Senior Literary Society: Black History Month

It was standing room only at Senior Literary Society this week!

In honour of Black History Month, Nancy Elliott, a psychotherapist, screenwriter and cultural critic, spoke about black poetry through a psychoanalytic lens, using Freud’s theory of the id, superego and ego to explore Claude McKay’s ‘If We Must Die’. It was a challenging topic, but made very accessible by Nancy, whose humorous and light-hearted style captivated the audience of Sixth Formers and Year 11s.

The entire event was organised by Miranda Barclay (Lower Sixth), who showed initiative and innovation to pull off this impressive talk.

Ms Routledge (Head of English) 

Nancy really helped us to see past the surface of poetry to the feelings and disciplines that inspired movements such as the Civil Rights cause in America. We are so honoured that she agreed to talk to us about this psychoanalytic interpretation as part of Emanuel’s Black History Week.

– Miranda Barclay