Miriam Waters, UCL Development and Alumni Relations, writes about an event celebrating the close relationship between UCL and France.

The Entente Cordiale was alive and well at a prestigious UCL reception held at the French Prime Minister’s residence in Paris on 9 February.

One hundred and fifty UCL alumni, staff, students and supporters were invited as guests of Prime Minister M François Fillon and Mme Penelope Fillon (UCL French 1977) for a celebration of UCL and France.

The residence was a magnificent setting for such an occasion. Completed in 1725, the Hôtel de Matignon was presented as a birthday gift to the Duke of Valentinoise by his father the Count of Matignon. Its ownership and purpose have changed several times over the centuries and it is only since 1947 that it has been the residence of the Prime Minister.

The celebration commenced with speeches from Mme Fillon and UCL’s President and Provost, Professor Malcolm Grant. Mme Fillon welcomed guests to Hôtel de Matignon and spoke fondly about her time at UCL and her pleasure in retaining contact with her alma mater.

Mme Fillon said that it was a “an honour to pay homage to the work of the French Department” and joked “even though they are partly to blame for my being in this house making this speech today”.

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UCL’s latest Alumni Professional Networking Event tackled a tough question: how to break into the incredibly competitive fields of PR, broadcasting, and journalism. Arguably some of the most sought-after jobs in today’s already cut-throat job market, careers in media are growing in popularity every day, although the path to securing these jobs is anything but straightforward.

Wednesday’s panellists shared their own – often circuitous – routes to the media work they do now, and then fielded questions from the eager audience of alums. Emily Everett, UCL alumna (English Language and Literature 2008) reports on the event.

Panel Discussion at the event

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Emily Everett, UCL Alumna (English Language and Literature 2008) reports on The Gower Street Lecture Series and New Scientist event at UCL.

I came to science fiction by a strange route. At first, a £2 paperback of short stories from the Oxfam shop might not seem so very strange. But when the author of those stories is a known and revered writer of realist novels, and those stories are as far from realism as a Celestial Omnibus can take you, the once tame paperback has now become a lurking threat to your respectability as a reader. If it hadn’t had EM Forster’s name printed largely across the front, I doubt I ever would have found the nerve to read it in public.

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Emily Everett, UCL alumna (English Language & Literature 2008) reports on last week’s Alumni Professional Networking event: How to get a book published.

The short answer? Write a good one. That was best-seller Ken Follett’s first piece of advice, and it was quickly seconded by the rest of the experts on UCL’s all-star publishing panel. But they also seemed to agree that it isn’t always quite that simple – so they shared insider advice on how to bridge that colossal gap between aspirant writer and published author.

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