British journalist and editor Tim Bullamore is giving a talk at Jschool next Monday on the art of writing newspaper obits. All friends of Jschool are welcome to Tim’s talk, which will start at 9.30am.

From the blurb: “The newspaper obituary has never been more popular. The daily page cataloguing the careers and exploits of those who have died has become an institution in Australia, the US and the UK; some newspapers have even published anthologies of their ‘best’ obituaries. In sociological terms, obituaries are more than merely a good read, they also form part of the ‘collective memory’ (Fowler, 2008), prompting the question who gets an obituary and why? And who doesn’t, and why not?

“In this entertaining lecture Tim Bullamore, who has written more than a thousand obituaries and who first coined the term ‘the postmodern obituary’, will try to answer this question as both a journalist and an academic. He will also trace the history of the obituary, offer some insights into the art of writing them, share some anecdotes, and discuss some of his ongoing research into the genre and its impact on the society in which we live.”