Sixth Form Lecture: Cultural historian and author Anna Beer Shares her Literary Journey and Life Lessons

Published by St Mary's Calne on Tuesday 7th of October 2025

At this week's Sixth Form Lecture, we had the pleasure of hearing from Anna Beer an early-modernist, biographer and feminist cultural historian as part of our lecture programme.

Students studying English at A Level were able to join Anna for dinner prior to her lecture, where we were thrilled to hear of the origins of her pursuits in literature. Those of us wishing to pursue English at university level were provided with helpful information and hilarious anecdotes from her experience as a fellow of Kellogg College.

In the lecture that followed, Anna discussed the inspirations for her career and highlighted the importance of understanding what 'success looks like for you'. She explained that it is often important to take a step back and look at what might happen from taking a decision and the benefits of staying where you are as your often only have one shot.

We were indulged with some 'behind the scenes' anecdotes from her most recent publication Eve Bites Back: An Alternative History of English Literature and after an inspiring personal lesson about battling nerves through public speaking, we left the evening with newfound confidence.

Sophia, UVI