PLEASE NOTE THAT BOOKINGS FOR COURSES WILL CLOSE AT 12 NOON ON THE FRIDAY OF THE WEEK BEFORE THE COURSE STARTS. UNFORTUNATELY, WE CANNOT ACCEPT BOOKINGS AFTER THAT TIME.
SHAKESPEARE IN FOCUS – RICHARD II (IN-PERSON COURSE)
Rebecca Brown
Starts Monday 21 September, 10.00 am – 12.00 pm, 3 weeks
Fees: £30/£24 Code: 10 102
Richard II tells the story of an anointed King who must redefine himself when forced to yield up his royal identity. What kind of self remains when his life-long role is taken away? Richard is made to suffer for his mistakes and learns that ‘love … Is a strange brooch in this all-hating world’. The play is famous for its richly imaginative and resonant poetry. We will study the language, imagery and characterization and, with the help of film clips, see how it works in performance.
Participants are asked to have read the play in advance and to have a copy with them in the sessions.
WRITING, IMAGINATION AND HOPE (IN PERSON COURSE)
Sarah Frideswide
Starts: Tuesday 22 September 6.30 – 8.30 pm, 5 weeks
Fees: £50/£40 Code: 10 104
A course exploring links between story, creativity, literature and hope. Why and how writing, story and the imagination create and sustain hope, especially in a world which is increasingly unstable. Lessons include discussions around what hope is, why imagination is essential, and why sharing and creating stories is so powerful. We’ll do some collaborative story creation, and some individual writing exercises. We’ll look at Lisa Cron’s book “Wired for Story” which explains some of the science. We’ll examine work by other writers and we’ll look at the relational origins of story – the tribal campfire..
JANE AUSTEN: NOVELS AND FILM ADAPTATIONS (IN-PERSON COURSE)
Andrew Roberts
Starts Tuesday 6 October, 2.00 – 4.00 pm, 5 weeks
Fees: £50/£40 Code: 10 115
In this course we will read Jane Austen’s novels alongside a selection of film versions / adaptations, thinking about what is gained and lost when fiction is transferred to the screen. There have been notably effective films based on most of Austen’s works, as well as ambitious rewritings / development of unfinished work. Questions about characterisation, setting, irony, tone, interiority, realism and audience response play out in fascinating ways across the two media. Texts / adaptations to be discussed include: Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility; Emma; Sanditon; Persuasion; Mansfield Park.
THE CRADLE OF THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE (IN-PERSON COURSE)
Renato Ammannati
Wednesday 7 October 2.00 – 4.00 pm, 5 weeks
Fees: £50/£40 Code: 10 112
When discussing the Italian language, it is impossible not to mention the Florentine dialect. More than just a dialect, Florentine represents a true linguistic root from which modern Italian developed. But what makes it so special?
Florentine owes its fame above all to three great authors of the 14th century: Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. Their works, written in the Florentine vernacular, helped elevate this local variant to a linguistic model for the entire peninsula. However, the path towards a shared language was not immediate. It was only from the second half of the 19th century that writers, intellectuals and men of letters began to adopt the Tuscan model more systematically.
The course provides an introduction to the history of the Italian language, starting with the Tuscan dialect and its evolution into its present day version.
THE WORLD THROUGH LITERATURE (IN-PERSON COURSE)
Various Tutors
Thursday 15 October 10.00 am – 12.00 pm, 6 weeks
Fees: £60/£48 Code: 10 116
A book club with a difference. Each week a different tutor presents a work of literature from across the genres and facilitates a lively discussion. Literature offers us an alternative view of the world or an escape into the imaginations of the fiction writer and the poet. It creates characters we love or hate and challenges our perceptions.
The works which the group members are asked to read in advance and will be discussed are:
Week 1 – Tutor: Sarah Coakley
Work: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Week 2 -Tutor: Garry MacKenzie
Work: The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
Week 3 – Tutor: Susan Haigh
Work: Infidelities by Kirsty Gunn
Week 4 – Tutor: Sarah Coakley
Work: The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
Week 5 – Tutor: Adam James Cuthbert
Work: The Portrait of An Artist As A Young Man by James Joyce
Week 6 – Andrew Roberts
Work: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Discussion questions devised by the tutors will be emailed out to class attendees on signing up for the course.
READING AND WRITING SHORT STORIES (ONLINE COURSE)
Susan Haigh
Thursday 15 October 6.30 – 8.30 pm, 5 weeks
Fees: £50/£40 Code: 10 116
Join Susan in making your own short story. Use photographs, newspaper/internet articles, dreams, famous paintings, imagination, to create your narrative. It might be crime, romance, horror, dystopia, fantasy, sci-fi, whatever you want to write.
Dip into the stories of Ray Bradbury, Hemingway, Margaret Atwood, L P Lovecraft, Stephen King, Anton Chekhov and others for inspiration.
Personal feedback will be given via voice recording. Help with preparation for publication is available too.
UNCOVERING THE CLASSICS (IN-PERSON COURSE)
Eric Summers
Tuesday 3 November 10.00 am – 12.00 pm, 4 weeks
Fees: £40/£32 Code: 10 121
Certain novels are known as “classics” because they have “survived”. Many books are quickly forgotten but those that endure usually do so because they are really good and have been enjoyed by several generations of readers. Their titles and their authors are widely known and often quoted. In truth, though, there are plenty of “classics” which need to be revisited. Maybe we never actually got round to reading them, even though we rather wish we had. Others we read when we were young and perhaps did not fully appreciate them. This short course aims to look again at four novels. The life and work of the author will be examined before focusing on the book itself and the issues it raises: often surprisingly relevant today. Time will be left for discussion.
There is no requirement to read the novels before joining the group – plots will be summarised with no spoilers! – but the hope would be that participants will be inspired to pick up these books in the near future.
In this popular short course Eric will explore the times and the works of four very different classical writers:
· 3rd November: Leo Tolstoy: The Life and Death of Ivan Ilyich
· 10th November: Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
· 17th November: Charles Dickens: Edwin Drood
· 24th November : Halldòl Laxness: Independent People
BITESIZE BOOK CLUB (IN PERSON COURSE)
Andy Jackson
Starts: Wednesday 11 November 10.00 am – 12.00 pm, 5 weeks
Fees: £50/£40 Code: 10 124
Another season of the programme of ‘book club with no homework’ events. Every week will feature something new, and therefore no pre-reading is required!
Each week we’ll read a short story and a poem together and share our thoughts about them. What did you like about them? What didn’t you like? Discussions will be informal and engaging rather than analytical and academic. The focus will be on reading for pleasure and discovering great writing together.
Lifelong Learning Dundee 