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This year’s ten best heretical essays have been shortlisted, alongside Will N’s wonderful acrylic re-conjuring of the Lancing quads. At the beginning of the Lent Term we will then see the final unveiling of the winning heretic! This year there has been an exceptional range of heretical writing, as spicy, knowingly witty and ruthlessly intelligent as I have known.
The shortlisted essays are:
- Alex B, Why War is good for us
- Marina C, Is value lost when a language evolves?
- Jimmy F,10AM Manifesto
- Annika F, Liberal Feminism Is Reactionary
- Benjamin I-C, Would the United Kingdom benefit from a codified constitution?
- Archie N, Will we ever be able to discover a theory of everything?
- Kiran P, Exams are pointless
- Poppy S, Feminism owes nothing to Margaret Thatcher
- Thomas W, Britain and its Allies did not win WWII, Adolf Hitler lost the war.....even before he started it!
- Bugie V-U, Feminism does not include Black Women
- William N for his heretical re-imagining of Lancing in acrylic This is not Hogwarts
This is a Lancing generation which in intellectual depth and flair triumphantly defies Evelyn Waugh’s jaded observation that ‘the trouble with modern education is you never know how ignorant people are’. It has been nearly impossible to make a final decision on the shortlist, and this year about ten more essays could have made the heretical grade.
Lancing’s long tradition of lively, untrammeled independence of thought is buoyantly unbowed. Liberal feminism has been skewered, the benefits of war advocated and a theory of everything pursued! It has been an absolute privilege to read these essays, cheering me on my way, and the race is now on for the best essay. Over the Christmas holidays a grand jury in the Common Room will be debating fiercely who should be awarded the top prize.
All the very best and a huge well done once again for some outstanding work. Keep the fires of heretical thought burning brightly!
Dr Damian Kerney, Head of Sixth Form Enrichment
Published December 2021