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ESU Branches Welcomed Wrench TLab Speaker Freebury-Jones in January

National News

At the end of January, the second English-Speaking Union Wrench TLab speaker, Dr. Darren Freebury-Jones, undertook a weeklong tour to five ESU Branches. Freebury-Jones is an acclaimed lecturer at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust's Shakespeare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon and a faculty member of the ESU TLab one-week travel and learn program that will take place in July.  In Philadelphia, Freebury-Jones conducted a workshop for approximately 30 students at the Academy at Palumbo, the high school of last year's local Shakespeare Competition winner.  After, he delivered his "The Life, Works and Legacy of William Shakespeare" talk at the Philadelphia Club for the members of the ESU Philadelphia Branch.  On Friday, January 25, Ralph and Meta Wyndrum hosted Freebury-Jones at their home on behalf of the ESU Monmouth County Branch where he offered an intimate view of The Bard in Stratford-upon-Avon and in London. Darren reviewed Shakespeare's life chronologically in Stratford and in London from his birth (1564) to his death (1616).  

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ESU Honors Washington D.C. Branch Member Marjorie Williams

National News

The ESU was pleased to honor stalwart member Marjorie Williams on reaching her 100th year. Of British parents and born in India, Marjorie has exemplified the international nature of the ESU and has enjoyed a life that spans our history. We celebrate her career in medicine and service to the Veterans Administration and are grateful for her almost 70-year membership in the Washington D.C. Branch. Her time in the Branch was highlighted by her efforts in starting its National Shakespeare Competition in the 1980's and running the competition for more than  ten years. A certificate was presented to Marjorie in her home on Friday, January 25th. May she enjoy many more years in the comfort of family and friends.   

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Luard Morse Scholars win $75,000 in Scholarships to Study in England

National News

Mr. Artimus Cunningham, an English Major from Sycamore, IL, a sophomore at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA; Ms. Janelle Green, a Religion and Philosophy Major from North Charleston, SC, a sophomore at Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC; and Mr. Nicholas Whiteside, a Business Administration Major from Memphis, TN, a sophomore at Fisk University in Nashville, TN, have each been selected as recipients of an English-Speaking Union Luard Morse Scholarship.  Karen Karpowich, Interim Executive Director of the English-Speaking Union, announced the winners, noting that each scholar will receive $25,000 toward a semester of study at any university of their choosing in the United Kingdom during the 2019-2020 academic year.

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The 2018 English-Speaking Union Annual Conference

National News

Setting English in Action for a New Century
New Orleans, LA
November 17-19, 2018
Wyndham Garden Baronne Plaza New Orleans
201 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA

The 2018 English-Speaking Union Annual Conference, hosted by the ESU New Orleans Branch, drew members from all over the country to the Wyndham Garden Baronne Plaza Hotel for an enjoyable and productive weekend November 17-19, 2018.  The conference, under the theme "Setting English in Action for a New Century" focused on plans for the upcoming centennial of the organization in 2020 and continued to refine the strategies to take the ESU into its second century of excellence promoting the English language as a catalyst for global understanding and good will. 

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Randy Cohen's Person, Place, Thing Podcast with Peter Gilliver, TLab Lecturer at Oxford

National News

The new podcast hosted at The English-Speaking Union is now available.

TLab presented Peter Gilliver, the legendary Oxford English Dictionary lexicographer — and instructor in the TLab Programs — at a live presentation of Randy Cohen's Person, Place and Thing at The English-Speaking Union in New York. Gilliver shared behind-the-scenes insights at the Oxford English Dictionary. "It's the short words that are the hardest," he told the ESU audience. Love? Death? No. Shorter. Run and go. "I worked on the verb to run and it took me nine months, and one of my colleagues spent over a year on the verb to go." Host Randy Cohen is best known as the original ethicist columnist The New York Times.

Download the podcast at the iTunes store or Listen here.

Join us for another TLab lecture by Shakespeare Birthplace Trust expert Darren Freebury-Jones on Monday, January 28 in NYC. Reserve now.

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