Our students introduced and attended a number of talks at this year’s Henley Literary Festival, to mark the start of a ‘Year of Celebration of the Creative Industries’ at The Abbey.
The festival is one of the UK’s leading literary events with 130 talks, performances and conversations.
Speakers introduced by our students included Abbey Alumna Kate Humble, Averil Mansfield – the first female professor of surgery in the UK, poetry readings featuring Sir Tony Robinson (Blackadder) and Olivia Williams (The Crown) as well as a workshop on creative writing.
| ‘Where the Hearth Is: Stories of Home’ by Kate Humble Writer, broadcaster, advocate of the natural world and Abbey alumna, introduced by Head Girls Lily and Jigya |
| The warmth and humour with which Kate spoke made her a pleasure to meet. Not only did we get to meet her beforehand and get to know all about her funny Abbey school life, we were also able to introduce her and properly thank her after her talk. We found it insightful to hear the range of different stories in her talk, from refugee to astronaut, to answer the same question “what is home?” Kate spoke with enthusiasm and vivacity, expertly managing to bring all these ideas back together to answer the question of home on a more personal level. She spoke incredibly movingly about a refugee’s experience. There was not a single dry eye in the room and Kate herself was reduced to tears – it was a hugely moving moment. |
| ‘Life in Her Hands: The Inspiring Story of a Female Surgeon’ by Dame Averil Mansfield The UK’s first female professor of surgery, introduced by Ingeborg and Devanshi |
| Thank you to Floss for sharing her experiences: Dame Averil Mansfield spoke about her life and career, starting from an early age performing surgeries on a stuffed panda. Her talk emphasised the importance of pursuing your ambitions while also lifting those around you, shown in her setting up of the organisation ‘Women in Surgery’. It was a very moving message that I hope to bring into my future career in medicine. |
| ‘365 Poems for Life’ by Allie Esiri with guest readers Introduced by Imogen and Emily, The Abbey’s Poet Laureates |
| As part of National Poetry Day Celebrations, Imogen and Emily did a fabulous job of representing the school and introducing Allie Esiri, poetry compilator, actress Olivia Williams, and ever popular Sir Tony Robinson, along with Ayisha Malik and Olivia Harrison at the Kenton Theatre. The guests then read and performed a selection of poems from Allie’s latest collection, ‘365 Poems for Life’, ranging from works by Philip Larkin to those of Imtiaz Dharj. Crowd favourite Sir Tony urged people to read poems aloud, which both Imogen and Emily had already done in the morning assembly back at The Abbey! Mr Morton |
| Creative Writing Workshop with novelist and columnist Daisy Buchanan and communications expert Antonia Taylor Introduced by Zaara and Kelly |
| I really enjoyed all of the visual exercises that the hosts Daisy and Antonia led us through, especially the encouragement to envision our future with success, with our books in the shops and our names everywhere. I enjoyed the writing exercise which forced us to sit and write for 5 minutes straight, and although it was quite hard to begin with, after completing it I realised just how useful the experience was. Zaara The workshop overall helped me be more relaxed in my writing and not worry too much about how others may perceive it. Introducing and doing the vote of thanks was slightly scary; however, the friendliness of the audience and the encouragement of my peers helped me get over my fear, making it overall a very fun and interesting experience.Kelly |
