No Man is an Island - the life and poetry of John Donne

Jeremy Holmes


Region:
South East
Notice Period:
Short (maybe less than one month's notice)
Type:
Charity
Fee:
Paid: 70
Category:
Humanities
Updated:
19th November 2023

John Donne was controversial even in the early 17th century. He wrote some of the most sensitive and moving love poetry in the English language but also became Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral. He grew up a Catholic but converted to Protestantism in an age when religion and politics were so interwoven people were burnt at the stake for their beliefs. He gave some of the greatest sermons ever, with crowds queuing to hear him, but was forever conscious of his own mortality. As Donne said, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls – it tolls for thee”.

This talk dramatises and explains his writing and thinking.

Views: 1455 | Enquiries: 8

About Jeremy Holmes

Many years ago I went from a grammar school to Oxford where I won a Scholarship and took a Double First in English Literature. I then spent a decade in the advertising industry (mostly working for Ogilvy & Mather) and ran an international economics consultancy, before becoming CEO of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. I subsequently had a senior position in UK Higher Education.

Now semi-retired, I'm a trustee of various charities which benefit from some of my speaking engagements. I was also a trustee and Programme Chair of the Carnegie UK Trust for many years.


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