The following is an obituary written by Dr Margaret Shewring (Theatre & Performance and Cultural & Media Policy Studies). We note his considerable contribution to the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies, where Ronnie taught for many years, particularly on Shakespeare and his Contemporaries, and on poetry. Ronnie also worked alongside Jack (later Lord) Butterworth to protect the Faculty of Arts against cuts by the University Grants Council in the 1980s. The funeral will take place on Monday 25 February 2019 at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon at 12.00 noon. His wife, Eithne, welcomes all friends and colleagues.

Dr Shewring writes:

It is with great sadness that we write to let you know that J.R. (Ronnie) Mulryne died on Monday 28 January. He had become increasingly unwell in the past two months and, although he remained mentally alert, his body had become very frail as the cancer had spread and the treatments became more difficult to cope with. He died at home during in his sleep.

Throughout his career Ronnie has been a tireless and distinguished contributor to academic teaching, research and publication. He has inspired generations of students and scholars, developing resources and a scholarly framework for the interdisciplinary study of European Renaissance Culture and of Early Modern Performance.

Ronnie joined the Department of English at the University of Warwick in 1977. Among his many University roles he was Director of the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance from the 1980s to 2003, a role that reflected his determination that postgraduate students would benefit from being a part of an interdisciplinary grouping for teaching and research at MA and doctoral level. With colleagues associated with the Centre he convened numerous interdisciplinary conferences at Warwick, Warwick in Venice, Columbia University New York, Bergamo and the Warburg Institute (University of London) as well as two EURESCO-funded conferences in Lucca, Tuscany. Ronnie actively promoted international partnerships with the University of Venice, Ca’ Foscari, the University of Paris-Sorbonne and the University of Tours. Under his directorship, the Centre developed European academic exchange programmes (ERASMUS and SOCRATES) with colleagues and postgraduate students in Venice and Paris. Ronnie’s own frequent contributions to conferences of the Société Internationale de Recherches Interdisciplinaires sur la Renaissance (S.I.R.I.R) at Paris-Sorbonne, and his subsequent publications on aspects of Renaissance literature and performance, were recognised by the French Ministry of Education and Culture in 1992 when he was made a Chevalier of l’Ordres des Palmes Académiques.

In the late 1990s Ronnie led Warwick’s successful application for funding from the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Board for Warwick’s Centre for the Study of the Renaissance to host the AHRB Centre for the Study of Renaissance Elites and Court Cultures, chairing this Centre for three years and leading one of its interdisciplinary research programmes with a focus on court and civic festivals of the European Renaissance, a project that resulted in a 2-volume, large-format publication making available to readers the texts of court and civic festivals, transcribed, translated and annotated with scholarly introductions. He also led the creation of a website, in collaboration with the British Library, to make more than two hundred and fifty festival books from the Library’s collection available in searchable, digital format.

On his retirement from Warwick in 2004 Ronnie was made Professor Emeritus. He continued to be an active scholar, editor, conference convenor and participant. As a co-founder of the Society for European Festivals Research he continued to collaborate in conferences in Warwick, Venice, London, Bergamo, Mons and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He particularly enjoyed our collaboration with the European Science Foundation’s PALATIUM research network. As a general editor of the European Festival Studies, 1450–1700 series of books he encouraged interdisciplinary research in an increasingly international context for students, doctoral and early career researchers and more senior scholars, collaborating in research networks with curators, archivists and performance practitioners.

His energy, his generosity in encouraging others and his love of theatre, music, poetry, architecture and history have been an inspiration to many. He will be greatly missed.

Ben Kulvichit (BA Theatre and Performance Studies, 2018) and Clara Potter-Sweet (BA English Literature 2018) are the most recent Warwick alumni to make a splash on the UK theatre scene; read about their new show in The Guardian.

A new film of Shakespeare's great speech opposing prejudice. Filmed in Leeds for BBAShakespeare and Prof Tony Howard.

Working with the director Peter Trifunovic, Professor Tony Howard (English Department/Warwick's Multicultural Shakespeare Project) has put together a short film which takes speeches believed to be by Shakespeare and transplants them to a pub in Leeds today. Across the centuries, it speaks powerfully about intolerance and the refugee crisis - during Refugee Week 2018.

World Refugee Day. The Strangers' Case www.youtube.com

Please watch and Spread The Words.

This new film based on a four hundred year old speech shows fear of immigration is nothing new.

In 1517 anti-immigrant riots broke out in London. Thomas More, then a deputy Sheriff of the city, intervened.

Decades later William Shakespeare wrote a speech for the play 'Sir Thomas More', in which More defended asylum seekers - 'the strangers'.

#RefugeeWeek2018 #WorldRefugeeDay

The Times/Sunday Times’ Good University Guide 2018 rankings were published recently, and the department continues its strong performance in national and international league tables. For Creative Writing, the department's Warwick Writing Programme is ranked at number 1 in the UK. For English, we are 10th, and for Theatre Studies (categorised as Drama, Dance and Cinematics), 6th.

Other Warwick departments with joint degrees with English have also performed strongly, including modern languages (French, German, Italian, Iberian Studies), Classics, Philosophy, and History. For the full details, please see here.

The Times/Sunday Times’ Good University Guide 2018 has ranked 22 subjects at the University of Warwick in the UK’s top 10 for their field, with the Warwick Writing Programme ranked again 1^st for Creative Writing. For English we are placed at 10th. To see full details, including for those departments with which we have joint degrees (Theatre, Film, Philosophy, Modern Languages (French, German, Italian, Hispanic Studies), Classics, and History) please see the press release here.

Against Prejudice: A celebration of Ira Aldridge

Thursday 19 September, 7 pm, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Join us for a celebration of Ira Aldridge, with a staged reading and panel discussion of Against Prejudice: Ira Aldridge Theatre Manager- 1828 led by Tony Howard

More information and link to the ticket office - warwick.ac.uk/thisiscov

Warwick will be a major partner of this year’s The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival. Exploring the 2017 theme of Who do we think we are? the festival brings the brightest most innovative thinkers to the stage we ask how we can solve the problems that divide us, and debate Britain’s new place on the world stage.

Warwick will be supporting a series of specially commissioned events exploring different the theme from different and thought provoking perspectives.

The festival runs from 6^th to 15^th October. The full festival programme - which includes Warwick staff and at least one former student - can be viewed at:

http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature/

The Complete University Guide rankings were published yesterday, and the department continues its strong performance in national and international league tables. For Creative Writing, the department's Warwick Writing Programme is ranked at number 1 in the UK. For English, we are 9th, and for Theatre Studies (categorised as Drama, Dance and Cinematics), 5th.

Other Warwick departments with joint degrees with English have also performed strongly: Film and Television Studies (categorised as Drame, Dance and Cinematics) and German and Philosophy are each ranked as 5th, and French, Hispanic Studies (categorised as Iberian Languages) and Italian are each at 7th.

The University is ranked at 8th nationally and is the highest rated university in the West Midlands.

Dr David Taylor is curating 'Draw New Mischief’: 250 years of Shakespeare and Political Cartoons in a new exhibition hosted by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford upon Avon running 25 February – 15 October 2017. For details of the press release see here. David writes,

"I'm thrilled to be working with the Royal Shakespeare Company on this exhibition. It's been an exciting journey bringing this collection of cartoons together and we're also commissioning new work for current cartoonists that will be added to the exhibition over the course of its run.

“My research into political cartoons is driven by two overarching insights; first, that political cartoons cry out for close literary analysis and, second, that texts by Shakespeare and others shape the way we understand contemporary politics in profound ways that we're often unaware of. When I embarked on this project a number of years ago I felt strongly that the questions it was raising could be effectively presented through an exhibition and the RSC have proved to be the perfect partners in making this happen."

David will be discussing the exhibition on BBC Radio's Free Thinking today!

'Elsa', a new play by English and Comparative Literary Studies alumna Isobel Rogers, will feature at the 'All the Right Notes' festival being held at the Camden People's Theatre in London during November. For more details and tickets see the theatre website.