Luke Young
Luke Young is currently completing his PhD in English at Oriel College. He works on literary style and political thought in the Twentieth Century essay. He enjoys writing creatively too, including short stories, theatre, and long-form prose.
Who, what, when, where, and why – are you?
Luke Young. Student. May 2nd, 1997. South London, Raynes Park. Love, what else?
Do you have a memory that brings you comfort in times of hardship?
I used to attend camps with Scouts every summer in Horner Wood, Somerset. It is an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. When I am struggling, I visualise myself sitting in a camping chair by the river, and watch my worries float away downstream.
How long, if you are, have you been a Quaker (or attender)?
I grew up going to a Jesuit Catholic School, Wimbledon College. By the time I came to university I would say I was a Christian without a church, open to the teachings of other religions too, including Buddhism. I had been in Birmingham for almost three years, minutes away from Woodbrooke, but during my third year, during a difficult period of anxiety and depression, I first discovered Quakers. I consider myself a Quaker, although I’m technically an attender…
What brings you joy?
Reading and writing by candlelight, or a log fire – although I don’t have one myself.
Do you have a passage from QF&P that you would like to draw Friends attention to?
I suppose, in light of my next answer, I am drawn to Advices and Queries thirty: ‘Are you able to contemplate your death and the death of those closest to you? Accepting the fact of death, we are freed to live more fully.’
What was the last book you read?
A biography of Joan Didion by Tracy Daugherty. I was struck by the loneliness of her life. In her youth she was told she had an aura of death. Her husband and daughter died within two years of each other. Virtually everyone else she knew was already gone too.
What would you say to someone coming to MfW for the first time?
Welcome, Friend.
Can you describe what Quakerism is to you?
God gave you one mouth and two ears – so listen twice as much as you speak. I’m not very good at doing this myself.
If you could do anything, what would you do?
Really, I would like to write, to tell stories, to talk to others about them and, if I’m lucky, their stories too. Perhaps I’m naïve to think that this desire of mine might also be good for the world – but then, Jesus did like a story or two himself.
This Month’s Forty-Three Newsletter Contents
- March 2023
- Children and Young People and Families Update
- Washing in Winter
- A Talk on the ‘Failure of Narrative’
- Call for a Counsellor
- Please Return Spare SALTO Key Cards
- Quaker Resonances in Psychoanalytic Thinking
- All-Age Worship: Sunday 5 March
- Monthly Appeal – March 2023
- EAPPI UK & Ireland are Recruiting for their Next Cohort of Human Rights Monitors!
- Book Review: For Thy Great Pain have Mercy on My Little Pain
- Post of Deputy General Manager Oxford Quaker Meeting
- Britain Yearly Meeting
- Oxford Quakers on Art
- How Do Quaker Meetings Do Outreach and Welcome Newcomers?
- SERVING OUTSIDE THE QUAKER COMMUNITY
- Oxford Meeting Quaker and Answer – March 2023
- From Quaker Faith and Practice
- Meetings for Worship – March 2023
Back to March 2023 Newsletter Main Page
Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 527 • March 2023
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW
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