The Oxford Culture Review kicks off a new academic year with our Autumn event, Critical Writing! If you’ve been following this site, you’ll know that we believe that good writing is ‘critical’ in both senses: as a vehicle of informed cultural opinion; and as a necessary response to fast-moving news cycles.

This event will feature an informal discussion on the question, ‘What makes good academic criticism?’ This journal’s largest section is dedicated to reviews, and we’ll be focusing on how to apply academic expertise – and good, clear writing – to works of art, literature, music, theatre, and scholarship. We’ll also hear from practitioners (active across the fields of poetry, translation, music, drama, and criticism) about how best to frame a truly constructive review.

If you are interested in writing for us, joining our discussion, or enjoying some of Oxford’s best coffee, then please come along! The event is free and open to all, and will be recorded as a podcast by The Oxford Writers’ House.

Speakers:

Dr Eleni Philippou

Eleni completed her DPhil in English Literature at New College, Oxford, exploring the implications of Adorno’s critical theory for literary studies. In addition to serving as Co-ordinator of the Oxford Comparative Criticism and Translation (OCCT) Network, she teaches a wide spectrum of theoretical and literary topics at Oxford, and is editor of the OCCT Review.

Leah Broad

Leah is the founder and editor of The Oxford Culture Review. She is one of the BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinkers 2016, and in 2015 won the Observer/Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism. She is currently studying for a DPhil at the University of Oxford, specialising in Scandinavian theatre.

Theophilus Kwek

Theophilus has published three collections of poetry, most recently Giving Ground (2016). He won the Jane Martin Prize in 2015 and the New Poets Prize in 2016, and served as President of the Oxford University Poetry Society. He is Publications Director of the Oxford Writers’ House, Chief Executive Assistant at Asymptote, founding editor of The Kindling, and one of the co-editors of Oxford Poetry.

James Watt

James finished his degree in English at St Peter’s College this June and is now a theatre director based in Cardiff. He trained as an actor and director under playwright Owen Thomas (Grav, Richard Parker, Robert Golding) and his directing credits include Cold/Warm (Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Fringe), Ghosts (Burton Taylor Studio, Oxford Playhouse), Hamlet (O’Reilly Theatre), Richard Parker (C nova, Edinburgh Fringe; BT Studio, Oxford Playhouse) and A Doll’s House (O’Reilly Theatre). James is Artistic Director of Poor Player Theatre.