St John's College Alumni eNewsletter - June 2026
Publication Announcement: Benefactors 2026
We are pleased to share this year’s edition of our Benefactors magazine, which features our annual Impact of Philanthropy report alongside the Roll of Benefactors. In this issue, current students and members of the St John’s community reflect on the many ways in which your generosity continues to make a meaningful difference — enabling us to sustain excellence in research and academic endeavour, enriching college life, supporting students and strengthening our access and outreach initiatives.
For more information on ways to give, visit our website or contact us.
Alumni News and Publications
Alumnus appointed OBE in King's Birthday Honours 2026
Paul Franklin OBE (1986, Fine Art) has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to visual effects design and the international motion picture industry. Paul began a decade-long collaboration with British director Christopher Nolan in 2004, designing the visual effects for all three of his Dark Knight films, and winning Oscars and BAFTAs for Best Visual Effects on the films Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014). In 2024, he joined beloFX as Creative Director. Paul lectures at the National Film and Television School and Bournemouth University, and his short films The Escape (2017) and Fireworks (2022) were both screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and the Oxford Shorts festival.
Los Angeles: A Literary History
Co-edited by Dr Michael Docherty (2007, English Language and Literature), Los Angeles: A Literary History (Cambridge University Press, 2026), is the largest and widest-ranging critical study of the literature of Los Angeles yet published. Comprising contributions from twenty-seven leading scholars, this landmark collection reveals LA in all its contradictions by documenting an underappreciated literary tradition as kaleidoscopic and cacophonous as the city itself. It follows Docherty's monograph, The Recursive Frontier: Race, Space, and the Literary Imagination of Los Angeles (SUNY Press, 2024).
Lawrence Sail, FRSL (1961, Medieval and Modern Languages) has published a new collection of poems: Double Takes (Bloodaxe Books Ltd, 2026). The collection draws on Sail’s lifelong connection to twinning, (himself being the son of a twin, with a twin sister and the youngest of his four children are twin daughters) to explore themes of duality, from human relationships to mortality, alongside reflections on politics and illness.
Alumna's work featured in Saatchi Gallery exhibition
Night Gate by Kate Montgomery (1985, Fine Art) is being shown as part of The Saatchi Gallery's current major exhibition The Sun and the Moon: Art and the Celestial. The exhibition features artworks, installations, and objects, displayed as a journey through dawn, to daylight, to the night, and show how artists have responded to the Sun and the Moon. The exhibition runs until 8 September 2026.
College News
Visiting Scholars, Summer 2026
The College is pleased to announce its Visiting Scholars for the Long Vacation (July–September) 2026. This year, St John's has awarded six scholarships to senior academics working on a range of interdisciplinary projects encompassing Biology, History of Art, International Relations, Medicine, Music, and Political Science. We are delighted to be joined by Alison Avenell, Patricia Chiantera, Thomas Hodgson, Thomas Höfer, Anna Kneifel, and Matthias Schulz, and look forward to their contributions to College life over the summer. Details of their respective research interests can be found on our website.
Winners announced: Kendrew Songwriting Competition 2026
Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Kendrew Songwriting Competition, Oliver Spooner and Tyné Angela Freeman. Now in its fifth year, the Kendrew Songwriting Competition is open to all current students at the University of Oxford. Entries may be in any genre, style, tradition or language, but must be original and must not have won a prize in any other competition. The judging panel commented on the extraordinary diversity of submissions in this year’s competition, and you can listen to the recordings of the winning songs here.
Friends of the Fifties Lunch
For the past two decades, many St John’s alumni who matriculated in the 1950s have held an annual ‘Friends of the Fifties’ lunch meeting in London. The next Friends of the Fifties lunch will be held on Wednesday 18 November 2026 at the Savile Club, 69 Brook Street, London W1K 4ER.
Any alumnus who matriculated in the 1950s and wishes to book a place is kindly requested to contact Henry Amar (1957, PPE) at hamar@rhamar.com for further information.
Got a Great Friendship Story? Celebrating Friendships That Began at St John's
In recognition of International Friendship Day on 30 July and as we approach our final Gaudies for 2026, we invite alumni to share stories of friendships formed during their time at St John's.
These stories will help us celebrate the lasting impact of the College experience and the strong bonds within the St John's community. Please tell us your story and be part of our celebration of friendship. Bonus points for photos - then and now!
Alumni Events
Friday 3 July 2026
Friday 10 July 2026
Friday 11 September 2026 - Save the date!
Women's Network Dinner: 10th Anniversary
Saturday 19 September 2026 - Save the date!
Thursday 24 September 2026
College Events
St John's College Commemoration Ball 2026: 'Wish You Were Here’
Saturday 27 June 2026
Exhibition: Kids and Art for Ukraine
1 - 10 July 2026
12 - 15 July 2026
Pitt Rivers Museum Beatrice Blackwood Lecture
Friday 17 July 2026
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