Five Remarkable Women: in praise of pioneers
Mon 11 Nov 2024, 10:00 am - Mon 16 Dec 2024, 12:00 pm
Five Remarkable Women: in praise of pioneers
In this short series of two hour talks, our tutors offer their perspective on the lives and achievements of five extraordinary women, each of whom left a huge legacy within and often beyond their respective fields. Five Remarkable Women lectures, with Margaret Norwich, Christopher Budd, Louise Lahive, Craig Angus and Stephen Barnard.
1: Sylvia Plath – poetry
Sylvia Plath is more famous in popular culture for her life than for her work. The story of the beautiful young American poetess, brilliant but tortured, abandoned by her husband, the future poet laureate Ted Hughes, alone in London with two small children, writing ‘dawn poems in blood’ is the stuff of myth, but the poetry she left behind is vividly real, often joyous, and the work of a true artist. Join Margaret Norwich to explore the life and work of this remarkable woman.
2: Natalie Kalmus – film
The dynamic Executive Head of the Technicolor Art Department, Natalie Kalmus was credited as ‘Colour Consultant’ of Technicolor films produced from 1934 to 1949. She wove colour into the very fabric of film and left her mark on many classic films including ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Christopher Budd traces the career of this overlooked innovator with key examples of her work.
3: Leonora Carrington – art
In May 2024 Leonora Carrington’s work ‘Les Distractions de Dagobert’ was sold for £22.5 million at Sotheby’s auction house in New York – a record amount paid for a work by a British-born female artist. But few have even heard of Leonora in her native country. Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) was an artist whose life was one of resistance and courage in a time of massive upheaval. Louise Lahive explores the body of groundbreaking and fascinating work she left behind.
4: Constance Lytton – politics
Craig Angus, Assistant Archivist at Knebworth House, Park & Gardens reveals the life and accomplishments of women’s suffrage campaigner Lady Constance Lytton of Knebworth. Using photos, letters and family documents from the Knebworth House Archive, he discusses the part she played in the struggle for the vote and the life-changing effect it had upon her.
5: Dusty Springfield – music
Dusty Springfield followed her own path in the 1960s as a pioneer of ‘blue-eyed soul’ music, building on the rhythm and blues-based sounds of Motown to create many of the decade’s most indelible hits. She was the first female pop singer to truly take control of her own career and repertoire and effectively become her own producer. Stephen Barnard revisits a career that burned out in the 1970s yet was a beacon of light for every female artist who followed her.
- 11th November – Sylvia Plath
- 18th November – Natalie Kalmus
- 25th November – Leonora Carrington
- 9th December – Constance Lytton
- 16th December – Dusty Springfield
A five-week course: £75
(Also on sale as 5 separate events at £18 each)
Event Information
Price: £75
Room: Kincaid Hall
Campaign: Autumn Term 2024
Your Tutor
Name: Margaret Norwich, Christopher Budd, Louise Lahive, Craig Angus, Stephen Barnard
Bio: Margaret Norwich studied liberal arts at Vassar College, New York and read English at Girton College, Cambridge. She has worked in publishing, higher education and the voluntary sector. Her interests include the poetry of Sylvia Plath, the novels of Hilary Mantel, the plays of Tom Stoppard, and the redemptive power of art, music and literature.
Christopher Budd is a writer, teacher, and musician, with a specialism in music for film. He has written for publications such as ‘Music Teacher’ and ‘Classical Music’ on diverse topics and contributes regularly to music magazine ‘Shindig!’.
Louise Lahive is an artist who graduated from Kingston University in 1999 and since this time has worked and lived in the USA and UK. In 2012 Lahive became an elected fellow at Digswell Arts and in 2021 she graduated from the University of Hertfordshire with an MA in Fine Art. As well as pursuing her own practice, Lahive works as a visiting lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire and as a project leader for arts programs in junior schools across Hertfordshire. Lahive’s work is engaged with a ‘re-imaging’ of the body alongside internal symbolic langue and is held in private collections in the UK, USA and China.
Craig Angus helps look after the archive collection at Knebworth House, consisting of records from Knebworth House and Estate, and the extensive Lytton family archive; providing access to the collection for researchers, responding to enquiries, giving tours to groups, and is part of the education team providing information from over 500 years of history.
Stephen Barnard spent 21 years as a specialist writer with Reader’s Digest before going freelance in 1999. His five published books include ‘Studying Radio’, the standard academic textbook on the subject.
Department: Humanities
