Highlights from the EA AGM and Awards Event 2019
The AGM took place on 22 May 2019 at the British Academy in London.
The staff team arrived at the Leicester office bright and early to travel to London to begin our preparations for the AGM!
From left to right: Becky, Claire, Maya, Sophie and Atiqa
We were excited and eager to experience the event, as it was the first time most of the team had attended the English Association’s AGM and we were looking forward to meeting our members. A lot of hard work and planning had taken place in the lead up to the event to ensure the event ran smoothly and was enjoyed by all attendees.
Anyone who has visited the British Academy will appreciate the wonderful location right on Pall Mall, as well as the beauty and stunning character of the building itself.
From left to right: Atiqa, Maya, Sophie and Dami waiting at the lobby to receive guests.
The AGM
Dr Rebecca Fisher (Becky), the EA’s Chief Executive Officer, began the AGM by welcoming members to the meeting, after which Rob Penman, Chair of the Board of Trustees, gave his Chair’s address.
Rob Penman CTE, Chair of the Board of Trustees
Dr Rebecca Fisher (Becky), Chief Executive Officer
Rob gave an overview of the new team, recent improvements and developments within the EA, a summary of the activities of the EA committees, and an overview of the upcoming strategy review – further details of Rob’s speech can be downloaded from our website. Rob also thanked Pam Bickley, Jo Bowers and Adrian Barlow, who are standing down as trustees of the Association, for their considerable contributions to the EA.
The next item on the agenda was to accept any resignations from Board of Trustees members, re-elect members of the Board, and to appoint co-opt members to any vacant positions. You can find out who our Trustees and committee members are at https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/english-association/about-us/committees. The new members of the Board will be announced in the coming weeks!
New Fellows and Awards
Dr Pam Bickley FEA
The AGM culminated with the announcement of the new English Association Fellows and the Awards ceremony.
New Fellows
The new Fellows were introduced by Dr Pam Bickley, who noted that “the English Association Fellowship honours those distinguished figures who have made an exceptional contribution to the world of ‘English’ in all its many facets – whether creatively, or through the academic study of literature and language, or in their professional lives”.
The EA Fellowships were awarded to:
Dr James Annesley
Jane Campion
Dr Rob Hawkes
Professor Sarah Knight
Perry Mills
Professor Francis O’Gorman
Julia Pascal
Professor Raluca Radulescu
Professor Gillian Woods
Adrian Barlow was awarded an Honorary Fellowship.
New EA fellows from left to right: Perry Mills, Adrian Barlow, Jane Campion, Professor Sarah Knight and Dr Rob Hawkes
Further details about the new Fellows are available in the summer 2019 issue of the Newsletter (published in July). A full list of all of the Association’s Fellows is available on the EA website.
Chartered Teacher of English (CTE)
The Association was delighted to announce that Patrick Leung, of the University of Hong Kong, has recently been awarded our Chartered Teacher of English (CTE) status. The assessors particularly commended Patrick’s student-centred style of learning and his attention to developing students’ confidence and ability to use English to understand the world around them.
Further details about the Chartered Teacher of English designation and how to achieve it is available on the CTE website.
Awards
The Beatrice White Prize was awarded to Kellie Robertson for Nature Speaks: Medieval Literature and Aristotelian Philosophy (University of Pennysylvania Press, 2017).
The third Margaret Mallett Award was presented by Eve Bearne to Eve Lloyd Knight and Louise Kay Stewart for their book Rebel Voices: the rise of votes for women, published by Wren and Rook. A review of this book is available on the 2019 English 4-11 Picture Book Awards Book Reviews webpage.
Eve Bearne
Eve Bearne holding the book Rebel Voices with Eve Lloyd Knight, the illustrator
English 4-11 Picture Book Awards
The Editorial Board of our primary journal, English 4-11, is the final judging panel for the Awards; Jo Bowers, a member of the Editorial Board and a past Editor of English 4-11, presented the Awards to the winners.
Jo Bowers presenting the Awards
Dami Oyinlola, the English Association’s Communications and Events Officer, created a presentation to commence the Awards and celebrate each of the winning books. The presentation is available to view on the Awards website.
The winners are as follows:
Fiction 4-7 category: I Say Ooh, You Say Aah, written and illustrated by John Kane, and published by Templar Publishing.
Author of I Say Ooh You Say Aah, John Kane, with Katie Haworth, the Editorial Director at Templar Publishing
Fiction 7-11 category: Ocean Meets Sky, written and illustrated by the Fan Brothers, and published by the Quarto Group.
Representatives from Quarto, publishers of Ocean Meets Sky: Editor of the book, Katy Flint, Christopher Ransom, Campaigns Officer, and Katie Cotton, Publisher
Non-Fiction 4-7 category: Rhythm of the Rain, written and illustrated by Graham Baker-Smith, and published by Templar Publishing.
Author of Rhythm of the Rain, Graham Baker-Smith, with Genevieve Website, the Art Director at Templar Publishing
Non-Fiction 7-11 category: Ocean, written by Hélène Druvert, illustrated by Hélène Druvert and Emmanuelle Grundmann, and published by Thames and Hudson.
Representatives from Thames and Hudson: Jonny Clowes, Co-Edition Acquisitions Assistant, Rachel Dewhirst, Senior Coordinator, and Roger Thorp, Editorial Director
Reviews of all these books are available on the 2019 English 4-11 Picture Book Awards Book Reviews webpage.
Publishers: we’d love to encourage you to submit children’s picture books published in the year 2019 – 2020! If you’re thinking about submitting a book, more information is available on the English 4-11 Picture Book Awards webpage. Submissions will open on 4 November 2019!
Reception and member feedback
The AGM closed with a reception, where the shortlisted and winning books from the English 4-11 Picture Book Awards were displayed for all attendees to read and enjoy.
Attendees were also invited to give the English Association feedback on:
- What do you find most useful and / or enjoy the most about being a member of the EA?
- What do you think the EA could improve upon?
- If the EA could have an impact on something that is important to you, what would that be?
If you’d like to let us know your thoughts on these questions, please let us know at engassoc@leicester.ac.uk!
Save the date! AGM 2020
The AGM will take place on 27 May 2020. Details of how to attend will be published nearer the date. Wondering why you should attend? More information is available on our AGM’s webpage or contact us at engassoc@le.ac.uk!
