With the flowers in bloom and the sun shining, Oxford looks at its loveliest in Trinity term as you all no doubt remember. You may have forgotten the stress of exams or the inevitable turmoil of student life. Those of you who spent a year abroad as part of your degree will doubtless have a store of anecdotes about what an important stage it was in their lives. Reuben Woolley whose time overseas was cut short by the pandemic credits an encounter with a Russian-language author with getting him on the path to becoming a translator. We are hugely proud that Reuben, who is currently a postgraduate, made it to the Booker longlist this year. Writer and broadcaster Lindsay Johns remembers much about his months in Martinique and has endowed a prize in French in memory of his Martinican hosts—we are most grateful for his generosity at a time of hardship for many students. Lindsay notes that ‘studying Modern Languages at Oxford was a tremendously empowering educational experience’ which still resonates in his day-to-day life.
We are always delighted to know what our former students are up to. Becky Short has just finished her doctorate and will shortly take up a Fondation Wiener-Anspach Fellowship in Brussels at the Université Libre de Belgique. Here, she gives us an insight into the curious French writer to whom her thesis was dedicated, Caraccioli, whilst Philip McGuinness tells us about his volunteer work promoting Spanish in Dublin with the Instituto Cervantes.
During the pandemic, we were fortunate to have Professor Almut Suerbaum as our Faculty Chair. She provided reassurance and sound advice to students and colleagues alike. We are glad to have a chance to hear about her research as a medievalist and her recent visit to Freiburg. The Oxford medievalists have made it a tradition to bring the Middle Ages to life and this year’s staging of multiple Mysteries in different languages was enjoyed by performers and audience alike as doctoral student Irina Boeru recounts.
Whilst Almut works on medieval literature, we have colleagues whose interests stretch through to the present day. For a long-view on the question of attention, we have interviewed Professor Carolin Duttlinger about her fascinating new book. Don’t miss her suggestion of German texts you might like to read.
We are fortunate to enjoy the opportunities offered by Oxford. We have also been providing virtual residencies for authors affected by the conflict in Ukraine. Ada Wordsworth recounts her experience of hearing Olena Stiazkhina, a renowned novelist and essayist, give an impressive virtual talk from Kyiv hosted in one of our favourite lecture rooms in the Taylorian.
All of us here at the Faculty send you our best wishes for the summer and hope to see you or hear from you soon.
Professor Jonathan Thacker
Chair of the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages