N E W S L E T T E R - Radley College

english at radley
English is the one thing we all have in
common - not the nationality, of course,
but the language. English is the ocean upon
which all the vessels of our daily business
float; the currency of all our social and
professional transactions; the lead with
which we attempt to draw a coherent picture
of our lives; and the central ingredient of
much of the entertainment and the comedy
which flavour those lives. It is for our
waking lives as the water is to the fish. Most
of us use it, like oxygen, all day long without
thinking much about it.
This is not an evangelical manifesto
about the primacy of English – far from it. It
is merely an acknowledgement that there is
a lot of language about, and when it comes
to language, the English Department at
Radley is rather like a child in a big sandpit.
Language, surely, is for playing with and
moulding and flinging about.
The Creative Writing Group meets every
Wednesday evening to do just that. Under
the secretaryship of Sebastian Inglis-Jones
(Dulwich College Prep, E Social), it has been
one of the most exciting developments of the
last couple of years. There is a core of about
twenty boys, who meet each week for an
hour to do lots of that playing and moulding
and flinging about. As well as having a lot of
fun, the boys have produced two anthologies
of their own writing: ‘Fleet of Foot’ came
out in January 2008, ‘I Want to Wake Up’ in
May, and the third anthology will be out in
October. The development in their writing
over this period has been phenomenal, as
has been their enthusiasm and commitment.
One of the joys of it, as well, has been
the mix of boys who are involved, from
Oxbridge candidates to Set 7 Removes. In
the Singleton Library, where the writing
sessions happen, issues of
year group and academic
clout do not feature at all.
There is a wonderful sense
of a ‘writers’ community’,
and the boys are all very
proud of their work and of
each other. There are also,
of course, annual Creative
Writing prizes: this year’s
winners were Oliver Mann
(Bilton Grange, D Social),
Chris Sworder (Westminster
Under School, E Social),
and Cern Hoh (Garden
International School, Kuala,
E Social).
This project has been
enhanced by two visiting
poets. In January we hosted
a poet-in-residence for a
week. Michael Laskey is the
founder and editor of Smiths
Knoll poetry magazine, and
the founder of the highly
acclaimed Aldeburgh Poetry
Festival, as well as being a
poet or rare warmth and insight. Michael
conducted workshops with boys, staff,
spouses, classes, individuals, the Creative
Writing Group, in classrooms, houses,
Mansion, inspiring wherever he went. He
concluded his week with a beguiling reading
of his own work - poems of wit, precision,
and depth, short vignettes and longer
meditations, all delivered with acuteness,
warmth, and plenty of laughter. The fruits of
Michael’s work with us are still in evidence,
on display in the corridors, the Creative
Writing Group Anthologies, the Chronicle,
and the Radleian.
Alastair Fatemi performs at the Creative Writing Group’s first public reading
Poet Laureate and OR Andrew Motion, who will be visiting
Radley in April 2009
In June we were visited by the poet
Peter Carpenter, who has published four
collections of poetry, is a lecturer and teacher,
and the founder of the influential Worple
Press. He conducted an inspiring session
with the Creative Writing Group, and then,
to a packed Blue Room, delivered a reading
full of vivacity, wit, and intelligence. The
boys have also been to see Simon Armitage,
who delivered a reading in Oxford earlier in
the year. In November, we will be enjoying
our best coup yet: Peter Sansom, who is the
acknowledged guru of creative writing in
England at the moment, will be our poetin-residence
for a week, and we are all very
excited indeed about his visit.
Language is not only an art form,
however. It is also a vital functional tool, and
among the most useful activities we organise
are the three annual Inter-Social Debating
competitions in the Shell, Remove, and 6th
Form years. Intensely contested heats run
throughout all three terms, culminating in
Finals in the Silk Hall, where the College’s
best orators battle for the laurels in front of
loud and partisan crowds.
Declamations is yet another large-scale
event that involves the whole of College,
and culminates in a huge and impressive
Final. In the Lent Term, every boy in College
memorises and delivers a ‘Declamation’ of
at least 250 words, in either prose or verse.
Once again, heats run for several weeks,
before 30 finalists are selected. These then
perform in a four-hour orgy of literature on
one Monday morning, in front of a full house
A Mealing
4 THE RADLEIAN NEWSLETTER