Susan Bazargan

I had fun reviewing Margot Norris's book on Joseph Strick's film on Ulysses, which he made in the 1960s with a budget of $450,000, and which I find far superior to Sean Walsh's 2004 film of the book called Bl,.m (the only witty thing about it is the title). The review will appear in the fall issue of the James Joyce Literary Supplement.

Irish Women Writers, An A to Z Guide, edited by Alex Gonzalez (Greenwood Press, 2005) has been released, with an entry by me on the life and work of Joy Martin.

John Guzlowski

News from the world of the retired, aka the undead. This fall, I published a poem sequence about my dad called “Looking for Work in America” in Margie: An American Journal of Poetry. I also did three poetry readings down in Valdosta. Two of them were for a Witnesses to the Holocaust event jointly sponsored by the local Temple and Valdosta State University. And I’ve been reading and writing and watching movies and gardening. Retirement is pretty neat.

Agora proudly congratulates the English Department winners of the 2005 Achievement and Contributions Awards: [from left]Dagni Bredesen, for outstanding performance in Teaching and Primary Duties; Christopher Hanlon, for Balanced Contribution in Teaching, Research, and Service; David Raybin, for Teaching; Robin Murray, for Service; and Jad Smith [inset] for Balanced Contribution.

Cynthia Marke

We had a very busy summer, and it was good to welcome another contingent from EIU but very sad indeed for them to be in London as the terrorist bombs went off, and to be so close to them of course. Not the best way of ending such an enjoyable visit.

On a personal level we had a good summer, leading up to our elder son's wedding on 23 July here in the Gold Room. It was a wonderful day and everything went well, even down to the weather. The happy couple have just returned from their honeymoon spent in Kenya, a week on safari and a week on Mombasa beach. We are looking forward to seeing them and to hearing their stories and seeing their photos.

Click to see pictures.

They live in Macclesfield, Cheshire.

Our news every evening focuses on the destruction caused by hurricane Katrina. It's hard for us to grasp the fact that the area is bigger than the UK.

Hopefully I've managed to attach some photos of Harlaxton's conservatory. It has been reglazed and refurbished this summer and it is starting to look wonderful. It is our intention to use the conservatory as a classroom where appropriate.