And the #SEDstories competition winners are…

#SEDstories ran in Summer 2017 to find the best visual stories from our students’ time studying with us.

All of our SED staff formed the selection panel and the voting happened in October 2017.

Thanks to everyone who entered we will be using all entries to help us give better information to prospective students.

And after adding up all of the votes the winners are:

Big Prize Winner (£250)

Elizabeth Tan

Special commendation (£50 prize)

Meg Hodgson

Andy Bourne

Mt favourite moment from my time at QM is far more than a moment. During the final hellish month of dissertation writing, spending countless hours In the tiniest room in Arts one, arriving at 9am, leaving gone midnight day in day out. The G.03 study group was formed. If you needed to work, study, research or even cry, you knew that you’d never be alone in G.03. Different combinations of people emerged each day, but the support and community was always present. Proofreading, discussion, communal beatboxing, you name it, G.03 had it. Writing a dissertation isn’t easy, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and we did. We banded together to drag each other through every seemingly insurmountable obstacle and together we made it. The sense of community and support we founded throughout that month was the epitome of the University experience. Friendships forged in fire are sturdy ones, and ones that I’ll cherish forever. #sedstories #qmul #QM #qmulsed #friendship #uni #blessed #drama #dissertation

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Josie Durney

Daisy Catterall

In my second year I took Renaissance Drama with the wonderful Kirsty Rolfe and for a weeks we had the pleasure to be lectured by Jerry Brotton. His speciality being maps, we had fascinating lectures in regards to mapping the renaissance globe and how early modern london viewed foreigners in plays such as Tamburlaine The Great. In June earlier this summer I went travelling through Italy for three weeks visiting cities from Naples to Rome, Pompei to Venice and while I was in Florence I came across a familiar face, or rather name. In the book shop inside the famous Uffizi Gallery, home to Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’ and Caravaggio’s ‘Medusa’, I came across our very own Jerry Brotton and his publication ‘A History of the World in Twelve Maps’. I couldn’t believe it! My travelling partner and another tourist we had met at the gallery didn’t believe me either that I had been taught by the man himself however on the first page it read ‘Professor at Queen Mary, University of London’. Of course I had to buy the book, and thoroughly enjoyed reading it on the train between Florence and Venice. I could hear Jerry’s voice as I read to myself, recognising his turn of phrase. No matter where you go in the world, QM apparently will go with you!

Alex Legge

Thanks to QM & Air Supply, I now work for artists & organisations that I admired & studied during my time there. Love you QM! #SEDstories ❤️

Runner up prizes (£10 prize)

Lauren Church


Rima Rashid

Your girl just went and graduated! Yesterday was a whirlwind of emotions. Exhaustion from planning a wedding, relief at getting to the ceremony in time, anxious about the future, tears for the memories and pure elation at surviving three years of English at @officialqmul with the most inspiring, intelligent and crazy girls and lads. #QMULgrad ~ If I hadn’t studied here, I would never have become WOKE, never studied postcolonial literature, discovered so many artists of colour and been able to recommend them to you all. So even though the five-figure student debt haunts me, I will always value my time at Queen Mary and and it’s impact on the confident and braver person I am today. ~ My absence here is unforgivable but I have been reading more so some great reviews are coming your way! What have you been reading?

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Eleanor Rose Morrissey

One of my best QM memories: seeing Antony & Cleopatra with brilliant friends at the Globe, laughing as the heavens opened on us in true British style #theatre #shakespeare #theglobe #britishweather


Jessica Kendrixs

Studying English Literature i knew I would come across amazing novels written in periods beyond my life time and in places I never knew existed. I was always amazed by the novels I learnt each year and the beautiful stylistic techniques that each author individually created towards their work. However one book that resonated with me was My Place by Sally Morgan that I studied in Postcolonial Literatures in second year. The autobiography explores the young protagonist Sally telling us about the moment she discovered her aboriginal heritage, and understanding the decisions her mother and grandmother took to provide a safe home for their children. This book explores relationships, something I realised was so important during university, and female empowerment which I am pleased to have discovered a great department that continues to strengthen women (and men) to reach their greatest potential. Sally had an amazing support network with her family and I realised that I have one too with not only my family but the friends I made at university and also in the academics I met across the three years. I learnt a lot about myself but also others around me. My fellow students all see the literary works differently and it amazed me that one book can create hundreds of perspectives. I started university young and naive and looking for a place to belong. Sally at the end of the novel had discovered her place within a community that many have ignored for decades. She cemented the history of Aboriginals and the stolen generations into the public sphere, with Australian school children reading her book in their school curriculum. I discovered my place within the amazing SED community and the school of english and drama have cemented this new breadth of understanding and knowledge into my mind and heart. #SedStories


Zaina Brabani

Books, glorious books! One of the best things about studying English Literature is that so much of our time is spent just reading books, something that we would do as a pastime! Seeing some of the books I’ve read during my time at Queen Mary really makes me realise how far we’ve all come. You don’t always realise how day by day, your thinking is changing, but when I look back at the kind of thinker I was when I first came to QM and how my thinking is now, I realise that a lot has changed.

Besides the books, I love how I’m surrounded by teachers and students who love books and literature just as much as I do, and most of all, that they love to think critically. On no other course could you possibly have passionate, heated discussions about fictional characters! My best memories are having really meaningful discussions which left me thinking long after the lecture/seminar is over. Thank you to all the staff and students who make SED what it is and who have helped me to give expression to my thoughts, feelings and ideas through your inspiration in lectures and seminars.

Lucy Sofrouniou

There was so much reading to do, my cat learnt to become a living bookmark.


Anna Lily Dean


Rosie Vincent

Drama at Queen Mary has taught me to never apologise for my own work. If you come to study here, expect to make pieces that you’re embarrassed to tell your mum about but excited to tell your friend about. For example – An exhibition showcasing 52 vomit images captured on the streets of London. A.k.a. ‘London is Vomit’. ???????????????? #sedstories #bacstransfer #londonisvomit #qmul

Francesca Cross

After spending a year abroad, being a part of QMTC really helped me settle back into QM and meet new people. Being on the committee added a whole new dimension- it was like a full time internship, with all the responsibility that comes with it. Despite countless moments of thinking ‘oh my gosh, Edinburgh isn’t going to happen. I’m going to be the first treasurer in 22 years to not take everyone to Edinburgh fringe’, I managed it! The best thing about the trip was the people. We truly are like a family and certainly made a million memories. I promised myself that during my MA at QM I wouldn’t get involved with QMTC because of the time it takes up but I’m not sure I’ll be able to resist! Now over with the cringey stuff! Let’s end with a few of my favourite quotes from the fringe: ‘I’m on me holibobs’, ‘you can basically do everything’, ‘wooooow’. ❤ u guys xxx #SEDstories #fringe #Edinburgh #qmul #QMTC

Peter Whitehead

The time that the Arthurian Lit lecture had GoT spoiler slides. And that time Run the Jewels explained Hegel. Brilliant. #sedstories https://t.co/EJxuACdk5W

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All Things SED Editor

I am the Web and Marketing Administrator in the School of English and Drama. Amongst my various roles, I run the School's website (www.sed.qmul.ac.uk) and its Twitter feed (@QMULsed). I also manage the running of the School's Open Days and draft promotional materials.