Saturday 16th October saw the launch of Walking on the Grass, Dancing in the Corridors: Newnham at 150, our second fascinating anthology exploring Newnham in the present and the past.
To an enthusiastic audience of alumnae, Senior Members, staff and students, editors Dr Gill Sutherland and Kate Williams shared their experience of creating this remarkable collection.
Beginning at the beginning with Anne Jemima Clough’s 1875 argument for the need for ‘a room of one’s own’, the book explores the College’s history, ending with the Covid pandemic, in Fania Christodoulides’s moving piece ‘Left Behind’. Along the way we have the joy of ‘Peter’s Gem of the Day’, images from Rachel Wearmouth’s door notebook from 1985, Miriam Margolyes’ stories of Queenie Leavis, and much more.
Gill and Kate introduced three contributors to the book, Dr Carol Cooper, Dr Rachel Padman, and Catrina Bomford, to share their perspectives. Jon Harris, who drew the book’s charming endpapers, was also there, and received enthusiastic applause. Even Taylor Swift got a look in, as Gill pressed the play button to reveal a wonderful video of Newnham students ‘dancing in the corridors’ to Swift’s ‘Shake it Off’.
The event ended with a drinks reception, with attendees discussing their favourite aspects of the anthology so far as the editors signed copies: a wonderful celebration for what will be a treasured record of College history.
The anthology can be purchased at the Porters’ Lodge or online.