The Beckett International Foundation at the University of Reading is delighted to invite applications for the Katharine Worth travel bursary, in honour of the renowned Beckett scholar, Professor Katharine Worth, who donated her Beckett archive to the University of Reading. The archive includes a beautifully detailed maquette by Peter Snow of a version of his stage design for the original 1955 UK premiere of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, directed by Peter Hall [see image].
The bursary is valued at £250 and may be availed of anytime in the calendar year of 2023, taking into account University and Special Collections closure times. Applications are invited from any student in part or full-time higher education (undertaking an MA or Ph.D. or equivalent qualification). Interested applicants should submit a CV, and a short essay (max 800 words) outlining their interest in and current work on Samuel Beckett, and stating how a visit to the Beckett Archive at Reading would be beneficial to their studies. Applicants should identify those materials in the archive that would be of most benefit to them. See: http://www.reading.ac.uk/special-collections/collections/sc-beckett.aspx
The closing date for applications is 7 November 2022.
Entry requirements: Applicants must be over 18 and must be in part-time or full-time higher education (undertaking an MA or Ph.D. or equivalent qualification).
Applications, as well as queries, should be sent by email to Dr Mark Nixon (m.nixon@reading.ac.uk)
Professor Katharine Worth
Professor Katharine Worth was the first female professor of theatre in the United Kingdom and set up the Drama department at Royal Holloway (University of London). She was a leading expert on Beckett’s theatre. Her books include Beckett the Shape Changer (1975) and Samuel Beckett’s Theatre: Life Journeys (1999). Her research combined theory and practice and she worked with distinguished composer Humphrey Searle on a production of Beckett’s radio play Words and Music (1973), and with actor Julian Curry on a stage performance of Beckett’s prose work, Company, directed by Tim Pigott-Smith, in 1987.
The Beckett Collection at the University of Reading
The Beckett Collection held in the University of Reading’s Special Collections is the world’s largest collection of resources relating to Samuel Beckett (1906-1989). It has been recognized as being of national and international importance by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The Collection has recently acquired the manuscript notebooks which Beckett prepared when he was writing his first novel, Murphy, and the Beckett archive of acclaimed Beckett actor, Billie Whitelaw.
Image: Peter Snow model box of Waiting for Godot from the Katharine Worth Collection.
The Samuel Beckett Society 