‘Women in the Arts’ panel debate in London
19 June 2014
In 2014 we will be celebrating 40 years of co-education at Oxford, and Hertford will be hosting a panel debate examining the impact women are making in the arts today.
Are there equal opportunities for women to reach the heights of the arts sector? How widespread is age discrimination? What are the real issues faced by women in the arts sector, and how should Oxford University help develop the next generation of creative women?
Date: Thursday 19th June 2014
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm (the debate will start at 6.30 pm, followed by a reception with drinks and nibbles from 7.15 pm)
Venue: Willis Ltd (51 Lime Street, London, EC3M 7DQ; see map) where we are being generously hosted by Rodney Baker-Bates
Dress code: Smart
Cost: £10 per person
RSVP: Please book online
This event is open to all Oxford alumni (not just Hertford alumni), and guests are welcome.
Please book using the university’s webpages, and direct any queries to Hertford’s Members’ and Development Office (development [dot] office [at] hertford [dot] ox [dot] ac [dot] uk).
Speaker biographies
Emma Smith (Fellow and Tutor in English)
Our chair Emma Smith came to Hertford as Fellow in English in 1998. She publishes and lectures widely on Shakespeare and on early modern drama, and her current project is a history of the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays, the 1623 First Folio. Further information is available on her website.
Catherine Bennett (English, 1975) Observer columnist
Catherine Bennett is a columnist on the Observer and on the Guardian, where she previously worked as a feature writer. She has also written for, among other papers, The Times, The Sunday Times, the Mail on Sunday and the short-lived Sunday Correspondent, and for magazines including Vogue and Elle. She has written and presented for BBC 2. Her alter egos have included Norman Johnson, Will Duguid, former Labour MP Ron Scuttle and currently, Samantha Cameron, whose (fabricated) diary also appeared as a book.
Kerensa Jennings (Modern Languages, 1989) Head of Strategic Delivery at the BBC
Kerensa Jennings is an award winning writer, producer and director who specialises in designing and delivering strategies.
Kerensa started her career as a journalist and programme maker, working first at ITN, then Sky. She became Editor of Breakfast with Frost at the BBC, then the BBC’s Election Results Editor, before making programmes on dinosaurs with Sir David Attenborough. She has produced and directed Royalty, politicians, actors, artists, and sports stars… everyone from James Nesbitt to Billy Bragg to Nelson Mandela.
Robin Norton-Hale (English, 1999) Theatre and opera director, winner of the 2011 Olivier Award for Best Opera (La Bohème)
Robin is a theatre and opera director whose freelance directing work includes The Taming of the Shrew for Southwark Playhouse, the world premiere of Masters, Are you Mad?, a sequel to Twelfth Night by Glyn Maxwell, and a double-bill of the play Let’s Make An Opera and Britten’s opera The Little Sweep for Malmo Opera House.
Her company OperaUpClose produces small-scale operas in the King’s Head Theatre in North London and tours to larger theatres nationally. Robin’s productions for OperaUpClose, all in her own new English translations, are the Olivier Award-winning La Boheme, La Traviata, The Barber of Seville and Don Giovanni, as well as the UK premiere of 21st-century Polish opera Young Wife.
Liz Forgan (St Hugh’s alumna) Former Chair of Arts Council England
Dame Liz Forgan spent her early career in journalism working on the Tehran Journal, the Hampstead and Highgate Express, the London Evening Standard and the Guardian. She was part of the founding team at Channel 4 TV, later becoming Director of Programmes. She moved to the BBC as Managing Director, Network Radio.
She has filled several roles in public life including Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England. She is currently Chair of the Scott Trust (owner of the Guardian and Observer), the National Youth Orchestra and the Bristol Old Vic and a deputy chair of the British Museum. She is a director of the Art Fund and a patron of the St Giles Trust, the Schola Cantorum of Oxford and the Churches Conservation Trust.