Articles about 'literature'

Thirty years after it ended, the Falklands/Malvinas War still casts a long shadow over the lives of many Argentinians. A conference marking the anniversary next week will look at how it has been represented in history, literature, cinema and other media, showing how through these we can better understand why Argentina cares so much about the islands.

“Hell is other people,” wrote Jean-Paul Sartre. His rival on the stage of occupied and post-war Paris was Albert Camus (“I am the world”). The two fell out but remained entangled. A book by Cambridge academic Andy Martin – The Boxer and the Goalkeeper – is an excursion into the worlds of the Frenchmen synonymous with existentialism and absurdism.

Is tragedy the perfect dramatic form for our current predicament? Or has the classic idea of catharsis through viewing the suffering of others become much more problematic in an age of 24/7 news and the internet? An event at this year's Hay Festival will investigate.

Is democracy up to our 21st-century problems? Will the UK ever sort out its relationship with Europe? Is tragedy the perfect form for the modern plight?

Over the past few years, the genre of ‘nature writing’ has seen a new sense of urgency, fostered by a growing awareness of a natural world under pressure. Dr Robert Macfarlane, from the Faculty of English, believes that writers have played, and continue to play, a central role in conservation by engaging our hearts and our minds.

On December 6th a new collection of translations from the work of one of Hungary’s greatest poets will be launched at the University Library.

Morag Styles may be the only Professor of Children’s Poetry out there. Having recently taken up her new role, here she explains why poetry for the young matters – and why it is time to stop treating it as the poor relation of the adult form.

Cambridge University academic, Dr Emily Lethbridge, is breathing new life and understanding into the centuries-old Sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur) during a unique year-long research trip.

A University of Cambridge academic is to suggest that grown-ups enjoy children’s classics because they are dissatisfied with life in the adult world.

To mark Roald Dahl Day on September 13th and the 50th anniversary of James And The Giant Peach, Professor Maria Nikolajeva explains why he remains such an important figure for young readers.