Event Archive
This is an archive of past events within the Department of English Studies. Please see our current events for forthcoming activities.
Some of our public events are recorded and are available as podcasts via our Research English At Durham blog.

Things Can Only Get Worse
In the follow-up to his classic memoir, Things Can Only Get Better, John O’Farrell takes Durham Book Festival audiences on a rollercoaster ride through the last two decades of Labour.
Things Can Only Get Worse is the story of one political activist’s journey. Along the way, he stood for Parliament against Theresa May; was dropped from Tony and Cherie’s Christmas card list; and campaigned for a new nonselective inner-city state school…before realising this meant he had to send his kids to a non-selective inner-city state school.
Things Can Only Get Worse is for everyone who could use a good laugh after Brexit, Boris and Trump.
Chaired by Professor Simon James.
Contact office@newwritingnorth.com for more information about this event.
Related Links
READ Blog
Research in English At Durham (READ) blog showcasing the the literary research emerging from the Department of English Studies
Events
We host a large number of conferences, lectures and seminars each year, many of them open to the public. Find out more on our Events page.
Podcasts
Many of our public lectures, seminars and conferences are recorded, and can be listened to as podcasts.
Next Event
- 20th January 2021
- Sensory Experiments in Nineteenth-Century Literature
- Online (Zoom)
- Dr Erica Fretwell (University of Albany) and Dr Shannon Draucker (Siena College)