After a delay due to Covid, it was great to have the annual George Sayer Fellowship back this year, and it was a particular treat having as our 2022 fellow, the renowned poet, novelist, social commentator and, as we discovered, rugby enthusiast, Owen Sheers.
Inaugurated in 2019, the George Sayer Fellowship was established through the generous support of OMs to recognise the memory and legacy of Mr George Sayer, who was Head of English at Malvern College from 1949 until his retirement in 1974. This Fellowship provides funds for an annual appointment of a fellow or fellows who, in turn, make a contribution to the current academic life of the College.
This year’s recipient, Owen Sheers, visited the College on Wednesday 8th June. He spent the afternoon running two highly engaging workshops with select groups of pupils, including guests from The Chase School. Later that evening, he presented the annual public Lecture in the Rogers Theatre on the topic ‘On Voice and Other Voices’ which, in the words of one of the attendees present, “was absolutely phenomenal. [Sheers] was so natural in his delivery and he really did play the voices in his texts and bring them to life in front of us.”
In both the lecture and workshops, Owen Sheers shared some of his work, including Pink Mist, a verse drama that explores the trauma of modern warfare and difficulty of transitioning back into a normal world; Calon, a story portraying the intimate journey of the Welsh rugby team that ended in Grand Slam success for the third time in 8 years; To Provide All People, a film poem “in the voice of NHS” to celebrate its 70th anniversary and honour the commitment of NHS workers; and The Green Hollow, another film poem that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster.
Sheers not only took us through the journey of his writing process, but also how different media such as radio, film, and text influence how messages are conveyed. He also explored how the ‘hybrid form’ of lyrical poetry allows him to be experimental and rhythmically driven in his writings. As one of our pupils noted, ‘despite containing an array of different voices from many different people in his works, exploring rather heavy-hearted topics such as war, trauma and death, he also portrays the light-hearted ones such as camaraderie, hope and life. While they may seem different in the messages they convey, these voices all contain the very essence of humanity, which is what Owen Sheers conveys through his “hybrid form”, creating a heartfelt yet realistic view of human life.’ [Jessica Zhai. L6 No 6]
In all, it was another great year for the Fellowship and no doubt George Sayer himself would have been chuffed with the learning, sharing, challenging, and reflecting that such a unique experience brings.
Dr Bradley Wells
Head of Academic Scholarship
