Eighteenth Century Evening at Oxford Brookes University

‘The Cheerful Companion’: Poetry, Music

& Performance in Eighteenth-Century

Poetic Miscellanies

Oxford Brookes University Headington Hill Hall, May 21, 2013, 19.00 h

If we were able to step inside the parlours and drawing rooms of the eighteenth century, we’d find homes busy with home-made culture – book groups and tea table parties; amateur dramatics; groups of women reading and weeping their way through popular sentimental fiction, and men at punch parties singing songs about dogs.

This interactive event (1,5 hours) will explore the varied world of eighteenth-century poetic miscellanies, popular collections of verse, prose and music that were the main way in which many ordinary people consumed literature in contemporary parlours and drawing rooms. 

The evening will consists of a series of short talks, readings and music, followed by an interactive session, in which participants will be able to experience an authentic sewing session of a ‘huswif’ hosted by Nicole Pohl (Oxford Brookes) – no previous experience needed!

The evening will be a unique collaboration between the Brookes Poetry Centre, and the Digital Miscellanies Index Project at the University of Oxford, supported by the the folk & roots influenced duo Alva with multi-instrumentalist Giles Lewin and the acclaimed singer of medieval, renaissance, folk & contemporary music Vivien Ellis. Wine and refreshments will be served.

If you want to book a place, free of charge, please contact: Nicole Pohl, npohl@brookes.ac.uk.