The Talented Dr Randall
16th May 2014
We’ve got Randall – full Randall. A hat trick of Randall. All the Randall you need.
First up, join us this Wednesday, 21st May, for Martin Randall’s Gloucestershire Philosophical Society lecture. Randall will be delivering a talk on The Spectacle of the Void: Photography and 9/11:
9/11’s spectacular visual impact often gives rise to the belief that we have all ‘seen’ the terrorist attacks, in particular the iconic imagery surrounding the WTC Towers. But as will be demonstrated, photographs (screen grabs, amateur and professional, before, during and after) of 9/11 are intensely problematic in relation to issues of trauma, portent, aesthetics, politics and theories concerned with looking and the Real.
The talk will take place on Wednesday 21st May at 7.30pm in Room HC203 at Francis Close Hall Campus. Admission is £2, all are welcome, and full details are available here.
If you want more then we’ve got good news: Martin’s monograph,9/11 and the Literature of Terror, published by Edinburgh University Press, is soon to be released in paperback. Reviewing the book in Scotland on Sunday on the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Stuart Kelly described it as ‘an important milestone in our understanding of how culture can encompass those events.’ Those who couldn’t quite afford the hardback will be glad to hear that the paperback edition is ‘only’ £19.99!
Finally, if you thought Dr Randall was just about analysing literary representations of traumatic violence, you’d be wrong. In fact, as anyone who’s heard his lectures will attest, he’s also a fine humourist. But could he hack it as a stand up comedian? This is a question we thought might never be answered, but for two nights only, on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th June, Randall will be appearing as part of the line up in Stand up and be Counted – a live comedy show at the Playhouse Theatre. This, surely, is not to be missed. Also appearing will be experienced star of the comedy circuit, and first year Creative Writing student, Davey Evans. There’s a Facebook event page here and full details are available here.