All members of the St Hugh’s community are warmly invited to join us for our virtual lecture, Gifts and Books: From Early Myth to the Present with Professor Nick Perkins, on Wednesday 24 January 2024. There will be two identical lectures that day, the first at 1pm-2pm UK time (booking form below), and the second at 6pm-7pm UK time (booking form here).
Gift-giving is fundamental to human societies, and for as long they’ve existed, books have been woven into patterns of generosity and exchange. In this talk, Nicholas Perkins explores extraordinary gift books; narratives about giving and receiving from ancient times to the present and across cultures; and the idea of storytelling itself as a form of gift.
Professor Nick Perkins is a Tutorial Fellow in English at St Hugh’s College, specialising in medieval English literature. Scroll down to find out more about our speaker.
Booking information
This online event will take place via Zoom webinar. To register, please fill in the booking form below.
Joining details will be sent out to those who have registered on the day before the event (please ensure that you enter your email address carefully on the booking form).
Professor Perkins’ lecture is free, but we ask you to consider supporting the College’s challenge to raise £10,000 towards our new graduate scholarship in English when you book your ticket.
Please note that you do not need a Paypal account to make a donation online when you book your ticket. If you would prefer to make a donation by cheque, please do book a free ticket below and post your cheque to: The Development Office, St Hugh’s College, St Margaret’s Road, Oxford, OX2 6LE. Please make your cheque payable to ‘St Hugh’s College’, and be sure to write your full name and the fund to which you would like to donate on the back of the cheque.
Please note that St Hugh’s College’s virtual events may be recorded.
*Please note that our booking pages work best when accessed from a desktop computer or laptop. If you are trying to book tickets on a phone, please note that you may need to swipe right below to select the type of ticket you would like, and then left again to select ‘Register Now’ to be taken to the booking form.*
Nicholas Perkins is a Tutor in English at St Hugh’s, and Professor of Medieval Literature. His books include Medieval Romance and Material Culture (ed., 2015); and The Gift of Narrative in Medieval England (2021; paperback 2023), described by reviewers as ‘brilliant’ and ‘radiant’. In 2023 he curated a major exhibition in the Bodleian Library, Gifts and Books, and edited Gifts and Books: From Early Myth to the Present (Bodleian Library, 2023). ‘As every reader knows, books are the best gifts by far, and this exhibition and its lovely accompanying book will give great pleasure to very many visitors and readers’ (Philip Pullman).