Emily Brontë Biopic

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 10 March 2023 > What's On

Emily Brontë was one of the most extraordinary group of siblings in British literature. Although she wrote just one novel, Wuthering Heights, it has resonated across the world since 1847. A new biopic tries to imagine how Emily got inspiration for her Romantic classic. Emma Mackey (Eiffel, Death on the Nile) embodies the fierce, shy … Continue reading “Emily Brontë Biopic”

Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 05 September 2022 > What's On

Under the pseudonym Henry Fuseli, Swiss artist Johan Heinrich Füssli, became one of the leading lights of the 19th-century British art world and a popular proponent of Romanticism and the Gothic. His many depictions of Shakespearean scenes, the supernatural, dreams and nightmares are rich food for the imagination. A new exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart … Continue reading “Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli”

Back to Middle Earth

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 09 August 2022 > What's On

It’s a very overused phrase to say that a series is eagerly awaited, but with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, it’s completely justified. There were more than 250 million views of the teaser trailer in 24 hours after it aired during the Superbowl in February. The 8-part lavish first season of … Continue reading “Back to Middle Earth”

Paperback Festival in St Maur

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 22 June 2022 > What's On

Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (94) is delighted to once again welcome dozens of authors from around the world to its festival St Maur en Poche from 24 to 26 June.  There will be lots of Anglophone authors present, including the inimitable Maggie O’Farrell, winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction for Hamnet, her imagining of the life … Continue reading “Paperback Festival in St Maur”

Women’s Prize for Fiction Winner 2022

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 17 June 2022 > What's On

Britain’s Women’s Prize for Fiction has been awarded to a book narrated by a book. American-Canadian author Ruth Ozeki’s fourth novel has the philosophical title The Book of Form and Emptiness, perhaps no surprise from an author who combines writing, teaching and being a Zen Buddhist priest. The teenage protagonist Benny finds the Book when … Continue reading “Women’s Prize for Fiction Winner 2022”

New Reading Guide: The Buddha of Suburbia

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 04 February 2022 > Pedagogy

As promised, our latest Reading Guide for Terminale LLCER, The Buddha of Suburbia  by Hanif Kureishi Is at the printers and will be available at the beginning of March. Kureishi was already an established screenwriter and playwright when he published the novel in 1990.  In the films My Beautiful Laundrette and Sammy and Rosie Get … Continue reading “New Reading Guide: The Buddha of Suburbia”

Toasting Robert Burns

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 21 January 2022 > Celebrate

Not many countries have an annual celebration of their national poet. In fact not all countries have a national poet. But Scotland does and millions of people around the world celebrate him on Burns Night every 25 January. The adoption of Robert Burns (1759-1796) as national poet was a natural, organic process born or real … Continue reading “Toasting Robert Burns”

Sir Walter Scott at 250

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 18 October 2021 > Celebrate

The father of the historical novel, author of Ivanhoe and the romanticised image of Scottish history portrayed in the Waverley novels, and a collector and preserver of ballads from the oral tradition, Sir Walter Scott was one major figures of Victorian Britain. This year, Scotland celebrates the 250th anniversary of his birth. Scott was born … Continue reading “Sir Walter Scott at 250”

Sir Walter Scott

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 18 October 2021 > Ready to Use

This year marks the 250th anniversary of author Sir Walter Scott’s birth, on 15 August 1771. Our Biobox video quiz will allow you to familiarise your students with Scott’s life from A2+ level. You can download the MP4 file below to use in class.  

The Big Reveal: Our Next Reading Guide Will Be…

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 30 September 2021 > Pedagogy

Thank you to all of you who answered our poll about which of the oeuvres intégrales for Terminale LLCER you would like a Reading Guide for first. And the winner is… The Buddha of Suburbia (1990) by Hanif Kureishi, a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story about a boy with an English mother and Pakistani father growing up … Continue reading “The Big Reveal: Our Next Reading Guide Will Be…”