English Course Partnerships
English courses at the University of Suffolk work in partnership with regional arts organisations, publishers, theatre companies and community groups to offer students exciting opportunities in professional contexts during their undergraduate studies. Opportunities include talks and workshops led by practitioners and industry experts, work placements and additional work-based opportunities, exclusive writing competitions and a series of student awards offered in recognition of creative and scholarly achievement. For further details of other established course partnerships, visit us at our next University open day.
Red Rose Chain is an independent, award-winning theatre company dedicated to delivering work for the whole community and increasing accessibility to the arts for young and disadvantaged people.
The company runs its community programme at the Avenue theatre in Ipswich and collaborates with TV presenter Jimmy Doherty to stage outdoor productions of Shakespeare’s plays for over 10,000 spectators every summer.
RRC works collaboratively with the English courses on a number of creative projects. These include talks and workshops from the theatre’s Artistic Director, Joanna Carrick, the performance of students' scripts at events such as the RRC Shakespeareathon and the Shakespeare Study Day (hosted by the University of Suffolk), and RRC's Black Shuck project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund's Young Roots programme.
Students on the English courses also volunteer at RRC's Shakespeare in the Forest and attend regular theatre performances.
The East Anglian Daily Times is based in Ipswich and has been reporting for over 140 years. The newspaper began in 1874 and has published more than 44,000 editions. It serves communities across Suffolk and North Essex and publishes six days a week for a broad local readership.
Terry Hunt, who served as the editor of EADT for twenty-one years, is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Suffolk. The EADT sponsors the English courses through the Professional Writing Award which recognises outstanding work and achievement on the third-year Professional Writing Research and Practice module.
The New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich brings high quality, diverse and accessible work to the county of Suffolk and beyond. The theatre opened in 1979 and has been operating as the New Wolsey Theatre for over 15 years.
Sir Trevor Nunn, former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, schooled in Ipswich and is the theatre's patron. The New Wolsey makes an extraordinary contribution to the region’s cultural life and to the University's English courses by offering the New Wolsey Theatre Scriptwriting Award. This is a prize presented by the theatre's Artistic Director, Peter Rowe, to a third-year student for their creative work on the module, Writing for Performance: Theatre, Film, Television.
Students enrolled on the BA (Hons) English courses also attend productions on course trips and write reviews for the theatre's performances.
Suffolk Book League is a local literary group bringing popular and distinguished writers to Ipswich and supporting a wide range of literary-based projects in the area. The group was founded in 1982 and aims to promote reading amongst the community by hosting a series of literary events each year.
These events include study days and joint meetings with Suffolk's nationally acclaimed literary festivals. Suffolk Book League also publishes a quarterly magazine for its members and sponsors the English courses through the Dissertation in English Award in recognition of undergraduate research excellence and scholarly achievement.
Full Circle Editions is a Suffolk-based publishing house set up by Bloomsbury co-founder and Harry Potter discoverer-in-chief, Liz Calder. The company launched in 2009 and publishes new works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry by writers of the region. New editions of classics are also featured and all books are illustrated by some of Suffolk's finest artists.
Liz Calder and influential literary agent Rachel Calder have collaborated with the English courses on several projects including the Writers' Weekend and the How to Get Published seminar, both hosted by the University of Suffolk. As well as offering professional guidance to aspiring writers and publishers, Full Circle Editions has provided work placement opportunities for students undertaking the BA (Hons) English courses as well as graduate employment opportunities at Full Circle's acclaimed FlipSide festival of Brazilian and UK literature, music and art.
The Ipswich Institute was founded in 1824 and provides lending library facilities as well as a programme of talks, leisure learning courses and trips for over 2,000 members. The Institute runs the biennial New Angle Prize for Literature, a £2,500 award for a book of prestige set in or inspired by the region of East Anglia.
Associated winners include This Luminous Coast by Jules Pretty (Winner, 2013) and 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson (Readers' Choice, 2013), Lecturer in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Suffolk.
The Ipswich Institute also runs the Student New Angle Prize with the English courses which is open exclusively to students at the University of Suffolk. This competition runs annually and requires entrants to write a short piece of fiction or non-fiction inspired by the region.