Arcadia England

On Tuesday, 27th October, the British Academy hosted an event to honour the authors shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, the UK’s most prestigious accolade for Non-Fiction.  Three of the six candidates for the prize were in attendance, including our own Dr. Laurence Scott.  Laurence was joined by Sir Jonathan Bate, an Oxford University Provost, Professor of English and Shakespearean scholar.  Emma Sky, a Senior Fellow at Yale University and lecturer in Middle East Politics, joined the session remotely from the New Haven campus. 

Laurence’s novel, The Four Dimensional Human, delves into the manifold ways the digital explosion has revolutionised our understanding of, and interaction with our surrounding world.  Emma Sky’s The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq, recounts her experience of advising a US general in Iraq, beginning in 2003.  Professor Bate’s work is the most recent biography of Ted Hughes – Britain's Poet Laureate from 1984, until his death in 1998.  Hughes was the spouse of American poet Sylvia Plath.  Each author read an excerpt from their book, and then accepted questions from the audience.  Before Laurence began his reading, he mentioned that he was touched to see some of his students in the audience – they were all First Year students from Arcadia University: Caroline Burgoyne, KJ Durham, Gabby Patrone and Jake Nightlinger.  Interestingly, Emma Sky’s commentary echoed Jake’s reflections on the current refugee crisis, following his participation in September’s Solidarity with Refugees protest.

Tuesday’s event prompted discussion and enquiry about the impact of today’s digital reality on human memory, how to contend with the current crisis in Syria and ISIS, as well as the extent to which a researcher may bring personal opinion of his subject to bear on the writing of a biography.  Sir Bate recently contributed to a BBC documentary on Ted Hughes.  Those with an interest in poetry and feminist protest may find the documentary - available to view for the next 14 days - particularly revelatory.

Here at Arcadia we are all very excited to see Dr Laurence Scott in the shortlist for this prestigious prize and are eagerly awaiting for the winner to be announced!

The winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction will be announced on Monday 2 November 10pm GMT.