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

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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
and a distinguished visiting adjudicator. The Reprise, which is a ‘Declamations Greatest Hits’, takes place a couple of weeks later, and is always one of the highlights of the term. Other literary events have been numerous. There is a very active Literary Society, largely run by boys who are either Oxbridge candidates, or simply interested in extending their study of the subject. In the Lent Term, we welcomed Dr Sos Elstis, who spoke with a wonderfully informal charm about contemporary drama, and in October we will be visited by Dr Ralph Townsend. The boys also prepare and deliver papers of their own. Radley claims three very distinguished literary alumni. Andrew Motion (A Social, 1966) was appointed to succeed Ted Hughes as Poet Laureate in 1999, and has filled this difficult post with an extraordinarily gifted sensitivity. Before him, Harold Monro (D Social, 1892) became not only a distinguished poet in his own right, but was also a champion of new poetry, and the founder of Poetry Review magazine, which celebrates its 100th birthday next year, and to which the College still subscribes. It is one of the most widely circulated poetry periodicals in the country, and Radley is very proud to claim a kinship with it. September 2008 will see the launch, in his honour, of the Monro Michael Laskey, Poet in Residence, leading a poetry workshop Lecture series, and the inaugural lecture, to be delivered by the Head of English, will, fittingly, be on ‘The State of Contemporary Poetry’. In a rather different category, Peter Cook (C Social, 1951) left Radley to make his name first with the Cambridge Footlights, and then on radio and television as one of the most brilliant satirists and comedians of the post-war period. His sister Elizabeth, interestingly, has become a poet of note in her own right. As well as all the events on campus, the Department also run a staggering number of theatre trips, both to local theatres in Oxford, and also to London. Just in the last few months, boys have seen some of the best theatre that has been available: Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum in David Mamet’s ‘Speed the Plow’; Zoe Wanamaker in Tennessee Williams’ ‘The Rose Tattoo’; Jonathan Pryce in Mamet’s ‘Glengarry Glenross’; Tim Piggott-Smith in Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’; Sam West’s production of Patrick Marber’s ‘Dealer’s Choice’; Patrick Stewart in ‘Macbeth’ and ‘The Tempest’; and this is only the short end of a long list. The Shells and Removes are routinely taken to the Globe in the summer, and of course the Department proudly supports all the excellent in-house drama which takes place under the superb guidance of the Drama Department. From our bright, light, purpose-built space in the new David Rae Smith building, the boys and staff of the English Department continue to play with, and explore, the language which is both our bread and butter and our caviar. Peter Cook (left) as Doll Common in the College production of ‘The Alchemist’ by Ben Jonson, 1954 Chris Ellot Head of English THE RADLEIAN NEWSLETTER 5
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Page 7 and 8: & activities in 2007/8 Angus McChes
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N E W S L E T T E R - Radley College

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