Every summer we bring stellar speakers to our programs to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our students. Speakers have ranged from the Poet Laureate of England Andrew Motion to the longest serving British MP Tony Benn; from one of Britain’s most decorated soldiers, General Sir Michael Rose, to the former Associate Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Tim Carroll. We have highlighted several speakers who have given talks in recent years and should be rejoining us in Cambridge or Oxford this summer.

Professor Andrew Motion. Professor Motion is the Poet Laureate of England, a post renowned for its former holders such as William Wordsworth, Lord Tennyson, and Ted Hughes. He is a Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London, and the author of acclaimed biographies and anthologies of poetry, including Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life (1994) and Keats (1998). Having edited an anthology of First World War poetry and published a fictional biography of John Keats both in 2003, his most recent publication is his autobiography, In the Blood: A Memoir of My Childhood, which was published in 2006.  Our students are able to enjoy the Poet Laureate reading his poetry and discuss his poems with him.

General Sir Michael Rose. KCB CBE DSO QGM. Sir Michael is one of the most highly decorated British soldiers in the 20th century. He was Adjutant General of the British Army, Aide-de-Camp General to Queen Elizabeth II, and Commander of the United Nations Protection Force that operated in Bosnia. He was originally commissioned into the Coldstream Guards, was selected for service in the Special Air Service (SAS) and then commanded the 22nd SAS Regiment. He served in Malaysia, Oman, Germany, Northern Ireland, and the Falkland Islands. He now directs Control Risks Group, a private security and consulting company and writes on peacekeeping issues and challenges to global security.

Lord Saye and Sele.(Nathaniel Fiennes) A member of the House of Lords and the twenty-first member of the Fiennes family to bear the title, Lord Saye and Sele addresses us in his ancestral home, Broughton Castle. Built in 1300, this magnificent building was a location for the Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love. Notable relatives include actors Ralph and Joseph Fiennes, the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, and Susannah Fiennes, the Prince of Wales’ official artist. At the home of this most prominent of British families, participants experience a piece of English heritage firsthand. 

Tony Benn.One of the best known and most controversial figures in British politics, Tony Benn retired from Parliament in 2001 after 50 years in the chamber, making him the longest serving Labour MP in British history.  He was a Cabinet minister for two Labour governments and was President of the Council of European Energy Ministers. A member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party for 35 years and former Chairman, Mr Benn offers our students a fascinating perspective on British history and the relationship between Britain and the United States.

Professor Lynda Mugglestone. Professor Mugglestone is the News International Lecturer in Language and Communication at Oxford University and Vicegerent, Fellow and Tutor at Pembroke College, Oxford. Her research interests include the history of the English Language, especially in the 19th century, and ‘metalexicography’, the cultural, social, and linguistic history of dictionaries. She is widely published, having written such books as Talking Proper: The Rise of Accent As Social Symbol (2003) and Lost for Words: The Hidden History of the Oxford English Dictionary (2005). In 2006, she edited the The Oxford History of the English Language. She has also consulted for the Oxford Theatre Company on Victorian phonetics and appeared on BBC television and radio as a specialist in language and its place in society.

Don Winslow. Novelist, military historian, theatre director, screenwriter, actor, and former private investigator, Mr Winslow is also a founding faculty member of Oxbridge Academic Programs. Both in individual class workshops and a presentation before the group as a whole, Mr Winslow reads excerpts from his ten novels (which include California Fire and Life, Cool Breeze on the Underground, The Power of the Dog, and most recently, The Winter of Frankie Machine), discusses the art of writing experientially and offers his unique perspectives on transferring the written word from the page to the stage, the small screen, or the cinema. An animated speaker and a consistent favorite among the students, his presentation culminates with a candid question and answer session about being a career author and storyteller.

Professor Christopher Andrew. Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Cambridge University, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, former Visiting Professor of National Security at Harvard University, frequent BBC commentator, and the President of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Professor Andrew is one of the world’s foremost experts on British, US, and Soviet intelligence services. Much of his recent research draws upon the unique collection of documents and notes that the defector Vasili Mitrokhin stole from his KGB masters and brought to the West.  A perennial favorite with our students, he talks about the role of government intelligence agencies in the post-Cold War era.

Tim Carroll. Director of Productions for New Kent Opera, Mr. Carroll is an Honours graduate from Oxford, where he was also a prolific actor. He is the former Associate Director of Shakespeare’s Globe in London, was Associate Director of the Northcott Theatre in Exeter, and began his career at the English Shakespeare Company. He has directed many operas, most recently Tosca for the English Touring Opera in 2006, and countless Shakespeare productions – among them, several productions in Oxford, where he was a teacher on The Oxford Tradition for many years. Mr. Carroll is one of the most gifted and innovative directors working in London today and is able to give our students unique insights into all aspects of directing a Shakespeare production.

Dr Helen Kidd. A renowned Oxford poet, Dr Kidd is a lecturer in English Studies at Oxford Brookes University and a tutor at Ruskin College, Oxford. She was a member of The Oxford Tradition’s teaching faculty for over twenty years. As a poet, she performs readings and holds workshops throughout Europe. She has published many volumes of poetry, including Sleight of Foot in 1996, The Paper City in 1997 and Ultraviolet Catastrophe in 2003. In 2005, Blue Weather was released to much acclaim, having won the 2003/4 Cork Manuscript Prize. She is also co-editor of The Virago Book of Love Poetry and, as a scholar in her own right, has published on feminist theory and criticism, contemporary poetry, and the literature of the British Isles and the Caribbean.

The Revd Robin Griffith-Jones. A biblical scholar and art historian, Revd Griffith-Jones is Master of the Temple Church in London, and former chaplain of Lincoln College, Oxford. He has been involved in the media interest surrounding the Temple Church, which was built by the Knights Templar and features in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. The author of The Four Witnesses, a study of the four gospels, he wrote The Fifth Witness to examine St Paul’s own perspective upon the life of Jesus Christ. He is writing a biography of Mary Magdalene and recently published The Da Vinci Code and the Secrets of the Temple which explores the historical basis for the novel’s claims. With a keen interest in competing interpretations of the gospels and Christ’s life and legacy, Revd Griffith-Jones explores much of the history surrounding the Da Vinci Code’s claims.

Baba Brinkman. Baba has written and performed original rap and spoken word poetry for nearly a decade. His transformation of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales into a hip-hop epic was met with much acclaim, which included his recruitment to Cambridge University’s English Faculty for his innovative and inventive approach to literature. He holds a BA (Hons) from Simon Fraser University and an MA from the University of Victoria and, as a thoughtful and engaging lyricist, he explores the differences and similarities between rap music and literary poetry. He founded Babasword Productions in 2004 for the creation and promotion of educational, literature-based entertainment. His first album, Swordplay, was released in 2004 and, in 2006, he released his second, The Rap Canterbury Tales. 

Helen Chapman. Helen is a barrister of The Middle Temple in London.  After graduating from Clare College, Cambridge University, in 2004, she accepted an internship with the Independent Jamaica Council of Human Rights, working in Jamaican prisons, including death row. Prior to this, she undertook a three month undercover assignment in a prison in England and also taught Law on The Cambridge Prep Experience and worked as a Program Assistant on The Cambridge Tradition. With a passion for criminal law from a young age, Helen joined the English Bar in 2006. She won a pupilage at a set of chambers in London, and plans to build a practice in criminal and penal law before returning to the prison service or human rights activism.

Capt. Jonny White. Capt. White is a former commander and member of C Squadron, Royal Dragoon Guards, a regiment of the British Army that was established in 1689 and has fought with distinction in most campaigns to date. Educated at Sandhurst, he has served in England, Germany, Northern Ireland, Canada and Oman. He has worked closely with intelligence agencies and Special Forces, and now teaches university undergraduates as a Territorial Army officer. With experience of military training, armor deployment and strategy, the Northern Island peace process, and Middle Eastern politics, Capt. White addresses the students on the role of mobile armor in modern warfare and how the modern military operates. 

Alissa Firsova. Ms Firsova is a composer and pianist of international reputation.  Born in Moscow, she moved to England as a child and gained a scholarship to study at the prestigious Purcell School. She has since won the BBC, The Guardian newspaper, and the Proms Young Composer Competition and is now a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She has performed at many musical festivals, concerts and recitals, and her performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio and recorded by classical music labels. She has been commissioned to write pieces for both the cello and piano by ABRSM, the world’s leading music examinations board, and her compositions have been performed by ensembles in the UK, in Europe, and in the United States.