1.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
2.
English people
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The English are a nation and an ethnic group native to England, who speak the English language. The English identity is of medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Angelcynn. Their ethnonym is derived from the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples who migrated to Great Britain around the 5th century AD, England is one of the countries of the United Kingdom. Collectively known as the Anglo-Saxons, they founded what was to become England along with the later Danes, Normans, in the Acts of Union 1707, the Kingdom of England was succeeded by the Kingdom of Great Britain. Over the years, English customs and identity have become closely aligned with British customs. The English people are the source of the English language, the Westminster system and these and other English cultural characteristics have spread worldwide, in part as a result of the former British Empire. The concept of an English nation is far older than that of the British nation, many recent immigrants to England have assumed a solely British identity, while others have developed dual or mixed identities. Use of the word English to describe Britons from ethnic minorities in England is complicated by most non-white people in England identifying as British rather than English. In their 2004 Annual Population Survey, the Office for National Statistics compared the ethnic identities of British people with their national identity. They found that while 58% of white people in England described their nationality as English and it is unclear how many British people consider themselves English. Following complaints about this, the 2011 census was changed to allow respondents to record their English, Welsh, Scottish, another complication in defining the English is a common tendency for the words English and British to be used interchangeably, especially overseas. In his study of English identity, Krishan Kumar describes a common slip of the tongue in which people say English, I mean British. He notes that this slip is made only by the English themselves and by foreigners. Kumar suggests that although this blurring is a sign of Englands dominant position with the UK and it tells of the difficulty that most English people have of distinguishing themselves, in a collective way, from the other inhabitants of the British Isles. In 1965, the historian A. J. P. Taylor wrote, When the Oxford History of England was launched a generation ago and it meant indiscriminately England and Wales, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and even the British Empire. Foreigners used it as the name of a Great Power and indeed continue to do so, bonar Law, by origin a Scotch Canadian, was not ashamed to describe himself as Prime Minister of England Now terms have become more rigorous. The use of England except for a geographic area brings protests and this version of history is now regarded by many historians as incorrect, on the basis of more recent genetic and archaeological research. The 2016 study authored by Stephan Schiffels et al, the remaining portion of English DNA is primarily French, introduced in a migration after the end of the Ice Age
3.
Dulwich College
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Dulwich College is a boarding and day independent school for boys in Dulwich in southeast London, England. It was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, an Elizabethan actor and it currently has about 1,500 boys, of whom 120 are boarders. Admission by examination is mainly into years 3,7,9 and it is a member of both the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference and the Eton Group. The term Dulwich College was used colloquially from that date, such as in 1675 when John Evelyn described his visit to Dulwich College in his Diary, however, for at least 263 years this colloquialism was incorrect as the school was part of the overall charitable Foundation. There is no evidence for the legend that he owned brothels. He was Chief Maister, Ruler and Overseer of games of Beares, Bulls, Mastiff Dogs, rumours that Alleyn turned his attention towards charitable pursuits out of fear for his moral well-being have been traced to the journalist George Sala and questioned. The building on Dulwich Green of a chapel, a schoolhouse and twelve almshouses, on 1 September 1616 the chapel was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury who became the official Visitor. However, Edward Alleyn faced objections from Francis Bacon, the Lord Chancellor and it was Alleyns persistence that led to the foundation being endowed by James Is signing of the letters patent. The poor brothers and sisters and scholars were to be drawn from the four parishes that were most closely tied to Alleyn, the business of the charity was conducted in the name of these thirty members by the Master, Warden and four Fellows. Alleyn drew upon the experience of similar establishments in order to formulate the statutes and ordinances of the college. Among the many statutes and ordinances signed by Alleyn that pertained to the scheme were provisions that the scholars were entitled to stay until they were eighteen. And to be taught in good and sound learning’…’that they might be prepared for university or for good and sweet trades and occupations. Another stipulation was that the Master and Warden should always be unmarried and of Alleyns blood, and surname, and if the former was impossible then at least of Alleyns surname. Alleyn also made provision that the people of Dulwich should be able to have their men children instructed at the school for a fee as well as children from outside Dulwich for a separate fee. The next two centuries were beset by both external difficulties such as diminishing financial fortunes and failing buildings as well as internal strife between the various Members of the College. The Official Visitor, the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose function was to ensure that the statutes were obeyed, was called in many times, dr John Allen of Holland House was a most learned and influential man, but neglected the education of the Poor Scholars. Immediately after this criticism, the Dulwich College Grammar School was established in 1842 for the education of boys from Dulwich. To this school were transferred the boys of the James Allen Foundation, the Old Grammar School, as it became known, was erected in 1841 opposite the Old College, designed by Sir Charles Barry, the architect of the Palace of Westminster
4.
Queens' College, Cambridge
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Queens College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Queens is one of the oldest and largest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou, the college spans both sides of the river Cam, colloquially referred to as the light side and the dark side, with the world-famous Mathematical Bridge connecting the two. Its most famous matriculant is Desiderius Erasmus, who studied at the college during his trips to England between 1506 and 1515, the college has a financial endowment of £54.9 million The current President of the college is the senior economist and Labour Party adviser, Lord Eatwell. Past Presidents of the college include Saint John Fisher, Queens College was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou, and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville. In 1446 Andrew Dokett obtained a Charter from King Henry VI to found St Bernards College, a year later the charter was revoked and Dokett obtained a new charter from the king to found St Bernards College on the present site of Old Court and Cloister Court. In 1448 King Henry VI granted Margaret of Anjou the lands of St Bernards College to build a new college to be called Queens College of St Margaret and St Bernard. On 15 April 1448, Sir John Wenlock, Chamberlain to Queen Margaret, by 1460 the library, chapel, gatehouse and the Presidents lodge were completed and the chapel licensed for service. Between that time and the early 1600s many improvements were made and new buildings constructed, including the Walnut Tree Building, since then the college has refurbished most of its old building and steadily expanded. During the English civil war the college sent all its silver to help the King, as a result, the president and the fellows were ejected from their posts. In 1660 the president was restored, in 1777 a fire in the Walnut-Tree Building destroyed the upper floors which had to be rebuilt 1778-82. In February 1795 the College was badly flooded, reportedly waist-deep in the cloisters, in 1823 the spelling of the colleges name officially changed from Queens to Queens. The earliest known record of the college Boat Club dates from 1831, in 1862 the St Bernard Society, the debating club of the college was founded. In 1884 the first football match was played by the college team, in 1980, the college for the first time allowed females to matriculate as members of college, with the first female members of the college graduating in 1983. These arms are those of the first foundress Queen, Margaret of Anjou, the six quarters of these arms represent the six lordships which he claimed. The green border appears to be intended as a difference for Queens College and these arms are of interest because the third quarter uses gold on silver, a combination which is extremely rare in heraldry. The cross potent is a pun on the letters H and I. These are not the arms of the College, but, rather. The silver boars head was the badge of King Richard III of England, richards wife Anne Neville was the third Queen consort to be patroness of the College
5.
University of York
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The University of York is a research-intensive plate glass university located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres. In the 2014 Research Assessment Exercise, York was named as the 14th best research institution in the United Kingdom. The university also places among the top 20 in the country, top 50 universities in Europe, York is described as a genuinely world class institution by The Times and The Sunday Times. In 2012 York joined the Russell Group, which some of the UKs most prestigious universities. Situated to the south-east of the city of York, the university campus is about 200 acres in size, incorporating the York Science Park and its wildlife, campus lakes and greenery are prominent, and the institution also occupies buildings in the city of York. In May 2007 the university was granted permission to build an extension to its main campus, the second campus, known as Heslington East, opened in 2009 and now hosts three colleges and three departments as well as conference spaces, sports village and a business start-up incubator. York is a university and every student is allocated to one of the universitys nine colleges. The ninth college was founded in 2014 and was named Constantine after the Roman emperor Constantine I, there are plans to build two new colleges in the near future. The first petition for the establishment of a university in York was presented to James I in 1617, in 1641 a second petition was drawn up but was not delivered due to the English Civil War in 1642. A third petition was created in 1647 but was rejected by Parliament, in the 1820s there were discussions about the founding of a university in York, but this did not come to fruition due to the founding of Durham University in 1832. In 1903 F. J. Munby and the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, amongst others, oliver Sheldon a director of Rowntrees and co-founder of York Civic Trust, was a driving force behind the campaign to found the university. Morell and the history of the foundations, in 1963 the university opened with 216 undergraduates,14 postgraduates, and 28 academic and administrative staff. The university started with six departments, Economics, Education, English, History, a year later, work began on purpose-built structures on the Heslington Campus, which now forms the main part of the university. Due to the influence of Graeme Moodie, founding head of the Politics Department, students are involved in the governance of the university at all levels, and his model has since been widely adopted. Yorks first two Colleges, Derwent and Langwith were founded in 1965, and were followed by Alcuin and Vanbrugh in 1967, in 1972 this was followed by Wentworth College. The university was noted for its approach to teaching. It was known for its adoption of joint honours degrees which were often very broad such as history
6.
The Fens
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The Fens, also known as the Fenland, is a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry and it is one of the driest areas in England, thanks to a system of drainage channels and man-made rivers and automated pumping stations. A common misconception is that the fens are damp, in whole it occupies an area of nearly 1,500 sq mi. Most of the Fenland lies within a few metres of sea level, with the support of this drainage system, the Fenland has become a major arable agricultural region in Britain for grains and vegetables. The Fens are particularly fertile, containing half of the grade 1 agricultural land in England. The Fens have been referred to as the Holy Land of the English because of the monasteries, now churches and cathedrals, of Crowland, Ely, Peterborough. Other significant settlements in the Fens include Boston, Cambridge, Spalding, the Fens are very low-lying compared with the chalk and limestone uplands that surround them – in most places no more than 10 m above sea level. Indeed, as a result of drainage and the subsequent shrinkage of the peat fens, within the Fens there are a few hills, which have historically been called islands as they remained dry when the low-lying fens around them were flooded. The largest of the fen-islands is the Isle of Ely, on which the city of Ely was built. Some areas of the Fens were once permanently flooded, creating small lakes or meres, the rest of the Fenland was dedicated to pastoral farming, fishing, fowling and the harvesting of reeds or sedge for thatch. In this way, the medieval and early modern Fens stood in contrast to the rest of southern England, drainage in the Fenland consists of both river drainage and internal drainage of the land between the rivers. The internal drainage was organised by levels or districts, each of which includes the fen parts of one or several parishes, in the 17th century, the Great Level was divided into the North, Middle and South Levels for the purposes of administration and maintenance. In the 20th century, these levels have gained new boundaries, the South Level lies to the southeast of the Ouse Washes and surrounds Ely, as it did in the 17th century. The Middle Level currently lies between the Ouse Washes and the Nene, but historically lay between the Ouse Washes and Mortons Leam, a 15th-century canal which runs north of the town of Whittlesey. Deeping Fen, in the part of Lincolnshire, lies between the River Welland and the River Glen with its tributary the Bourne Eau. The Black Sluice District, much of which was known as the Lindsey Level when it was first drained in 1639, extends from the Glen and its water is carried through to the Haven at Boston. The above were all redrained at one time or another after the Civil War, at the end of the most recent glacial period, known in Britain as the Devensian, ten thousand years ago, Britain and continental Europe were joined by the ridge between Friesland and Norfolk. The topography of the bed of the North Sea indicates that the rivers of the part of eastern England flowed into the Rhine
7.
Jorge Luis Borges
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Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo KBE was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish-language literature. Borges works have contributed to literature and the fantasy genre. However, some critics consider Borges to be a predecessor and not actually a magical realist and his late poems dialogue with such cultural figures as Spinoza, Camões, and Virgil. In 1914, Borges family moved to Switzerland, where he studied at the Collège de Genève, the family travelled widely in Europe, including Spain. On his return to Argentina in 1921, Borges began publishing his poems and he also worked as a librarian and public lecturer. In 1955, he was appointed director of the National Public Library and he became completely blind by the age of 55, as he never learned braille, he became unable to read. Scholars have suggested that his progressive blindness helped him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination, in 1961, he came to international attention when he received the first Formentor prize, which he shared with Samuel Beckett. In 1971, he won the Jerusalem Prize and his work was translated and published widely in the United States and Europe. Borges himself was fluent in several languages and he dedicated his final work, The Conspirators, to the city of Geneva, Switzerland. Writer and essayist J. M. Coetzee said of him, He, more than anyone, renovated the language of fiction, Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo was born into an educated middle-class family on 24 August 1899. They were in comfortable circumstances but not wealthy enough to live in downtown Buenos Aires so the family resided in Palermo, Borgess mother, Leonor Acevedo Suárez, came from a traditional Uruguayan family of criollo origin. Her family had been involved in the European settling of South America and the Argentine War of Independence. His 1929 book, Cuaderno San Martín, includes the poem Isidoro Acevedo, commemorating his grandfather, Isidoro de Acevedo Laprida, a soldier of the Buenos Aires Army. A descendant of the Argentine lawyer and politician Francisco Narciso de Laprida, de Acevedo Laprida fought in the battles of Cepeda in 1859, Pavón in 1861, de Acevedo Laprida died of pulmonary congestion in the house where his grandson Jorge Luis Borges was born. Borgess own father, Jorge Guillermo Borges Haslam was a lawyer, Borges Haslam was born in Entre Rios of Spanish, Portuguese, and English descent, the son of Francisco Borges Lafinur, a colonel, and Frances Ann Haslam, an Englishwoman. Borges Haslam grew up speaking English at home, the family frequently traveled to Europe. Borges Haslam wed Leonor Acevedo Suarez and was father of the painter Norah Borges. At age nine, Jorge Luis Borges translated Oscar Wildes The Happy Prince into Spanish and it was published in a local journal, but his friends thought the real author was his father
8.
Ted Hughes
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Edward James Ted Hughes OM was an English poet and childrens writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and he served as Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death. Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath from 1956 until her suicide in 1963 at the age of 30 and his part in the relationship became controversial to some feminists and some American admirers of Plath. His last poetic work, Birthday Letters, explored their complex relationship and these poems make reference to Plaths suicide, but none addresses directly the circumstances of her death. A poem discovered in October 2010, Last letter, describes what happened during the three days before her death, in 2008 The Times ranked Hughes fourth on their list of The 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Hughess sister Olwyn was two years older and his brother Gerald was ten years older and his mother could trace her ancestry back to William de Ferrières, who came to England with William the Conqueror in the 11th century. One of her ancestors had founded the community of Little Gidding in Cambridgeshire. Most of the recent generations of his family had worked in the clothing and milling industries in the area. Hughess father, William, a joiner, was of Irish descent and had enlisted with the Lancashire Fusiliers and he narrowly escaped being killed when a bullet lodged in a pay book in his breast pocket. He was one of just 17 men of his regiment to return from the Dardanelles Campaign, the stories of Flanders fields filled Hughess childhood imagination. Hughes noted, my first six years shaped everything, Hughes loved hunting and fishing, swimming and picnicking with his family. He attended the Burnley Road School until he was seven, when his family moved to Mexborough and his parents ran a newsagents and tobacconists shop. In Poetry in Making he recalled that he was fascinated by animals and he acted as retriever when his elder brother gamekeeper shot magpies, owls, rats and curlews, growing up surrounded by the harsh realities of working farms in the valleys and on the moors. During his time in Mexborough he explored Manor Farm at Old Denaby and his earliest poem The Thought Fox, and earliest story The Rain Horse were recollections of the area. A close friend at the time, John Wholly, took Hughes to the Crookhill estate above Conisbrough where the boys spent great swathes of time, Hughes became close to the family and learnt a lot about wildlife from Whollys father, a game keeper. He came to view fishing as an almost religious experience, Hughes attended Mexborough Grammar School, where a succession of teachers encouraged him to write, and develop his interest in poetry. Teachers Miss McLeod and Pauline Mayne introduced him to the poets Hopkins, Hughes was mentored by his sister Olwyn, who was well versed in poetry, and another teacher, John Fisher. Poet Harold Massingham also attended school and was also mentored by Fisher
9.
2009 in literature
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This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 2009. April 21 – UNESCO launches the World Digital Library, may 1 – Carol Ann Duffy is appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, the first woman appointed to the position, she is also the first Scot and the first openly gay occupant of the post. May 5 – Posthumous publication of J. R. R. Tolkiens narrative poem The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún in alliterative verse based on the 13th century Poetic Edda and probably written in the 1930s. August 10 – Standard orthography for writing in the Silesian language is adopted in Cieszyn, october 8 – Romanian-born German novelist Herta Müller wins the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. November 10 – Linden MacIntyre wins the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel The Bishops Man, australian publishers Allen & Unwin announce the suspension of their annual Iremonger Award, on the grounds that no manuscript of sufficient merit has been submitted. Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm-Zentrum library opens at Humboldt University of Berlin, hajime Asano and Seiji Kikuchi – Mayo Chiki. Reif Larsen – The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet Peter Lerangis – The Sword Thief D. J, machale – The Soldiers of Halla Joshua Mowll et al. Michael Crichton – Pirate Latitudes Andrew Hussie – Homestuck J. C. Hutchins – 7th Son, Book One, Descent Robert Jordan, edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction, Russell Wangersky, Burning Down the House Governor Generals Awards, Multiple categories, see 2009 Governor Generals Awards
10.
William Faulkner
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William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and he is primarily known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where he spent most of his life. Faulkner is one of the most celebrated writers in American literature generally, two of his works, A Fable and his last novel The Reivers, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Absalom, Absalom. is often included on similar lists, Faulkner was born William Cuthbert Falkner in New Albany, Mississippi, the first of four sons of Murry Cuthbert Falkner and Maud Butler. He had three brothers, Murry Charles Jack Falkner, author John Faulkner, and Dean Swift Falkner. Soon after his first birthday, his family moved to Ripley, Mississippi, Murry hoped to inherit the railroad from his father, John Wesley Thompson Falkner, but John had little confidence in Murrys ability to run a business and sold it for $75,000. Following the sale of the business, Murry became disappointed and planned a new start for his family by moving to Texas. Maud, however, disagreed with this proposition, and it was decided that they would move to Oxford, Mississippi, where Murrys father owned several businesses, making it easy for Murry to find work. Thus, four days prior to Williams fifth birthday on September 21,1902, the Falkner family settled in Oxford and his family, particularly his mother Maud, his maternal grandmother Lelia Butler, and Caroline Callie Barr crucially influenced the development of Faulkners artistic imagination. Both his mother and grandmother were avid readers and also painters and photographers, while Murry enjoyed the outdoors and encouraged his sons to hunt, track, and fish, Maud valued education and took pleasure in reading and going to church. She taught her sons to read before sending them to school and exposed them to classics such as Charles Dickens. Faulkners lifelong education by Callie Barr is central to his novels preoccupations with the politics of sexuality, as a schoolchild, Faulkner had much success early on. He excelled in the first grade, skipped the second, and continued doing well through the third, however, beginning somewhere in the fourth and fifth grades of his schooling, Faulkner became a much more quiet and withdrawn child. He began to play hooky occasionally and became indifferent to his schoolwork. The decline of his performance in school continued, and Faulkner wound up repeating the eleventh, and then final grade, Faulkner also spent much of his boyhood listening to stories told to him by his elders. These included war stories shared by the old men of Oxford and stories told by Barr of the Civil War, slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Falkner family. Faulkners grandfather would tell him of the exploits of Williams great-grandfather, after whom he was named, William Clark Falkner, who was a successful businessman, writer. Telling stories about William Clark Falkner, whom the family called Old Colonel, had become something of a family pastime when Faulkner was a boy
