Translation seminar with Dr Petra Poncarová

New Perspectives on Ruaraidh Erskine’s Gaelic Magazines and Translation Activities 12 May 2025, 2.30-4.30pm, Hebdomadar’s room The talk will explore the Scottish and international networks that formed around the Gaelic magazines edited and supported by Ruaraidh Erskine in the 1900s – 1930s, including Gaelic circles in Scotland and London, Scottish nationalist politics, visual arts, pan-Celtic … Read more

Poem and Octopus: Masterclass with Kit Fan

4 April 2025, 10-12noon Hebdomadar’s room An octopus has a decentralised brain distributed throughout their body; each arm is an independent mind. A poem too has more than one brain and each line has own mind. For a poem to withstand the erosion of reading, it needs to find multiple intelligence in its singular body. Informed … Read more

Reading by Kit Fan

3 April 2025, 6-7.30pm UCO, School III Kit Fan writes poetry and fiction. His third poetry collection The Ink Cloud Reader (2023) was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and Forward Prize. His first novel is Diamond Hill (2021). He was shortlisted twice for the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize, and a winner of the Hong Kong University International Poetry Prize, Northern … Read more

The poetics of participation: kinetic art in the streets of Paris (1966-1969)

Poetics of Landscapes seminar series Tuesday 25 March 2025, 1-2pm, UCO30 Dr Natalia Sassu Suarez Ferri By the end of the 1960s, Paris had become a vibrant hub for Latin American artists seeking visibility, access to cultural networks, and often refuge from political oppression. Within this dynamic environment, artists pursued innovative methods to engage public … Read more

Creative Writing in Arabic: A New Way to Learn and Express

19 March and 2 April 2025, 2:00–3:30pm, BUC 305 Creative writing in Arabic is often seen as the domain of native speakers. While the strict grammar rules can feel restrictive, writing creatively in this language is not only possible for non-native speakers: it’s also a powerful way to deepen language learning from a fresh, often overlooked … Read more

Reading by Laynie Browne and David Herd

12 March 2025, 6-7:30pm, UCO School III Laynie Browne is a poet, prose writer, artist, editor and teacher. Her recent books of poetry include: Everyone & Her Resemblances (Pamenar, 2024), Intaglio Daughters (Ornithopter 2023), Practice Has No Sequel (Pamenar 2023), Letters Inscribed in Snow (Tinderbox 2023), and Translation of the Lilies Back into Lists (Wave Books, 2022). In 2024 a solo show of her collage titled “On the Way … Read more

Scenes from the Shoormal: Drift Objects in Some Contemporary Scottish Poems

19 November 2024, 1-2pm, Arts Seminar Room 9 Dr Robin MacKenzie, School of Modern Languages, University of St Andrews Scenes from the Shoormal: Drift Objects in Some Contemporary Scottish Poems Icelandic archaeologist Þóra Pétursdóttir claims in her 2018 essay ‘Drift’ that ‘the Anthropocene – the “Age of Man” – is in essence an age of … Read more

Depositions: Poetry of the Dispossessed

A Public Presentation in collaboration with the Dazzling Spark Arts Foundation 8 October, 6-8pm, UCO School 3 Internationally acclaimed poet Anton Floyd shares excerpts and stories from his remarkable collection Depositions which was recently selected by the National Library of Scotland to showcase National Poetry Day in Scotland. Already acclaimed in a multi-lingual edition, published … Read more