Category Archives: Interviews

Insights, Interviews

Community and Connection: Editors in Conversation

As their tenure draws to a close, Katie Arthur and Harriet Thompson reflect on their time working together as editors of the King’s English Blog.

HT: It’s funny looking back on the time when we took over as editors in January 2019; I get that strange simultaneous feeling of it being very recent, but also a quite a while ago. A lot has happened since then! We were both in our first year studying for a PhD in the English Department at King’s and it was an exciting opportunity to be able to curate and commission such a wide range of writing from staff and students. Over two years later, I still have quite a lot of writing to do before I submit my PhD thesis. But having the blog to focus on alongside everything else has been a really nice (and productive) distraction. I didn’t imagine that we’d be spending practically a whole year inside, running the blog from our bedrooms on opposite sides of London. I think the last time we saw each other in person was in January 2020? That is so weird! I do miss the community and energy that comes with working inside the university buildings.

KA: Two years ago! I know what you mean about that odd simultaneous feeling of temporal contraction and dilation – I feel like there must be a word for it somewhere, in some language. Perhaps we should commission a blog on it! The blog has certainly been an anchor, both pre-Covid and now. Working with the department to publish publicly is really exciting, it has definitely helped me engage with the work happening here at King’s in a more thorough and thoughtful way than I might otherwise have given myself time to do. Though it was more fun conducted in the physical presence of the department as you say and it is a shame to have lost the sense of community that so often is linked to space. The blog also serves as a space of connection for the department. You did a wonderful round-up of all the work we had shared around the new year that received a very touching response from the department. Do you think that the functions of the blog have changed as our needs have moved online in the pandemic? It has always been interesting that the blog reaches out to and beyond the department but, perhaps now more than ever, it is also a meeting point of sorts when we cannot do in person.

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Culture, Text and History, Interviews, Life writing, Creative writing and Performance, Long Read

Strandlines: lives on the Strand, past, present and creative

By Fran Allfrey, Strandlines assistant editor, English Dept alumna and Teaching Assistant

Strandlines is a life-writing and community history project, which takes the form of a website and linked Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. The project was set up by Professor Clare Brant, with a board of editors made up of colleagues inside and beyond King’s. I joined as Assistant Editor in spring 2019. With the new term just starting, Clare and I thought now was a good time to reflect on where Strandlines has been, and where it may go next! Continue reading Strandlines: lives on the Strand, past, present and creative →

20th - 21st Centuries, Contemporary, Gender and Sexuality, Interviews

ParaPride: Queer@King’s first Activist-in-Residence

In early October, Queer@King’s announced their first ever Activist-in-Residence, Daniel Lul from ParaPride. In this interview, PhD student Katie Arthur speaks to ParaPride Co-Founder, Daniel Lul, and Queer@King’s Director, Sebastian Matzner, about the scheme and their work.

A happy photograph of Parapride's Daniel Lul with 4 Queer@King's members at the announcement of the Activist-in-Residence scheme

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Interviews

“In a time of chaos, create”: The First Generation Network

Dr Daniel Smith interviews current second-year Rufeida Alhatimy about a new network for King’s students from backgrounds under-represented among university students.

Dr Daniel Smith (DS): So, Rufeida, you and I spent a lot of time last semester talking about wordplay in English Renaissance literature, but now I hear you’re taking on a new challenge, representing the First Generation Network as an officer within the Student Union. I’m particularly interested in this wonderful initiative as I’ve been co-ordinating the English Department’s Widening Participation (WP) programme this year. Can you start by telling me what First Generation Network is?

Rufeida Alhatimy (RA): Studies have shown that students from a first generation background find the transition to higher education and beyond more taxing and challenging, and the network seeks to help tackle the boundaries and barriers that some of these students face. First Generation Network is one of eight “liberation networks” built into the KCLSU structure, run by students for students to promote positive change and representation. We cater to students who are from Widening Participation backgrounds, those in or leaving care, those whose parents didn’t go to university and those from low-participation neighbourhoods to improve their university experience and create a home away from home.
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Interviews

Introducing Intro: A student magazine aimed at demystifying the first-year experience

by Dr Edward Sugden, Lecturer in Nineteenth-Century American Literature, in conversation with third-year student Gabriel Leavey

Tonight sees the launch of Intro, a new magazine written, produced, and designed entirely by third year English students. This magazine will be distributed to new first year English students in September. The aim was to foreground student perspectives on studying English at King’s so that the new cohort would have a ready guide to some of the issues that most concern new arrivals in London: how can you write uni essays? Where are the best places to read? Where do English students go?

As head of the third year, I had the privilege of overseeing the development of the magazine. The entire editorial team have done a fantastic job and created something that is informative, fun, and perceptive. Prior to tonight’s launch, I chatted with Gabriel Leavey, the editor in chief, to learn about how she went about organising the content and her experience of editing it.

Continue reading Introducing Intro: A student magazine aimed at demystifying the first-year experience →