Philip Seargeant

Writer and lawyer Abda Khan explains how cultural differences and misunderstandings create barriers, and explores how we might overcome them.

www.mklitfest.org/borders

@ouliterature.bsky.social

#literature

Novelist Kit de Waal, a leading voice for working class writers, joins Dr Dan Taylor to discuss how to challenge the class ceiling.

www.mklitfest.org/online-event...

@kitdewaal.com
@ouliterature.bsky.social

#literature #politics #borders #geography

The Borders Series | MK Lit Fest 2026 This new series, in collaboration with the Open University, asks leading writers and thinkers to explore borders in all their literal or more abstract forms: geographical and political, cultural and l...

Our Borders in Literature series with the Open University starts 7pm Mon 9/3 with Tim Marshall, and continues online every Mon eve for rest of March. All events free - info/bookings: www.mklitfest.org/borders
#geography #timmarshall #PrisonersOfGeography #Geopolitics

Tim Marshall, author of Prisoners of Geography, discusses why physical borders are such a live issue in today's world.

www.mklitfest.org/online-event...

@philipseargeant.bsky.social #literature #politics #borders #geography @ouliterature.bsky.social

Images of authors Tim Marshall and Philip Seargeant

Together with @MKLitFest, we welcome Tim Marshall to our series on Borders in Literature, talking to @philipseargeant.bsky.social about the impact of geographical borders on today’s interconnected world. 9 Mar, 7pm, Zoom.
Tickets (free): bit.ly/mklfmarsh

#geography #politics #literature

Gracie Mae Bradley, co-author of Against Borders, explores how we might reshape the world to overcome barriers that fuel division and disparities.

www.mklitfest.org/borders

@ouliterature.bsky.social

Novelist Kit de Waal, a leading voice for working class writers, joins Dr Dan Taylor to discuss how to challenge the class ceiling.

www.mklitfest.org/online-event...

@kitdewaal.com
@ouliterature.bsky.social

Writer and lawyer Abda Khan explains how cultural differences and misunderstandings create barriers, and explores how we might overcome them.

www.mklitfest.org/borders

@ouliterature.bsky.social

Banner showing the book covers for The Literary Lifeline by Kevin Harvey, The Future of Language by Philip Seargeant and Why Do Linguistics? by Fiona English and Tim Marr

It's National Linguistics Day, and what better way to celebrate the role of linguistics in your life than with a bargain book or two?

Enjoy 30% off recent highlights like these in our ongoing festive sale!

See more linguistics books on offer: bit.ly/49CuhiZ

@philipseargeant.bsky.social

Our ‘Radicals of Russell Square’ map on sale at Waterstones in Gower Street

‘The times we’re living in are dominated by rapid technological change, and much of this change is focused on how we communicate.’

@philipseargeant.bsky.social discusses how 21st-century developments in technology are changing the ways we communicate www.bloomsbury.com/uk/discover/...

Thanks. Can you give me an example?

Listened to this yesterday - absolutely fascinating - as are all of @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social podcasts. V interesting explanations of weird street names and distinctions between roads and streets.

Word of Mouth - Street Names - BBC Sounds Michael Rosen talks to Philip Seargeant about where our street names come from.

Here's the link to last week's Word of Mouth, in which I discuss the language of street names with @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

BBC Radio 4 - Word of Mouth, Street Names Michael Rosen talks to Philip Seargeant about where our street names come from.

Street Names
Word of Mouth
BBC Radio 4
@michaelrosenyes.bsky.social talks to @philipseargeant.bsky.social from the Open University about where our street names come from, like Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate in York, and Michael's old address, Love Lane.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

How are 21st-century developments in technology changing the very nature of language and the ways that we communicate with each other? Philip Seargeant, author of The Future of Language, provides a brief history of the future of human communication.

How are 21st-century developments in technology changing the very nature of language and the ways that we communicate with each other?

@philipseargeant.bsky.social, author of The Future of Language, provides a brief history of the future of human communication bit.ly/4merPmK

A brief history of the future of human communication Philip Seargeant, author of The Future of Language, on how recent technological developments such as AI and social media are changing the nature of human communication and of the way we relate to each...

A short piece I wrote for the Bloomsbury blog

www.bloomsbury.com/uk/discover/...

To accompany the @openuniversity.bsky.social's collaboration with Radio 4's Word of Mouth with @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social, here's a short quiz about the bewildering world of idioms

connect.open.ac.uk/education-de...

Cover image of The Future of Language, with endorsements reading: 'I've never read a book on language with such a breadth of vision' - David Crystal; 'A scholarly, must-read book' - New Statesman'

New in paperback this week: Bloomsbury.com/9781350538474

@philipseargeant.bsky.social

Podcasts | MK Lit Fest Podcasts available from Milton Keynes Literary Festival.

Podcast of Episode 4 of our #FreeSpeech and #Literature series - #Translation and #Censorship - is now available to listen. Translators Sawad Hussain and Monica Cure discussed taboos, cultural difference, banned words + more with Daria Chernysheva.
mklitfest.org/podcasts
@monicacure.bsky.social

Free Speech and Literature: Translation and Censorship with Sawad Hussain, Monica Cure and Daria Chernysheva | MK Lit Fest 2025 In this event, we explore literature in translation with a specific focus on censorship and free speech through the lens of two novels that both address these concerns: Liliana Corobca’s The Censor’s ...

Enjoying this morning's #R4moreorless about #freespeech? Join us online tonight as we look at free speech, #translation + #Censorship
www.mklitfest.org/translation
@oupolitics.bsky.social @monicacure.bsky.social @sawadhussain.bsky.social

Free Speech and Literature: Translation and Censorship with Sawad Hussain, Monica Cure and Daria Chernysheva | MK Lit Fest 2025 In this event, we explore literature in translation with a specific focus on censorship and free speech through the lens of two novels that both address these concerns: Liliana Corobca’s The Censor’s ...

Don't miss Translation and Censorship: Pt 4 of our #freespeech + #literature series, Mon 31/3.
Book (free/donations): mklitfest.org/translation
@oupolitics.bsky.social @monicacure.bsky.social @sawadhussain.bsky.social #translation #censorship #restlessbooks #7storiespress #translation #censorship

The #podcast of Episode 3 of our #Freespeech and #literature series - Historical #CancelCulture - is now available. Charlotte Gordon talks to Jupiter Jones about #marywoolstonecraft, cancelled in the C18th. www.mklitfest.org/podcasts

#romanticoutlaws #openuniversity
@jupiterjonz.bsky.social

Free Speech and Literature: Part 1 - Literature and Offence MK Lit Fest · Episode

I haven't seen Giant yet (am going in May) but this discussion with playwright Mark Rosenblatt is excellent, talking about (among other things) how and if Roald Dahl's antisemitism colours his own reading of the books.

open.spotify.com/episode/3Bub...

There’s One Part of the Signal Leak That I Can’t Get Out of My Head This week, we found out our leaders are just more fools in a group chat.

“Maybe I’m thinking too much about the emoji. This is just the way people communicate these days, I understand. ... But the emoji are part and parcel of a set of exchanges that reveal a group of people play-acting at importance." - @slate.com slate.com/life/2025/03...

Free Speech and Literature: Part 3 - Historical Cancel Culture MK Lit Fest · Episode

Here's the podcast of the most recent event in our series on literature and free speech, run in collaboration with the @mklitfest.bsky.social

Author Charlotte Gordon discusses the 'cancelling' of Mary Wollstonecraft with @jupiterjonz.bsky.social

open.spotify.com/episode/4d4v...

Free Speech and Literature: Part 3 - Historical Cancel Culture MK Lit Fest · Episode

Here's the podcast of the most recent event in our series on literature and free speech, run in collaboration with the @mklitfest.bsky.social

Author Charlotte Gordon discusses the 'cancelling' of Mary Wollstonecraft with @jupiterjonz.bsky.social

open.spotify.com/episode/4d4v...

Free Speech and Literature: Historical Cancel Culture with Charlotte Gordon and Jupiter Jones | MK Lit Fest 2025 Charlotte Gordon, author of Radical Outlaws, talks to Jupiter Jones about the eighteenth-century writer and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and how after her untimely death, Wollstonecraft was effectivel...

#CancelCulture isn't new: #MaryWollstonecraft was cancelled in the 18th century. Join us online on Mon eve as Charlotte Gordon explains all to @jupiterjonz.bsky.social for our #FreeSpeech + #literature series.
Tickets (free): mklitfest.org/historical-c...
#charlottegordon #feminism #radicaloutlaws

Free Speech and Literature: Part 2 - Freedom of Expression in the Age of the Algorithm MK Lit Fest · Episode

Listen to our latest podcast as @juliahbell.bsky.social and @philipseargeant.bsky.social discuss #ai and #writing in the age of the #algorithm open.spotify.com/episode/68r4...
Part of our on-going Free Speech + Literature series.
#freespeech #creativewiring #artificialintelligence

Free Speech and the Politics of Literature | MK Lit Fest 2025 A series of online events with the Open University's Language, Literature and Politics research group, culminating in an in-person panel event at MK Lit Fest's April 2025 festival.

Our #freespeech and #literature series concludes with a panel of @akischilz.bsky.social @henrycporter.bsky.social Sabrina Mahfouz + Donall Mac Cathmhaoill at WaterstonesMK
on 11 April.
Info and tickets: mklitfest.org/free-speech-...
#miltonkeynes