Speakers

Dr Tom Durno began teaching as a Graduate Tutor at the University of Cambridge, while completing his doctoral studies on the poetics of the English Romantic ode. His research focussed on the ways in which ephemeral poetry written for newspapers - extremely popular in the early nineteenth century - shaped the practice of major literary figures at the time. Tom still holds a passion for the Romantic period: a time when it seemed that a mere thing of beauty, even the slightest poem, could inspire the most powerful political and social thinking. The joy of teaching undergraduates took Tom into the classroom and away from research, and he began his school teaching career at Trinity School, Croydon. Tom moved to Westminster School in 2017, running the English department there, and taking a particular interest in equity and diversity in school curriculums, cross-curricular scholarship, and, latterly, the possibilities of AI in education. Tom joined Alleyn’s School as Deputy Head (Academic) in 2023.