Explore the Victorian Meme MachineSpecial FX: “I’m working on The Avengers!”Small Talk: A Psychologist Reads Between the LinesArt of Glass: Edge Hill Uni’s Novelist-at-large ReturnsA Large Can of Whoopass

Issue Four - Autumn 2014

Whether you are actually starting uni this autumn, orjust flicking through the latest crop of prospectuses,we hope this edition of Degree will whet your appetitefor what could lie in store if you choose to study atEdge Hill University.

We cover a lot of ground in this issue, welcoming back our peripatetic in-house novelist Rodge Glass,after a year following his muse to South America, andgetting an insight into the University’s latest creativeventure, The Label Recordings, our in-house musiclabel. Elsewhere, Professor Geoff Beattie shows youhow to work out if someone’s lying or not – politiciansbeware! – Dr Bob Nicholson tries to get us to see thefunny side of Victorian society with his incredibleMeme Machine, and we show how you could makeit in the movies, via the UK’s flourishing special effects industry.

We hope you find it a good read, but welcome anycomments, or suggestions for future content. Enjoy.

Welcome

Contents

01° A Fresh Start: Freshers’ Guide

03° Welcome to Fabulous Johnny Vegas

05° Degree Ceremony: Graduation Stories

07° Defying Gravity: The Art of Digital SFX

09° The Digital Victorianist

11° Animation Comes to Edge Hill University

12° The Unspoken Word

14° The Questionnaire: Professor Geoff Beattie

15° Design-a-Label

17° Rodge Glass and the Throne of Games

20° My Life in Books: Rodge Glass

21° My Biology Heroes: Dr Paul Ashton

22° A Large Can of Whoopass

Production Team Sam ArmstrongAndy ButlerNick LodgeMark Molloy

Cover ImageMichael Pennington AKA Johnny Vegasby Andy Hollingworth

Degree° 01°

ou’ve listened to theadvice of parents, siblings,cousins, teachers, familyfriends, possibly even thefamily cat, but at the endof the day, once you’veunpacked your gear, andpacked off the parents,finding your way atuniversity is largelydown to you.

Fortunately, there are over two thousand other people looking forthings to do – and people to do them with. And the University andStudents’ Union will give you a push in the right direction withFreshers’ Week, a series of events designed to put you at ease, andput you in a more sociable frame of mind.

Y

A Fresh Start

Degree° 02°

FRESHERS’ ESSENTIALS

1. BeansYou may think it’s a clichédmyth that students live offhundreds of tins of beans,but like all clichés, there’ssome truth in it. You’llcertainly need to do a decentgrocery shop to cover yourmeals as you settle into yournew home – that last supperwith the parents won’t keepyou going forever.

2. MoneySocialising can be anexpensive business, so makesure you have some cash onyou, just to get things goingin the bar, or to decorate your room with stuff from the freshers’ market. Thereare plenty of cash machineson campus and in Ormskirk,so don’t carry around too much.

3. DrinkWhen meeting newpeople, especially inhalls, nothing breaksthe ice better thanbeing able to offersomeone a drink – tea,coffee, or something alittle stronger.

4. ProtectionPlay safe. You’re nowofficially a grown up, with much greater freedom. But with greater freedom comes greater responsibility, so if you’re lucky enough to click with someone, be prepared, make sure oneof you is wearing something– and we don’t mean socks.

5. An open mindYou’re meeting new people, in a new place,away from home for the first time. Every newexperience is a potential adventure. Embrace them– uni is all about trying new things. If you don’tlike something, there’s plenty of other stuff to do.

SundayLaunch Party: with DJs Jason Fubar and Elliot Smith. The onlyplace to be on the opening night.

MondayRave of Thrones with Kristian Nairn:promises to play “the deepest house in allthe seven kingdoms”.

TuesdayLevel: Edge Hill students take over a Liverpool club for the night.

WednesdaySocial: with resident DJ Elliot Smith. Get ataste for midweek stress-busting with thisregular fixture in the social diary.

ThursdayRandy Ron: featuring star guest JudgeJules. Uplifting vocal house music, electro and R&B /hip–hop, Randy Ron’s nights are

guaranteed to raise the roof.

FridayTop Banana Comedy Club:An opportunity to rest your wearyfeet – and exercise your funny bones instead.

SaturdayDJs Quad Takeover: No rest for the wickedas the Uni’s oasis of calm becomes a disco inferno.

SundayDéjà Vu: The Return of Danny HowardRadio One’s superstar DJ – and Edge Hill alumnus – demands you hit the floor one more time.

And that’s just in the evenings. There’s also the Freshers’ Fairwhere over 70 societies will be competing for your attention, includingmany Sports Clubs. Perhaps you’d like to try something you’venever heard of – Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, anyone? Or maybe you’redead set on meeting fellow zombie and vampire-lovers, in which caseyou could be interested in our Immortal Society.

And whether you’re a wannabe-hipster or a metalhead, a vintageclothes junkie or a lover of cake, the Freshers’ Market hosts arange of stalls catering to the eclectic demands of our diverseundergraduate population. And there’s always plenty of free stuff topick up – from pizza to pens to badges to condoms. Generally stuffyou might not think of, but will find useful – essential in some cases –during your first few weeks.

Hodor, Hodor, Hodor

Judge Jules

Return of the Superstar DJ

FRESHERS’ WEEK2014

Degree° 03°

he hardest thing I ever didwas write a book [recently-published memoir,Becoming Johnny Vegas].

Outside of my son and loved ones, itis one of my proudest achievementsand I honestly can’t tell you what itmeans to now have an HonoraryDoctorate in Literature. I’d like tothank Edge Hill for having confidencein me. I’ll have to visit my old Englishteacher to show her the award – itpretty much belongs to her!”

July 2014. Michael Pennington isaddressing an audience of fellowEdge Hill University graduands,before receiving his honoraryliterature degree. But a lot of waterhas passed under the bridge thatlinks Michael Pennington theunhappy seminary student withMichael Pennington the acclaimedcomedian, author and auteur. Cuemists of time…

‘Michael needs to keep quiet ifI am to preserve my sanity. Hecan talk to any person, at anygiven or ungiven time, willingor not to listen. Please teachhim to shut up.’

He apparently never learnt thisparticular lesson from one of hisschool reports, because MichaelJoseph Pennington, aka JohnnyVegas, clubland entertainer, potterextraordinaire and motormouth,became a familiar face ofcontemporary British comedy, thestar of several successful sitcoms, andnow regularly bewilders and beguilesthe likes of Stephen Fry and JimmyCarr on tv panel shows.

St Helens born and bred, Johnnylargely under-achieved at school(unless you count chattiness a subject, in which he clearlyexcelled), but foundinspiration in his Englishand Art teachers:

“I had two massively influentialteachers in my time who really didpull me back from the brink when I’dpretty much given up on myself. Theysaw that potential and nurtured it,and knew not just how to teach buthow to get to me, and to bring out themost in me. Every time I pick up abook and read with my son I thinkabout the discussions I had with myEnglish teacher. Anything I do that’screative it’s because [my art teacher]sat me in a classroom and went ‘Ican’t make you work, you’ve got to want to work, but I’ll give you the facilities’, and it gives you thatfaith in your own ideas, your own creativity.”

He eventually made his way toMiddlesex Polytechnic at the start of the 90s where he studied art, and found a second home behinda potter’s wheel. Here he began tomould his future stage persona,Johnny Vegas, a hard-drinkingwould-be stand-up – or should that be sit-down? – comedian.

Johnny Vegas would eventuallybecome a household name in theyears after his triumphantappearance at the 1997 EdinburghFestival, where he garnered theCritics’ Award and was the firstnewcomer to be nominated forthe Perrier (now Foster’s)Comedy Award, but headmits he wasn’t bornto perform, andinitially “hid”inside hiscreation:

T“

Degree° 04°

“Whatever you think of Johnny, he was fearless. He was a natural onstage, and I never was. [Stand-up feltlike] an out of body experience –something I could never take creditfor," he’s admitted.

Since that first career peak, Michael,(“Johnny has been in a box for acouple of years," he says now) hasbeen busy augmenting his stand-upcareer with increasingly confidentacting appearances, not to mentionhis supporting role in an adcampaign alongside thespianheavyweight Monkey.

In Happiness (2001-2003) heappeared alongside PaulWhitehouse, and received a BritishComedy Award, and played Geoff‘The Oracle’ Maltby in Benidorm(2007-2009) and Moz in Ideal(2005-2011). Pennington has alsoreceived acclaim for straighter rolesin, for example, Bleak House (2005),David Walliams’ Mr Stink (2012),and Moone Boy (2012).

More recently Michael’s foundgreat satisfaction in moving behindthe cameras with two dramas forBBC1’s Moving On series and theSky Arts drama Ragged, as well asmusic videos for Billy Bragg and PaulHeaton.

“If you write, produce and direct,you own things and see them

through to the end," hesays after the

ceremony. “I think I’ve

achieved a lot as Johnny Vegas, andin the last couple of years I feel, withmy directing work and with thebook, and getting this HonoraryDoctorate, I’m achieving things asMichael Pennington, and itempowers Michael and I don’t haveto be Johnny. And as great an impactas Johnny had, it was also a veryself-destructive lifestyle, and dayslike today give me a lot of faith inmyself that I can achieve things with Michael.”

Speaking to the latest generationof Edge Hill University teachinggraduates, Michael was passionateabout the importance of educationfor all:

“Education should be available toall rather than a luxury, and theresponsibility falls on you to inspirethe people you teach – especiallythose who may see college oruniversity as unavailable to them –to pursue it. Education is whatdetermines us as a society and acivilization. Education is not aprivilege, it’s something that we’veearned. We can’t afford to take anymore steps backwards. We have tokeep educating across the classes,not just the privileged classes. Forme education is a fundamentalcornerstone of society.”

Describing teachers and nurses as‘the real day-to-day heroes’,succeeding in spite of the pressuresput on them, Michael felt ourgraduates had earned the right tobelieve in themselves, as others hadbelieved in him:

“They don’t realise just how much they know. They wouldn’t begraduating if people didn’t haveabsolute faith in what they know,and that they’re taking more out intothe world than they realise. Myadvice is: have faith in yourself andyour abilities to be able to dosomething with this.”

At heart, though, Michael’s still acomedian, and he ended with apersonal message to his sister, ‘thereally clever one’:

“I’ve just been looking forward tothis moment where I can take theMA off her wall and put mine there. Idon’t think I can justify it with analtar boy award, but I do think aDoctorate in Literature beats an MAin Fashion hands down!”

And with that Michael slippedfrom the spotlight, smiling broadly,to rejoin his fellow Edge HillUniversity graduates.°

Benidorm - Tiger Aspect/ITV Bleak House - BBC PG Tips 'The Great Get-Together' - Mother/Unilever

Michael receives his Honorary Doctorate from Edge Hill University Chancellor, Professor Tanya Byron

Degree° 05°

4,000students were presented with their qualifications in

Almost

16ceremonies across 5 days

8inspirational individuals were presented with honorary doctorates

Edge Hill Graduation Summer 2014:

The Numbers

3 Chancellor’s Scholarshipsand Adam Bell Scholarship wereawarded to thirdyear students for the first time

1

study prizes were presented for high performance and academic achievement

10,000guests visited our Ormskirk campus – the University’s biggest ever graduation week

More than

1,000tweets from graduates and family were sent using #EHUgrad and 500photos uploaded to Instagram

– check them out @instagram.com/edgehilluniversity

Ceremony

t may seem a long way off now,but graduation is theculmination of at least threeyears hard work, and a rareopportunity to legitimatelydress up in robes and don amortar board. Graduation is a

moment to savour with your friends,make plans for the next step in your lifejourney, have a drink with your lecturers,and take some final photos on ourbeautiful campus (although our alumniteam will be keen to invite you back atevery available opportunity). And thisyear the sun had its hat, sunglasses andfactor 50 on all week.

Amongst the crowds of beaminggraduates this year were a few familiarfaces – our honorary graduates,individuals whose outstandingachievements resonate with the ethos of

Edge Hill University. In this issue we chatwith one of this year’s recipients, MichaelPennington aka Johnny Vegas, and hewas joined by: composer Sir HarrisonBirtwistle; musician and artist John Foxx,an original member of Ultravox; thirdworld development campaigner Dr HelenPankhurst, great-granddaughter ofEmmeline Pankhurst; philanthropist andentrepreneur Barrie Wells; Wally BrownCBE, Principal of Liverpool CommunityCollege from 1992 until 2008; and ColinDrummond OBE, who has contributed somuch to recycling and renewable energyin the UK.

Previous recipients include FrankCottrell Boyce, co-writer of the LondonOlympic 2012 opening ceremony, andwho has recently penned an episode ofDoctor Who for the first series featuringPeter Capaldi’s incarnation of the time traveller.°

I

Degree° 06°

MalachiSimmonsgraduated with a first class BA (Hons) inDance: “One of thebiggest things EdgeHill gave me wasexperience – notjust of form anddance practice, but by having access to alot of external work with choreographersand links with the dance industry. That’sbeen really useful in getting me teachingperformance work and other dance jobs.”

The talented dancer and teacherarrived from Bermuda three years ago.During his time here he’s barely stoppedfor breath, becoming a key member ofEdge Hill’s all-male dance company,Edge FWD, and founding the University’sHip Hop Society. And he’s just finisheda stint performing in the critically-acclaimed adaptation of WilliamGolding’s classic novel Lord of The Fliesat Salford’s Lowry theatre, directed andchoreographed by Matthew Bourne. Notsurprising then, that he was also awardedthe University’s Adam Bell Scholarshipin recognition of his achievements andcontributions to the student community.

“I’d only done six weeks of balletlessons in my whole life so I neverthought I’d be working with MatthewBourne. Working with professionaldancers showed me that a rewardingcareer in dance is achievable.”

Malachi’s commitment to dance hasled to a variety of job opportunities –teaching hip hop at the Lowry, workingwith The Warrington WolvesFoundation, and the prestigious 12Degrees North training programme,which helps dancers make the transitionfrom students to practitioners.

“Ideally, my long-term ambition is to join a professional hip-hop orcontemporary dance company and tour nationally and internationally,” he said. “I’m meeting lots of people with an interest in dance all the time, so who knows what might happen inthe future.”

Lucy Bramley, Natalie Horne, TomHart and Emma Weston all graduatedwith first class honours in Public Relations.

Lucy: “The PR course offerseverything you need to take into a job,including a month’s work experienceplacement. My favourite part was theclient-led campaign module – I helpedrun a campaign for a charity puttingevents together and getting coverage.”

22-year-old Tom is looking forward toan exciting career in fashion PR. He’sjoined the press office of high-enddepartment store Selfridges: “It’s sobusy at Selfridges, and I’m currentlyworking on the Christmas campaign. Igraduated at the start of the week, andnow I’m thinking about Christmas!”

Both Emma from Ormskirk andLiverpudlian Natalie also intend to buildcareers in the PR industry.

Emma: “I’m really proud of getting afirst. We all worked on a live campaigntogether, so it’s great that we all did sowell.”

Meanwhile Natalie has accepted a jobwith an online marketing agencyworking on social media and contentmarketing: “I completed an internshipin the Easter holidays, and after workingfor them part-time they offered me afull-time job. All the hard work hasdefinitely paid off.”

MatthewHirons, BA (Hons) Film and TelevisionProduction, wasawarded theprestigiousChancellor’sScholarship inrecognition of the

outstanding industry experience hegained during the course: “I hope tobecome a screenwriter so thescholarship money will be very useful inworking toward this goal.”

Aspiring screenwriter Matthewsecured several industry placementsduring his time at Edge Hill, mixingwith the writers of This is England,Doctor Who, Sherlock, Shameless,Broadchurch and Skins, and puttingtogether a pretty impressive CV.

He worked on the critically-acclaimedBBC documentary Britain in a Daywhich used footage supplied by theBritish public to create a crowd-sourceddocumentary film. In his second yearMatthew volunteered to work on the14th International Keswick FilmFestival, where he assisted its patron,actor John Hurt. He also won aplacement at the BBC Writers RoomConference, where he mixed withinternationally-acclaimed screenwriters,some of whom offered their services asmentors as well as invaluable advice.Matthew also found time to work forBBC Radio 4, and take up a four-monthinternship with a local film company:

“I’m very happy and surprised to havebeen given this award, and feel like thevolunteering opportunities within themedia that I’ve taken up while studyingat Edge Hill have really enhanced myexperience.”

In a highly-competitive industryMatthew will use the £1,000 scholarshipaward to support himself while he workson unpaid placements, enters writingcompetitions and attends interviews.

The stars of the show were our 4,000 graduates, who had washed away the sweatand tears of the previous three years in order to collect their glittering prizes.They brushed up remarkably well. Here are just a few of them…

edgehill.ac.uk/graduation

the art of digital sfx

Gravity – Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Degree° 07°

Defying Gravity

arch 2014. Gravity, starringHollywood heavyweightsGeorge Clooney and SandraBullock, and directed by

Mexican Alfonso Cuaron, is up forseveral Oscars. What makes the film,though, are its brilliant digitally-designed visual effects, something dulyacknowledged as Gravity bags theAcademy Award for Visual Effects.What may surprise many is that thetruly ground-breaking effects of thisglobal blockbuster were home-grownhere in the UK, using British talent,techniques and technology. Edge HillUniversity is at the centre of thisexplosion of expertise, offering the BA(Hons) Digital SFX Animation, anexciting new degree designed to enablepractitioners to exploit new digitaltechnologies, and take advantage of newopportunities in film and tv production. Edge Hill University lecturer James Snazell:

“There used to be this idea, which stillpersists, that digital SFX only sits in therealm of CGI and sci-fi/fantasyblockbusters. In fact, digital SFXanimation is used in every production,particularly period dramas. I’ve hadmany arguments trying to explain thefact that there is no more or less digitalSFX in films such as The King’s Speechor Lincoln than there is in The Life of Pior Gravity. The only difference beingthat these latter films look to push the

envelope on what can be doneproduction-wise.”

Part of the development of suchenvironments includes the creation,manipulation and integration ofcharacters to be part of these sort ofmoving image environments.

“Digital SFX animators create imageryby manipulating and integratingdifferent types of media to form aseamless, integrated whole, creatingenvironments which the viewer acceptsas plausible in whatever form they take,”says James Snazell.

“Digital SFX used to be somethingthat happened once filming hadfinished, now it’s involved at every stageof moving image production. Actors arefilmed against a green backdrop in astudio, where lighting can be controlled,then this footage is placed against abackground/environment created usingdigital SFX animation. The days of goingout and filming on set are long gone.”

It may be a bit like finding out there’sno Santa Claus, but the key word here is‘plausible’. The viewer has to believe,and it’s testament to the quality of theUK’s talent pool that it’s done so well.No more wobbly scenery, sellotape andtoilet rolls, or barely-containedpyrotechnics. This is a serious business,with serious career potential, and Jameswants to let you in on the secret:

“It amazes me that so many studentsshould only look at film productioncourses when there is so much morework and employment within the field ofdigital SFX, particularly when you startto relate the field of digital SFX to that ofmotion graphics.

“Career possibilities range from filmproduction to tv production to webproduction to games design, whichincreasingly employs digital SFX. Otherinteresting possibilities includemuseums and galleries looking forproduction work that displaysinformation as moving images, workwithin the advertising industry, anddeveloping production work for displaysoutside the context of film, tv andmobile devices. There’s also productionwork needed on an educational andarchitectural basis, perhaps involvingsimulations.”

So how do you go about preparing for acareer in this industry?

M“No more wobbly scenery,sellotape and toilet rolls, or barely-containedpyrotechnics. This is aserious business, withserious career potential...”

“The industry is looking out for people who are able to researchand gather information, and then use that information to create aplausible moving image composition, so you need to have a passionfor understanding how things work,” advises James.

“For instance, if you’re going to have Harry Potter flying aroundon a broomstick you’ll need to know how somebody would react tobeing on a broomstick, you’re going to have to work out how thatbroomstick is going to move through the air, and how the wind willimpact on somebody as they move through the air. Or if you need tocreate a medieval village you need to know exactly how a medievalvillage would look, down to the fine details, which you can thenre-present in digital form.”

James’ own interest in this area was sparked as a boredyoungster, forced to watch films on a Saturday afternoon, waitingfor the wrestling to start. Occasionally they’d show films like Jasonand the Argonauts or a Sinbad film, and like any youngster he wascaptivated. But it was the split-screen sequence at the start of 2001which ‘really blew [his] mind’ and set him on a collision course witha career in visual effects. That, and seeing the video for Queen’sBohemian Rhapsody on Top of the Pops.

It’s all moved on a little since then, though:

“The course gives you a grounding in the basic principles ofDigital SFX Animation and gives you a basic portfolio of skills,including the key discipline of compositing – integrating differentmedia together, such as digitally-filmed footage, still images, andCGI. As students progress they specialise in a particular area as it’simpossible to get to grips with all of it.”

What hasn’t changed is that the UK – and by extension Edge HillUniversity – has been an industry leader for almost 50 years, takingstudents and practitioners, and ultimately viewers, on a continuingjourney into unknown territory.

Limited only by your imagination, where might you take us next?°

Degree° 08°

ProfileLiam Brown - BA (Hons) Digital SFX Animation“I have a placement with Industrial Light & Magic, run by GeorgeLucas. I'm working on The Avengers. The University helped mewith my showreel – what sort of stuff I should put on it, and theyhelped me with guidance.

“During my time on the course I've learnt a lot about animationand the skills required, and I’ve learnt a lot about myself.”

Marvel's The Avengers – Courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic

A Brief History of the Special Effects Industry

Leading industry practicesoriginated in the UK.Back when legendaryfilm director StanleyKubrick was puttingtogether his sci-fimasterpiece 2001: ASpace Odyssey (1968), healso put together a crackteam of engineers, scientists,inventors, researchers, boffins and geeks, andbrought them all together in the UK to createthe stunningly original sequences which remainpopular cultural visual references to this day.

His blueprint was taken up by other film-makers, notably Star Warsmastermind GeorgeLucas, who formed Industrial Light & Magic inCalifornia in order to be able to provide theeffects which would make films such as theoriginal Star Wars trilogy and Jurassic Park

game-changers. Before thisindustrialisation, maverickgeniuses such as RayHarryhausen worked inisolation to producememorable sequences,such as the fightingskeletons in Jason and theArgonauts, which continue

to delight children of a certainage (and their dads) to this day.

From Industrial Light and Magic grew Pixar.Pixar’s collection of geeks and boffins, with alittle help from keen-eyed Apple visionary SteveJobs, was originally tasked with researching thepossibilities of computer-generated effects. Giventime to develop, theirsubsequent roster ofanimated films – ToyStory, Finding Nemo,Brave, Monsters Inc,The Incredibles, Cars,Ratatouille, WALL-E, andUp – suggests they have beenquite successful. °

2001: A Space Odyssey © 2014 Warner Bros. EntFinding Nemo © 2002 Disney/Pixar

edgehill.ac.uk/media

Degree° 09°

Victorian 1: What did the American undertaker have on the sign outside his shop?

Victorian 2: No idea.Victorian 1: You kick the bucket, we do the rest.

Not amused? Well, amusing the Victorians wasn’t easy either, apparently.Regardless, Dr Bob Nicholson, History lecturer and Edge Hill University’sresident joke detective, is on a mission to compile the great Victorianjoke book, and prove that our 19th century ancestors had seriousfunny bones:

“While the great works of Victorian art and literature have beenpreserved and celebrated by successive generations, even the period’smost popular jokes have now been lost or forgotten.”

Degree° 10°

Rib-ticklers such as?

“A woman from Chicago goes to see alawyer and says, 'how much for adivorce?' He takes a good look at herand says, 'one hundred dollars, ma'am,or four for three hundred.'”

Perhaps Bob needs to talk us throughthat one.

“The idea is that you can essentiallybuy a divorce in bulk in America, andparticularly Chicago, which had areputation for women marrying anddivorcing at the drop of a hat. I think theVictorians really enjoyed that, because itgives them a chance to laugh at Americatoo.”

To help him in his quest, Bob appliedto, and won, the British Library’s LabsCompetition, which invites academicresearchers to suggest innovative andtransformative ideas for bringing theirextensive digital collections to life.

“Thousands of endangered jests havebeen preserved within the BritishLibrary’s digital collections,” says Bob.“I applied to this year’s Labs Competitionbecause I wanted to find these forgottengags and bring them back to life. Overthe next few months we’re going to beworking together on a new digital project– the Victorian Meme Machine VMM].”

Something from HG Wells?

“The VMM will create an extensivedatabase of Victorian jokes that will beavailable for use by both researchers andmembers of the public. It will analysejokes and semi-automatically pair themwith an appropriate image (or series ofimages) drawn from the British Library’sdigital collections and other participatingarchives. Users will be able to re-generate

the pairings until they discover a goodmatch (or a humorously bizarre one) –at this point, the new ‘meme’ will besaved to a public gallery and distributedvia social media. The project willmonitor which memes go viral and fine-tune the VMM in response to populartastes. Together, I hope we’ll resurrectsome of these long-dead specimens ofVictorian humour and let them liveagain – if only for a day.”

Bob’s interest in popular Victorianculture doesn’t stop at jokes, and hisblog contains plenty of other fascinatingcuriosities which shed light on a side ofVictorian life slightly at odds with thestereotypical one of Dickensian povertyand disease, imperial wealth, and dark,fog-shrouded London streets.

Dr Nicholson has been researching theVictorian relationship with Americanpopular culture, and discovered somesurprising ways in which the Victoriansencountered America, from performingcowboys with troupés of AmericanIndians riding through the streets ofLiverpool, to the Victorians' weaknessfor American cocktails during the 1890s(over-18s should check out our recipefor the Corpse Reviver below), probablyconcocted during the American Civil

War, hence its suitably macabre title,although we suspect it’s also a wickedlyentitled reference to a ‘hair-of-the-dog’remedy to a particularly indulgent nightbefore.

Victorian-era American slang alsofascinates Dr Nicholson, a subject hecame upon almost by accident, flickingthrough old newspaper coverage of theAmerican Civil War:“I happened upon the story of a

Victorian gentleman who was readingreports coming from America, and in themidst of that he encountered a word thathe'd never seen before – 'skedaddle',which apparently is an Americanism.The story goes that he went to prettymuch all the gentlemen's clubs inVictorian London, using this word onpretty much anyone who would listen.They were incredibly shocked, and hebecame a minor celebrity. I didn'timagine the Victorians to be the kind ofpeople who would speak in Americanslang, so I got a dictionary of Americanslang and started searching through oldnewspapers, and to my surprise foundhundreds of these words in circulationduring this period, so 'a real eye-opener'is an Americanism, 'to go the whole hog',even the word 'ok' is an Americanism,apparently.”

For more links to the Victorian’sspecial cultural relationship with the US,“keep your eyes peeled” on Bob’s blogand you may “strike oil”.

Read all about Bob’s furtheradventures through the Victorianlooking glass on his blog:www.DigitalVictorianist.com or followhim on Twitter @DigiVictorian for moreamusing playground insults.°

Corpse ReviverIngredients:2 parts cognac1 part apple brandy or calvados1 part sweet vermouth

Preparation:Stir with ice, strain into a chilledcocktail glass. Serve without ice.

edgehill.ac.uk/history

Dr Bob Nicholson

Some Victorian Americanisms you may knowOK * Skedaddle * To go the whole hog * To strike oil * A real eye opener * Keep youreyes peeled * Dog eat dog * Hoodlum * Highfalutin’ * Have an axe to grind * To face themusic * Toothcarpenter (dentist) * Got themitten (rejected by a lady) * Smooched (kissed)

Explore more at : bit.ly/usphrases bit.ly/usisms

Degree° 11°

lex Jukes, Head of Animation,is justifiably proud of theUniversity’s new cutting edgemedia facility:

“Creative Edge is a really importantdevelopment for us. It allows us toencapsulate the major resources that weneed for animation production underone roof, giving students theopportunity to use green screen ormotion capture. We also have adedicated studio for stop-motion whichis quite unusual. But the real hub foranimation is the animation studio, aspace that we use for life drawing andtraditional animation, but it also has the

latest animation equipment. It's a spacewhich students are allowed to takeownership of.”

It was the ideal setting for CreativeAnimation Knowledge Exchange(CAKE) 2014, an animation festival andconference, part of an ongoing BritishCouncil initiative to nurturerelationships between the UK andChinese animation industry andeducation sectors.

The five-day festival and conferenceinvolved a series of workshops,presentations, screenings andexhibitions, and discussions around

creativity within animation, technology,good practice, and collaborativeanimation opportunities between theUK and China.

It was a great opportunity to show offthe creative environment our animationstudents work in, while bringing someoutstanding examples of this increasinglypopular art form to a wider audience.°

edgehill.ac.uk/cake

BIG HERO SIX... Six of the biggest animated films to look out for

THE NUT JOBAn action-packed comedy that followsSurly (voiced by WillArnett), a mischievoussquirrel, who mustplan a heist to get intohis town’s biggest nutshop in order to helphis pals in the parkgather food to survive

the winter.

August 1st, 2014

THE CONGRESSMore than two decadesafter catapulting tostardom with ThePrincess Bride, an ageing actress (RobinWright, playing a version of herself) decides to take herfinal job: preservingher digital likeness fora future Hollywood.

August 15th, 2014

TEENAGE MUTANTNINJA TURTLES

Four unlikely outcastbrothers rise from thesewers and discovertheir destiny as TeenageMutant Ninja Turtles.The Turtles must workwith fearless reporterApril O’Neil (MeganFox) to save the cityand unravel Shredder’s

diabolical plan.

October 17th, 2014

BIG HERO SIXRobotics prodigy HiroHamada finds himselfin the grips of a criminalplot that threatens todestroy the city of SanFransokyo. With thehelp of his closestcompanion, a robotnamed Baymax, Hirojoins forces with a

reluctant team of first-time crime fighters to

save the city.

February 13th, 2015

THE MINIONSThe yellow henchmenreturn when Gru(Steve Carrell) isrecruited by an

organisation to stopScarlet Overkill

(Sandra Bullock), asuper-villain with aplot to take over the

world.

June 26th, 2015

INSIDE OUTLike all of us, Riley isguided by her emotions– Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness.The emotions live inHeadquarters, the control centre insideRiley's mind. As Rileyand her emotions

struggle to adjust to anew life in San Francisco, chaos

ensues in Headquarters.

July 31st, 2015

A

Home, Dir. Anthony Price

Sleeping With The Fishes, Dir. Yousif Al-Khalifa

Wizzard of Codswollop, Dir. Jonathan Redmond

The Plum Blossom, Dir. Yu Jin, Fang Jianguo

Degree° 12°

Ask a professor of psychology what he does,and by the end of a fascinating conversationyou may well be practicing your best pokerface and sitting on your hands. Discoveringhow our innermost thoughts and emotionsare unconsciously hidden in plain sight inevery facial mannerism and hand gesturewould test the confidence of Kanye West,let alone this humble writer...

The UnspokenWord

rofessor Geoff Beattie may be familiar tosome from his many tv appearances onnews programmes and shows like BigBrother, or as a national newspaper

columnist. He’s also written over twenty books,on topics as varied as boxing, racism, familyrelationships, even climate change, all viewedthrough the psychological prism. Basically, heknows what he’s talking about.

He studied psychology not only because it is‘incredibly intellectually exciting’, but because,growing up in the Belfast of the Troubles hebecame fascinated by how a community couldchange from law abiding to ‘something different’in such a short period. He was convinced it was‘partly political, partly sociological, partlycultural, and the main part psychological’. Hewanted to understand it, and psychology offeredthe best solutions.

Essentially, there’s a psychological aspect toeverything we do, and understanding this isimportant in many walks of life, and you canfollow careers in all types of psychology –occupational, clinical, forensic, investigative. But it also feeds into other areas of work, such asadvertising, human resources, and, of course, thesporting arena where many sportsmen andwomen have sought psychological answers tohelp them achieve greatness. Some, like Sir AlexFerguson, instinctively know that the differencebetween a good team and a great team is found inthe brain, and he has used various methodsduring his time at the top of football managementto give his teams a psychological advantage.Others, such as snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan,have sought psychological help to bolster theirwinning mentality. Geoff cites the work ofpsychologist Steve Peters, author of The ChimpParadox, and Nobel Prize-winning psychologistDaniel Kahneman:

“Kahneman says we don't behave in rationalways. We have two competing sets of thinkingprocesses going on, and psychology has been verygood in the last few years at recognising theimplications of those for many aspects ofeveryday life. Peters has come up with a greatmetaphor to describe that process, he calls it thechimp paradox. So we have a set of moreprimitive processes within, and all his trainingmethods are about getting people to control thatinner chimp, those automatic processes. When tolet those automatic processes go, and when toinhibit them. I'm interested in climate change,and why we as consumers don't do more – that'sgot the chimp paradox written all over it, becausewhen we go into supermarkets we knowrationally what we want to do, yet we seem to buythe wrong things for the wrong reasons, and we

P do it quickly. This connection between the twosystems of the mind seems to me to be absolutelycore to psychology.”

On a slightly more popular level, psychology isno less fascinating. Most of us love people-watching.It’s almost a national – global, maybe – sport.Non-verbal communication also intriguesProfessor Beattie. The publication of the newLittle Miss Hug book was an opportunity for himto talk about how the UK is no longer ‘a zerocontact culture’ (as suggested in a 1966 study),and commonly uses physical contact such ashugging as a form of stress reduction, as well as aself-esteem, and consequently mood, enhancer.

How do our faces betray us? “There are certain kinds of smiles you need tolook out for which are deliberate smiles, and thenyou should try and note the emotional facialexpressions as the smile fades. Deliberate smilesfade very quickly, so they have quite an abruptend, then you look for the facial expression.”

Ok, “smiling” nervously and moving on… whatcan body language tell us?“We've done some prize-winning work showingthat when people are lying the hand movementscan be very revealing. When you make ameaningful hand movement you hold the gesture,but when people are lying they hardly ever holdthe gesture, they get rid of their hands reallyquickly. Sometimes the content of the gesturecontradicts what people are saying in speech. Wecall those gesture-speech mismatches, and whenyou watch them in action it’s extraordinary.

“Hand movements are very hard to inhibit. Weoften try to inhibit them when we're lying, sopeople make fewer of these when they're lying,because if they don't inhibit them they can be abit too revealing.”

We’d surely be lying if this didn’t make us –and politicians – just a little self-conscious, but atthe same time it’s also riveting stuff. Hopefullysome readers will be interested enough to explorethe subject further, especially given we still knowso little according to Professor Beattie:

“Human beings think they know themselvespretty well, and they think they know whatmotivates them and why they do what they do,and generally speaking, they haven't a clue.” °

When peopleare lying theyhardly everhold the gesture, theyget rid oftheir hands really quickly.

Degree° 13°

A hug a day...

edgehill.ac.uk/psychology

Best part of your job?I love new ideas, havingthem, discussing them,writing about them andpersuading others that theyqualify as both ‘new’ and as‘ideas’. Universities areessentially in the ideasbusiness.

Describe yourself in three words.Hopefully, quite creative(three words, but I wasted one).

Holiday destination ofchoice and why?California, running up theSanta Ynez mountains as thesun comes up. It’s upliftingand genuinely spiritual. Youarrive at the top and you feeldifferent about yourself andlife from when you startedout down by the pier in SantaBarbara.

Who, alive or dead, do you most admire?My older brother, Bill, whodied climbing Nanda Devi inthe Himalayas when he hadjust turned thirty. He alwayslived a different life to me,and I admired his attitude,despite what happened tohim. He taught me to graspthe moment, and that lifereally is too short. I presenteda tv series many years laterwith that title, and thought ofhim throughout.

Culturally, I never miss…?Getting my ideas down onpaper. A very egocentriccultural life but it works for me!

Growing up I dreamt of being…?George Orwell, but withoutthe old Etonian background.I wanted to write moredirectly about my ownworking-class background inNorthern Ireland – and I did,in journalism, non-fictionand a novel.

What is the worst jobyou’ve ever done?Skinning gizzards in achicken factory as a student.The gizzards came down achute; my job was to turnthem over and press themdown onto a rotating blade. I came out in a rash fromhead to toe and only stuckthe job for eight days. I still dream about thatendless repetitive pattern.

Guilty pleasure?Nutella on my porridge everybreakfast.

How do you relax?I run every day.

What’s in your iPod/CDplayer at the moment?Van Morrison, Nick Cave,David Bowie, Blondie, LedZeppelin, The Stranglers…inno particular order, butalways the same playlist moreor less, moments of a life.

What book is on yourbedside table?I’m reading a new book aboutthe rise of narcissism insociety. The argument isquite compelling andsometimes a little close tohome!

Degree° 14°

The Questionnaire

Professor, author and broadcasterGeoff Beattie talks about chickengizzards, nutella and spitting on tv

Tasty on porridge, apparently

What would be your ideallast supper – and who wouldyou invite?I would probably dither.Something familiar orsomething new, one last greatadventure, or not? I wouldprobably end up with nothing.I wouldn’t invite any guestsuntil I’d decided, so theinvitations would go out late,and they wouldn’t be able tomake it.

What has been your mostembarrassing moment?There have been manymoments, but perhaps my first tv interview. I arrived lateand my forehead was shiny from all that rushing around. The sweat drippedinto my eyes and I blinked uncontrollably. I’d asked my mother to watch the live interview and she said that she liked it, but I seemed awfully nervous because I kept blinking all the time.

She also pointed out that atone point I spat when I wastalking. Her friends had allcome into her front room andwatched the spit in slowmotion on the video. That wasthe start of my tv career.

Before starting university,what piece of informationwould have improved yourown undergraduateexperience?I wish that someone had toldme that all undergraduates area little unsure of themselves,even those that appearincredibly confident.

Finally, tell us a joke….It’s hard to explain puns tokleptomaniacs because theyalways take things literally.

Her friends had allcome into her frontroom and watched

the spit in slowmotion on the video.That was the start of

my tv career.

t’s an odd statement, from the director of anew recording label. But Carl Hunter ismidway through describing the philosophybehind the University’s latest musical

venture, The Label.

“A friend of mine, Alan Wills [founder ofDeltasonic, the label that launched the careers ofThe Coral and The Zutons], said probably themost important thing I've ever heard anyone sayabout music, he said 'musicians make terriblerecords, people who are interested in culturemake great music.'”

It’s a punk-y DIY aesthetic that puts the songand the message before any kind of musoposturing – “you've got to go for a good song nota good guitarist. If you're a good guitarist go andjoin Pink Floyd”. This philosophy chimes withthat of Daniel Miller, founder of Mute [DepecheMode, Nick Cave, Goldfrapp, Moby and RichardHawley, amongst others]: “What’s great aboutindependent labels is that they’re all differentfrom each other, but without the music there’snothing.”

It’s an approach that’s already paying dividends,judging by the response to the two first bandssigned to The Label – Hooton Tennis Club [HTC]and The Inkhearts. They’ve already securednational and international airplay, withendorsements from the likes of Stuart Maconie atBBC 6 Music, hosted a stage at this year’sLiverpool Sound City music festival, and attractedthe interest of several larger music labels. Doesn’tthat concern him?

“Success [for The Label], I think, is launching aband's career. I was talking to HTC the othernight, and I said to them, 'My dream is to get ridof you forever.' But I mean that in the best waypossible.”

So, as a not-for-profit enterprise, it’s not theirmoney Carl’s after:

“The Label Recordings isn’t interested in takinga slice of the band’s music or earnings, quite theopposite in fact. Imagine that, a record label thatwill put out a band’s song, package it, shoot avideo, and help with distribution. We’ve out-Factoried Factory records. It’s a chance not to bemissed.”

Degree° 15°

Hooton Tennis Club

RE

C O R D I N

GS

T

H E L A B E

L

Design-a-Label

“It's a shame music has to have instruments.”

I

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The Inkhearts

April saw the bands release their first singles– Kathleen Sat on the Arm of Her FavouriteChair by HTC and Keeping Up by The Inkhearts– just four months after the bands were selectedas The Label’s first releases. Pretty impressiveand testament to the work of Carl, fellowdirector Clare Heney, and the students whohave thrown themselves into the project withsuch enthusiasm.

And the project is as much about giving ourstudents a taste of life in a notoriouslycompetitive industry. Students from anyprogramme of study have the chance to gainpractical experience in the realities of running arecord label: music and video production,graphic design, copywriting, A&R (aka talent-spotting and networking), and marketing.

“In my experience the first foot on the ladderis either too high or in someone else’s garden,”says Carl, who is very familiar with the industryas erstwhile bassist with late eighties/earlynineties indie chart botherers The Farm. “Themusic industry is in a strange place, there’s agreat fear about not seeing a return oninvestment. This means creativity is ignored.What we’re trying to do is remove the fear andcreate opportunities.”

The project is also about giving studentsconfidence to operate on a professional level inthe real world, and to enable them to followtheir passions once they leave the secureenvironment of the University:

“The Label is a place where you can try yourhand at anything. You can direct a video, workin A&R, package a sleeve, organise a club night,book the band and promote it. The Labeloperates like an industry work placement forstudents who want to become an insider and geta flavour of what all the people behind thescenes really do.

During the course of our conversation Carlcites several influential labels – Domino, BellaUnion, Factory, Rough Trade, but he was alsoinspired by the professional approach of ElectricHoney, a student-run label based in StowCollege, Glasgow, set up in 1992 as part of itsHNC/D Business course. They have a similarlyindustry-focused attitude, and have beenresponsible for the earliest recorded output ofmany bands, including Belle and Sebastian,Snow Patrol and Biffy Clyro.

Now whatever happened to them…

All the latest news and views:facebook.com/TheLabelRecordings °

LabelmatesEnglish Lit student Adam Walker’s love of music and journalistic aspirations made hima shoo-in for staff writer: “It’s already openeddoors for me into journalism, a career paththat’s notoriously difficult to break into.”

Music obsessive Daniel Cain studies Music,Media and Sound. Getting involved with TheLabel has opened the door to the professionalrecording studio: “Getting an insight into therecording and mastering of music tracks hasbeen invaluable.”

Film and TV Production student Phil Curtis hashelped shape the visual image of the bands,taking photos and being a leading member ofthe video team: “I’ve really benefitted from theblend of teaching and industry practice.Collaborating with the bands has been a realpleasure.”

Degree° 17°

Sir Fergie has ruled the House Manc since almostanyone can remember. Now he seeks a successor.Step forward his trusty lieutenant, a man whoholds the respect of his own men, but is treatedwith scepticism by supporters of the old king, amighty warrior skilled in the black art of mindgames. With threats from all sides – overseas, thewild north, his enemies within the ranks of thefeared but somewhat over-the-hill Knights ofManc, and a fickle public – he must rise to everychallenge, show no weakness, and make somevery difficult decisions. Can he wear the crownwith ease? Will he survive the winter? Or, likemany before him, will he lose his head? Welcome to the Throne of Games.

Throne of Games

Degree° 18°

his is a precis, of course, of “the MoyesSeason of Grim Death”, ManchesterUnited’s 2013/14 season under the reignof David Moyes, as imagined by author

Paul Harrie in his new book Throne of Games.And Degree can exclusively reveal the identity ofthe mysterious Mr Harrie – none other than theleader of our undergraduate Creative Writingprogramme, and a lifelong Manchester Unitedfan, Rodge Glass:

“The last time United had a change of managerbefore Ferguson, I was eight years old. I don'tremember anything else! So, Godfather-like, itwas hard to adjust to the loss of a leader, and therest of the season unfolded with such strangedrama, it seemed impossible to resist as a subject.”

Throne of Games evolved quickly fromlightbulb moment to reality, as it needed to be tomaintain its relevance, riding Game of Thrones’huge wave of popularity while Man Utd’sdisappointing season was still fresh in thememory:

“I was in the pub with the publisher who’s donea series of successful humour books for Christmas.We started talking about seeing the season throughsome over the top, medieval, blood and gutsversion which brought out the absurdity of thething... and from there it was only a hop, skip anda jump to Throne of Games.

“Game of Thrones is such a gift, it's asking tohave the mickey taken out of it, I think – all I hadto do was tune in to that OTT medieval voice, andwe were away.”

Able to adapt his literary skills to the demands ofan audience, or a particular genre, to seize themoment, Rodge is very much representative ofthe modern writer. It’s the kind of writernurtured by the University’s Creative Writingteam, which now totals seven tutors, eachcovering a style, format or genre they themselvesare expert in: novels, short fiction, scripts, plays,poetry, translation, and now role-playing andcomputer games. This is a course designed for the21st century wordsmith.

“I've been engaged for the last year on a newnovel Once a Great Leader, which will be big, andmay take me a few years, and it's pretty heavy insubject matter in places. So it was a great relief tohave some fun with Throne of Games. I'm lookingforward to seeing the final [artwork] to go withmy text – the artist Oli Ninnis is very good whenit comes to heads on spikes.”

T

Rodge’s latest project, theaforementioned Once a GreatLeader, to be published under hisreal name, is an ambitious,sprawling synthesis of fictionalautobiography and biography,demanding of its author far morepatience, and attention to detail.The protagonist is Gabriela Moya,a future British Prime Minister,born into chaos in Chile and thePinochet coup of 1973, exiled toScotland, raised on a Glasgowhousing estate, and whoeventually returns to herhomeland following a fall fromgrace. Consequently Edge HillUniversity’s resident novelist hasspent the last year on sabbaticalin Latin America, researching thislabour of love:

“I read an article about the 40thanniversary of the coup in Chile,and it said there was a smallcommunity of Chileans in Scotland.Scots had paid for people to comeover, it was like a solidaritymovement, and provided homes,furniture and a welcoming party,very different to the immigrantexperience now. And I thought,what would that be like if youwere an immigrant to Britain andwere treated in that way?”

The idea had been coalescing inhis imagination for several years,but Rodge didn’t feel ready towrite something on this scaleuntil he had more experienceunder his belt. Now, with severalnovels, an award-winningbiography and graphic novel, anda short story collection behindhim, he obviously felt that thetime was right. The impending40th anniversary of the coupproved to be the catalyst, and hepacked his bags for the Andeanheartlands, making sure he wasthere for a public re-enactment of[president at the time of the coup]Salvador Allende’s final speech.

Rodge visited ‘every museum andevery library and every everything’,the houses of Nobel Prize-winningpoet Pablo Neruda, surroundingcountries – Argentina, Peru,Bolivia, making sense of thecontinent’s cultural and political

ties because ‘their sense ofsymbolism is strong’.

To be honest, all this sounds likea great holiday – did he reallyneed to actually spend timethere?

“The second you hit the groundyou realise your original ideas arenonsense. But what you realise isthat it's also very important to behere, rather than look things upin books. They use differentwords for body parts, food,places, the way you greet people,none of that you would get in anofficial book. The second you seeit you think, 'ah yes, I really needthis detail or else I'm going toconvince nobody'.”

Is the search for authenticityimportant for writers?

“[Scottish Booker Prize-winningauthor] James Kelman famouslysaid 'I've never done research inmy life, I just sit down and writestuff'. But it does mean that histerritory is rather similar. I reallydon't want to be one of thosewriters who you can look backover their work and say 'well, itwas obviously all about hismother'.”

Ultimately, it’s about keeping thesubject matter interesting: “Mybooks have been consciously ajump, and that's a way of testingmyself.”

Now back at Edge Hill, Rodge isdetermined to maintain theCreative Writing programme’sgood reputation for providing arounded, global approach to greatwriting, avoiding any constraintson the curriculum some wouldlike to impose:

“We're constantly influenced bythings happening in othercountries and other cultures andother time periods. The IraqiChrist by Hassam Blasim won theInternational Fiction Prize. I canput that on the course, and mystudents will see an Iraqi writerwriting about Iraq from the insideinstead of hearing about it from ourperspective all the time – whywouldn't you give that tostudents?”

He’s also a keen advocate of liveperformance, despite the potentialfor stomach-based accidents,building confidence and helpingthem shape their future writing:

“If you want people to be interestedin your work you need to take it tothem. I tell students that'ssomething to stop being nervousabout now because it can be areally rewarding thing, and it'sanother way of earning money. Youcan't earn £150 an hour as a writerin any other way apart fromperforming the work.”

The core skills – ‘the mechanics ofthe story’ – and instincts of thesuccessful writer remain timeless,but the life of the writer haschanged almost beyondrecognition. Expert direction, then,is a key element of the course, saysRodge: “I was mentored by otherwriters and where I wasencouraged and shown what waspossible, and shown examples ofwhat you could do, I was inspired. Isee this as my role now.” °

Throne of Games is published byFreight Books in October 2014.

Degree° 19°

edgehill.ac.uk/creativewriting

“The second you hit the ground you realise your original ideas are nonsense.But what you realise is that it's also veryimportant to be here, rather than lookthings up in books.”

The first book I remember readingShakespeare Stories by Leon Garfield and MichaelForeman. I must have read many things before this, butthat’s the one that sticks in the mind. They were modern instyle, fable-like retellings of Shakespeare stories forchildren. Still have it on my shelf in the office at Edge Hill.

The first book I fell in love with1984 by George Orwell, when I was 13. I wasn’t doing verywell at school but my English teacher could see I wasinterested, and had a curious mind. He handed me a copylike he was handing over a bomb and said, ‘There you go,that’ll blow your head off.’ And it did.

The first book I boughtI was quite a late starter, so didn’t really start buying myown books until I moved out of home. It was probablyLanark by Alasdair Gray. I moved to Glasgow at 19, andpeople said to me, ‘If you want to know about Scotland, this is the place to start.’ I ended up writing Alasdair Gray’sbiography, about a decade later. Spooky, eh?

The book that made me want to be a writerIt wasn’t a book, it was a person – Robert Alan Jamieson,who was then Writer in Residence at Strathclyde University.He encouraged me, invited me to his writing groups, andshowed me there was a writing community of good, ordinarypeople who were not from privileged backgrounds and Ithought, ‘Hey, I could do this!’

The book I’m currently obsessed/impressed withI’m reading lots of Latin American works as I’m writing anovel partly about the Chilean coup of 1973. There’s abrilliant book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez called Clandestinein Chile, which is about an exiled director who smuggleshimself into the country he has been expelled from,pretending to be a Uruguayan director making a tourist filmto promote the Chilean government’s regime. He wasactually secretly making a film exposing the horrors ofPinochet’s regime. He has a fake passport, a fake accent andbackstory, even a fake wife. It’s brilliant.

The book I wish I’d writtenNone. I admire others, but only wish to write my own.

The book that reminds me of growing upAll my Alasdair Gray collection. His work was my education,my obsession (for a few crucial years) and also my model forthe writer’s life. That was when I really grew up.

The book I would give as a gift2666 by Roberto Bolaño. It’s the greatest novel of the lastten years, and it’s a thousand pages long. You get yourmoney’s worth…

Degree° 20°

My Life in Books: Rodge Glass

Degree° 21°

edgehill.ac.uk/biology

Nikolai Vavilov (1887-1943)“He was a Russian geneticist whowas the first to realise that the wildrelatives of crops were potentialsources of useful genes for plantbreeders. He built this amazingcollection, so barley, wheat, oats,rice, he went all round the world.That in itself is quite outstanding.What's remarkable is that Vavilovkept his beliefs in a time incommunist Russia when a beliefin Mendelian genetics was liable toland you in prison – and that's whathappened to Vavilov, and he endedup in Siberia, starving to death duringWWII, an ironic tragedy. What's evenmore remarkable is that the specimens he puttogether were kept in the institute in Leningrad, and whileLeningrad was under siege with people starving, Vavilov'scolleagues and fellow scientists, rather than eating them andassuaging their own hunger, protected his specimens knowingthey'd be valuable for Russia and the world after the war. That's aremarkable belief in a man's work.”

BIOLOGYMY

HEROES

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)“He came up with the system of classification that wehave. For example, the Latin name for dog, caniscanis, is something that Linnaeus gave to it. Linnaeuswas working in the 1700s, and there's very little that

we have still in general usefrom the 1700s, so thelongevity of the system isquite amazing. He wasalso a bit of acharacter. Heinsisted on his booksbeing quite cheap sothat students wouldbuy them. He wasfond of usingshocking sexualterms in his scientificlanguage. He used to lead plantidentification

expeditions with a bandthat would come out from

Uppsala University, and they would come backcelebrating the day's finds. He also had a habit ofnaming plants that were unpleasant after charactersthat he thought were unpleasant, so people who'dcrossed him professionally would find their namesattached to a particularly nasty species.”

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)“Theodosius Dobzhansky said'nothing in biology makes senseexcept in the light of evolution.'What he meant by that was thatbiology can seem a set ofamazing facts which are quitestaggering in themselves, but ifyou understand how evolutionworks then you can understandthe processes which led you tothat point. Darwin, obviously, isrecognised for The Origin of theSpecies and theory of evolution,along with Alfred RusselWallace. What isn't alwaysrecognised is the entire breadthof work that Darwin did. So hiswork on the formation of coralreefs is still one of the maintheories of today, along with hiswork on human expressions,human emotion, soil science,ecology – he was a pioneer in somany ways.”

Explore our new facilities at one of our Open days:edgehill.ac.uk/opendays

This year we unveiled ournew BioSciences Centre,containing vital facilities,from scanning electronmicroscopes to DNA labs toinsectaries, bringing breadthand depth to the biosciencesstudent experience. The newlabs are all named afterscientists, some better knownthan others, and we askeddepartment head Dr PaulAshton to tell us about someof these heroes of Biology.

Dr Paul Ashton

book launchin a recordshop mightsoundunusual, butfor musicindustryexecutive

turned Creative Writing student,AW Wilde, it was the perfectway to celebrate the publicationof what he calls his “latestrelease”.

The launch of Wilde’s firstcollection of short stories, ALarge Can of Whoopass, had all the hallmarks of a musicindustry event. Held at RoughTrade West in London, itfeatured DJ sets from BBC 6Music’s breakfast showpresenters Shaun Keaveney and Matt Everitt, providing asuitably rock ‘n’ roll backdrop toWilde’s readings from the book.

“I just stuck to what I knew,”said Wilde, whose former life asCreative Director at EMI MusicPublishing saw him help thecareers of Lindstrom, Duffy,Joanna Newsome and Beirut.“As a self-published writer, Iwas responsible for promotingthe book so I approached it as Iwould a record launch.”

Wilde, who cites rapper Chuck D andwriter Juno Diaz among his creativeinfluences, spent 15 years in the musicindustry, six of those at EMI. He wasresponsible for the acclaimed AnotherLate Night and Late Night Talescompilation series, and the UK releasesof the Nike + original running music appthat featured dubstepper Skream.

“Once I found out about the musicindustry, working in it was all I everwanted to do,” said Wilde. “I grew up ina small town in Essex so moving toLondon to work in the music industrywas a dream come true for me. I lovedthe excitement of hearing a great songfor the first time. The first time I heardRockferry by Duffy, for example, thehairs on my arms stood up and I knewthere was a chance she could sell somerecords.

“I enjoyed the creativity of the joband working alongside passionatepeople, a handful of whom became closefriends. But the industry was severely hitby downloading. When EMI was boughtby private equity, the suits’ economicssuperseded a desire for nurturing artists’long-term. My father died in the middleof my most successful period and itmade me re-evaluate my life. In theaftermath of grief, I decided to follow mygut, rent out my flat and focus onwriting.”

Wilde moved up north and enrolledon the MA in Creative Writing at EdgeHill University.

“I had written a couple of thingsbefore,” says Wilde, “but I was insecureabout my writing because I was terribleat English at school and I hadn’t been touniversity. The Edge Hill Universitycourse gave me the skills and confidenceto attempt to write for a living.

“The short story format reallyappealed to me. Maybe it’sbecause, like

song lyrics, you have to pack asmuch as you can into a smallspace. It’s a kind of maximalminimalism, you can’t wasteanything and you have to knowwhat not to say.

“When you’re writing a novel,the endless possibilities can rubup rough against the sheeramount of information you needto retain – and leave youcrumpled on the kitchen floor,asking the dog why you bother.Some days it’s great to start astory you can see an end to –this is a release in itself.”

Wilde is currently working on anovel entitled Deeds that is duefor completion later in the year.

“One of the stories in A LargeCan of Whoopass is a section ofthe novel,” said Wilde. “The twobrothers in That Black LeatherJacket and their lives growingup in London are central to thenovel’s thematic principle ofchange, both genetic andthrough gentrification.

“When practicing in anycreative industry, I think it’s

important to show that you’re committedto what you’re doing. Releasing a shortstory collection is, in some ways, astatement of intent. A statement ofintent with a drawing of a soup can onthe front.”

For more info about AW Wilde’s work visit:awwilde.co.uk thejudasgoat.tumblr.comwildwriters.co.uk

A Large Can of Whoopass is published byThe Judas Goat Press

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AA Large Can of Whoopass

edgehill.ac.uk