In Conversation with Alice Oswald and Katie Mitchell

JAPAN SEASON 2021

Part of the Humanities Cultural Programme, one of the founding stones for the
future  Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.

In conversation with Alice Oswald and Katie Mitchell

Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 5.00pm

Watch the online premiere here:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/hr0tHUKqwr4

Alice Oswald, University of Oxford Professor of Poetry, hosted by the English Faculty, and Katie Mitchell, Theatre Director and HCP Visiting Fellow, met at Magdalen College in Oxford to explore the lives of trees - in poetry, on stage, between cultures, and in the world. The conversation explored how eco-poetic and eco-dramaturgical practice might generate new cultural forms, and new kinds of engagement with both the climate emergency and the more-than-human world. The conversation was chaired by Professor Wes Williams, TORCH Director. The recorded conversation will premiere below on 21st December 2021 at 5.00pm. 

This event is part of the Humanities Cultural Programme Japan Season in collaboration with Oxford Botanic Garden & Arboretum and Magdalen College Oxford.

Biographies:

Alice Oswald is a multi-award-winning poet whose accolades include the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2012 and the 2017 Griffin Poetry Prize, which she won for her seventh collection of poems, Falling Awake. She has succeeded Simon Armitage – the UK’s new Poet Laureate.

Katie Mitchell is a British theatre director whose unique style and uncompromising methods have divided both critics and audiences. Though sometimes causing controversy, her productions have been innovative and groundbreaking, and have established her as one of the UK’s leading names in contemporary performance.

Japan encompasses many different contributions to the world - and this is reflected in the diverse ways in which it is studied and researched at Oxford. The arts and culture, alongside the rich histories, literatures and languages of Japan, will feature as part of a wide-reaching cultural festival in late 2021, led by the University of Oxford as part of the Humanities Cultural Programme.

Bringing together artists and performers based both in the UK and in Japan, the events series will engage the wider public through public events, grounded in collaboration. This festival will both showcase the work of creative performers and artists and reach diverse large audiences in Oxford; it will also have a global reach where the material goes online. We will connect with key organisations and artists as we bring together and celebrate the arts and culture of Japan.

Find out more about the Japan 2021 – Humanities Cultural Programme here.