Looking to the future

The publication launch by Demon Crew undergraduates was a ‘last but not the least’ occasion in my week at Cultural eXchanges.

I was amazed at the amount of talent these third year Creative Writing students had, especially since I'm a first year on the same course.

The wide range of mediums students used to showcase their publications was intriguing. They ranged from short story and poetry pamphlets, mix and match playing cards, and whole websites, to mugs as witnesses, poem bags and podcasts as virtual tours from the past. I was always left wondering what the next person to read would present to us.

It was a very enriching experience for me as it really got me thinking of the many possible publication ideas I may wish to use in my final year. I thoroughly enjoyed the occasion and it was a great end to my Cultural eXchanges week.


Maryam Sameja

Melissa's battle for Britain's education

Melissa Benn is a woman who has devoted a great deal of time to acting against the current school system, which she deems ‘unequal’ and a means of maintaining class divisions.

Melissa set out five main aims to improve British education:

1. providing all children with general education until the age of 16, and not splitting them into tier groups until late adolescence;
2. mixing academic and cultural studies to discourage social divisions;
3. encouraging children of different social classes, races and religions to attend school together;
4. having schools invest on necessities;
5. making the government a key contributor in education.

The starting point of School Wars is the tripartite system set in place by the 1944 Education Act. Pupils were selected, on the basis of the 11-plus exam, for admission to grammar schools, technical schools, or secondary moderns.

Melissa explained that grammar schools were intended to provide a ladder for the poor to climb. In fact they also produced numerous failing students, and parents revolted against a test which branded their children as ‘failures’ at the age of 11.

Now Education minister Michael Gove claims that the introduction of academies and free schools will diversify education but, according to Melissa, he supports the old methods of dividing schools by social class.

In a nutshell, Melissa emphasised her desire to create a non-selective education system run by the government, with professional and experienced staff teaching broadened syllabi nationwide.


Maryam Sameja

Woolly hats - and Reasons for Divorce

This was my first event for Cultural eXchanges at De Montfort University, and I went in thinking it would be a boring lecture-type talk. I was prepared to zone out in the first 10 minutes.

However, as a first-year student studying Creative Writing, I was taken aback by the confidence with which these postgraduates read from their unique pieces of work.

I particularly appreciated two writers. When Richard Byrt read his poem ‘Typical Bloke in a Woolly Hat', he actually pulled out a bunch of woolly hats towards the end, claiming that if we bought one we would resemble the character in his poem. This made me see that when reading out poetry, a poet can actually ‘perform’ it, making it a more emotional or humorous experience for the audience.

I also enjoyed Bhagwant Kaur’s short story ‘Reasons for Divorce’. I heard her read a short ghost-story at the Demon Crew launch at the beginning of the year and liked her writing style. In this story I enjoyed the way she structured and unveiled the narrative, as well as the way she incorporated birds. She read in a lively and confident tone, which is something I aspire to develop.

Each readers had an individual style of writing and reading aloud - I was never the least bored or in danger of zoning out.
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Maryam Sameja