in the Medway Design Awards, a project
set up by the Kent Architecture Centre, on behalf of
the Medway Renaissance Partnership, to reward the
creators of outstanding buildings, places and public
spaces in the region.
The £7 million Medway Building, with its distinctive
brass cladding design, was chosen by Medway Design
Awards judges as the winner in the New Building
category, while planners at Medway Council also
voted it into top place in the Development Control
section. There was more success for the Medway
campus as the Drill Hall Library won a top prize in
the category of Refurbishment and Conversion
of Historic Buildings. The state-of-the-art library is
part of the £120m Universities at Medway initiative
and is jointly owned and operated by Greenwich
and Kent universities.
The Medway Building, designed by architects RMJM
Ltd, was also shortlisted for a prestigeous RIBA
(Royal Institute of British Architects) Award following
a recent visit by members of the shortlisting panel.
The Medway campus continues to expand with the
completion of Kent’s new Gillingham Building, and
staff and students from Greenwich and Kent are also
enjoying a range of new facilities with the opening of
the Pilkington Building, jointly run by Greenwich and
Kent universities.
5 6
5

1 Professor David Melville
2 John Fitzpatrick
3 Music Prize winners
4 Rewriting the
history books
1
2
3
4
Kent still top in
South East England
The National Student Survey (NSS) has firmly
reinforced Kent’s position at the top of universities
in the South East of England.
The combined results of the 2005 and 2006 NSS –
both of which polled final-year undergraduates in
higher education institutions in the UK – has ranked
Kent top alongside the universities of Reading and
Southampton for student satisfaction.
These findings have been welcomed by Vice-
Chancellor Professor David Melville, who said: ‘Our
position within the National Student Survey is a
tribute to the hard work and dedication of all our
staff, and our continuous investment in student
support, new facilities and new staff.’
The NSS was organised by the Higher Education
Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in partnership
with the government and the National Union
of Students.
Vice-Chancellor to retire
Vice-Chancellor Professor David Melville is to retire
from the University with effect from 1 September
2007 after six years in the post. Professor Melville,
who is one of the country’s leading figures in
education, said, ‘I have thoroughly enjoyed working
with the staff at the University, all of whom have
played a key role in transforming Kent into one of
the most dynamic universities in the country.’
Music prizes
This year’s University music prizes have been
awarded to four outstanding students at a ceremony
attended by Rosie Turner, Director of the Canterbury
Festival, Dame Anne Evans, Patron of the University
Music Scholarship Scheme, and Professor Keith
Mander, Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
Mariah Mazur won the Canterbury Festival Music
Prize. A fourth-year student from Columbus, Ohio,
she is studying Drama and Italian and is Principal
Harp in the Symphony Orchestra. She has also given
many solo recitals and receives a Music Scholarship.
The 2006 University Music Prize went to second
year Law student Susannah Thackray. She is Principal
Flute in the Symphony Orchestra and also plays flute
and piccolo in the Concert Band. She receives a
Music Scholarship to study with Rosemary Rathbone.
Two students, finalist Robert Kent and postgraduate
Jonathan Stott, receive the Colyer-Fergusson Award
for their outstanding contribution to organising music
on campus.
Pharmacy student success
Allison Coll, a first year student from Medway
School of Pharmacy, has won the prestigious British
Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA) student
of the year competition. As part of her prize, Allison
was invited to be an official delegate for the BPSA at
an international conference in Cairns, Australia, in July,
where she met pharmacy students from all over the
world and took part in a range of discussions and
social activities while representing Britain.
Allison said she felt ‘humble and honoured’ in winning
the award, but insisted her tutors at the new Medway
School of Pharmacy played a big part in her success.
Head of School Professor Clare Mackie said that
Allison’s achievement was remarkable. The Medway
School of Pharmacy is a unique collaboration between
the University of Greenwich and the University of
Kent and opened the doors to its first students in 2004.
OBE for Kent Law
Clinic Director
John Fitzpatrick, Director of the Kent Law Clinic, has
been recommended by the Prime Minister for an
OBE for ‘services to the administration of justice’.
John Fitzpatrick has been Director since it was
established in its present form in 1992. He joined
the University in 1991, having previously practised as
a solicitor in London. For the past 30 years he has
contributed to the provision of public legal services
in this country. Starting in 1976 he has worked
in community law centres in Brixton, and then
Hammersmith, in London, and he still assists with that
work today. He has served for several years recently
on the Executive of the Law Centres Federation.
The Kent Law Clinic is a partnership between
students, academics and volunteer solicitors and
barristers. John said, ‘If ever an award was for
a collective achievement, this is it. It has been
an honour working with such wonderful students
and colleagues in the Kent Law School and such
supportive solicitors and barristers in local practice.’
6

1
2
3 4
1, 2 Phonathon callers
3, 4 Benefactors’
garden party
Class of 1993
Reunion Gift
In August, 65 alumni and friends from the graduating
year 1996 (entry year 1993) came back to campus
for a reunion at Keynes. The organisers were Sarah
Ivens K93, Editor in Chief of OK! magazine in New
York, and Rose St Louis K93. Rose said, ‘It was a
fantastic event, and we are thrilled to have raised
nearly £400 to give to Kent; we just wish it could
have been more!’ This reunion class gift goes to
the Annual Fund, which is made up of contributions
from Kent alumni and friends and makes awards to
projects that will have a direct impact on student life.
Giving something back
Chris Bellingham K81, Vice-President of the Board
of the University of Kent in America, Inc (UKA) has
made a generous gift. Chris studied Computers
and Cybernetics and now works as Senior Technical
Officer in the TradeBlade Division of Tullett Prebon,
Inc in New York. Chris wrote, ‘The donation was
made possible as a direct result of receiving a f irstclass
education at Kent, so I am delighted to be able
to give something back.
‘My stepdaughter will be going to college next year
and the preparations are stirring old memories.
I felt barely qualified for entry to Kent but admissions
gave me a chance. Then one of my tutors helped
me land a job in the financial industry which led to
a job offer in New York. Without the BSc I probably
wouldn’t have got the job or the green card that
followed. I sometimes wonder where I would be if
Kent had rejected my application.’
US residents wishing to make a gift tax efficiently can
find out more from Killara Burn, J.K.Burn@kent.ac.uk,
+44 (0)1227 824345 or by writing to the address
on page 2.
Phonathon 2006
We ended the four-week autumn 2006 campaign with
a pledged total of nearly £22,000. The two student
teams worked very hard to reach that total, and
there was excellent feedback from many of the 900
or so alumni the callers reached. The Phonathon
generates important income for the Annual Fund;
it is also an important source of information for the
University, about the services and benefits that alumni
would like from Kent, as well as the sort of input
they would like to contribute to the University today.
Overwhelmingly, alumni are interested in staying in
touch and in putting something back. Many offer
careers advice and work shadowing opportunities.
And for those who make a financial contribution,
student hardship and projects like UKC Radio (now
Canterbury Community Radio) attract the greatest
interest. If you’d like to make a gift to the Annual
Fund, please contact Sarah Saunders (S.A.Saunders@
kent.ac.uk), Annual Fund Officer or by writing to her
at the address on page 2.
Benefactors’ garden party
Hosted by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor David
Melville, and Mrs Lin Melville at their home,
Crossways, this annual event is organised to thank
the year’s donors for their gifts. Of the nearly 700
people and organisations worldwide who made a
financial contribution to the University of Kent in the
current year, 120 attended this year’s Garden Party,
held on 10 September. The harp of Crystin Williams
was the ideal musical accompaniment to a perfect
sunny afternoon at a garden party.
Larry Grant Scholarship
in the Kent Law School
Kent Law alumni from the mid-70s will remember
Larry Grant as the Legal Director of the pioneering
Kent Law Clinic. Few lawyers have devoted themselves
so steadfastly and effectively as Larry Grant did to
supporting the powerless, to defending fundamental
rights and liberties and to promoting justice and dignity.
Since he died suddenly in January 2003, his friends
and colleagues have been considering how to
memorialise Larry and his achievements as a lawyer,
writer, teacher and judge. This scholarship is the result.
The money raised will help fund one or more
postgraduate students each year to conduct research
in areas related to the interests, principles, and causes
for which Larry worked so hard.
The Law School at Kent has warmly welcomed the
initiative and will match the amount awarded to a
student by the Larry Grant Scholarship Fund. Thus if
the fund is able to award a scholarship of £1500, the
law school will contribute a similar amount, bringing
the total value of the award to £3000.
The Fund already has pledges of nearly £5,000, and the
hope is to raise £50,000. If you would like to contribute
or if you would like to know more, please get in touch
with Larry’s widow, Hilary Ives (0207 267 5400 or
07966139004), Richard de Friend (richard.de-friend
@lawcol.co.u), Steve Uglow (S.P.Uglow@kent.ac.uk)
or Killara Burn (J.K.Burn@kent.ac.uk or at the address
on page 2).
The Development and
Alumni Relations Team
The team is growing! We are very keen to increase the
proportion of Kent graduates on the team. If you are
interested in working at your University and you have
interest and a background in fundraising or related areas,
please get in touch with us at the address on page 2.
DEVELOPMENT
NEWS
7

SHAPING
THE WORLD
David Lister
R70: English
Arts Editor, the Independent
How did studying at Kent help you in your current work (if it did)?
It did. I wrote arts reviews for the university newspaper Incant and ended up in
arts journalism. The first review I wrote was of John Lennon’s first solo album. The
then editor of Incant who commissioned me was, 25 years later, a freelance
journalist pitching me articles. I returned the commissioning favour, of course.
What’s your favourite memory of your University years?
The weirdest one is of being in a Pasolini film, The Canterbury Tales. They were
shooting nearby and came to the campus to recruit extras. Pasolini asked me to
do an English folk dance. I replied that I had no idea how to do that, and he said:
‘But surely all English people know English folk dances.’ I also remember joining
the ents committee on my first day and us getting Led Zeppelin for the next
sports hall concert. Oh, and I met my wife at Kent.
Your least favourite?
Failing my Part Ones wasn’t my finest hour. But my tutor said: ‘Don’t worry, stay
cool’ and a quick chat sorted it out. That’s how universities should be.
Please describe a ‘typical’ day (for you now)
Days are long and mainly office-based. I commission articles for the daily arts
pages of the paper, then some more for the weekly arts and books magazine,
then some more for the monthly music magazine, maybe start on my weekly
column, try to negotiate plenty of exclusive interviews to annoy my rivals and
try to avoid office politics. One lives longer.
What do you think is the best thing about the University of Kent?
I always liked the collegiate system and the relative smallness of the place and
the views from the hill.
What do you think the University of Kent contributes to the region, the
nation and the world?
Its graduates.
Could you identify and describe a particularly influential person in your life,
including at Kent – a kind of mentor?
The teacher of my journalism course after I left Kent was Sir Tom Hopkinson, the
founder of Picture Post. He was a great mentor. I also had some fine teachers at
Kent including Michael Irwin, Judith Hattaway and Maurice Shapiro, who appallingly
was later murdered in his home.
Favourite book or film or TV show or actor/celebrity?
I think Simon Russell Beale is the greatest stage actor of his generation and I try
to see everything he is in. I also treasure the memory of seeing Laurence Olivier
on stage several times in his last years of acting.
What was your first impression of the University when you arrived?
The campus was a bit bleak in autumn. All the trendy students were wearing
long black coats. It was still the era of long hair and soft drugs. I didn’t have
the coat nor the long hair nor any drugs, so was a bit of a curiosity. It was also
disconcerting for me to be studying with girls, having been to a boys’ school.
Maybe that’s why I failed my Part Ones.
Do you have any advice for new graduates?
Don’t be obsessed with careers. Enjoy university for itself. Only think about
what job to get in the last few weeks.
Dean Harmeyer
K83: Junior Year Abroad, Humanities
Director of Catalogue, Classical, Jazz, & Associated Labels
Universal Music Group
How did studying at Kent help you in your current work (if it did)?
The American model of undergraduate university education typically puts less
emphasis on individual research in learning than the English model. My studies at
Kent really taught me how to approach and solve problems on my own. I find
that being an effective researcher is so valuable to whatever you do. I spend a
great deal of time at work trying to solve problems, and I think that Kent helped
me in developing processes by which to do so.
What’s your favourite memory of your University years?
There are many, but I have to mention the many hours of socializing with people
from all over the world in the Keynes bar as a kind of collective favourite memory.
I learned a great deal there, as well as in the classroom.
Your least favourite?
I wish I’d studied a bit harder!
Please describe a ‘typical’ day (for you now)
I’ve been working in the music business for 17 years, and one of the best things
about it is that there have rarely been two days that were exactly the same. I work
with a variety of record labels that put out different types of music for different
audiences. This week, I’ve been working out sales strategies for Rolling Stones
catalogue titles around their Fall US tour, reacting to the results of the MTV Video
Music Awards, and getting ready for the release of the new Sting record, which
is a very different project for him, and is coming out through our Classics division.
What do you think is the best thing about the University of Kent?
I think the sense of community at Kent is fantastic. And the large international
student body is a wonderful thing, in that you can meet and learn from people
who might come from very different backgrounds than your own.
What do you think the University of Kent contributes to the region, the nation
and the world?
Kent was where I really began to develop a broader and more-informed world view,
and I think the atmosphere there was absolutely a part of that happening for me.
Could you identify and describe a particularly influential person in your life,
including at Kent – a kind of mentor?
My father. He served in the military during the conflict in Korea, and it was that
experience that helped define the rest of his life. In many ways, I think the experiences
I had while studying abroad, at Kent, have helped define the course of my life, too.
Favourite book or film or TV show or actor/celebrity?
I couldn’t begin to name a favourite book,or anything to do with music, but I can
name a favourite film. It’s called Local Hero, and it’s about a Texas businessman
whose experiences on a business trip to Scotland challenge his values and alter
his world view in unexpected ways. I love this film because I’d gone through
precisely the same thing during my year at Kent, and the film really captures
that experience – which was funny, enlightening, with little surreal touches.
What was your first impression of the University when you arrived?
I still recall the taxi driver who brought me up the hill from the train station
asking me for an oil well when I told him I’d come from Texas. But my first real
impression of the University, after I’d gotten started with the coursework, was
that this was a place that was going to challenge me intellectually – and it did!
Do you have any advice for new graduates?
Don’t worry about finding the perfect job or the most lucrative field right away.
Find something you love to do, or love being involved with, and everything else
will take care of itself.
8

1 David Lister
2 Dean Harmeyer
3 Jonathan Morrish
4 Elizabeth Buchan
1
2 3
4
Jonathan Morrish
K70: English
PR and Media Consultant
How did studying at Kent help you in your current work (if it did)?
Learning to be assertive in seminars! Being able to form an opinion and
hold to it and express it passionately is a useful asset in the media world.
What’s your favourite memory of your University years?
Freedom, lack of responsibility.
Your least favourite?
Exam stress.
Please describe a ‘typical’ day (for you now)
In a blackberried world, it consists of dancing between the demands of clients,
meeting their expectations. Keeping up with the pace of news, networking
on the phone, lunch, office, work on the run, having fun.
What do you think is the best thing about the University of Kent?
Location.
What do you think the University of Kent contributes to the region,
the nation and the world?
I’d like to think open minds.
Could you identify and describe a particularly influential person in your
life, including at Kent – a kind of mentor?
Keith Carabine – top man. Now retired lecturer in English and American
Literature, specialist on Joseph Conrad.
Favourite book or film or TV show or actor/celebrity?
Palace of the Peacock – Wilson Harris.
What was your first impression of the University when you arrived?
The labyrinthine masses of Eliot and Rutherford.
Do you have any advice for new graduates?
Carpe diem!
Elizabeth Buchan
K67: English and History
Author and Journalist
How did studying at Kent help you in your current work (if it did)?
In every way possible. In particular ‘Britain and the Contemporary World’
really gave me a key to understanding the world I lived in, for which I am
enduringly grateful.
What’s your favourite memory of your University years?
Sitting outside Rutherford in the sun with friends, looking down at the
Cathedral and the orchard (sadly no longer there) and thinking how lucky
I was to have got to this place.
Your least favourite?
Waiting, perished with cold, for the bus to take me from my digs in Herne
Bay into the University on winter mornings.
Please describe a ‘typical’ day (for you now)
Up early, sometimes 5.30, and I read over breakfast. Then straight to my study
by 8am to begin writing. I take a break for lunch and will either edit or read during
the afternoon. If I am in the last stages of finishing a novel, I will write straight
through the day and into the evening but, normally, I finish work about 6pm.
What do you think is the best thing about the University of Kent?
For me, being at Kent provided fantastic educational and intellectual opportunities.
It also gave me the chance to make enduring friendships.
What do you think the University of Kent contributes to the region, the
nation and the world?
Clearly, as its alumni fan out all over the world, they take something of the
University with them.
Could you identify and describe a particularly influential person in your life,
including at Kent – a kind of mentor?
I remember Dr Peter Laven with the greatest respect and admiration. His
tutorials on Renaissance Venice and Florence were a high point.
Favourite book or film or TV show or actor/celebrity?
For its wit, cleverness, perception about the nature of creativity and its glorious
love affair, my favourite film has to be Shakespeare in Love – not least because
it starred Tom Wilkinson [Kent graduate – R67] who is one of the great actors.
What was your first impression of the University when you arrived?
Terrifying!
Do you have any advice for new graduates?
Enjoy. It is over very quickly.
Don’t worry about finding the perfect
job right away. Find something you
love to do and everything else will
take care of itself.
9

CONSTANT
GARDNER
1 Into the Woods
2 Lyn Gardner
One of Lyn Gardner’s
most vivid memories of
studying at Kent is when
she covered the whole
of Eliot Junior Common
Room with tinfoil. ‘I was
directing an all-male
version of Jean Genet’s
The Maids and the
only lighting we used
was night-lights,’ she
remembers. ‘It was all
very atmospheric, but
I’m sure that health
and safety would never
allow it now.’
Lyn studied at Kent in the mid-1970s, when hair
was long, trousers flared (the first time around) and
confrontation between the University and its students
common. She remembers joining protest marches
and demonstrations, including nights in her sleeping
bag in the Registry taking part in student occupations.
There was a sense of common purpose among the
students, and their relatively small number gave the
University ‘a kind of intimacy’. ‘In those days, when
you walked across the campus you’d inevitably meet
people you knew,’ she says. ‘It felt a bit like a village,
and I really liked that feeling.’
Lyn, 49, has been a theatre critic on The Guardian
for over a decade. Theatre has dominated her life
since childhood and, encouraged by her parents, she
was already a seasoned theatre goer by her early
teens. At school she wrote, directed, acted and often
starred in plays before becoming one of Kent’s first
drama students.
‘We were guinea pigs to a large extent,’ she
remembers. ‘If I’m honest, I was quite sulky during
most of my course in a teenage kind of way. I was
interested in new approaches to presenting plays,
for example in physical and visual theatre, which
weren’t explored on the syllabus.
‘So I did very little course work, but I directed a lot
of plays on staircases and other areas around the
campus, and acted in one in the Cathedral cloisters.
Ironically, the kind of theatre that interests me is very
much part of the course now.’
Alongside exploring her theatrical interests, Lyn’s
embryonic journalism skills were being developed
– as a broadcaster on UKC Radio, she would do
a weekly round-up of the newspapers every
Sunday morning. Her student years also saw the
publication of Lyn’s first-ever theatre review, for
a student magazine.
These experiences at Kent led directly to her first
job, as one of the founder members of the nowdefunct
London listings magazine, City Limits. She
became its theatre editor and was associated with it
for many years, going on to become the chair of the
board of directors of what was, at one point, the
largest publishing co-op in Europe.
After she left City Limits, Lyn freelanced for a while
before joining The Guardian in 1993. She has been
a full-time theatre critic there since 1995. ‘It’s not a
job you’d necessarily want to move on from,’ she says,
‘and many people think it’s incredibly glamorous, but
I cover theatre in many different regions, so I spend a
lot of time on my own, in hotel rooms and on trains.’
This ‘spare’ time led to a new development: she has
just finished her first novel, Into the Woods. It’s a
children’s book, for eight to 12-year-olds, and follows
the sparky young heroine, Storm Eden, on her
action-packed adventures in a world inspired by fairy
tales. She was encouraged to write it from reading
to her own children. ‘As a parent, you spend so much
time reading bedtime stories. There comes a point
when you just can’t bear to read a particular story
again,’ she says. ‘I wanted to write something that not
only a child could read on their own, but parents
could really enjoy reading to their children.’
It’s often said that all journalists have a half-written
novel stuffed away in their bottom drawer, but Lyn
never nurtured literary ambitions of this kind. ‘It
wasn’t like that for me,’ she says, laughing. ‘I didn’t
think I had a haiku in me, never mind a short story
or a novel!’
She would, however, often scribble down a few pages
of a story here and there, and the first part of what
became Into the Woods was written on 11 September
2001. ‘Usually, what I wrote would go in the bin,
but I kept these pages,’ she continues. ‘I had a post-
September 11 feeling of wanting to change my life
in some way and when I went on holiday with my
family, I promised my children I would write something
for them every day and read it to them in the
evening – which I did.
‘By the end of the holiday I had 12,000 words and
I later showed what I’d written to a friend who is
a children’s writer. Her agent liked it, encouraged me
to finish the book and found a publisher.’
Although Lyn never imagined herself as a novelist,
she has found the process so enjoyable that she’s
already writing a sequel. ‘After all these years of
journalism, where you have to keep to the facts,
it was wonderful to work with my imagination,’ she
says enthusiastically. ‘I can’t tell you what huge
pleasure I had writing it, but I’m certainly not giving
up the day job.’
Into the Woods, by Lyn Gardner, is published
by David Fickling Books.
Article written by David Clark R82. David
is a senior features writer for IPC Media.
1 2
10

NIGHT
TRAIN
Night Train 4 is the second edited anthology of Kent’s Creative
Writing Programme. This year, the collection is edited by Dr Susan
Wicks, Senior Lecturer in English and American Literature, who
has selected just some of the work for KENT readers. She writes:
‘The work here doesn’t need me to speak for it. Every piece speaks
eloquently for itself. I’m happy to see all levels and age-groups
represented, and I am – I hope, forgivably – proud of the result,
on the writers’ behalf, on their teachers’, and on my own. I hope
everyone can relate to the work showcased here and remember
its origins – the atmosphere of support, and above all the peerinvolvement
that made its development and sometimes even its
genesis possible.’
11

‘The work here doesn’t
need me to speak for
it. Every piece speaks
eloquently for itself. I’m
happy to see all levels
and age-groups
represented, and I am
– I hope, forgivably –
proud of the result.’
Saturday
By Allie Furse
It is Saturday. I am one week late.
I am going out of my tree with it.
On Tuesday, you asked me if it had come yet. I told you that my cycle was so predictable, I practically knew
the hour it would come, but that I hadn’t even felt any pangs of it.
Normally, it would be very unlike me to tell you when it did come, and you know that, but each day this
week, you’ve seen me and just said, well? and then waited for me to shake my head again.
When we realised what we might have done, the morning after, about three weeks ago, you had looked rather
pleased with yourself.
We were standing outside together, having a fag, and you asked me if I had been to the doctor’s yet.
No, I said. Why should I? I lowered my voice to a whisper. About last night?
You nodded.
You pulled out though, didn’t you? I said.
Yeah, but there’s still a chance, you said. I thought you knew.
No, I didn’t, I said.
You grinned to yourself as you took a drag of your Marlboro. I might be a Daddy, you said.
I can’t have it, I said. If… my voice failed that sentence. You do understand that, don’t you?
Fathers have rights these days, you said.
That’s true, I said, but it has rights too: and I haven’t got anything to give it, yet, and I’d always promised myself
I would have something stable – at least financially – before I brought a baby into the world. I need to be
in a position to give it something, I explained. I’ve got nothing.
You have, you said. You’ve got you.
I’d be a terrible mother. And I haven’t even got somewhere to live myself in three weeks. If I had a baby…
You’d be the perfect mother.
1, 2 Trevi
I smiled at you. Dropped a hip as I turned and looked at you over my shoulder. If I didn’t think you were trying
to charm yourself back into my pants,I said, I’d believe you.
In the last week, I’ve held a vivid image of an Abortion Clinic like a photo in my wallet. I imagine wallpaper
as yellow as an old calendar, the only thing more depressed than the patients. I imagine plastic chairs, spiky
under the seat so they snag your tights on the back of your knees. The actual process of it must be ten times
easier than sitting in that waiting room. Waiting. The idea creeps up on me. Makes me put my hand on my
belly, just below my stomach. I haven’t told you about any of this.
I don’t think I can explain to you well enough how it
feels to know that a life might be forming, inside you.
I don’t know how fast cells multiply, but soon it’d grow
to be as big as a nut, an orange, a melon, and then
I would stop comparing it to objects because it will
have fingers and eyes, and be a little person. My world
might be different forever.
Or, it might not.
I can’t tell you how much I’ve thought about it.
I haven’t stopped smoking. In fact, I think I’ve smoked more. I don’t know what happens to babies if you
smoke when you’re pregnant. I mean, does the baby just get bad lungs, or does it affect them in other ways?
What else gets passed down? That’s the thing about families: some things can never be escaped. A mountain
is in your view. A dark river runs along your veins. I’m just as stubborn as my mother, and now, I’ve decided,
every bit as fertile. Wide hips. Heavy flow. Regular as clockwork.
But today, Saturday, a week late. The other day – I think it was Thursday – I caught five minutes with you.
Private minutes.
I sensed black between us and I know you felt the same.
I think you brought up the subject of an interesting name for the baby.
I don’t believe in God, I said, but will you pray for me or something? Get Him to sort me out. You know what
I mean. Come on, now. You know.
You sighed. Hands moving in your pockets. You looked at the sky, I think. I’ll have a word, you said. I’ll do what
I can.
Allie Furse is studying English and American Literature and Creative Writing. She has just finished
her second year.
12

Trevi
By Roger James
‘Look. The cats.’ Lynne points at cats sitting on the stones, kittens, flocks of cats staring at the passers-by,
the Roman women, dark eyes, black hair and fake fur. Lynne uses her hands briefly, like a butterfly. If you look
closely, you see where she bites her nails and, fading now, the 18-year mark of her wedding ring.
They are in the Via Argentina at 7.00 p.m., Chris and Lynne arm in arm, looking for the Russian tea shop,
both dressed up, Lynne in her high heels and long black dress, Chris in his jeans and leather jacket.
They are so pleased for each other when they find the small shop, hug, pirouette, take in the chrome
samovars, the porcelain tea urns big as Ming vases, buy boxes of chocolate-covered orange peel and
middle-eastern teas for Lynne’s mum.
‘Can we go to the Trevi Fountain?’
‘Yes, er... you mean tonight or what about tomorrow? Y’know in the sunshine, like?’
‘Now. Why not?’
And the darkness coming down between them like a curfew, like a stone prison, making it easy for them
to argue.
‘You don’t want to go, do you?’
‘Yeah – I’m OK with it. It’s just, don’t they turn it off or something? It’ll be dark, won’t it?’
Chris is out under sufferance looking for Trevi and it’s
too dark to read his microscopic map and the small
streets in a maze he can not navigate. Passing the
Pantheon, ominous and frowning, Chris knows it’s 9.00
p.m., the Rome cold cutting through his clothes. He
was awake at 6.00. Even the cats have gone to bed.
1
Lynne steps in dog-turd and is angry now. He touches her, but she pushes him away.
‘I’m sorry, Lynne. OK. I can’t read the map. It’s too dark. Let’s wait till tomorrow. It’s not my fault. ‘
‘It’s no-one’s fault.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m tired. I want to go to bed. If you can’t find the Fountain, find the Hotel.’
2
‘What’s got into you?’
‘Don’t shout at me. Don’t touch me.’
Lynne is screaming now, stone-faced, the walls shackling her, everything impossible. Chris feeling, ‘Never again.
Mad fucking women.’ Lynne inside her head, incandescent, repeating, ‘Who the fuck’s he think he is?’
Slightly too far ahead of her Chris heads out north-west. He thinks, he feels. Lynne is banging her high heel
on the pavement, aware of the turd-smell. Chris feels again. Empty. Bags of peeled vegetables. Then a solitary
cat. Turn the corner and there is the Trevi Fountain.
At first they couldn’t believe the brightness. Summer sunlight, an entire wall of water. Those figures. You would
believe in Giants. Lifting things, lifting each other. And the noise was deafening. Gallons and gallons of tumbling,
cascading water. Hundreds of young people sitting around. Some in the fountain. Romans, gesticulating with
cigarettes. Gypsies selling roses. Cats everywhere, waiting for scraps of food.
Lynne and Chris were caught up, now on the edge of the fountain, feeling the water on their feet.
Chris shouted something to her.
‘What ?’
‘I said make a wish.’
‘OK,’ smiling. ‘I wish someone would clean my smelly shoe.’
‘We found it, Lynne. We found it.’
Lynne fumbled in her bag and reached out her wedding ring. Then she threw it up over the water, the
floodlights catching it and holding it a minute. The world stopped, the fountain stopped. The cats stopped.
The flower seller’s hand stopped and the rose she was holding froze.
Then it had gone. The water surfing, the statues smiling. And the ring, finally, at home in it all.
Chris looked at her but she was weeping, unable to stop, her shoulders shaking, mascara running and her face
all the faces of all the broken women he had ever known.
Nothing to say, Chris bent down, took off her little, broken shoe and let the fountain wash away the waste,
the excrement, took her back to the cheap hotel.
Held her till she slept, slept, slept.
Roger James is an aging rocker who has just completed a year of the Certificate in Creative Writing.
He moved south from Manchester six years ago. He relaxes by doing Hospital Medicine.
13

Night Train 4 is being launched on 20 November
and will be available by post (£7 each or £11 for 2,
including P&P) from the Centre for Creative
Writing, School of English, Rutherford College,
University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NX.
Forthcoming books by
Creative Writing teachers:
Susan Wicks’s 5th
collection of poems,
De-iced, will shortly be
published by Bloodaxe
and Bluechrome will
shortly be publishing
Patricia Debney’s novella,
Losing You. The End of
Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas
has just been published in
America and will be
published in the UK by
Canongate next June
1 Susan Wicks
2 Scarlett Thomas
3 De-iced
A Journey
By Martine Ratcliffe
Once upon a time a woman who is waiting decides
not to wait any longer but to do what she always
does and puts her two toddlers into a pushchair,
feeds them biscuits with nursery rhyme pictures and
drinks of blackcurrant from Peter Rabbit beakers,
wipes their soft wet chins, arranges their soft wool
bonnets over their fine white curls, pulls and pushes
them into anoraks from Mothercare, the ones with
fake fur stitched safely round the hoods and down
the zippered fronts, strokes the soft plump toes into
coloured moccasin boots which lace in zigzags across
the front and pushes her waiting body into an old
camel coat which fits perfectly and chooses a scarf
of silk to wear around her neck in reds and pinks and
blues, and leather walking shoes, comfortable for all
eventualities, and then she waits to see if she can find
an eye into nothing which means something and
when that doesn’t happen, which seems like a path
to follow, she opens her front door wide to let the
world in but it chooses not to enter so she squeezes
herself and the buggy load of toddlers through the
empty space and sets off to follow on to somewhere
where she hums as she goes and soon the toddlers
are asleep and dreaming of the sounds of the traffic
they can hear so she joins them in King Street because
she thinks if there is one good safe place to do her
waiting it will be King Street and there, there will be
some big noble thing to fill her like magic from a
genie bottle and suddenly she hears something and
she knows immediately that it leads to the eye into
nothing and she twirls in her camel coat and whispers
to her dreaming toddlers to hold tight, they are off
now and they clutch the sides of the blue buggy and
shriek with the speed of everything passing by and
then she has to hold the magic down slow the magic
down and she is frightened that she can’t hold it
and she whispers again the magic words of Lille and
Brussels and Paris and the toddlers laugh and cry
out to go, to go to go and then she hears the sound
that shudders and breaks the day into wide jagged
pieces and when it is whirling around them like thick
candyfloss she calls out loudly, now now now and
then they leap into the pink hard centre and it draws
them up and up and in, and holds them.
Martine Ratcliffe is a part-time student on the MA
in Creative Writing. She is married with six children
and lives in Tunbridge Wells. She has had several
poems accepted for publication.
Looking up
By Frances Rae
Instead, I’m counting
the blues in the campanula by the river.
And there, under the trees, are precise, closing lines
in the water, the bones of a cathedral drawing
the eye down.
Will I, like this leaf, sidle up, slip
onto the glassy slope, head down to the rocks
and the foaming for the crash, then glide away
invisible below the waterline?
Or will I in the end fasten to some dark edge,
blown, battered like that stuck one, hanging on
till the final flux? Will I, perhaps, shuffle
into the shallows, amass with my fellows
here on this deadly horizontal,
putting things off for another year?
And all this time the cranes are passing overhead.
Their broken cry
an unpolished fly-wheel somewhere
until it dawns on me. I rush
out of the gorge, arms swinging,
and there in the high blue up, oh far above the trees,
is the end, the tail end of a ragged V.
The cranes are going home.
Vs on Vs, they tell me later. Thousands, like branches;
hundreds, like the arms of a river
and I missed them.
Frances Rae is on the MA programme in Creative
Writing. She began the Certificate course in
Tonbridge in 1998 barely realising how much
it would change her life, and is still considering
changing her name and buying a blond wig so
she can do it all over again.
1
2 3
14

1
2
1 KBS at Canterbury
2 KBS at Wye
MBA alumni scholarships
Kent Business School is offering their MBA alumini
a unique opportunity to update their knowledge.
A limited number of scholarships are now available
for Kent MBA alumni to join the current MBA class
on one of the week-long electives. This is a unique
opportunity to refresh your skills and network
with a diverse group of business professionals. The
scholarships are open to alumni who completed the
Kent MBA programme three or more years ago and
who are currently in employment. If you would like
to find out more, please contact MBA programme
director Chris Bristow at C.D.Bristow@kent.ac.uk.
Full information about our programme or our MBA
Briefings can be found at www.kent.ac.uk/kbs.
Dragon’s Den success
A company supported by Kent Enterprise and
the Canterbury Enterprise Hub at the University
has secured £100k on BBC Two’s Dragons’ Den,
a television programme where contestants pitch
for investment from leading enterpreneurs.
First Light Solutions, has developed a world-first
for marine safety with the soon to be released
mermaid-id, a pioneering and affordable sonarbased
Man Overboard system that is destined
to save many lives.
Carole Barron, Director of Kent Enterprise said, ‘We
are also delighted to have been involved with their
company and product development as the University,
through its Great Ideas in Science and Technology
(GRIST) funding, was able to provide financial support
at a time when they needed breathing space to take
the product forward.’
Matthew Hazell of First Light Solutions, said, ‘Our
involvement with Kent Enterprise and the Canterbury
Enterprise Hub at Kent clearly demonstrates that the
University is a real world institution, providing practical
solutions and support to the business community.
I firmly believe that their advice, assistance and support
have contributed to our success.’
First Light Solutions aims to launch mermaid-id
at the London Boat Show 2007.
Kent Enterprise launches
Inventors’ Club
The University’s Kent Enterprise is to establish an
Inventors’ Club at its Canterbury campus. The Club
will be open to inventors in the region as well as
students who have an entrepreneurial interest.
Supported by Business Link, the objectives of the
club will be: to promote and build an enterprise
culture in East Kent; to support graduate retention
by encouraging business start-up; to raise awareness
of opportunities and potential issues through
expert presentations; to provide business support
to encourage company start-ups and improve
survival of young companies; and to facilitate
knowledge transfer by offering an easily accessible
point of contact at the University.
Carole Barron, Director of Kent Enterprise, said:
‘It has been proven that the more support and
encouragement received at the ideas and invention
stage, the greater the survival rate of young
companies. The University has a strong track record
in assisting students, graduates and the wider
community in supporting and developing ideas
through their involvement in schemes such as Great
Ideas in Science and Technology (GRIST). In addition
the University has extensive expertise and knowledge
arising from its national and international reputation
in research to provide additional support for those
seeking advice other than business mentoring.
The East Kent Inventors’ Club will provide inventors
with the support they require to develop and take
forward their ideas or inventions into a viable
business proposition.’
To find out more contact Christina Schönleber
at C.M.Schoenleber@kent.ac.uk
University of Kent at Wye
The University has joined forces with Imperial
College London in a move which boosts higher
education in Kent. As a result of this new partnership,
Kent Business School is now offering Applied Business
Management programmes at Wye. New students
enrolling from 2007 will receive a University of Kent
degree and, in recognition of Imperial’s ongoing
involvement, an Associateship of Wye College. The
Associateship recognises the site from which the
course is offered, a location for education since 1447.
BUSINESS
LINKS
15

1 Backpackers in Malaysia
2 Rare species
3 Jerzy Grotowski
4 Nanotechnology benefits
frozen food
RARE SPECIES CAUGHT ON CAMERA
Scientists from Kent working in the
tropical forests of west-central Sumatra
have recorded one of Indonesia’s rarest
species of bird.
Working as part of a joint Indonesian and British team, they were surveying for
tigers in a former logging concession close to Kerinci Seblat National Park and
photographed a species in their camera traps that took them all by surprise.Until
now, the endemic Sumatran Ground Cuckoo Carpococcyx viridis has only been
recorded once since 1916, and then only from southern Sumatra in 1997.‘Refinding
this critically endangered species close to Kerinci Seblat is especially
exciting,’ said project manager Dr Matthew Linkie of the Durrell Institute of
Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent. ‘We’ve recently shown how
critical Kerinci Seblat is for the long-term survival of Sumatran tigers [a reference
to a study published in the latest Journal of Applied Ecology] but finding the
Sumatran Ground Cuckoo gives me hope, because it was photographed in
disturbed forest that has been left to recover near the national park, and because
our project has built capacity among young Indonesian scientists to lead camera
trapping teams that undertake routine monitoring. Sumatran rainforests contain
some of the world’s richest biodiversity but they are also among the world’s
most threatened forests. The ongoing threat of deforestation by farmland
expansion that follows selective logging is of greatest concern because it
completely removes forest habitat.
INDIAN MEDICAL RESEARCH STUDY
Dr Pratik Chakrabarti, Wellcome
Lecturer in the History of Modern
Medicine, has received funding of £220k
for a project titled Laboratory Medical
Research in Colonial India, 1890-1950.
Funded by the Wellcome Trust, Dr
Chakrabarti’s research will provide a
comprehensive analysis of laboratory
research in India and further the
historical elucidation of modern
medicine there.
His research will focus on three establishments for the period 1890 to the 1950s:
the Plague Research Laboratory at Bombay (established 1899); the Pasteur Institutes
at Kasauli (established 1900), Coonoor (established 1907), Rangoon (established
1916), Shillong (established 1917) and Calcutta (established 1924); and the Central
Research Institute at Kasauli (established 1905). By focusing on these laboratories
Dr Pratik Chakrabarti aims to illustrate how they played a crucial role in research
in tropical diseases and public health and in facilitating international research.
Their history would also unfold the genesis of laboratory medical research in
modern India.
BACKPACKERS ARE SERIOUS BUSINESS
For most of us,
backpacker holidays
conjure up images of
carefree tourists seeking
out the best beaches,
bars and youth hostels.
But for academic
Dr Mark Hampton,
backpackers mean
serious business.
Mark, who runs the Tourism Management degree
course at the University’s Medway campus, has
been researching t he importance of the backpacker
market in the Asia Pacific region in a £50,000 project
funded by the Malaysian Government.
An expert in the field of backpacker tourism,
Dr Hampton was invited to take part in the project
by Professor Amran Hamzah, of Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia in Johor Bahru. The two academics and their
research team spent several weeks in Malaysia,
Bangkok and Vietnam analysing the views,
experiences and spending habits of backpackers
before presenting their findings to the Malaysian
Ministry of Tourism. The Malaysian government
is the first in the developing world to commission
such major independent research into backpackers.
The project also marks the launch of Kent Business
School’s latest research centre, CENTICA – the
Centre for Tourism in Islands and Coastal Areas.
Led by Mark Hampton and based at the Medway
campus, CENTICA will provide applied research on
the tourism industry for governments, agencies and
the private sector.
NEW
FRONTIERS
1
16

NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY BENEFITS FROZEN FOOD
Kent’s Nanobiotechnology Research Group has received a new grant of over
800,000 euros from the European Commission. The grant will help the research
group contribute their expertise to a wider EU consortium that is developing
and integrating novel technologies to improve safety and quality assurance of
the chilled and frozen food supply chain.
Ian Bruce, Professor of Nanobiotechnology and leader of the research group,
said: ‘New materials and chemistry being developed at Kent will significantly
improve the efficiency of food testing for identity and therefore improve
consumer confidence and choice.’
BRITAIN SEEN AS EQUAL SOCIETY
Recent terrorist acts have increased suspicion and fear of non-Muslim people
towards Muslim people but people broadly share a vision of Britain as an equal
society with a common set of values according to research by Professor Dominic
Abrams and his colleagues from Kent’s Centre for the Study of Group Processes.
The findings showed that while the
large majority of people recognise
that Muslims suffer from discrimination
and prejudice (77%), feelings became
more negative towards Muslims as a
group after the bombings.
This research adds to current debate about multiculturalism in Britain. Survey
respondents generally agreed with the concept of an integrated and inclusive Britain.
Professor Abrams said: ‘Not surprisingly feelings of suspicion and threat elevated
after the bombings, but these feelings can be contrasted strongly with people’s
commitment to a society that broadly shares a set of values and principles.’
CONSERVATION FALLOUT
A new book by Dr John Wills, Lecturer in
American History, examines one of the
most controversial US atomic projects of
all time: Pacific Gas and Electric’s decision
to build a nuclear power plant at Diablo
Canyon, a scenic part of the central
California coastline and an area just
three miles from a geological fault line.
Despite its significance in the history of 20th century environmental issues and
the continuing debate over the safety of nuclear power, Dr Wills’ book – titled
‘Conservation Fallout: Nuclear Protest at Diablo Canyon’ (University of Nevada Press)
– is the first to address the full story of Diablo Canyon.
He says, ‘Two competing visions of California emerged while the plant underwent
construction. Environmentalists used Diablo as a symbol of impending ecological
doomsday, while Pacific Gas and Electric envisioned it as the model that would
usher in a new age of energy production.’ The two sides proved irreconcilable. In
1981 a grass roots two-week-long blockade of the nuclear plant resulted in 1900
activists being jailed, the largest arrest in the history of American nuclear protest.
‘SPIN-OUT’ TO REVOLUTIONISE BIOMEDICAL OPTICS
The University’s Kent Enterprise unit
and School of Physical Sciences have
‘spun out’ a high-tech company that is
set to revolutionise biomedical optics.
Optopod Ltd, the brainchild of Adrian Podoleanu, Professor of Biomedical Optics
and Head of the Applied Optics Group, has developed a technique based on
optical coherence tomography that has proved successful in non-destructive imaging
of superficial tissue.
Optopod’s new technology has the great advantage that it is non-invasive and
provides high-depth resolution, enabling safe application to different types of
tissue – such as skin, teeth, gum, internal vessel walls and hair – and to burns.
The technology is also finding applications in biology and art conservation.
MIXED-RACE IDENTITY IN THE UK
Researchers at Kent have been awarded
£156,000 by the Economic and Social
Research Council to investigate the range
of identity choices potentially available
to mixed-race young people in Britain.
Conducted by Peter Aspinall from the Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS)
and Dr Miri Song from the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research,
together with CHSS’s Ferhana Hashem, this two-year study will be the largest and
most detailed of its kind ever undertaken in the UK and will supply the research
community, census agencies and the providers of educational, health and other
public services with a comprehensive insight into the personal, group and political
dimensions of mixed-race identities. It will also explore how such identities are
constructed and what they mean for the people holding them, the factors contributing
to the possession of these identities, how they affect people’s ability to make an
individual life, and how such identities constrain or enable an individual’s freedom.
THE BRITISH GROTOWSKI PROJECT
Paul Allain, Professor of Theatre and Performance in the School of Drama, Film
and Visual Arts, has been awarded a grant of £203,000 from the Arts and
Humanities Research Council to conduct the ‘British Grotowski project’, a much
needed re-evaluation of the performances, theories and practices of acclaimed
Polish theatre director Jerzy Grotowski.
The three-year project will be
completed with the assistance of the
Grotowski Centre in Wroclaw, Poland,
as well as other overseas partners.
Professor Allain said: ‘Jerzy Grotowski’s contribution to world theatre is widely
acknowledged. He has a central position in Britain in theatre studies and a still vital
influence on theatre-making, especially devising and actor training in physical theatre.’
2
3 4
17

1 Abdulrazak Gurnah
2 Desertion
3 By the Sea
4 Paradise
BEST OF
BOTH
WORLDS
1
Posie Bogan interviews
Abdulrazak Gurnah about
his dual role as a leading
writer and Head of the
School of English at Kent.
Abdulrazak Gurnah is a novelist whose work places him among the best of
contemporary writers. He is also head of the School of English at Kent – and
somehow appears to combine these two distinct and challenging roles with ease.
Migration and displacement, whether from East Africa to Europe or within Africa,
are integral to his novels. His first book Memory of Departure was published in
1987. Subsequent books include Paradise, which was shortlisted for the Booker
prize; By the Sea, shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and Desertion,
shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize. Abdulrazak first came to Britain
from Zanzibar after the overthrow of the country’s government. He explains:
‘There was great violence in the country; it was in a state of terror and
disruption.’ He and his brother literally ran away and, because they had a cousin
studying in Wye, they ended up in Canterbury. ‘It was just chance. It could have
been anywhere.’ Today they would probably have been classed as asylum seekers
but this was the sixties and despite having what he calls ‘strange papers’ they
managed to avoid being categorised as illegal immigrants by throwing themselves
at the mercy of officials. Although he makes it all sound matter-of-fact, it can’t have
been an easy time but they remained optimistic about their futures. ‘We were
young – 17, 18 – and reckless. We thought things would just work out.’
Through a combination of work and study, Gurnah gained his first degree at
Canterbury Christ Church University College. While teaching in Dover, he began
part-time postgraduate study at Kent, studying under Lyn Innes, now Emeritus
Professor of Postcolonial Literatures. A scholarship enabled him to study full-time
and after gaining his PhD in 1980, he took up his first lecturing post in Nigeria.
Returning to the UK, he worked for a time in the voluntary sector in London,
coming back to Kent to lecture in English. His first book was published shortly
afterwards. He is now in his second year as head of the School of English.
The School has what might well be the highest proportion of active writers
in any university English department. As well as Abdulrazak, the academic staff
includes novelists such as Scarlett Thomas and Sue Wicks as well as writers such
as Rod Edmond and David Blair. As a result, students, both postgraduate and
undergraduate, have a definite sense of gaining ‘added value’ from being in
the department.
According to Abdulrazak, ‘We get good students and we set our standards quite
high. Many undergraduates are no doubt attracted by the prospect of being
taught by leading writers – it probably gives them a sense of being in good hands.
It certainly impacts on our postgraduates – we do recruit excellent students.’
Since he first started lecturing, he says the nature of university education has
changed considerably. ‘For example, my department is now three or four times
bigger than when I first joined, but there are fewer members of staff. It’s not
worse but it’s different. You just have to change how you teach. When I first
started you had groups of four to six students in tutorials, today you have
seminars and lectures. But the amount of personal contact isn’t necessarily less
as you can be in constant contact with students through email.’
Abdulrazak acknowledges that being an academic is harder than it used to be.
‘You have to be really serious about wanting to do it, but what does make a
difference is having good colleagues. They can really make life a lot easier.’
Change is also a feature of his writing career. A well-established writer now has
a range of extra duties to fulfil besides the actual writing. You are expected to
attend signing sessions and literary festivals and talks. But unlike some, he sees this
increased interaction as a bonus. ‘I enjoy the readers – they ask questions, they
email you, they come back to you.’ It apparently adds to what has always been an
enjoyable process for him.
Writing is something he has done ever since he was young, when he used to do
it to entertain himself and friends. Looking back, he laughs that ‘I used to write so
that I could sob on my own.’ He is clear that there is writing, which is what most
of us do, and there is ‘writing’, a process he describes as ‘an art, something you
make, build and shape. You don’t always know when you have moved from one
to another – but it’s when you find yourself asking, “what’s this, where is it going?”’
On a personal level, Abdulrazak is clear about the direction he is heading in.
Luckily, he has no plans to give up the ‘day job’ to write full-time. He has one
more year as head of English – the job has a three-year tenure – and next year
he is publishing ‘something on Rushdie for Cambridge University Press’ and after
that he has plans for another novel.
To find out more about Abdulrazak Gurnah’s work visit
www.bloomsbury.com/authors/
18

2 3 4
Desertion
Abdulrazak Gurnah’s latest book
Desertion was shortlisted for the 2006
Commonwealth Writers Prize. This is
an extract from the first chapter.
There was a story of his first sighting. In fact, there was more than one, but
elements of the stories merged into one with time and telling. In all of them
he appeared at dawn, like a figure out of a myth. In one story, he was an upright
shadow moving so slowly that in that peculiar underwater light his approach was
almost imperceptible, inching forward like destiny. In another, he was not moving
at all, not a tremor or a quiver, just looming there on the edge of town, grey eyes
glittering, waiting for someone to appear, for someone whose unavoidable luck
it was to find him. Then, when someone did, he slid forward towards him, to fulfil
outcomes no one had predicted. Someone else claimed to have heard him
before he was seen, to have heard his beseeching, longing howl in the darkest
hour of the night, like that of an animal out of a legend. What was undisputed –
although there was no real dispute between these stories as they all added to
the strangeness of his appearance – was that it was Hassanali the shopseller who
found him, or was found by him.
There is luck in all things, as there was in this first arrival, but luck is not the same
as chance, and even the most unexpected events fulfil a design. That is, there
were consequences in the future that made it seem less than accidental that it
was Hassanali who found the man. At that time, Hassanali was always the first
person about in the morning in this locality. He was up before dawn to open the
doors and the windows of the mosque. Then he stood on the steps to call the
people to prayer, pitching his voice to all corners of the clearing in front of him.
Salla, salla. Sometimes the breeze carried similar calls from nearby mosques, other
cryers chiding the people to wake. As-salatu kharya minannawm. Prayer is better
than sleep. Hassanali probably imagined the sinners turning over irritably at being
disturbed, and probably felt indignant and self-righteous satisfaction. When he
finished calling, he swept the dust and the grit from the mosque steps with a
feathery casuarina broom whose silent efficiency gave him deep pleasure. This
task of opening the mosque, cleaning the steps, making the call to prayer, was
one he had appointed himself to for his own reasons. Someone had to do it,
someone had to get up first, open the mosque and make the adhan for the dawn
prayers, and someone always did, for his own reasons. When that person was ill
or grew tired of the charge, there was always another person to take over.
The man who preceded him was called Sharif Mdogo, and had come down with
fever so badly in the kaskazi two years ago that he was still bedridden. It was
a little surprising that Hassanali had volunteered himself to take over as the
dawn cryer, though, not least to Hassanali himself. He was not zealous about the
mosque, and it required zeal to rise at every dawn and bully people out of sleep.
Sharif Mdogo was like that, the kind of man who liked to barge into complacency
and give it a good shake. In addition, Hassanali was a worrying man by nature, or
perhaps experience had made him that way, had made him anxious and cautious.
These semi-nocturnal chores tortured his nerves and disturbed his nights, and
he feared the darkness and the shadows and the scuttlings of the deserted lanes.
But then these were also the reasons he offered himself for the task, as a
submission and a penance. He started doing the duty two years before the dawn
of this sighting, when his wife Malika first arrived. It was a plea that his marriage
should prosper, and a prayer for his sister’s grief to end. The mosque was only
a short stroll across the clearing from his shop, but when he started making the
dawn call to prayer, he felt obliged to do as his predecessor Sharif Mdogo had
done. He entered nearby lanes, more or less shouting into bedroom windows as
he walked past, bellowing at the sleepers. He worked out a route which avoided
the chasms and caves where the worst of the shadowy mischief lurked, but he
was still prone to seeing spectral visions hurrying away into the darkest parts
of the streets as he approached, fleeing the prayers and holy words he uttered
as he exhorted the slumbering faithful. These visions were so real – a monster
claw glimpsed at the turning of a lane, discontented spirits softly panting
somewhere behind him, images of gross underground creatures which glowed
and faded before he caught proper sight of them that often he performed his
tasks in a sweat despite the dawn chill. One morning, during another anxious,
sweat-drenched round, when the dark lanes pressed in on him like the walls of
a narrowing tunnel, he felt a rush of air on his arm as the shadow of a dark wing
caught the corner of his eye. He ran, and after that decided to end the torment.
He retreated to the mosque steps to make his call, a short walk across the
clearing. He added the chore of sweeping the steps to make amends, even
though the imam told him that calling from the steps was all that was required,
and that Sharif Mdogo had been zealous in his duties.
© Abdulrazak Gurnah 2005
Desertion is published by Bloomsbury.
19

1 Tate Britain
1
KEEPING UP WITH KENT
GRADUATES: VISUAL ARTS
This issue of KENT finds out what some of our alumni from visual arts
subjects, including History & Theory of Art and the History & Philosophy
of Art have been up to since they left university.
Sophie Berrebi E91
(History & Theory of Art and Philosophy)
The degree I earned at Kent confirmed my enthusiasm
for art and its history. My internship at the Museum
of Modern Art in the Pompidou Centre in Paris
during the summer following my graduation made
me realise how passionately I wanted to work in the
art world. After completing an MA at the Courtauld
Institute, I took a gap year and returned to the
Pompidou Centre to work as an assistant curator,
while studying at the Sorbonne. I did not want to
choose between academia and the museum world,
and wanted to learn to write, so I embarked upon
a PhD at the Courtauld Institute. I also worked as
an art critic – mainly as a Paris correspondent for
Frieze magazine (Europe’s leading magazine of
contemporary art and culture). Shortly after completing
my thesis I was appointed as a lecturer at the
University of Leeds, where I stayed a year. I now have
a permanent position lecturing in the history and
theory of art, photography and film at the University
of Amsterdam. This job allows me to continue to
curate exhibitions, write and publish, bringing my
different passions together.
Lucy Brown D95
(History & Theory of Art)
After graduating from Kent I moved straight to London
with the intention of working in the arts. I wasn’t
more specific as my interests were quite broad. Within
six months I started as a secretary in the Old Master,
Modern & Contemporary Print Department at
Christie’s. Eight years later I still work at Christie’s, now
as a Business Manager, and I have worked with a wide
range of specialist departments: British Art, 19th
Century European Art, Old Master Drawings, Books,
Silver and Miniatures. I made a conscious decision to
pursue a career in the business side of the auction
house, rather than becoming a specialist, as I wanted
to keep my options open. I’m in an enviable position:
I work in a highly commercial international business
with fascinating people who have a great passion for
what they deal with, and I am constantly learning about
the objects and works of art we put up for sale.
Walking through our viewing rooms between meetings
and getting to see some of the best art produced
is another fantastic advantage.
Julia Beaumont-Jones R96
(History & Theory of Art BA and MA)
Following my MA, I took up a post at Bonham’s
auctioneers, which was useful for becoming more
familiar with the fine and decorative arts and the
workings of the art market. It gave me a completely
different approach: more commercial, rather than just
theoretical. My enthusiasm was for curatorial work
however and, after a year, I found an opening as
an office manager in the Imperial War Museum’s
Department of Art. Thankfully my job quickly evolved
to include research and information work. Working
with such impressive examples of modern British
art, and assisting with projects from beginning to end,
was greatly enjoyable and illuminating. The department
was small, making it possible to learn about the full
range of mechanisms involved in maintaining and
interpreting a collection. About a year later, I moved
to Tate Britain to work in the Prints and Drawings
Study Rooms as an Assistant Curator. There I look
after Tate’s works on paper (80% of the collection)
and, together with a colleague, we undertake a range
of collection management, research and visitor
service duties, including devising displays and giving
talks to groups.
Louise Sorensen R97
(History & Theory of Art)
With History of Art there are a surprising number
of opportunities and many of my friends were moving
into jobs in publishing, libraries and local municipalities.
I believed that the best chance of working in the
subject of my degree was to pursue an MA, so I went
to the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, which
is like a small village for art historians. Friends from
Kent were also moving to London to work and this
made the transition from my wonderful three years
in Canterbury to the big city much easier! After
finishing my MA I was so engaged with my research
that I embarked on a PhD, partly funded by a Danish
government grant. My focus is 20th century art,
particularly contemporary photography (an interest
which was formed at Kent). During the PhD you
have time to pursue other activities and I have been
working on Immediations, an annual publication for
postgraduate writing, which I set up and which is
partially funded by the Institute. The most common
thing to do after the PhD is to move into academia,
and I have already been doing some teaching work
at the Courtauld. Having finished my PhD in the
summer, I continued as a visiting lecturer. My real
ambitions are to work in the museum world, and
continue doing editorial work.
Hannah Schmidt R00
– American Studies (Art and Film)
I specialised in American art and wrote two
dissertations as part of my degree, one on the
impressionist artist Mary Cassatt and the other
on the sculptor Alexander Calder.
I now work in the press office at Christie’s. We deal
with journalists from all over the world and my work
incorporates everything that I am interested in. It
would be misleading to say that it is easy to get a job
in the art world. You need to seize every opportunity,
be ambitious and work very hard, as it is highly
competitive. I obtained an internship at an art gallery
during my year abroad, another one after graduation,
at the Saatchi Gallery in London, and two further
internships at Christie’s. I was determined to get
a first-class degree and worked hard, but I had the
time of my life at Kent.
20

WHO’S
WHAT
WHERE
1 Congratulations to Sergios
Stamboulous E99 and Evangelia
Bra K99, who were married on
2 September 2005. Sergios has
been working as a lawyer and
as a legal adviser in a private
hospital in Athens since 2000,
and Evangelia is now working
for market research company
AC Nielsen as a consultant.
1960s
Buie, Terence
(RS): I retired from my career
in the Canadian Investment
Business seven years ago,
travelled through India, became
a pilot, and last year returned
to live in the mountains of
British Columbia. A long and
interesting journey from
Canterbury. Nelson, Canada.
(16/06/2006)
Clark, Bob
(DS): I am the team leader of
a countywide Family Link Team
for Warwickshire County Council.
We recruit, assess, train and
support foster carers to provide
short breaks for children with
disabilities. The service gives
families a much-needed break
and gives children new
experiences. We have two
daughters, the eldest of whom
is currently studying Geography
at Nottingham and the youngest
is in sixth form wanting to study
Drama; possibly at Kent. Still in
touch with two alumni, Mick
Green who teaches English in
Munich Germany and Joe Egan
who has his own solicitors’
firm in Bolton. West Midlands.
(27/05/2006)
Keljik, Chris
(KS): Retired as a director of
Standard Chartered Plc in 2005,
after 29 years of constant travel!
Currently a Non Executive
Director of Foreign & Colonial
Investment Trust Plc; Jardine
Lloyd Thompson Group Plc; and
Copthorne & Millennium Hotels
Plc. Awarded OBE in January
2006 for services to British
business interests and to local
communities in Africa and Asia.
London. (17/05/2006)
Low, Michael
(RH): Teaching EFL and qualified
recently as a French-English
translator. My wife teaches Food
Technology and does voluntary
work at Fishbourne Roman
Palace near Chichester. Two
children; our daughter is studying
Classics at Oxford and our son
is busy with GCSE preparation.
Hants. (25/06/2006)
Poole, John
(EN): Still at CERN and starting
to make plans for retirement
back to the UK after 25 years
working in Switzerland. Chevry,
France. (23/05/2006)
Sims, Brenda
(RS): Ten years in co-operative
development field, eight as
university lecturer and 25 in
women’s refuge movement.
Sadly husband, Clive Coleman
(E65), died suddenly in 2001.
East Yorks. (23/02/2006)
1970s
Attwood, Corinne
(KH): Since gaining PG Diploma
in Vocational Techniques for
Career Linguists at Kent (1978)
I have worked as a worldwide
freelance tour leader as well
as translator. I have studied
Mandarin Chinese, and led
many tours of China. My
translation (from German to
English) of The Empire of the
Great Mughals: History, Art
and Culture, by Anne Marie
Schimmel, was published by
Reaktion Books. I’m currently
studying Creative Writing at
Sussex University, and translating
Visualising the Revolution: Politics
and the Pictorial Arts in Late
Eighteenth-century France, by Rolf
Reichardt and Hubertus Kohle.
East Sussex. (31/05/2006)
Goss, Trevor
(DS): Still slogging away in local
authority social work, taking
students and placing children
with foster carers and adopters.
Living in Somerset. Married;
two girls. Still playing hockey
and cricket, and also very
involved in church children’s
work. Anyone remembering
me from Kent can contact me
at: TGoss@somerset.gov.uk.
Somerset. (13/05/2006)
Millington, Chris
(KH): Moved in 1993 to Islington
Central Library as Head of
Audio Visual Services. Still
moonlighting as a Councillor
in Waltham Forest, although I
have managed to lay down the
onerous burden of leading the
Liberal Democratic Group. My
acting career goes from strength
to strength. Last year I won Best
Actor award at the Waltham
Forest Drama Festival. Eat your
hearts out Kent and Em! In
December I attended the first
meeting of the Respighi Society
organised by David Heald,
another Kent person. Essex.
(08/03/2006)
Starkings, Sue
(EM): Working at London South
Bank University since 1991,
I specialise in developing the
skills of students entering HE –
particularly those returning
to education – with a view to
enhancing both their experience
and their results. I am also a
visiting lecturer at the Institute
of Technology, Finland and
Kinnard College, Lahore, Pakistan.
I teach postgraduate students
in mathematics and information
technology at the Open
University, and am involved in
in-service teacher training in the
UK and abroad. I was appointed
the Royal Statistical Society’s
‘Guy Lecturer’ for 2006, an
honour recognizing excellence
in teaching pedagogy. I have also
recently been awarded a
National Teaching Fellowship
from the Higher Education
Academy. Ashford, Kent.
(31/07/2006)
Taylor, Philip
(RT): I continue to work with
computers, being engrossed
in the simulation and training
industry (graphics, sound, and
plenty of trigonometry). I
now have four massive flight
simulators sitting within 25m
of my desk. Still blowing my
tuba, a musical interest that my
son seems to have inherited!
Celebrating Silver Wedding in
August 2006 - unbelievable.
East Sussex. (23/02/2006)
Weir, Bill
(ES): Since Kent I have worked
as a hospital porter (nine
months), van driver (two and
a half years) and software
engineer (1978 to date). Lived
in York, London, Aldershot,
Buntingford and now in Ilkley
since 1987. Married to Mary
(Roberts) E71, with two
children. Mary teaches English
at an FE college in Leeds.
Interested in woodwork and
genealogy. Email me at:
mail4@wblweir.org.uk. West
Yorks. (04/03/2006)
Woakes, John
(KT): I have been living in
Vancouver since ‘95 working
as a Software Developer doing
mostly web applications for
Marqui, a local company. I ran
my first marathon in 2003
and my first olympic distance
triathlon in 2004. Now I mainly
cycle in the summer and
snowboard in the winter. In
2004 I bought a condo with
my girlfriend Alexa. I have no
children and like it that way.
You can contact me through
my Flickr account
http://www.flickr.com/
photos/woaksie/. Vancouver,
Canada. (10/06/2006)
1980s
Burgess, James
(DT): Moved to Santa Cruz CA
in 2005, married Lora Bartlett
E87; three children. I have been
making movies at Pixar the
whole time. USA. (28/05/2006)
Eleftheriou, George
(ES): After several posts
overseas, I have settled in
Egypt. Opened a consultancy
office servicing Europeans
wishing to establish business
in Egypt. We act as a one-stop
shop in a variety of fields.
I am looking for Kent graduates
who would like to establish a
business network linking their
businesses with the region we
cover: North Africa, Middle East
and Arab Gulf. Alexandria,
Egypt. (08/04/2006)
Featherstone, Ray
(KS): I’m still living in Kent. I’ve
had various posts; from advising
on sustainable procurement to
importing homes from Europe.
Now I run my own business as
a Mortgage Consultant. We
help first-time buyers purchase
their first home, existing
homeowners remortgage on
to a better package and also
commercial buy-to-lets for
investment. I am happy to offer
free general mortgage advice
to any Kent alumni or their
families. Please call me on
01732 361891 or 07881
922779 if you want an informal
chat. Tonbridge, Kent.
(22/06/2006)
21

1,2 The Kent Print
Collection was
established by the
School of Drama,
Film and Visual Arts
in 2005. Sponsors
include the Kent
Development Trust.
1
French, James
(RH): Head of Drama and
Theatre Studies at Coopers
Company & Coborn School
since ‘99 – now ‘Gifted
&Talented’ co-ordinator as well.
Maria (McDaid) E87 is very
happy teaching History and as
Head of Year 7 at King Edward
VI Grammar School in
Chelmsford. Three children: two
girls and a boy. Essex.
(21/05/2006)
Hazeldine, Stuart
(DH): Still living in Clapham, still
shuttling back and forth to LA,
still screenwriting. Adapting
‘Paradise Lost’ for Warner Bros.
(no pressure!) and co-writing
‘Knowing’ for ‘I, Robot’ director
Alex Proyas. Also worked on
the upcoming sci-fi actioner
‘Mutant Chronicles’. It’s a long
way from the halycon days of
Kent Film Making Society,
lemme tell ya! London.
(16/05/2006)
Upward, Antony
(DT): Moved to London after
Kent and joined KPMG
Management Consulting
(Software Development
Group). Went on assignment to
Paris for three years, where I
met my wife Lyanne. Moved to
USA in ‘92 and then to Toronto
in ‘93 and started the (still
ongoing but oh so nearly
finished) renovation of our
house! Currently working for
CGI in IT/Business Process
(mainly around SAP software).
Just starting a second career
teaching at Ryerson University
and I travel to the UK quite
often. Email me at
antony@theupwards.net and
check out my resume at
http://www.linkedin.com/in/anto
nyupward. Ontario, Canada.
(06/06/2006)
1990s
Castle, Matt
(ES): Hello to all who knew me
at Kent during my studies in
Politics (BA and then MA) I am
lucky enough to still be in touch
with many of those lovely
people I met but if anyone has
‘slipped through the net’ I’d be
delighted to hear from you at
moth_1968@yahoo.co.uk. East
Sussex. (18/04/2006)
Daymon, Christine
(KS): Reader in Communication
and Management in the Media
School at Bournemouth
University. Dorset. (23/02/2006)
Fassnidge, Tom
(KH): Having fallen into a job
the day after graduation, I find
myself still here after a year and
a half, although thankfully I’m
doing something a bit more
interesting than I was when I
started. I now write for a living
of sorts – corporate brochures
and the like. I’m still in London
and would love to hear from
anyone who remembers
Keynestock, Twister in the
courtyard, foolish bomb crater
antics or top campus band
Diamond. Contact me at:
tom_fassnidge@hotmail.com.
Middlesex. (16/03/2006)
Gibson, Duncan
(DH) Having spent four years
working for Fortis Bank in
Healthcare and Project Finance,
working between London &
Brussels, I am now working for
Alliance & Leicester
Commercial Finance, with joint
responsibility for setting up their
PFI competence. Enjoying life
with my fiancée and looking
forward to our wedding in Sept
’06. Missing Canterbury though!!
Still in touch with Nikki (Nicola)
Packham D97, Paul White D97,
Toby Mills D97, Gavin Mills K97,
Vicky Boraster R97 and Liz
Thorpe D97. Email me at:
spuffington@hotmail.com. Essex.
(11/07/2006)
Mahmud, Najam
(ES): Still working for Abbott
Pharmaceuticals, now as
Country Director – Human
Resources. I visited the campus
in July 2005, God it was
nostalgic!!! All those great
memories flashed in front of my
eyes. I would love to travel back
in time. Kent was a great
experience and I can never
forget the great times I had
during those years. Contact me
at: mahmud_naj@hotmail.com.
Karachi, Pakistan. (04/04/2006)
Merry, James
(RS): Living in New Zealand;
married a New Zealand girl in
2003 and we had a baby girl in
August 2005. We own and live
on a 25-acre avocado orchard
near Whangarei in Northland.
Working on the family farm,
milking cows, rearing calves and
all the other things that need
doing on a dairy farm. Currently
studying for a commerce
degree through a NZ University
and a dairying qualification as
well. Would love to hear from
old friends; contact me at
jnmerry@icqmail.com. New
Zealand. (23/05/2006)
McDonald Buckley, Kirstie
(KS): I head up the internal
communications unit for the
Department for Culture, Media
and Sport. I got married last
year and we’re expecting our
first child in September. Would
be great to hear from the gang
who left in ‘96. Contact me at:
kirstiemcdonald@hotmail.com.
West Sussex. (04/04/2006)
Rhodes, Danny
(DH): I am now an author, still
based in Canterbury. My novel
‘Asboville’ was published in
October 2006. Kent.
(15/06/2006)
Steele, Sam
(DS): After graduating, I stayed
in my part time job at the KCH
and increased to full time
temporarily, with a view to
doing a PCGE course. I then
became pregnant and divorced
and couldn’t continue study
with a young child, so for the
time being I am working parttime
as a community carer,
which I enjoy very much. I am
still looking for part-time
graduate jobs, which seem to
be non-existent, but I’m
optimistic! I’m getting married
again in September and more
babies may well follow so I
don’t think I’m a good potential
employee at the moment! Kent.
(26/06/2006)
Wagner, Barbara
(KS): Running my own business
in International Marketing,
Imports and Exports. Got
married in 2005 and have just
moved to Florianopolis, a
wonderful island in the south of
Brazil. Florianopolis.
(13/07/2006)
2000s
Folland, Lee
(R): Just finishing up MPhil in
Chinese Studies at Cambridge
University after which will be
moving to Beijing, China to look
for work. Helsinki, Finland.
(28/05/2006)
Hampson, Kat
(R): Having left Kent last June I
got myself a job working for the
Youth Offending Service, so
now work with Young
Offenders. I might be mad but I
love it! Essex. (18/02/2006)
Jager, Julia
(K): I am working in Germany in
the field of peace building and
developmental cooperation,
living with my partner in Trier.
Contact me: jj@julia-jaeger.de
Trier, Germany. (25/07/2006)
22

2
Kouroushi, Andria
(E): Currently in London
studying at King’s College
London, Msc International
Management. Had a wonderful
time at Kent and I hope I get
to see you guys some time in
the future! Take care xx Paphos,
Cyprus. (26/02/2006)
Piperopoulos, Panagiotis
(KS): Currently an Adjunct
Lecturer and Researcher in the
Department of Marketing and
Operations Management of
the University of Macedonia,
Thessalonica, Greece. My
teaching and research interests
centre on the subjects of
entrepreneurship, innovation
and business clustering.
I contribute regularly to
Greece’s leading financial
newspaper Imerisia and am
a member of the Hellenic
Economic Chamber of
Commerce. Contact me by
email at panpiper@uom.gr.
Thessaloniki. (23/05/2006)
DEATHS
Since the last issue of KENT
went to press, we have learned
of the deaths of the following
alumni and staff. If you would
like to be put in touch with the
families or friends of anyone
listed here, please let us know.
We may be able to help.
Alumni: Norman Benton D75,
Robert Lacey E80, James Ley
R82, Adrian Ritchie R66,
Maureen Ritchie D94.
Staff and friends: Professor
Brian Mullen, Department of
Psychology; Professor Sir Hans
Singer Honorary DLitt (Kent);
Dr Sasha Roberts, School
of English.
ONLY CONNECT
Lost touch with an old friend?
The Kent alumni database may
be able to help. If we have
a current address for them,
we would be happy to forward
a message from you. If we too
have lost touch, Only Connect,
which is printed in KENT twice
a year and broadcast on the
Web monthly, may get a
response: And please, if you
do connect, let us know.
Ro Annandale-Steiner (D69)
wltf Michael Lawrence (R69);
Manije Nazery (R71) wltf
Anthea Elliott (R72); Merv
Woods (D77) wltf Gill Drillsma
(E77); Jane Gooch (Cunnington)
(K81) wltf Diana Mase (E81);
Sue Oldfield (Hunter) (R81)
wltf Robert Cox (K82); Pearl
Moses (Uche) (D83) wltf Tonya
Zwennes (D83); Sheryl Lindsay
(E84) wltf Catherine Mendez
(E85); Colm Glass (E85) wltf
Isabella Grenfell (E85) and
Simon Grubb (E85); Swee Chua
(E87) wltf Arnold Barrows
(R84) and Martin Goodchild
(K88); Jonathan Yeo (R90) wltf
Julius Locke (R90); Kiran Sagoo
(D93) wltf Eleftheria Trimis
(D93); Rob Price (K94) wltf
Bethen Thorpe (D95) and
Sarah Williams (D95); Kathryn
Wines (D95) wltf Barry
Curling (D95); Shabana Khatun
(R96) wltf Martine Pitch (R96).
3 The University marked Sir
Crispin Tickell’s 10 years as
University Chancellor with
the unveiling of his portrait
by Kent graduate (R90)
Jonathan Yeo. The portrait
of Sir Crispin hangs
alongside those of former
Chancellors, Princess
Marina Duchess of Kent,
Lord Grimond and Sir
Robert Horton, as well as
previous Vice-Chancellor
Dr Geoffrey Templeman,
Dr David Ingram and
Professor R Sibson..
23

EVENTS
1 ArtsFest
2 Congregations
Here are some of the events planned for the next
few months. Keep an eye on www.kent.ac.uk/alumni
for more information about upcoming alumni events.
15 Nov 2006
Degree congregations in Rochester Cathedral
www.kent.ac.uk/cdo/congregations/
17 Nov 2006
Degree congregations in Canterbury Cathedral
www.kent.ac.uk/cdo/congregations/
22 November 2006
Reading between the lines: discovering the scribes
and their role in Mycenaean administration
a lecture by Dr Evangelos Kyriakidis, Lecturer
in Archaeology at Kent
SECL Popular Lecture Series
5.15pm Keynes Lecture Theatre 5
For information about any of the SECL lectures,
contact: D.Peretti@kent.ac.uk
24 November 2006
Shostakovitch Festival
Open Lecture
Rt. Hon David Mellor QC
6pm Brabourne Lecture Theatre
Brodsky Quartet
8.15pm Gulbenkian Theatre
25 November 2006
Shostakovitch Festival
Brodsky Quartet
7.45pm Gulbenkian Theatre
30 November 2006
First 500 Alumni Dinner
Liberal Club, London
For further information: alumni@kent.ac.uk
1 December 2006
Open Lecture
In the footsteps of Churchill
Professor Richard Holmes CBE TD
6pm Brabourne Lecture Theatre
8 December 2006
Open Lecture
Personal is political: rethinking health and social
care for older people
Professor Iain Carpenter, CHSS
6pm Brabourne Lecture Theatre
17 January 2007
Robin Hood and his merry revolutionaries –
Castro, Cuba and the revolutionary myth
William Rowlandson
SECL Popular Lecture Series
5.15pm Keynes Lecture Theatre 5
1 February 2007
Alumni Careers Fair: lunch in Darwin for alumni
and friends at 12 for 12.30pm, followed by the Fair
2-5pm in Eliot Great Hall
Contact: F.L.Jones@kent.ac.uk
7 February 2007
Are some languages ruder than others?
Nicola Schmidt-Renfree
SECL Popular Lecture Series
5.15pm Keynes Lecture Theatre 5
28 February 2007
Traditions of representation in Francisco
de Goya’s Los Caprichos (1799)
Antonio Lazaro-Reboll
SECL Popular Lecture Series
5.15pm Keynes Lecture Theatre 5
28 March 2007
A (clear and present/definite) danger
to public health – the new Sicilian mafia
Professor Tom Behan:
SECL Popular Lecture Series
5.15pm Keynes Lecture Theatre 5
Spring 2007 (date tbc)
Kent Alumni Business Club
London
Spring 2007 (date tbc)
Kent Alumni Reception
Canada (venue tbc)
www.kent.ac.uk/alumni/
2 June 2007
ArtsFest
Canterbury Campus
www.kent.ac.uk/music/ArtsFest
20 September 2007
London Alumni Reception
House of Lords
1 2
24