Festival of Languages 2-4 October 2024

On 2-4 October 2024 the School of Modern Languages held the first-ever Festival of Languages. Based mainly in the Byre Theatre, the programme contained a range of language-related events: a Franco-Scottish poetry extravaganza involving miner-writers, Robert Burns and the acclaimed Paul Malgrati; verse by a refugee, the descendant of a refugee, and a lawyer for refugees; and a multilingual poetry reading that went from Ancient Greek to Esperanto. There were talks on endangered languages and the language of the fantastical, as well as creative workshops on diasporic writing and wiki translation and language tasters. Guests could also stretch their legs in a walk shop that brought into dialogue poetry and landscape.

Visit Festival of Languages web site for the full programme of events, as well as information on the Festival exhibitions, a homage to the late John Burnside and a student podcast on the state of modern foreign language learning in Scotland today.