June 16 is World Sea Turtle Day. You can use this free downloadable poster to raise awareness about sea turtles and the dangers they face. Of the seven sea turtle species in the world, almost all of them are considered endangered. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists three species as vulnerable, one as … Continue reading “A Poster for World Sea Turtle Day”
The British monarch has two birthdays every year: the real one on 14 November (he was 74) and an official one on the second Saturday in June. That is marked by one of the great moments of British pageantry: the Trooping the Colour ceremony, on 17 June this year. Since 1748, the monarch’s official birthday … Continue reading “King Charles Trooping the Colour”
The UK’s 2023 Women’s Prize has been awarded to Barbara Kingsolver for Demon Copperhead, her retelling of Dickens’ David Copperfield set in modern-day Appalachia. She is the first author to win the prize twice, after winning in 2010 for The Lacuna. Kingsolver also received the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for Demon Copperhead. She was … Continue reading “What the Dickens? 2023 Women’s Prize Winner”
The American novelist and Pulitzer Prize winner Cormac McCarthy, passed away on Tuesday 13 June, in Santa Fe, New Mexico (U.S.A.) at the age of 89. Known for his dark and gripping narratives, McCarthy left an indelible mark on the literary world with his most famous masterpieces, The Road and No Country for Old Men. … Continue reading “Cormac McCarthy : the Road Ends”
If you are in or near Brest in the next couple of weeks, don’t miss this free exhibition of 280 works by mysterious street artist Banksy! It’s at the Ateliers des Capucins from 10 to 25 June. The works are from the personal collection of François Bérardino, a French actor who met a graffiti artist … Continue reading “Banksy in Brest”
Amanda Gorman, who wrote and performed her poem “The Hill We Climb” for Joe Biden’s inauguration, is the latest author affected by a wave of book bannings in U.S. schools and libraries. She took to social media to denounce her book being banned after one single complaint from a parent. The poem was one of … Continue reading “Book Bans in U.S. Schools”
Tim Burton has a quirky vision of the world and his films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland and the TV series Wednesday are full of intriguing visual details. A new exhibition invites visitors into his visual world. Rather than going through the looking glass, visitors plunge into a labyrinth that ensures … Continue reading “Welcome to Tim Burton’s World”
Everybody (or almost everyone) has heard of Andy Warhol, but not all students will be familiar with Jean-Michel Basquiat, a New York artist whose lively and colourful paintings are on display in Paris, either paired with music or in a display of works produced with Warhol. These two exhibitions are not only windows into his … Continue reading “Basquiat, Music and Warhol”
Jim Broadbent was amazing in The Duke last year, playing a man who took a valuable painting ransom to try to obtain free TV licences for British pensioners. Now he’s back as an equally eccentric Englishman, Harold Fry, who leaves his house to send a letter to a friend he has heard is dying and … Continue reading “I Would Walk Five Hundred Miles”
Watch the trailer and fill in activity B1 on your worksheet.
