Semester 1 2017-18

4 October 2017 – Casting Race on Stage and Screen

This event led by Dr Julia Prest (University of St Andrews) explores casting in relation to race and ethnicity, the opportunities and challenges through interviews with actor Satya Bhabha and Mezzo Soprano Andrea Baker, who sings a short a cappella excerpt from Sing Sistah Sing! Andrea Baker is a mezzo soprano, and the first African American to sing in all four operas of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Satya Bhabha’s film credits include Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010), and Midnight’s Children (2012). Julia Prest is writing a book entitled Master, Slave and Free: Theatre and Citizenship from Colonial Saint-Domingue to the Founding of Haiti (1764-1804).

25 October 2017 – Burns and Hafaz

Separated by four centuries and over 4000 miles, by culture, by history, by religion, by language. Burns and Hafez can’t really have anything in common – can they? The key poems and songs of the two Bards are sung, recited and acted, accompanied by Santoor, Guitar, and Bass, together with a bit of context and discussion. For those who don’t understand Persian – or 18th century Scots – we have English subtitles. A Talking Sheep production with Mark Meiklejohn, Mark Percival, Valerie Sim, Parmis Mozafari, Lucy Deacon and Manijeh Zargar.

1 November 2017 – Byre World’s Poetry Pop-Up with StAnza and the Poetry Forum

Four performers from the University of St Andrews School of Modern Languages, StAnza and the Poetry Forum come together to showcase their work. The event will mainly be in English but come ready to be enthralled and entertained by some language-crossing and culture-clashing rhymes. After each poet performs their work, they will take part in an audience discussion to delve deeper into the process of writing poetry across different languages.

Christine De Luca: Journeys
Edinburgh-based Christine De Luca writes in English and Shetlandic, her mother tongue. She was Edinburgh’s Makar for 2014-2017. Besides children’s stories and a novel, she has had seven poetry collections and four bi-lingual volumes published (French, Italian, Icelandic and Norwegian) and participated in festivals e.g. in Canada, India, France, Norway, Iceland … and St Andrews! (www.christinedeluca.co.uk)

Harry Giles / Aurélia Lassaque
Harry Giles is from Orkney and lives in Edinburgh. Harry’s latest publication is the collection Tonguit from Freight Books, shortlisted for the 2016 Forward Prize for Best First Collection. They were the 2009 BBC Scotland slam champion, co-direct the live art platform ANATOMY, and have toured participatory theatre across Europe and Leith. Harry will be performing versions and translations into Orcadian from various different poets, including Aurélia Lassaque, StAnza’s 2017 poet-in-residence, who writes in French and Occitan. (www.harrygiles.org)

Nsah Mala
Nsah Mala is a Cameroon-born poet and writer, author of three poetry collections: Chaining Freedom (2012), Bites of Insanity (2015), and If You Must Fall Bush (2016). His short story “Christmas Disappointment” won a prize from the Cameroonian Ministry of Arts and Culture in 2016. His poems and other writings have appeared (are forthcoming) in anthologies and magazines in Cameroon, Nigeria, Canada, USA, India, and France. His two new poetry collections (in English and French) are forthcoming.

Annie Rutherford and Rebecca DeWald / Nora Gomringer
Nora Gomringer is one of Germany’s best known and loved contemporary poets. Her writing blurs the boundaries between performance and page poetry, as well as intersecting with other art forms. Hydra’s Heads, the first collection of her work translated into English, is due out in July 2018. The collection’s title nods to a quote by Gomringer: that translation is like an attempt to tie the heads of the Hydra back into a single ponytail. In this session, translators Annie Rutherford and Rebecca DeWald offer a deconstructed translation of Gomringer’s work, showcasing the fluidity and precarity of translation decisions.

15 November 2017 – Representations of the Holocaust in Eastern Bloc Cinema

Film screening of Jacob the Liar (dir. Frank Beyer, 1974) with introduction by Professor Sean Allen (University of St Andrews) and a post-screening discussion.

29 November 2017 – An Evening with Austrian Author Erwin Uhrmann

Ich bin die Zukunft / I Am the Future – An Evening with Austrian author Erwin Uhrmann (in German and in English) with translation by Rachel Hildebrandt. Austrian author Erwin Uhrmann will read from his book Ich bin die Zukunft (published in 2014) and Andrew Cusack will read from the English translation, I am the Future. The readings will be followed by a conversation in English about the translation and content of Erwin’s book with Andrew Cusack and Kirsten Mericka from the Department of German, University of St Andrews.

13 December 2017 – Theeb (dir. Naji Abu Nowar, 2014). Film Screening and Discussion

Theeb, Arabic for wolf, is a Jordanian Arabic language film directed by Naji Abu Nowar. The film is about a young Bedouin boy, named Theeb, who must fend for himself and survive in the Wadi Rum desert. Taking place during the First World War and after the Great Arab It takes place against the Ottoman empire. It will be introduced by Dr. Fabio Caiani (Arabic Department). It will be followed by a Q&A.