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Displaying search results for: "literature"
Literature: German Literature Post 1945
This course, composed of new texts, builds on similar courses on German literature given by Stephen Smith. Four novels and one poet will be analysed and placed in context over the 10 weeks’ duration of the course.
The first text, The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, was actually written in 1938, but having recently been rediscovered, it is too good not to include. We will begin with this novel and then explore:
Vertigo - WG Sebald.
Lost - Hans Ulrich Treichel.
Kairos - Jenny Erpenbeck.
The Poetry of Durs Grunbein.
The course will offer great scope for discussion of excellent texts, which are intellectually, imaginatively and emotional stimulating.
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Course Information
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Dates:Tue 14/01/2025 -
Tue 25/03/2025Times:7:00pm - 9:00pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:OnlineTutor:Stephen SmithCourse code:Q00017914How you'll learn:OnlineAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £74.00
Literature: The Literature of Migration
Migration always brings a story. Whether migration stems from joyful exploration and curiosity, or is the result of loss, coercion or danger, each narrative tells us something new. In this course, we will be considering the portrayal of migration, the many contexts which lead to authors writing about migration, and how other themes are bound in with this idea. In our discussions together, we will be considering a wide range of texts and genres from across the ages, and working to expand our understanding of such a fundamental experience.
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Course Information
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Dates:Tue 14/01/2025 -
Tue 25/03/2025Times:1:30pm - 3:30pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:OnlineTutor:Clare JacksonCourse code:Q00018507How you'll learn:OnlineAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £74.00
Literature: Dutch Short Stories
This five week course will introduce you to an often neglected area of the European short story, this being stories from the Netherlands. Each of the five stories can be found in The Penguin Book of Dutch Short Stories, which is the text we will work from.
The stories for consideration and analysis are:
Young Titans - Nescio.
The Sirens - Maria Dermout.
The Portrait - Hella Haasse.
Paula - Cees Nooteboom.
Sunrise Day - Margriet De Moor.
The course will involve lectures, discussions and advice on further research into the subject. Each session will dissect a narrative and relate its context, meaning and style.
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Course Information
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Dates:Tue 14/01/2025 -
Tue 11/02/2025Times:4:00pm - 6:00pmDuration:5 sessionsLocation:OnlineTutor:Stephen SmithCourse code:Q00017912How you'll learn:OnlineAvailability:7 places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £37.00
Literature: Selected plays by Aristophanes
Aristophanes (c.450-388 BCE) writing in the Fifth Century is regarded as the key author in Ancient Greek comedy. His plays will be studied, read and workshopped. We shall look at how his plays might be put on, and staged today. His plays often have structures similar to a sketch show and he uses many comic devices still popular with comedians today. His plays are a little rude though (sometimes very rude). We shall look at how he creates his comic characters and situations. We shall discuss the issues that he wants to write about and consider if these are still relevant to a modern audience trying to make sense of the political and social world today. Over ten weeks, two to three plays will be discussed and workshopped to appreciate the various theatrical devices that Aristophanes often uses.
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Course Information
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Dates:Tue 14/01/2025 -
Tue 25/03/2025Times:10:00am - 12:00pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:The Greenleaf Centre (Walthamstow)
67-69 Greenleaf Road
Walthamstow
E17 6QPTutor:Thomas CroweCourse code:Q00017605How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £100.00
WEA Membership
WEA membership is changing: more information is coming soon!
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Membership Information
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Duration:12 monthsFee:£15
Literature: Contemporary British Fiction
This course will consider and analyse the following authors and their texts. These are: The Stranger’s Child - Alan Hollinghurst. The Blue Flower - Penelope Fitzgerald. A Pale View of Hills - Kazuo Ishiguro. Last Orders - Graham Swift. On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan. These texts will provide a window into the different regions of Britain during the last fifty years, decades of major change in the social fabric and political nature of Britain, though several of our texts will trace these changes back to the earlier part of the twentieth century, and in doing so, we will encounter themes of identity, class and the decline of Empire. There will be much to prompt discussion and challenge our assumptions.
This course is funded by Greater London Combined Authority.
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Course Information
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Dates:Wed 15/01/2025 -
Wed 26/03/2025Times:10:30am - 12:30pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:Duke Street Church
Quadrant Road
Richmond
TW9 1DHTutor:Stephen SmithCourse code:Q00019812How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £84.00
History: The Ottoman Empire - Fall 1876-1922
The last 50 years of the Ottoman Empire continues to drive current events and politics in Europe and the Middle East. In this course we consider the events, characters and forces that lead to its breakup including the modernisation attempts of the ‘Young Turk’ movement, the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, The Great War (including the Arab Revolt, the Armenian Genocide and the Turkish War of Independence. We finish by considering the rise of the new secular state of Turkey and the legacy of the Ottomans and why a century after its end the Ottoman Empire is still relevant throughout southeastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
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Course Information
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Dates:Wed 15/01/2025 -
Wed 26/03/2025Times:10:00am - 12:00pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:Ripley Arts Centre (Bromley)
24 Sundridge Avenue
Bromley
BR1 2PXTutor:Laurie JohnstonCourse code:Q00017956How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:5 places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £84.00
Literature: French Literature Post 1945
This ten week course ranges widely across postwar French literature and its themes and concerns. Stephen has discussed French literature before, but these texts are all previously untaught.
The texts are:
The Plague - Albert Camus.
Memoirs of Hadrian - Marguerite Yourcenar.
Missing Person - Patrick Modiano.
Street of Thieves - Mathias Enard.
Simple Passion - Annie Ernaux.
These very different books will introduce us to disparate elements of the French psyche, and explore themes of identity, memory and displacement.
The course will feature lectures, group discussions, close-reading and contextualisation of the historical moments pertinent to each writer and text. It will be provoking intellectually and imaginatively, and lively participation is encouraged.
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Course Information
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Dates:Thu 16/01/2025 -
Thu 27/03/2025Times:7:00pm - 9:00pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:OnlineTutor:Stephen SmithCourse code:Q00017921How you'll learn:OnlineAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £74.00
Literature: American Literature - On Land & Sea
This course will explore some of the classics of American Literature. You will study a range of poetry and prose by writers both ancient and modern, including Moby Dick by Herman Melville, My Ãntonia by Willa Cather and other works by Maya Angelou and Cormac McCarthy. You will also explore how American Literature relates to other art forms, including film, photography and music.
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Course Information
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Dates:Mon 20/01/2025 -
Mon 17/03/2025Times:10:30am - 12:30pmDuration:9 sessionsLocation:Redruth Community Centre (Redruth)
Foundry Row
Chapel Street
Redruth
TR15 1ANTutor:Mark CreesCourse code:Q00016867How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £37.00
Literature: 'English Poetry from Shakespeare to Today
The Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley famously said that ‘Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.’ This course tracks the development of English poetry, from the sonnets of Shakespeare to the contemporary poetry of Jack Underwood, Emily Berry, and Rachael Allen.
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Dates:Mon 20/01/2025 -
Mon 17/03/2025Times:2:00pm - 4:00pmDuration:8 sessionsLocation:Friends' Meeting House (Aylsham)
Pegg's Yard
Red Lion Street
Aylsham
NR11 6ERTutor:Joseph WilliamsCourse code:Q00019921How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £67.20
Literature: A Good Read
Continue your exploration of literature with our Literature: A Feast of Fiction (Part 2) course. Learn about key works and authors, and develop your literary analysis skills. Ideal for literature enthusiasts and anyone looking to deepen their understanding of fiction.
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Course Information
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Dates:Tue 21/01/2025 -
Tue 01/04/2025Times:3:30pm - 5:30pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:Redbridge Institute of Adult Education (
Gaysham Avenue
Gants Hill
Ilford
IG2 6TDTutor:Brandon RobshawCourse code:Q00017557How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £100.00