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#AberSUCelebrates Lecturer of the Year

27/4/2018

I was very much honoured to win the 'Lecturer of the Year' category last night at the #AberSUCelebrates awards.

That the award is entirely down to student nominations is what matters most, of course. I have no idea who nominated me - but thank you so much. If my teaching has made even a small positive difference to what you've learned during your time at Aberystwyth, I'm delighted.

Kate, me, and Dan enjoying the moment...

...and again!

I broadly remember saying three things in my (very brief!) acceptance speech. And I think they were along these lines:

To my students: teaching students who are intellectually engaged, who are willing to work hard, who are willing to think creatively and critically - well, it's made the whole thing a genuine pleasure. Thank you!
To my colleagues: this sort of award is never, really, an individual award. It almost always emerges from being part of a great team. So I'm incredibly grateful to be working alongside an array of such excellent people, and in a department that has such a good atmosphere. (To add a day-after thought here: this latter point is really important. The Department of English & Creative Writing at Aberystwyth is a hugely positive place to work - and much credit for fostering that atmosphere must go to our head of department, Dr Louise Marshall.)
About Aberystwyth: I hope the awards as a whole show that Aber is getting something right in terms of providing really strong teaching for our students. If we've helped deepen your intellectual life, strengthen your capacities for communication, broaden your skills to prepare you for the world beyond university...then that's wonderful. It's categorically what we're here to do. And we're committed to doing it better, year on year on year.

I think I also promised to speak for no more than thirty-five minutes...

Finally, kudos is unequivocally due to Emma Beenham, Academic Affairs Officer at Aber SU, for organising such a successful awards evening. It was all great fun!

John Barnie Double Book-Launch

24/4/2018

It was a great pleasure to help launch two books a couple of weeks ago at Aberystwyth Arts Centre. The first was John Barnie's latest poetry collection, Departure Lounge, published by the indefatigable Cinnamon Press.

The second was my own edited volume of poetry and prose honouring John's long career in writing and editing - Wired to the Dynamo (again, published by Cinnamon).

It is testament to the wide affection and respect in which John is held that the Performance Studio was pretty much bursting at the seams. And the full house got to hear a number of songs from John's highly entertaining blues band, Hollow Log - a trio made up of John himself, Richard Marggraf Turley, and Dilwyn Roberts-Young. There were also readings from three of Wales's most prominent contemporary poets writing in English: Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch, Matthew Francis, and Damian Walford Davies.

As part of the evening's events, I conducted an interview with John, in which we talked about issues ranging from the trajectory of his own career, through the influence of formal questions on the production of his poetry, to the current geopolitical situation. John is a genuinely fascinating interviewee, intellectually acute in a way that keeps the interviewer on their toes. And for anyone who wants to know more, I included an extended interview with him in Wired to the Dynamo itself.

It was entirely appropriate that the evening ended with a round of applause for John - in fact, not just applause, but a spontaneous standing ovation. It was a wonderful moment, and a very fitting tribute to one of Wales's most important English-language literary voices of recent years.

#AberSUCelebrates Lecturer of the Year

John Barnie Double Book-Launch

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