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The Long Poem Reading Group

The Long Poem Reading Group meets every week in Term 2 to read a poem together aloud, round the room, and share the experience. This is an informal, relaxed, voluntary event in which students at all levels, undergraduate and postgraduate, are able to mix freely with staff members. We read, have a cup of tea and a biscuit, and discuss the poem.

Over the past years the group has read: The Prelude; Paradise Lost; Don Juan; The Odyssey; The Inferno; Gawain and the Green Knight; Beowulf.

Results so Far:

Most easy to read: The Prelude
Most difficult to read: Don Juan (very tricksy)
Most Engaging: The Odyssey
Most Dramatic: Paradise Lost
Most Confusing: The Inferno
Most Repetitive: Beowulf
Most Courteous: Gawain and the Green Knight (we preferred the O’Donoghue Translation)

The Group is Convened, and the tea made, by Dr Sally Bushell.
Sally Bushell is also General Editor, with Isobel Armstrong, of a forthcoming series by Edinburgh University Press: Reading Guides to Long Poems.