Our ‘Spotlight On’ series showcases the world-leading work of our academics. Dr Alistair Brown is using 21st century technology to transform how people can experience classic literature.

A major intervention in the field of dream studies has just been published, edited by Marco Bernini and Ben Alderson-Day from our Institute for Medical Humanities.

Congratulations to our remarkable scholars who earned their PhDs in English Literature between July and December 2025! The skill, dedication, and passion for literature you have shown throughout your studies at Durham have resulted in pioneering and inspiring research that you should all be proud of.

Over 200 pupils from local schools took part in a series of innovative workshops to bring Shakespeare to life with the help of our researchers and Elysium Theatre Company.

At the start of the academic year, the city welcomed the annual Durham Book Festival, one of the country’s oldest literary festivals, produced by New Writing North with support from Durham University. The festival invites a range of thinkers, writers and performers, and includes workshops and networking events for aspiring authors. The Festival is just one of the extra-curricular opportunities available to our Creative Writing and English Literature students each year. 

A vibrant week of events (20–23 October 2025) will take place across Durham, exploring Black history, reparative justice, and decolonial thought. Organised as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, the programme brings together scholars, students, and community members for walking tours, film screenings, and keynote lectures that highlight critical conversations around race, memory, and historical responsibility.

This October 13th to 16th a collaboration between our Department of English Studies, Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, Elysium Theatre Company, and Palace Green Library, is offering pupils from local schools and colleges the opportunity to experience the transformation of Shakespeare from page to stage to virtual reality.

Durham research is supporting a new exhibition inspired by the works of Lafcadio Hearn.

Twenty of our researchers will take important roles in assessing UK universities’ research quality.

A new tool to understand how people imagine differently when reading could have potential implications for the treatment of mental ill health.

Over three hundred researchers, practitioners, and artists gathered in Durham and online for a three-day conference on Critical Neurodiversity Studies: Directions / Intersections / Contradictions.  

A team of researchers, including Dr Rachel White from our Department of English Studies, has presented new evidence about one of the most famous insults in English literature – the phrase ‘upstart crow’ aimed at William Shakespeare.