We are happy to announce that the next Quilting Points session will take place on Thursday, 15th October. In this session, we will discuss Susan Sontag’s 1978 extended essay, Illness as Metaphor, focussing on Chapters One and Nine (a total of around 18 pages). Physical copies and an audiobook edition are also available from the University library.

This will be our final session on Susan Sontag. During the session, we will share the plans for Quilting Points for this academic year and information on how to get involved as an organiser. 

Our reading of Sontag’s essay will be supplemented by the introductory chapters of her 1989 companion work, AIDS and Its Metaphors, which extends her earlier analysis of the language of and attitudes towards illness to the punitive and stigmatising language of the AIDS crisis. 

If you are interested in getting involved in running Quilting Points for the academic year 2026/2027, please contact Matthew Cooper (Languages, Cultures and Societies) or George
Allan (School of English) for more information. 

Date: Thursday 15th October 2026
Time: 5.30 pm – 7.30 pm + optional pub social
Location: Meeting Room, House 10, Cavendish Road 
Everyone (at whatever level of study and whether enrolled at the University or not) is welcome, and no prior familiarity with Sontag’s work or related areas is necessary. 
This will be a hybrid session, taking place in person and on Teams. If you would like to attend on Teams, please register here to receive the meeting link. 
Please do let us know if you have any questions, concerns, or access requirements at this e-mail or at quiltingpoints@gmail.com.
  
Best Regards,
Quilting Points Team

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