In such a small country,
it seems a famous author (dead or alive)
is never very far away :)
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| Purses handcrafted from books by Novel Creations |
And periodically,
a lot of them congregate at literature festivals :)
Check these out
March 1 - 10, 2013
Tickets on sale now
Bath will host over 150 events for 10 days in March
Featured
authors include J.K. Rowling, Hilary
Mantel,
P.D. James, Kate
Mosse, Pat Barker, Harriet Walter,
Darcey Bussell, Sandi
Toksvig, Robert Fisk, Gavin Esler,
A.N. Wilson, Allan
Little, Ben Goldacre and many more
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| Graphic art available via Hair Brained Schemes |
March 16 - 24, 2013
Tickets on sale now
Over 160 events
are now listed, with more to come
Some big names include Booker winners Julian Barnes and Hilary
Mantel,
former Cabinet minister Jack Straw, novelist Alexander McCall
Smith,
broadcaster Nick Robinson, Nobel prize-winning poet Seamus
Heaney,
children's novelists Cornelia Funke, Anthony Horowitz,
and Sue Townsend of 'Adrian Mole' fame
Hay Festival of Literature (Wales)
May 23 - June 2, 2013
Tickets now on sale to see John le Carré, Carl Bernstein,
Elif Shafak, Christy Moore and Dana O'Briain
More event details to be released in April
Hay Festival of Literature (Wales)
May 23 - June 2, 2013
Tickets now on sale to see John le Carré, Carl Bernstein,
Elif Shafak, Christy Moore and Dana O'Briain
More event details to be released in April
September 27 - October 6, 2013
No current information available
October 4 - 13, 2013
No current information available
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| Bookmark I made the other day with the kids |
An English mom recently told me
classic literature is not being taught in their school anymore
and being replaced by modern books to grab students' interest in reading
I have mixed feelings about that
While I see their point of nurturing the love of reading (so important),
how can students not be introduced to classic literature,
especially in England, the birthplace of so many famous written words?
What do you think?
(An unsponsored post)
19 comments:
I can understand why there are no classics, that teachers are probably trying to reach more reluctant readers, but I do think they should still study some classics as well.
Don't get me started. I started the literature class this semester with this very question. My students value good literature. Why can't there be a balance?
I agree that there can and needs to be a balance! It's a shame to do away with them altogether!
There's also Edinburgh Book Festival in August (combining festivities with the Fringe and the Tattoo) and the Ilkley Literature Festival, which is smaller than the others but still gets a good draw of talks and events! I discovered the literature festivals late in our time there, and, like many things, I wish I'd known the second I stepped off the plane! I hope you get to go to some- and then we get to hear all about them!!
It's no surprise to me that schools are dropping classics in lessons, teaching has been infiltrated by "lefty/save the whales" type teachers in England since the eighties, anything "old' and especially if it's English is a no no, anything foreign or relatively new is OK. It won't surprise me if history lessons are soon about the life and times of Simon Cowell or Kim Kardashian!!!
Don't forget the famous Hay Festival of Literature at the end of May beginning of June.
Interesting post Laura, as I always expect from you! (Note: my favourite is in Rye in Septembre http://www.ryeartsfestival.co.uk/) I love the shoppes and could spend (which I do!) hours browsing (and yes, succumbing to a purchase (or two)
As to the removal of classicals, what a pity! Surely, Dave D's comment was in jest? I prefer Ann's answer!
No, I certainly wasn't joking..........Well maybe about Simon Cowell. The other comments about not teaching English history etc (we were horrible people and had an empire you know, of course it was the British empire but a lot of people conveniently forget that bit), are from personal experience.
I consider the classic literature as needed basis for the formation of an academic person. However, there are many books boring to a child read.
The internet is a new world for all people, each choise to read what it calls more attention or even pleases. Then the classical literature needs to be updated to become more attractive.
Kisses
I think the classics should be studied and read in the upper grade levels but as the other ladies mentioned it would be nice to find a balance.
I just added it to the list - thank you!
Yes, it is a shame if no classics are still read at school. The English students that come to me have a mixture of books to read, both classical (like Shakespeare) and more modern novels. I think it's really good to have a mixture of both.
I love the bookmarks you made with your children!
How lovely to have all those Literature Festivals, will you be going to any of them?
Thank you :) I'd love to - there were a few in Bath that caught my eye :)
Laura,
You are living my dream life! I've just gone back through your past posts since I haven't read yours lately. I LOVE England, and even though I'm all Swedish, I like to tell people I've adopted England as my home.
I love the pics of the countryside and can imagine everyone from "Wind in the Willows" running about there.
Thanks,
Mary
The Hay festival is the one I want to get to. Show me a book store, new or used, and I'm good for hours!
Ali x
Hi Laura, Thankyou for visiting and the lovely comments about my quilt. I was amazed when my daughter was doing English Lit at school that they never read a Shakespeare play the whole way through - luckily I've instilled a love of theatre in her so we go to see the plays instead. And some areas are doing all they can to keep the love of literature alive. Lancashire has the Lancashire Book of the Year which has been going 25 years and is a children's literature prize voted on by all the schools in Lancashire. x
Hi Laura! Fundy Blue here! Thanks for dropping by my blog and becoming a follower! I'm about to follow your site! What fun!
As a recently retired elementary teacher, I strongly think that classics need to be experienced by students. You need a blend of both classic and modern.
Unfortunately, in the US, schools are trending away from fiction reading in the elementary grades. Curriculum developers are saying that at least 50% of reading should be done with non-fiction texts in upper elementary, with 75% or more in the late high school years! Why? Because most of what we read is non-fiction! Nuts, I tell you!
It's a tricky one isn't it? For every child who was turned off literature for life by a too early introduction to the classics there is another who had the world illuminated by them. I think the problem is that it is a huge challenge for a teacher and that it is all in the teaching. I would be really sad to feel that you could get through A level English Lit here and not have read Shakespeare and Jane Austen and Dickens. There is a difference I think. GCSE (done at about 15/16) is for everyone and you should try to keep everyone on board. By A level (17/18) people have chosen to study the subjects that really engage them so you should be ready to have a go at the classics as well as things which might not be quite such hard work!
I am all for the classics. I've discovered so much joy from Jane Austen to Bronte to Shakespeare and Shaw. I don't know the best ways to instill a love of reading, but I do know that it is much richer with old friends/
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