1.
OBE
–
There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
OBE
–
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
OBE
–
MBE as awarded in 1918
OBE
–
Close up of an MBE from 1945 showing the "For God and the Empire"
OBE
–
Lieutenant General Sir
Robert Fulton, KBE
2.
FRSA
–
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts is an award open to anyone who can demonstrate that they support the mission and share the values of the Royal Society of Arts. Fellows are charged a subscription and are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRSA, examples of current fellows, who come from diverse backgrounds and professions, include Tim Berners-Lee, Sue Black, Stephen Hawking, Benson Taylor and Gareth Malone. Previous Fellows have included Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin and Karl Marx, a partial List of Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts gives more examples, alongside the Category, Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts. As of 2016 the RSA Fellowship is a community of 28,000 members who have either applied for or been nominated for Fellowship since 1754
FRSA
–
William Shipley, founder of the Society in 1754.
3.
FRSL
–
The Royal Society of Literature is a learned society. It was founded in 1820 by King George IV to reward literary merit, the societys first president was Thomas Burgess, Bishop of St Davids. Past fellows include Samuel Taylor Coleridge, J. R. R. Tolkien, yeats, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Koestler, Chinua Achebe, Robert Ardrey, and P. J. Kavanagh. Present Fellows include Margaret Atwood, David Hare, Kazuo Ishiguro, Hilary Mantel, Paul Muldoon, Zadie Smith, Nadeem Aslam, Sarah Waters and J. K. Rowling. A newly created fellow inscribes his or her name on the official roll using either Byrons pen or T. S. Eliots fountain pen. S. Pritchett Memorial Prize for short stories, from time to time it confers the honour and title of Companion of Literature to writers of particular note. Additionally the RSL can bestow its award of the Benson Medal for lifetime service in the field of literature, the RSL runs a membership scheme and offers a varied programme of events to members and the general public. The RSL also runs an outreach programme in collaboration with the literacy charity First Story. The society is a tenant at Londons Somerset House. The RSL administers two annual prizes, two awards, and two honours, through its prize programmes, the RSL supports new and established contemporary writers. The RSL Brookleaze Grants – a total of £5,000 is awarded annually to novelists, playwrights, poets or short story writers who need time away from their lives to write. The RSL Encore Awards - £10,000 for best second novel of the year, the RSL took over the administration of this award in 2016. The RSL Jerwood Awards for Non-Fiction – three annual awards, one of £10,000 and two of £5,000, to authors engaged on their first commissioned works of non-fiction. The RSL Ondaatje Prize – an annual award of £10,000 for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Pritchett Memorial Prize – an annual prize of £1,000 for the best unpublished short story of the year, the Benson Medal – awarded to those who have done sustained and outstanding service to literature. Companion of Literature – the highest honour that the Society can bestow upon a writer, the Council of the Royal Society of Literature is central to the election of new fellows, and directs the RSLs activities through its monthly meetings. They include most of the best novelists, short-story writers, poets, playwrights, biographers, historians, travel writers, literary critics, new fellows of the Royal Society of Literature are elected by its current fellows. To be nominated for fellowship, a writer must have published two works of merit, and nominations must be seconded by an RSL fellow
FRSL
–
Royal Society of Literature
4.
Nagasaki
–
Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Part of Nagasaki was home to a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese War, during World War II, the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Nagasaki the second and, to date, last city in the world to experience a nuclear attack. As of 1 January 2009, the city has an population of 446,007. The total area is 406.35 km², a small fishing village set in a secluded harbor, Nagasaki had little historical significance until contact with Portuguese explorers in 1543. An early visitor was Fernão Mendes Pinto, who came on a Portuguese ship which landed nearby in Tanegashima and his followers who remained behind converted a number of daimyōs. The most notable among them was Ōmura Sumitada, the little harbor village quickly grew into a diverse port city, and Portuguese products imported through Nagasaki were assimilated into popular Japanese culture. The Portuguese also brought them many goods from China. Thus, for a period after 1580, the city of Nagasaki was a Jesuit colony, under their administrative. It was administered by the captain of the Portuguese black ship, the highest representative of the Portuguese Crown and it became a refuge for Christians escaping maltreatment in other regions of Japan. In 1587, however, Toyotomi Hideyoshis campaign to unify the country arrived in Kyūshū, however, the expulsion order went largely unenforced, and the fact remained that most of Nagasakis population remained openly practicing Catholic. In 1596, the Spanish ship San Felipe was wrecked off the coast of Shikoku, in response, Hideyoshi ordered the crucifixions of twenty-six Catholics in Nagasaki on February 5 of that year. Portuguese traders were not ostracized, however, and so the city continued to thrive, in 1602, Augustinian missionaries also arrived in Japan, and when Tokugawa Ieyasu took power in 1603, Catholicism was still tolerated. Many Catholic daimyōs had been allies at the Battle of Sekigahara. Once Osaka Castle had been taken and Toyotomi Hideyoshis offspring killed, though, in addition, the Dutch and English presence allowed trade without religious strings attached. Thus, in 1614, Catholicism was officially banned and all missionaries ordered to leave, most Catholic daimyo apostatized, and forced their subjects to do so, although a few would not renounce the religion and left the country for Macau, Luzon and Japantowns in Southeast Asia. A brutal campaign of persecution followed, with thousands of converts across Kyūshū and other parts of Japan killed, tortured, catholicisms last gasp as an open religion and the last major military action in Japan until the Meiji Restoration was the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637. Consequently, in Tokugawa society the word Shimabara solidified the connection between Christianity and disloyalty, constantly used again and again in Tokugawa propaganda, the Shimabara Rebellion also convinced many policy-makers that foreign influences were more trouble than they were worth, leading to the national isolation policy. The Great Fire of Nagasaki destroyed much of the city in 1663, including the Mazu shrine at the Kofukuji Temple patronized by the Chinese sailors, in 1720 the ban on Dutch books was lifted, causing hundreds of scholars to flood into Nagasaki to study European science and art
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
5.
Novelist
–
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, Novelists come from a variety of backgrounds and social classes, and frequently this shapes the content of their works. Similarly, some novelists have creative identities derived from their focus on different genres of fiction, such as crime, while many novelists compose fiction to satisfy personal desires, novelists and commentators often ascribe a particular social responsibility or role to novel writers. Many authors use such moral imperatives to justify different approaches to writing, including activism or different approaches to representing reality truthfully. Novelist is a derivative from the term novel describing the writer of novels. However, the OED attributes the primary meaning of a writer of novels as first appearing in the 1633 book East-India Colation by C. The difference between professional and amateur novelists often is the ability to publish. Many people take up writing as a hobby, but the difficulties of completing large scale fictional works of quality prevent the completion of novels. Once authors have completed a novel, they often try to get it published. The publishing industry requires novels to have accessible profitable markets, thus many novelists will self-publish to circumvent the editorial control of publishers, self-publishing has long been an option for writers, with vanity presses printing bound books for a fee paid by the writer. The rise of the Internet and electronic books has made self publishing far less expensive, Novelists apply a number of different methods to writing their novels, relying on a variety of approaches to inspire creativity. Some communities actively encourage amateurs to practice writing novels to develop these unique practices, for example, the internet-based group, National Novel Writing Month, encourages people to write 50, 000-word novels in the month of November, to give novelists practice completing such works. In the 2010 event, over 200,000 people took part – writing a total of over 2.8 billion words, Novelists dont usually publish their first novels until later in life. However, many novelists begin writing at a young age, for example, Iain Banks began writing at eleven, and at sixteen completed his first novel, The Hungarian Lift-Jet, about international arms dealers, in pencil in a larger-than-foolscap log book. However, he was thirty before he published his first novel, the success of this novel enabled Banks to become a full-time novelist. Occasionally, novelists publish as early as their teens, for example, Patrick OBrian published his first novel, Caesar, The Life Story of a Panda-Leopard, at the age of 15, which brought him considerable critical attention. Occasionally, these works will achieve popular success as well, for example, though Christopher Paolinis Eragon, was not a great critical success, but its popularity among readers placed it on the New York Times Childrens Books Best Seller list for 121 weeks. First-time novelists of any age often find themselves unable to get published, because of a number of reasons reflecting the inexperience of the author
Novelist
–
William Faulkner's
Underwood Universal Portable typewriter in his office at
Rowan Oak, which is now maintained by the
University of Mississippi in
Oxford as a museum
Novelist
–
Novelist
James Patterson, one of the most monetarily successful contemporary novelists, who made $70 million in 2010
Novelist
–
The
Scott Monument on Edinburgh's
Princes Street.
6.
Screenwriter
–
One famous screenwriter is Jack Rosenthal, who has written for various TV shows over the years, including Londons Burning and Coronation Street. No education is required to become a screenwriter, just good storytelling abilities. Screenwriters are not hired employees, they are contracted freelancers, most, if not all, screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation, meaning they write without being hired or paid for it. If such a script is sold, it is called a spec script, what separates a professional screenwriter from an amateur screenwriter is that professional screenwriters are usually represented by a talent agency. Also, professional screenwriters do not often work for free, whereas amateur screenwriters will often work for free and are considered writers in training, spec scripts are usually penned by unknown professional screenwriters and amateur screenwriters. There are a legion of would-be screenwriters who attempt to enter the industry but it often takes years of trial-and-error, failure. In Writing Screenplays that Sell, Michael Hague writes Screenplays have become, for the last half of century, closet writers who used to dream of the glory of getting into print now dream of seeing their story on the big or small screen. Every screenplay and teleplay begins with a thought or idea, and screenwriters use those ideas to write scripts, with the intention of selling them and having them produced. In some cases, the script is based on a property, such as a book or persons life story. The majority of the time, a film project gets initiated by a screenwriter and because they initiated the project and these are referred to as exclusive assignments or pitched assignments. Screenwriters who often pitch new projects, whether original or an adaptation, when word is put out about a project a film studio, production company, or producer wants done, these are referred to as open assignments. In situations where screenwriters are competing for an assignment, more established writers will usually win these assignments. A screenwriter can also be approached and personally offered a writing assignment, many screenwriters also work as full or part-time script doctors, attempting to better a script to suit the desires of a director or studio. For instance, studio management may have a complaint that the motivations of the characters are unclear or that the dialogue is weak, script-doctoring can be quite lucrative, especially for the better known writers. David Mamet and John Sayles, for instance, fund the movies they direct themselves, usually from their own screenplays, by writing and doctoring scripts for others. In fact, some writers make very profitable careers out of being the ninth or tenth writer to work on a piece, in many cases, working on projects that never see exposure to an audience of any size. Many up and coming screenwriters also ghost write projects and allow more established screenwriters to take credit for the project to increase the chances of it getting picked up. After a screenwriter finishes a project, he or she pairs with a representative, such as a producer, director, literary agent, entertainment lawyer
Screenwriter
–
A page of a screenplay
7.
Columnist
–
A columnist is someone who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs and they take the form of a short essay by a specific writer who offers a personal point of view. In some instances, a column has been written by a composite or a team, appearing under a pseudonym, some columnists appear on a daily or weekly basis and later reprint the same material in book collections. In some cases, such as Winchell and Parsons, their programs were quite similar in format to their newspaper columns. Rona Barrett began as a Hollywood gossip columnist in 1957, duplicating her print tactics on television by the mid-1960s, FPA and McIntyre both collected their columns into a series of books, as did other columnists. McIntyres book, The Big Town, New York Day by Day was a bestseller, fPAs The Melancholy Lute collected selections from three decades of his columns. When Smiths column, The Totem Pole, was syndicated by United Features, he told Time, a typewriter can be a pretty formidable contraption when you sit down in front of it and say, All right, now Im going to be funny. The writing of French humor columnist Alain Rémond has been collected in books, the Miami Herald promoted humor columnist Dave Barry with this description, Dave Barry has been at The Miami Herald since 1983. A Pulitzer Prize winner for commentary, he writes about issues ranging from the economy to exploding toilets. Barry has collected his columns into a series of successful books and he stopped writing his nationally syndicated weekly column in 2005, and The Miami Herald now offers on its website a lengthy selection of past columns by Barry. It has had the advantage of high-powered promotion and it is still riding on the crest of the first big wave its own splash sent out. But Mr. Davis did think that in a decade or two the newspapers might be promoting their columns along with their comic strips, the World had started the ball rolling with billboard advertising of Heywood Brouns It Seems to Me. The McNaught Syndicate was sitting pretty with O. O. McIntyre, Will Rogers, the New York Herald Tribune offered Don Marquis and Franklin P. Adams rhymed satirically in The Conning Tower for the New York World Syndicate. A Line o Type Or Two, Bert Leston Taylors verse column in the Chicago Tribune, was now being done by Richard Henry Little. Other offerings, humorous sketches by Damon Runyon, O. Henry stories, editorials by Arthur Brisbane, Ring Lardner letter, Rippling Rhymes, by Walt Mason, in at least one situation, a column expanded to become an entire successful magazine. When Cyrus Curtis founded the Tribune and Farmer in 1879, it was a weekly with an annual subscription rate of 50 cents. With 25,000 subscribers by the end of its first year, it was such a success that Curtis sold Tribune and Farmer to put his energy into the new publication, which became the Ladies Home Journal. Advice columnist Critic Editorial opinion columnist Gossip columnist Humor columnist Food columnist Food columnists of note National Society of Newspaper Columnists
Columnist
–
Journalism
Columnist
–
Heading for
O. O. McIntyre 's columns, collected in his 1935 bestseller, The Big Town
8.
Songwriter
–
A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as rock or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre. The pressure from the industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with a gift for creating original melodies, pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own publishers, while others have outside publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees and college diplomas, a knowledge of modern music technology, songwriting elements and business skills are necessary requirements to make a songwriting career in the 2010s. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules, the legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law, song pitching can be done on a songwriters behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax, the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters. Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity, songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal 9-to-5 hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary. This salary is in effect the writers draw, an advance on future earnings, the publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters, songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up, unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. In Nashville, young writers are often encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favored in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract, songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company, so that he could. keep as much as possible, songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, songwriters need to create a number of elements for a song
Songwriter
–
Songwriter and singer
Chris de Burgh.
9.
University of Kent at Canterbury
–
The University of Kent is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1965 and is recognised as a Beloffs plate glass university and it is a member of the Santander Network of European universities encouraging social and economic development, Association of Commonwealth Universities and Universities UK. As a result of its ties with and geographic proximity to the continent the university brands itself as The UKs European University. In 2014 the university was ranked 80th in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in Top 100 Universities Under 50 Years. Additionally, Times Higher Education also ranked the university 20th in the United Kingdom in 2015 though aggregating multiple ranking results into a table of ranking tables. It is among a group of institutions to consistently score 90% or above for overall satisfaction in the National Student Survey, in 2013, nearly 28,000 students applied to the university through UCAS and 5,190 accepted offers of places. The average UCAS score achieved by entrants in 2014/15 was 363, however, the plans came to nothing. A decade later both population growth and greater demand for university places led to new considerations, in 1959 the Education Committee of Kent County Council explored the creation of a new university, formally accepting the proposal unanimously on 24 February 1960. Two months later the Education Committee agreed to seek a site at or near Canterbury, given the associations of the city. By 1962 a site was found at Beverley Farm, straddling the boundary between the City of Canterbury and the administrative county of Kent. At the time it was the practice for universities to be named after the town or city whose boundaries they were in. The abbreviation UKC became a popular abbreviation for the university, the University of Kent at Canterbury was granted its Royal Charter on 4 January 1965 and the first students arrived in the October of that year. On 30 March 1966 Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was formally installed as the first Chancellor, the University was envisaged as being a collegiate establishment, with most students living in one of the colleges on campus, and as specialising in inter-disciplinary studies in all fields. Over the years, changes in government policy and othe changing demands have largely destroyed this original concept, leading to the present state, however, the four original colleges – Darwin, Eliot, Keynes and Rutherford – remain, each with their own Master. Woolf college opened in 2008 and Turing college in 2014, the university grew at a rapid rate throughout the 1960s, with three colleges and many other buildings on campus being completed by the end of the decade. The 1970s saw further construction, but the university also encountered the biggest physical problem in its history, the university had been built above a tunnel on the disused Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. In July 1974 the tunnel collapsed, damaging part of the Cornwallis Building, Building elsewhere included the Park Wood accommodation village and the Darwin houses in 1989. In 1982 the university opened the University Centre at Tonbridge for its School of Continuing education and this led to the development of the University of Kent at Medway, opened from 2001
University of Kent at Canterbury
–
The School of Arts Building at Kent's Canterbury campus; it is one of several buildings constructed by the university in recent years
University of Kent at Canterbury
–
Coat of arms of the University of Kent
University of Kent at Canterbury
–
The shops at the Canterbury campus, with the Kent Union offices housed in the offices above.
University of Kent at Canterbury
–
View from Pier Road
10.
University of East Anglia
–
The University of East Anglia is an English public research university located in the city of Norwich. Established in 1963, the university comprises four faculties and 26 schools of study, situated to the south-west of the city of Norwich, the university campus is approximately 320 acres in size. In national league tables the university has most recently been ranked 15th in the UK by The Times and Sunday Times, the university also ranks among the top 3 for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey, when considering mainstream English universities. It is the institution to rank in the top 5 since the survey began. The university also ranks in the world top 1% according to the Times Higher Education World Rankings, attempts had been made to establish a university in Norwich in 1919 and 1947, but due to a lack of government funding on both occasions the plans had to be postponed. The University of East Anglia was eventually given the light in April 1960. Initially, teaching took place in the temporary University Village, the vice-chancellor and administration were based in nearby Earlham Hall. The site chosen was on the edge of the city. The land, formerly part of the Earlham Hall estate was at that time occupied by a golf course. Lasdun unveiled a model and a plan at a press conference in April 1963, but it took another year to produce detailed plans. The first buildings did not open until late 1966, lasdun put all the teaching and research functions into the teaching wall, a single block 460 metres long following the contour of the site. Alongside this he built a walkway, giving access to the entrances of the wall. Attached to the other, southern, side of the walkway he added the groups of terraced residences that became known as Ziggurats and they would later become Grade II* listed status, reflecting the importance of the architecture and the history of the campus. In 1964 Arthur Millers The Crucible became the first drama production to be staged at UEA with John Rhys Davies, in the same decade, in 1965, Benjamin Britten was appointed music adviser for UEA. In 1967 he conducted the UEA Choir in a performance of his War Requiem, in 1968 there were two royal visits from Princess Margaret and the Queen who each came to tour the new university for the first time. In this decade Malcolm Bradbury and Angus Wilson help establish the first creative writing course in the UK. The School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing would later go on to produce successful authors including Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Rose Tremain, John Boyne, in the same decade UEA, TV, under the name of Nexus, was formed and created student-made television. It operated for two hours a day over lunchtime, Concrete, the student newspaper was first officially launched in 1973, replacing Mandate which launched in 1965
University of East Anglia
–
Earlham Hall, childhood home of
Elizabeth Fry, is now home to
UEA Law School
University of East Anglia
–
University of East Anglia
Shield
University of East Anglia
–
Constable Terrace hall of residence
University of East Anglia
–
The
Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts was designed by
Lord Foster to house the art collection of
Sir Robert and Lady Lisa Sainsbury, whose daughter attended UEA
11.
Science fiction
–
Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a literature of ideas. Science fiction is difficult to define, as it includes a range of subgenres and themes. Author and editor Damon Knight summed up the difficulty, saying science fiction is what we point to when we say it, a definition echoed by author Mark C. Glassy, who argues that the definition of science fiction is like the definition of pornography, you do not know what it is, in 1970 or 1971William Atheling Jr. According to science fiction writer Robert A, rod Serlings definition is fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science fiction is the improbable made possible, Science fiction is largely based on writing rationally about alternative possible worlds or futures. Science fiction elements include, A time setting in the future, in alternative timelines, a spatial setting or scenes in outer space, on other worlds, or on subterranean earth. Characters that include aliens, mutants, androids, or humanoid robots, futuristic or plausible technology such as ray guns, teleportation machines, and humanoid computers. Scientific principles that are new or that contradict accepted physical laws, for time travel, wormholes. New and different political or social systems, e. g. utopian, dystopian, post-scarcity, paranormal abilities such as mind control, telepathy, telekinesis Other universes or dimensions and travel between them. A product of the budding Age of Reason and the development of science itself. Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan considered Keplers work the first science fiction story and it depicts a journey to the Moon and how the Earths motion is seen from there. Later, Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story about a flight to the moon, more examples appeared throughout the 19th century. Wells The War of the Worlds describes an invasion of late Victorian England by Martians using tripod fighting machines equipped with advanced weaponry and it is a seminal depiction of an alien invasion of Earth. In the late 19th century, the scientific romance was used in Britain to describe much of this fiction. This produced additional offshoots, such as the 1884 novella Flatland, the term would continue to be used into the early 20th century for writers such as Olaf Stapledon. In the early 20th century, pulp magazines helped develop a new generation of mainly American SF writers, influenced by Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories magazine. In 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs published A Princess of Mars, the first of his series of Barsoom novels, situated on Mars
Science fiction
–
A futuristic setting is a common but not a necessary hallmark of science fiction. A common thread in science fiction is exploring the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations on people's lives.
Science fiction
–
H. G. Wells
Science fiction
–
Jules Verne
Science fiction
–
Arthur C. Clarke
12.
An Artist of the Floating World
–
An Artist of the Floating World is a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. It is set in post-World War II Japan and is narrated by Masuji Ono, an ageing painter and he notices how his once great reputation has faltered since the war and how attitudes towards him and his paintings have changed. The chief conflict deals with Onos need to accept responsibility for his past actions, the novel also deals with the role of people in a rapidly changing environment. However, in the fourth and last section, Ono appears to have returned to his earlier inability to change his viewpoint. The self-image Ono expresses in his narrative is vastly different from the image of him the reader builds from reading the same narrative, Ono often quotes others as expressing admiration and indebtedness to him. Onos narrative is characterised by denial, so that his interests, readers, therefore, find that what they are interested in is not the focus of Onos narrative but at its fringes, presented in an oblique rather than direct fashion. For example, Onos descriptions of his pictures focus on technique, mentioning the subjects as if they were unimportant. It is not entirely clear whether this focus on rather than substance should be ascribed to Ono as narrator, or if it was already present in him at the time he was making the pictures. Among the themes explored in this novel are arranged marriage, the roles of women. The novel is narrated by a man who, besides being an artist, is also a father, a grandfather, and a widower. It tells, with a voice, much about the pleasure era of Japanese society, elaborating on the life of a successful. We learn how attitudes toward Japanese art and society became less tolerant of such extravagance, the pace is slow and lingers over details, reflecting the central theme. The novel was shortlisted for the 1986 Booker Prize and won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award for the same year, the novels title is based on the literal translation of Ukiyo-e, a word referring to the Japanese art of prints. The title also refers to an artistic genre, Onos master was especially interested in depicting scenes from the pleasure district adjacent to the villa in which he and his students lived. Ono mentions the ephemeral nature of the world that could be experienced during each night. His master experimented with innovative softer Western-style painting techniques, Ono became estranged from him and forged his own career. He could not help but feel gleeful when his masters paintings fell into disfavour during a return to the use of more traditional lines in the paintings used for nationalistic posters. Random House webpage Book review of the novel from hack writers
An Artist of the Floating World
–
First edition
13.
The Remains of the Day
–
The Remains of the Day is a 1989 novel by British writer Kazuo Ishiguro. The work was awarded the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1989, a film adaptation of the novel, made in 1993 and starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, was nominated for eight Academy Awards. As in Ishiguros two previous novels, the story is told from a first person point of view, the narrator, Stevens, a butler, recalls his life in the form of a diary while the action progresses through to the present. Much of the novel is concerned with Stevens professional and, above all, personal relationship with a former colleague, the housekeeper Miss Kenton. The Remains of the Day tells, in the first person, the story of Stevens, the novel begins with Stevens receiving a letter from a former colleague, the housekeeper Miss Kenton, describing her married life, which he believes hints at an unhappy marriage. His receipt of the letter coincides with Stevens having the opportunity to revisit this once-cherished relationship, ultimately, Stevens is forced to ponder Lord Darlingtons character and reputation, as well as the true nature of his relationship with Miss Kenton. As the book progresses, increasing evidence of Miss Kentons and Stevens past mutual attraction and affection is revealed, as they worked together during the years leading up to the Second World War, Stevens and Miss Kenton failed to admit their true feelings towards each other. All of their recollected conversations showed a professional friendship which, at times, came close to crossing the line into romance, Stevens in particular never yielded, even when Miss Kenton tried to draw closer to him. Stevens later muses over lost opportunities, both with Miss Kenton and regarding his decades of service to Lord Darlington, who may not have been worthy of his unquestioning loyalty. At the end of the novel, Stevens instead focuses on the remains of day, referring to his service with Mr Farraday. They are mirrors to Stevens and show the different facets of his character, they are also all kind. Two in particular, Dr. Carlisle and Harry Smith, highlight themes in the book, the most important aspect of Stevens life is his dignity as an English butler. Such aspects of refined dignity, especially when applied under stressful situations, are, to Stevens, as such, Stevens constantly maintains an inward and outward sense of dignity to preserve his own identity. He dedicated his life to Lord Darlington. These philosophies of dignity, however, greatly affect his life—largely with respect to social constraints, loyalty and politics, by preserving dignity at the expense of such emotions, Stevens in a way loses his sense of humanity with respect to his personal self. Stevens primary struggle within the novel is how his dignity relates to his own experiences, as well as the role his dignity plays in the past, present, banter is an underlying theme in the novel. Stevens introduces it in the prologue as a problem which he considers his duty to solve to please Mr Farraday, Stevens takes this new duty very seriously. He ponders over it, practises in his room, and studies a radio programme called Twice a Week or More for its witticisms and he practises banter on the people he meets, such as the locals in the Coach and Horses inn near Taunton, but is unsuccessful
The Remains of the Day
–
First edition
14.
When We Were Orphans
–
When We Were Orphans is the fifth novel by the British-Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro, published in 2000. It is loosely categorised as a detective novel, when We Were Orphans was shortlisted for the 2000 Man Booker Prize, though it is considered one of Ishiguros weakest works, with Ishiguro himself saying Its not my best book. The novel is about an Englishman named Christopher Banks, Christopher is sent to live with his aunt in England. He becomes a detective, now he will turn his skills to solve the case of his parents disappearance. Though he knows a woman named Sarah, Christopher never marries. His fame as a private investigator soon spreads, and in 1937 he returns to China to solve the most important case of his life, the impression is given that if he solves this case, a world catastrophe will be averted, but it is not apparent how. As Christopher pursues his investigation, the boundaries between life and imagination begin to evaporate, at this time in China, Christopher is caught up in the Second Sino-Japanese War battles, which reach into the foreigners enclave of Shanghai. Through an old detective, he locates the house at which his parents may have been held, on his way, he enters a war-torn police station belonging to the Chinese. After convincing them of his neutrality, he persuades the commander to direct him to the house of his kidnapped parents, after a while the commander refuses to take Christopher further, so he goes alone. Throughout all this, he appears to disregard the commanders words that what he is doing is dangerous and he meets an injured Japanese soldier who he believes is his childhood friend Akira. They enter the only to find out that his parents are not there. Japanese soldiers enter and take them away and he learns from Philip that his father ran away to Hong Kong with his new lover, and that his mother a few weeks later insulted Chinese warlord Wang Ku, who then seized her to be his concubine. Philip is a Communist double agent and he was complicit in the kidnapping, and made sure Christopher was not present when this kidnapping took place. He offers Christopher a gun to him, but Christopher refuses. He learns that his father died of typhoid but that his mother may still be alive. Philip reveals the source of Christophers living expenses and tuition fees during his schooling in England and his mother extracted financial support for her son when Wang Ku seized her. In 1953 in Hong Kong, Christopher is reunited with his mother and he uses his childhood nickname, Puffin, and his mother seems to recognise it. He asks her to him, but she is confused as to what he should need forgiveness for
When We Were Orphans
–
First edition
15.
Never Let Me Go (novel)
–
Never Let Me Go is a 2005 dystopian science fiction novel by Japanese-born British author Kazuo Ishiguro. It was shortlisted for the 2005 Booker Prize, for the 2006 Arthur C. Clarke Award, time magazine named it the best novel of 2005 and included the novel in its TIME100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. It also received an ALA Alex Award in 2006, a film adaptation directed by Mark Romanek was released in 2010, a Japanese television drama aired in 2016. The story begins with Kathy, a carer, talking about looking after donors, the curriculum appears to be like that of any other school, but there is great encouragement for the students to produce art. The art is displayed in an exhibition, and the best artwork is chosen by a woman known to the students as Madame. The students speculate that she keeps their work in a gallery, the story revolves around three Hailsham students, Kathy, and two others, Ruth and Tommy, who develop a close but complicated friendship. Kathy develops a fondness for Tommy, looking after him when he is bullied, however, Ruth and Tommy begin a romantic relationship during their time at the school that continues when they leave. This results in Miss Lucys removal from the school, though it causes only subtle disturbance in the students, at age 16, Ruth, Tommy and Kathy move to the Cottages, a poorly maintained residential complex where they begin contact with the outside world. Ruth and Tommy continue their relationship, and Kathy has some sexual, Kathy is concerned that her sex drive is abnormal, and Ruth deliberately encourages her to feel this way when she confides in her. Two older housemates, who had not been at Hailsham, tell Ruth that they have seen a possible for Ruth and they believe that this privilege is for Hailsham students only and so wrongly expect that the others will know how to apply for it. They then find the possible, but the resemblance to Ruth is only superficial, during the trip, Kathy and Tommy separate from the others and look for a copy of a tape that Kathy had lost when at Hailsham. Tommys recollection of the tape and desire to find it for her make clear the depth of his feelings for Kathy, after the trip, Kathy and Tommy do not tell Ruth of the found tape, nor of Tommys theory about the deferral. When Ruth finds out about the tape and Tommys theory, she takes an opportunity to drive a wedge between Tommy and Kathy. Shortly afterwards she tells Kathy that even if Ruth and Tommy were to split up, a few weeks later, Kathy applies to become a carer, meaning that she will not see Ruth or Tommy for many years. Ten years pass without Kathy seeing Ruth or Tommy, during which time Hailsham closes, Ruths first donation goes badly and her health deteriorates. Kathy becomes Ruths carer, and both are aware that Ruths next donation will probably be her last, Ruth suggests that she and Kathy take a trip and bring Tommy with them. During the trip, Ruth expresses regret for keeping Kathy and Tommy apart, attempting to make amends, Ruth hands them Madames address, urging them to seek a deferral. Shortly afterwards, Ruth makes her second donation and completes, a euphemism for dying
Never Let Me Go (novel)
–
First edition cover
16.
Winifred Holtby
–
Winifred Holtby was an English novelist and journalist, now best known for her novel South Riding, which was posthumously published in 1936. Holtby was born to a farming family in the village of Rudston. Her father was David Holtby and her mother, Alice, was afterwards the first alderwoman on the East Riding County Council, Holtby was educated at home by a governess and then at Queen Margarets School in Scarborough. In 1919, she returned to study at the University of Oxford where she met Vera Brittain, other literary contemporaries at Somerville College included Hilda Reid, Margaret Kennedy and Sylvia Thompson. After graduating from Oxford, in 1921, Winifred and Vera moved to London, Holtbys early novels – Anderby Wold, The Crowded Street and The Land of Green Ginger – met with moderate success. She also wrote a weekly column for the trade union magazine The Schoolmistress. Her books during this period included two novels, Poor Caroline, Mandoa, a critical study of Virginia Woolf and a volume of short stories, Truth is Not Sober. Holtby was, together with Brittain, an ardent feminist, socialist and pacifist and she lectured extensively for the League of Nations Union and was a member of the feminist Six Point Group. She was active in the Independent Labour Party and was a campaigner for the unionisation of black workers in South Africa. Holtby began to suffer from blood pressure, recurrent headaches and bouts of lassitude. Her doctor gave her two years to live. Aware of her death, Holtby put all her remaining energy into what became her most important book. Winifred Holtby died on 29 September 1935, aged 37 and she never married, though she had an unsatisfactory relationship with a man named Harry Pearson, who proposed to her on her deathbed. She also wrote poetry, including poems about Vera Brittains dead brother, Holtby is best remembered for her novel, South Riding, edited by Vera Brittain and published posthumously in March 1936, which received high praise from the critics. The book won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for 1936 and has never been out of print. In 1938, it was made into a directed by Victor Saville, in 1974 it was adapted by Stan Barstow for Yorkshire Television and in 2011. There have also several radio adaptations, the most recent for BBC Radio Four in 2005. Vera Brittain wrote about her friendship with Holtby in her book Testament of Friendship and in 1960 and their letters, along with many of Holtbys other papers, were donated in 1960 to Hull Central Library in Yorkshire and are now held at the Hull History Centre
Winifred Holtby
–
Pencil sketch of Winifred Holtby
Winifred Holtby
–
Plaque at 52 Doughty Street, London
17.
Whitbread Prize
–
The Costa Book Awards are a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in Britain and Ireland. They were inaugurated for 1971 publications and known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2006 when Costa Coffee, the companion Costa Short Story Award was established in 2012. The awards are given both for literary merit but also for works that are enjoyable reading and whose aim is to convey the enjoyment of reading to the widest possible audience. As such, they are a more populist literary prize than the Booker Prize, authors need not be British or Irish but they must have been resident in the UK or Ireland for at least six months in each of the previous three years. There are five book award categories, without change since the Poetry Award was introduced in 1985, novel First novel Childrens book Poetry Biography The winning books are selected from shortlists by five distinct panels of judges. Each of the five winning writers receives £5,000, the prize requires a £5,000 fee from publishers if a book is to be shortlisted. One of the books is then named Costa Book of the Year with a further £25,000 prize. That overall award is determined by a panel comprising five judges from the first round, Short story The short story award was established in 2012 with a prize of £3,500 for the first, £1,500 for the second and £500 for the third. The winning story is determined by public vote from a shortlist of six that are selected by a panel of judges, the process is blind at both stages for the unpublished entries are anonymous until the conclusion. In the inaugural year, the six short story finalists had been published online by 28 November 2012. The winner was to be announced 29 January 2013, bold font and blue ribbon distinguish the overall Costa Book of the Year
Whitbread Prize
–
Bold font and blue ribbon () distinguish the overall Costa Book of the Year.
18.
Booker Prize
–
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel, written in the English language and published in the UK. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured international renown and success, therefore, from its inception, only Commonwealth, Irish, and South African citizens were eligible to receive the prize, in 2014, however, this eligibility was widened to any English-language novel. A high-profile literary award in British culture, the Booker Prize is greeted with great anticipation and it is also a mark of distinction for authors to be selected for inclusion in the shortlist or even to be nominated for the longlist. The foundation is an independent registered charity funded by the profits of Booker Prize Trading Ltd. In 1970, Bernice Rubens became the first woman to win the Booker Prize, the rules of the Booker changed in 1971, previously, it had been awarded retrospectively to books published prior to the year in which the award was given. In 1971 the year of eligibility was changed to the same as the year of the award, in effect, this meant that books published in 1970 were not considered for the Booker in either year. The Booker Prize Foundation announced in January 2010 the creation of an award called the Lost Man Booker Prize. Alice Munro has a place in Booker Prize history, The Beggar Maid is the only short story collection to have been shortlisted. Before 2001, each years longlist of nominees was not publicly revealed, John Sutherland, who was a judge for the 1999 prize, has said, There is a well-established London literary community. Rushdie doesnt get shortlisted now because he has attacked that community and that is not a good game plan if you want to win the Booker. Norman Mailer has found the thing in the US – you have to be a citizen if you want to win prizes. The real scandal is that Amis has never won the prize, in fact, he has only been shortlisted once and that was for Times Arrow, which was not one of his strongest books. He pissed people off with Dead Babies and that lodged in the culture. There is also the feeling that he has looked towards America. In 1972, the winning writer John Berger, known for his Marxist worldview and he blamed Bookers 130 years of sugar production in the Caribbean for the regions modern poverty. Berger donated half of his £5,000 prize to the British Black Panther movement, because they had a socialist, in 1980, Anthony Burgess, writer of Earthly Powers, refused to attend the ceremony unless it was confirmed to him in advance whether he had won. His was one of two books considered likely to win, the other being Rites of Passage by William Golding, the judges decided only 30 minutes before the ceremony, giving the prize to Golding. Both novels had been seen as favourites to win leading up to the prize, 1983s judging produced a draw between J. M. Coetzees Life & Times of Michael K and Salman Rushdies Shame, leaving chair of judges Fay Weldon to choose between the two
Booker Prize
–
The Man Booker Prize 2015
19.
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
–
Its purpose is the recognition of significant contributions to the arts, literature, or the propagation of these fields. Its origin is attributed to the Order of Saint-Michel as acknowledged by French government sources, membership is not, however, limited to French nationals, recipients include numerous foreign luminaries. Foreign recipients are admitted into the Order, without condition of age, the Order has three grades, Commandeur — medallion worn on necklet, up to twenty recipients a year. Officier — medallion worn on ribbon with rosette on left breast, chevalier — medallion worn on ribbon on left breast, up to 200 recipients a year. The reverse central disc features the head of Marianne on a golden background, the Commanders badge is topped by a gilt twisted ring. The ribbon of the Order is green with four white stripes, however, in the statutes there is a clause saying Les Officiers et les Commandeurs de la Légion dhonneur peuvent être directement promus à un grade équivalent dans lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres. Ribbons of the French military and civil awards Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec, a Quebec order based in part on the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Nominations dans lOrdre des Arts et Lettres
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
–
Medals of the commandeur, officier and chevalier
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
–
Ray Bradbury wearing the Commander's badge in 2009
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
20.
Japanese language
–
Japanese is an East Asian language spoken by about 125 million speakers, primarily in Japan, where it is the national language. It is a member of the Japonic language family, whose relation to language groups, particularly to Korean. Little is known of the prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century recorded a few Japanese words, during the Heian period, Chinese had considerable influence on the vocabulary and phonology of Old Japanese. Late Middle Japanese saw changes in features that brought it closer to the modern language, the standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo region in the Early Modern Japanese period. Following the end in 1853 of Japans self-imposed isolation, the flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly, English loanwords in particular have become frequent, and Japanese words from English roots have proliferated. Japanese is an agglutinative, mora-timed language with simple phonotactics, a vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length. Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or make questions. Nouns have no number or gender, and there are no articles. Verbs are conjugated, primarily for tense and voice, but not person, Japanese equivalents of adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has a system of honorifics with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of the speaker, the listener. Japanese has no relationship with Chinese, but it makes extensive use of Chinese characters, or kanji, in its writing system. Along with kanji, the Japanese writing system uses two syllabic scripts, hiragana and katakana. Latin script is used in a fashion, such as for imported acronyms. Very little is known about the Japanese of this period, Old Japanese is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language. Through the spread of Buddhism, the Chinese writing system was imported to Japan, the earliest texts found in Japan are written in Classical Chinese, but they may have been meant to be read as Japanese by the kanbun method. Some of these Chinese texts show the influences of Japanese grammar, in these hybrid texts, Chinese characters are also occasionally used phonetically to represent Japanese particles. The earliest text, the Kojiki, dates to the early 8th century, the end of Old Japanese coincides with the end of the Nara period in 794
Japanese language
–
A page from
Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan), the second oldest book of classical
Japanese history.
Japanese language
–
Map of Japanese dialects and Japonic languages
Japanese language
–
Two pages from a 12th-century
emaki scroll of
The Tale of Genji from the 11th century.
Japanese language
–
Calligraphy
21.
University of Kent
–
The University of Kent is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1965 and is recognised as a Beloffs plate glass university and it is a member of the Santander Network of European universities encouraging social and economic development, Association of Commonwealth Universities and Universities UK. As a result of its ties with and geographic proximity to the continent the university brands itself as The UKs European University. In 2014 the university was ranked 80th in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in Top 100 Universities Under 50 Years. Additionally, Times Higher Education also ranked the university 20th in the United Kingdom in 2015 though aggregating multiple ranking results into a table of ranking tables. It is among a group of institutions to consistently score 90% or above for overall satisfaction in the National Student Survey, in 2013, nearly 28,000 students applied to the university through UCAS and 5,190 accepted offers of places. The average UCAS score achieved by entrants in 2014/15 was 363, however, the plans came to nothing. A decade later both population growth and greater demand for university places led to new considerations, in 1959 the Education Committee of Kent County Council explored the creation of a new university, formally accepting the proposal unanimously on 24 February 1960. Two months later the Education Committee agreed to seek a site at or near Canterbury, given the associations of the city. By 1962 a site was found at Beverley Farm, straddling the boundary between the City of Canterbury and the administrative county of Kent. At the time it was the practice for universities to be named after the town or city whose boundaries they were in. The abbreviation UKC became a popular abbreviation for the university, the University of Kent at Canterbury was granted its Royal Charter on 4 January 1965 and the first students arrived in the October of that year. On 30 March 1966 Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was formally installed as the first Chancellor, the University was envisaged as being a collegiate establishment, with most students living in one of the colleges on campus, and as specialising in inter-disciplinary studies in all fields. Over the years, changes in government policy and othe changing demands have largely destroyed this original concept, leading to the present state, however, the four original colleges – Darwin, Eliot, Keynes and Rutherford – remain, each with their own Master. Woolf college opened in 2008 and Turing college in 2014, the university grew at a rapid rate throughout the 1960s, with three colleges and many other buildings on campus being completed by the end of the decade. The 1970s saw further construction, but the university also encountered the biggest physical problem in its history, the university had been built above a tunnel on the disused Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. In July 1974 the tunnel collapsed, damaging part of the Cornwallis Building, Building elsewhere included the Park Wood accommodation village and the Darwin houses in 1989. In 1982 the university opened the University Centre at Tonbridge for its School of Continuing education and this led to the development of the University of Kent at Medway, opened from 2001
University of Kent
–
The School of Arts Building at Kent's Canterbury campus; it is one of several buildings constructed by the university in recent years
University of Kent
–
Coat of arms of the University of Kent
University of Kent
–
The shops at the Canterbury campus, with the Kent Union offices housed in the offices above.
University of Kent
–
View from Pier Road
22.
UEA Creative Writing Course
–
The University of East Anglias Creative Writing Course was founded by Sir Malcolm Bradbury and Sir Angus Wilson in 1970. The M. A. is widely regarded as the most prestigious and successful in the country, the course is split into four strands, Prose, Creative Non-Fiction, Poetry and Scriptwriting. All four result in an M. A. qualification upon successful completion of the course, the Course Directors are currently Andrew Cowan, Kathryn Hughes, Lavinia Greenlaw and Val Taylor respectively. Course tutors include Amit Chaudhuri, Trezza Azzopardi, Giles Foden, Tobias Jones, James Lasdun, Margaret Atwood, writers such as Angela Carter, Rose Tremain, Andrew Motion, W. G. Sebald, Michèle Roberts and Patricia Duncker have also taught on the course. Writers-in-residence have included Alan Burns and Margaret Attwood. K, W. Wilson, author Jennifer Wong, writer and poet UEA Creative Writing webpages
UEA Creative Writing Course
–
Booker Prize winner
Ian McEwan
UEA Creative Writing Course
–
Booker Prize winner
Kazuo Ishiguro
UEA Creative Writing Course
–
Booker Prize winner
Anne Enright
UEA Creative Writing Course
–
Costa Book Award winner
Adam Foulds
23.
Man Booker Prize
–
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel, written in the English language and published in the UK. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured international renown and success, therefore, from its inception, only Commonwealth, Irish, and South African citizens were eligible to receive the prize, in 2014, however, this eligibility was widened to any English-language novel. A high-profile literary award in British culture, the Booker Prize is greeted with great anticipation and it is also a mark of distinction for authors to be selected for inclusion in the shortlist or even to be nominated for the longlist. The foundation is an independent registered charity funded by the profits of Booker Prize Trading Ltd. In 1970, Bernice Rubens became the first woman to win the Booker Prize, the rules of the Booker changed in 1971, previously, it had been awarded retrospectively to books published prior to the year in which the award was given. In 1971 the year of eligibility was changed to the same as the year of the award, in effect, this meant that books published in 1970 were not considered for the Booker in either year. The Booker Prize Foundation announced in January 2010 the creation of an award called the Lost Man Booker Prize. Alice Munro has a place in Booker Prize history, The Beggar Maid is the only short story collection to have been shortlisted. Before 2001, each years longlist of nominees was not publicly revealed, John Sutherland, who was a judge for the 1999 prize, has said, There is a well-established London literary community. Rushdie doesnt get shortlisted now because he has attacked that community and that is not a good game plan if you want to win the Booker. Norman Mailer has found the thing in the US – you have to be a citizen if you want to win prizes. The real scandal is that Amis has never won the prize, in fact, he has only been shortlisted once and that was for Times Arrow, which was not one of his strongest books. He pissed people off with Dead Babies and that lodged in the culture. There is also the feeling that he has looked towards America. In 1972, the winning writer John Berger, known for his Marxist worldview and he blamed Bookers 130 years of sugar production in the Caribbean for the regions modern poverty. Berger donated half of his £5,000 prize to the British Black Panther movement, because they had a socialist, in 1980, Anthony Burgess, writer of Earthly Powers, refused to attend the ceremony unless it was confirmed to him in advance whether he had won. His was one of two books considered likely to win, the other being Rites of Passage by William Golding, the judges decided only 30 minutes before the ceremony, giving the prize to Golding. Both novels had been seen as favourites to win leading up to the prize, 1983s judging produced a draw between J. M. Coetzees Life & Times of Michael K and Salman Rushdies Shame, leaving chair of judges Fay Weldon to choose between the two
Man Booker Prize
–
The Man Booker Prize 2015
24.
The Times
–
The Times is a British daily national newspaper based in London, England. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, the Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, itself wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1967 and its news and its editorial comment have in general been carefully coordinated, and have at most times been handled with an earnest sense of responsibility. While the paper has admitted some trivia to its columns, its emphasis has been on important public affairs treated with an eye to the best interests of Britain. To guide this treatment, the editors have for long periods been in touch with 10 Downing Street. In these countries, the newspaper is often referred to as The London Times or The Times of London, although the newspaper is of national scope, in November 2006 The Times began printing headlines in a new font, Times Modern. The Times was printed in broadsheet format for 219 years, the Sunday Times remains a broadsheet. The Times had a daily circulation of 446,164 in December 2016, in the same period. An American edition of The Times has been published since 6 June 2006 and it has been heavily used by scholars and researchers because of its widespread availability in libraries and its detailed index. A complete historical file of the paper, up to 2010, is online from Gale Cengage Learning. The Times was founded by publisher John Walter on 1 January 1785 as The Daily Universal Register, Walter had lost his job by the end of 1784 after the insurance company where he was working went bankrupt because of the complaints of a Jamaican hurricane. Being unemployed, Walter decided to set a new business up and it was in that time when Henry Johnson invented the logography, a new typography that was faster and more precise. Walter bought the patent and to use it, he decided to open a printing house. The first publication of the newspaper The Daily Universal Register in Great Britain was 1 January 1785, unhappy because people always omitted the word Universal, Ellias changed the title after 940 editions on 1 January 1788 to The Times. In 1803, Walter handed ownership and editorship to his son of the same name, the Times used contributions from significant figures in the fields of politics, science, literature, and the arts to build its reputation. For much of its life, the profits of The Times were very large. Beginning in 1814, the paper was printed on the new steam-driven cylinder press developed by Friedrich Koenig, in 1815, The Times had a circulation of 5,000. Thomas Barnes was appointed editor in 1817
The Times
–
Front page of The Times from 4 December 1788
The Times
–
Roy Thomson
The Times
–
A wounded British officer reading The Times's report of the end of the
Crimean War, in
John Everett Millais ' painting
Peace Concluded.
The Times
–
John Walter, the founder of The Times
25.
English literature
–
However, until the early 19th century, it only deals with the literature of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It does not include literature written in the languages of Britain. The English language has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years, the earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the fifth century, are called Old English. Middle English began in the late 11th century with the Norman conquest of England, early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the introduction of the printing press to London and the King James Bible as well as the Great Vowel Shift. Through the influence of the British Empire, the English language has spread around the world since the 17th century. 450, after the withdrawal of the Romans, and ending soon after the Norman Conquest in 1066. These works include such as epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, Bible translations, legal works. In all there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the period, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English, from the 9th century, that chronicle the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The poem Battle of Maldon also deals with history and this is a work of uncertain date, celebrating the Battle of Maldon of 991, at which the Anglo-Saxons failed to prevent a Viking invasion. Oral tradition was strong in early English culture and most literary works were written to be performed. Epic poems were popular, and some, including Beowulf, have survived to the present day. Beowulf is the most famous work in Old English, and has achieved national status in England. The only surviving manuscript is the Nowell Codex, the date of which is debated. Beowulf is the title, and its composition is dated between the 8th and the early 11th century. Cædmon is the earliest English poet whose name is known, and it is also one of the earliest recorded examples of sustained poetry in a Germanic language. The poem, The Dream of the Rood, was inscribed upon the Ruthwell Cross, Two Old English poems from the late 10th century are The Wanderer and The Seafarer. Classical antiquity was not forgotten in Anglo-Saxon England, and several Old English poems are adaptations of late classical philosophical texts, the longest is King Alfreds 9th-century translation of Boethius Consolation of Philosophy. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the form of the Anglo-Saxon language became less common. Under the influence of the new aristocracy, French became the language of courts, parliament
English literature
–
Selected English-language writers:
Geoffrey Chaucer,
William Shakespeare,
Jane Austen,
Mark Twain,
Virginia Woolf,
T. S. Eliot,
Vladimir Nabokov,
Toni Morrison,
Salman Rushdie.
English literature
–
The first page of
Beowulf
English literature
–
Piers Ploughman from a 14th-century manuscript
English literature
–
Geoffrey Chaucer
26.
The Buried Giant
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The Buried Giant is a fantasy novel by British writer Kazuo Ishiguro, published in March 2015. Several characters provide the perspective for the action of the novel, the novel is set immediately after Arthurian Britain, with Britons living alongside Saxons. From the start, the novel introduces fantasy creatures, such as ogres and these are accepted as fact although they are seldom directly described or observed by the protagonists. The story begins with Axl and Beatrice, an elderly Briton married couple living in an agrarian village somewhat like a warren. Their love is obvious and Axl always addresses Beatrice as princess, although Axl and Beatrice are tolerated within the community and state they are still able to complete the tasks assigned them, there is evidence that they are of low social status. Beatrice, after an encounter with a vagrant Saxon woman. Permission is granted and the start on the way to visit their son. On the first night of travel, the stay at a Saxon village which has come under attack by two fiends. Men have been killed, and a boy, Edwin, has been abducted, a visiting Saxon warrior from the East, Wistan, successfully rescues Edwin and kills the attackers, although Edwin receives a wound, believed by the Saxons to be an ogre bite. The community wants to kill Edwin, but he is away by Wistan and Axl and Beatrice. Axl and Beatrice have decided to journey to a monastery so Beatrice can be assessed by the wise monk Jonus for a pain in her side. Wistan is curious about Axl to the point of staring at him, the four travellers successfully evade a guard of soldiers loyal to the Lord Brennus, and meet Sir Gawain, nephew of the now-dead King Arthur. Gawains current and long-standing mission has been to slay the she-dragon Querig, although as one of the elders in the Saxon village muses, Wistan asks Gawain if Gawain recognizes Axl, and though Gawain reacts as if he does, he denies knowing Axl. One of Brennuss soldiers catches up with the party and attacks Wistan, stating that Wistans true purpose is to kill Querig, Wistan kills the soldier in combat, and the party continue on to the monastery. The monks receive the travellers ostensibly with hospitality, although Wistan points out that the monastery is obviously a former Saxon battlefort, the monk Jonus examines Beatrice and appears to pronounce her well. Jonus also reveals that the mist, or forgetfulness of the population, is due to Querig, while at the monastery, soldiers loyal to Brennus attack Wistan, though another monk offers the others a path to safety. Down in the passage, Gawain reveals himself and states that the monks want the three dead, the passage is inhabited by a beast which will kill them for the monks. Gawain balked at the plan and pledges to protect them, successfully killing a demon dog fantastic beast by beheading it in a filled with bones
The Buried Giant
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UK first-edition cover
27.
Oceanography
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Oceanography, also known as oceanology, is the study of the physical and the biological aspects of the ocean. Paleoceanography studies the history of the oceans in the geologic past, humans first acquired knowledge of the waves and currents of the seas and oceans in pre-historic times. Observations on tides were recorded by Aristotle and Strabo, early exploration of the oceans was primarily for cartography and mainly limited to its surfaces and of the animals that fishermen brought up in nets, though depth soundings by lead line were taken. Although Juan Ponce de León in 1513 first identified the Gulf Stream, Franklin measured water temperatures during several Atlantic crossings and correctly explained the Gulf Streams cause. Franklin and Timothy Folger printed the first map of the Gulf Stream in 1769-1770, information on the currents of the Pacific Ocean was gathered by explorers of the late 18th century, including James Cook and Louis Antoine de Bougainville. James Rennell wrote the first scientific textbooks on oceanography, detailing the current flows of the Atlantic, during a voyage around the Cape of Good Hope in 1777, he mapped the banks and currents at the Lagullas. He was also the first to understand the nature of the intermittent current near the Isles of Scilly, Robert FitzRoy published a four-volume report of the Beagles three voyages. In 1841–1842 Edward Forbes undertook dredging in the Aegean Sea that founded marine ecology, the first superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory, Matthew Fontaine Maury devoted his time to the study of marine meteorology, navigation, and charting prevailing winds and currents. His 1855 textbook Physical Geography of the Sea was one of the first comprehensive oceanography studies, many nations sent oceanographic observations to Maury at the Naval Observatory, where he and his colleagues evaluated the information and distributed the results worldwide. Despite all this, human knowledge of the oceans remained confined to the topmost few fathoms of the water, almost nothing was known of the ocean depths. The Royal Navys efforts to all of the worlds coastlines in the mid-19th century reinforced the vague idea that most of the ocean was very deep. As exploration ignited both popular and scientific interest in the regions and Africa, so too did the mysteries of the unexplored oceans. The seminal event in the founding of the science of oceanography was the 1872-76 Challenger expedition. As the first true oceanographic cruise, this laid the groundwork for an entire academic. In response to a recommendation from the Royal Society, The British Government announced in 1871 an expedition to explore worlds oceans, charles Wyville Thompson and Sir John Murray launched the Challenger expedition. The Challenger, leased from the Royal Navy, was modified for scientific work, under the scientific supervision of Thomson, Challenger travelled nearly 70,000 nautical miles surveying and exploring. On her journey circumnavigating the globe,492 deep sea soundings,133 bottom dredges,151 open water trawls and 263 serial water temperature observations were taken, around 4,700 new species of marine life were discovered. The result was the Report Of The Scientific Results of the Exploring Voyage of H. M. S, Murray, who supervised the publication, described the report as the greatest advance in the knowledge of our planet since the celebrated discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
Oceanography
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HMS Challenger undertook the first global marine research expedition in 1872.
Oceanography
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Thermohaline circulation
Oceanography
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Ocean currents (1911)
Oceanography
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Oceanographic Museum Monaco
28.
Guildford
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Guildford /ˈɡɪlfərd/ is a large town in Surrey, England, located 27 miles southwest of central London on the A3 trunk road midway between the capital and Portsmouth. It is the seat of the borough of Guildford, on the building of the Wey Navigation and Basingstoke Canal Guildford was connected to a network of waterways that aided its prosperity. In the 20th century, the University of Surrey and Guildford Cathedral, in Sir Thomas Malorys 1485 fictional series Le Morte dArthur, Guildford is identified with Astolat of Arthurian renown, however only rural Celtic Bronze Age pieces have been found in the town. Continuing the Arthurian connection, there is a public house. Some of the tiles built into Guildford Castle may be Roman, and it is proven by archaeology and contemporary accounts that Guildford was established as a small town by Saxon settlers shortly after Roman authority had been removed from Britain. The settlement was most likely expanded because of the Harrow Way crosses the River Wey by a ford at this point, alfred the Great, the first Anglo-Saxon king of unified England, named the town in his will. Guildford was the location of the Royal Mint from 978 until part-way through the reign of William the Conqueror, Guildford Castle is of Norman design, although there are no documents about its earliest years. Guildford appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Geldeford and Gildeford, the King officially held the 75 hagae in which lived 175 homagers and the town rendered £32. Stoke, a suburb within todays Guildford, appears in the Book as Stoch and was held by William. Its Domesday assets were,1 church,2 mills worth 5s,16 ploughlands with two Lords plough teams and 20 mens plough teams,16 acres of meadow, and woodland worth 40 hogs. Stoke was listed as being in the Kings park, with a rendering of £15, William the Conqueror had the castle built in the classic Norman style, the castle keep still stands. A major purpose of Norman castle building was to overawe the conquered population and it had £26 spent on it in 1173 under the regency of the young Henry II. As the threat of invasion and insurrection declined, the status was demoted to that of a royal hunting lodge, Guildford was, at that time. It was visited on occasions by King John, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In 1611 the castle was granted to Francis Carter whose grandsons initials EC, the surviving parts of the castle were restored in Victorian times and again in 2004, the rest of the grounds became a public garden. In 1995, a chamber was discovered in the High Street, while this remains a matter of contention, it is likely to be the oldest remaining synagogue in Western Europe. Guildford elected two members of the Unreformed House of Commons, from the 14th century to the 18th century the borough corporation prospered with the wool trade. In the 14th century the Guildhall was constructed and still today as a noticeable landmark of Guildford
Guildford
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The Guildhall in Guildford
Guildford
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Guildford Castle
Guildford
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The Hospital of the Holy Trinity still has a charitable role in modern society
Guildford
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The
River Wey in Guildford is canalised into the
Wey Navigation
29.
Surrey
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Surrey is a county in the south east of England. It shares borders with Kent to the east, East Sussex to the south-east, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west and south-west, Surrey County Council sits extraterritorially at Kingston upon Thames, administered as part of Greater London since 1965. With a resident population of 1.1 million, Surrey is the most densely populated and third most populated county in the South East region, after Kent, the London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, and parts of Lewisham and Bromley were in Surrey until 1889. The boroughs of Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton and Richmond upon Thames south of the River Thames were part of Surrey until 1965, when they too were absorbed into Greater London. In the same year, the county was extended north of the Thames by the addition of Spelthorne, due to this expansion, modern Surrey also borders on the London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon. It has the highest GDP per capita of any English county, Surrey is divided in two by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east-west. To the north of the Downs the land is mostly flat, the geology of this area is dominated by London Clay in the east, Bagshot Sands in the west and alluvial deposits along the rivers. Much of Surrey is in the Metropolitan Green Belt and it contains a good deal of mature woodland. Among its many notable beauty spots are Box Hill, Leith Hill, Frensham Ponds, Newlands Corner and Puttenham & Crooksbury Commons. Surrey is the most wooded county in England, with 22. 4% coverage compared to an average of 11. 8%. Box Hill has the oldest untouched area of woodland in the UK. Surrey also contains Englands principal concentration of lowland heath, on soils in the west of the county. Agriculture not being intensive, there are many commons and access lands, together with a network of footpaths and bridleways including the North Downs Way. Accordingly, Surrey provides much in the way of leisure activities. The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking and it is either 293,294 or 295 metres above sea level and is the second highest point in southeastern England after Walbury Hill 297 metres in West Berkshire. Surrey has a population of approximately 1.1 million people and its largest town is Guildford, with a population of 66,773, Woking comes a close second with 62,796. They are followed by Ewell with 39,994 people and Camberley with 30,155, towns of between 25,000 and 30,000 inhabitants are Ashford, Epsom, Farnham, Staines and Redhill. Guildford is the county town, although the county administration was moved to Newington in 1791
Surrey
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Box Hill
Surrey
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Flag
Surrey
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Leith Hill Tower
Surrey
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The Roman
Stane or Stone Street runs through Surrey
30.
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
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The National Oceanography Centre Southampton is a centre for research, teaching, and technology development in Ocean and Earth science. In 2010 the University and NERC components demerged, and the NERC-managed component became the National Oceanography Centre, the University component “Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton” is part of the Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences. It was ranked 30th in the world for Earth and Marine Sciences by the QS World University Rankings in 2014, the centre can trace its origins back to the years immediately after Second World War, when the National Institute of Oceanography was founded. NOCS was officially opened in 1996 as the Southampton Oceanography Centre by Prince Philip, the Centres inaugural director from 1994-99 was John Shepherd, a former Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and an Earth system scientist. The National Oceanographic Library holds the UKs most extensive collection of oceanographic literature, OES is ranked 30th in the world for Earth and Marine Sciences by the QS World University Rankings, rising from 47th in 2012 and 38th in 2013. NOCS consists of the University of Southampton’s OES academic unit, together with five NERC research divisions, in addition, NOCS houses teaching facilities for nearly 1000 students. NOCS is the base for the research vessels RRS Discovery. In 2014 the RRS Discovery has been replaced and the new Discovery will remain based at NOCS, for fieldwork and research by university staff and students OES further operates three vessels, including the 19.75 metres catamaran RV Callista and the 12 metres RV Bill Conway. The group operates three fleets of submersibles and autonomous vehicles, comprising Autosub submarines, underwater gliders and remotely operated vehicles, NOCS has multi-use aquarium facilities with a variety of tanks displaying a range of biotopes and habitats, including seagrass beds, rocky shores and rock pool environments. Additionally, NOCS is operating two IPOCAMPs and a number of smaller pressurized tanks for the study of deep-sea organisms, the NOCS Coral Reef Laboratory at NOCS is equipped with a multi-compartment aquarium system that houses a range of corals and other cnidarians. NOCS has a variety of large and small analytical instrumentation, the Magnetism Laboratory is equipped with a MicroMag 3900 Vibrating Sample Magnetometer, an AGICO KLY4S Kappabridge and a 2G Superconducting Rock Magnetometer. The X-Ray Diffraction facility is equipped with a X’Pert pro XRD machine with Cu X-ray tube, for analysis of dissolved organic carbon and total dissolved nitrogen the Southampton-based branch of the NERC NOC is operating a Shimandzu TOV V CPN-TN at NOCS. The Ocean Bottom Instrumentation Consortium based at NOCS provides the academic, the British Ocean Sediment Core Repository located at NOCS and operated by NERC is the central storage facility for sediment cores collected by NERC ships and NERC-funded research. All cores are logged and all data generated from the cores is archived for visualization, four undergraduate programs are offered, in Oceanography, Marine Biology, Geology and Geophysics. The Graduate School of the National Oceanography Centre Southampton offers degree programs at both Master and PhD level, the consortium is funded through NERCs Doctoral Training Partnership initiative. NOCS reaches out to the public interested to learn more about the worlds oceans, marine biology. Activities and events include an annual Ocean and Earth Day, a seminar series of marine life talks. Both OES and National Oceanography Centre have joined Athena SWAN, in July 2008 NOCS achieved ISO14001 certification for its Environmental Management System
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
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National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
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National Oceanography Centre, Southampton at sunset
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
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RRS Discovery inbound to Southampton
