Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Aberystwyth University’s Professor of Engagement with the Public Imagination, Professor Richard Marggraf Turley, is one of three English panel judges at this year’s Wales Book of the Year Award. On Thursday 18 July at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, the 2013 Wales Book of the Year Award will be presented to the best works in three categories: Poetry, Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction. Richard is a professor of Romanticism and poet who won the 2007 "Keats-Shelley Prize" for poetry, and the 2010 Wales Book of the Year "People's Choice" for his third collection, Wan Hu's Flying Chair (Salt, 2009). He said, “It’s been a privilege to be involved in judging Wales’s most prestigious literary prize. The writing has been sensational – provocative, confident and happy to take risks. The Welsh literary scene has never felt more exciting.” One of the authors on the English language fiction short list includes Dr Matthew Francis from the Departmen...

Recognising the vital role the wider community plays in university life, Aberystwyth University has created two new leading roles which will encourage dialogue with members of the public. Following a high level appointment process, the University has appointed Professor Nigel Scollan as Professor of Public Engagement with Science and Professor Richard Marggraf Turley as Professor of Engagement with the Public Imagination. Both roles will focus on encouraging public participation in all aspects of University activities – from leading research to policy development, discussion on how the University works and active participation in knowledge exchange. The Professors will lead the University’s drive to encourage greater involvement in University events and assist in developing an Open Day for people in Ceredigion. Professor Nigel Scollan joined the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research in 1993 and subsequently Aberystwyth University in 2008. He holds the Waitrose Chair of Fo...