Clive James.

Author, poet, translator and broadcaster Clive James CBE is to join the distinguished group of people who will receive Honorary Degrees at next week’s Graduation 2015 at Essex.

• Watch our Honorary Graduates on our Vimeo channel

He will be honoured in recognition of the great support he has given many students at Essex who have studied his translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy as part of their degree. Due to ill-health Mr James will not be attending the ceremony and Dr Deirdre Serjeantson will be accepting his Honorary Degree on his behalf.

Final preparations are being made for next week’s Graduation at the University’s Colchester Campus where an expected 2,649 students will be attending along with more than 6,000 guests.

The 11 ceremonies will be held over four days   ̶   from Tuesday 14 July to Friday 17 July – and will include 1,672 home students, 389 EU students and 588 from overseas.

• The Graduation ceremonies will once again be streamed live on the website for all to see.

The live coverage will enable friends and family of Essex students, who are unable to attend the Graduation ceremonies, to join in the celebrations from anywhere in the world.

This year’s Honorary Graduands and their ceremony times are:

• Jack Monroe (4pm ceremony, Tuesday 14 July) is an award-winning, Essex-born writer and campaigner on poverty issues, particularly food and hunger relief. Her blog A Girl Called Jack, showed that you can eat well extremely cheaply.

• Professor Paul Thompson (1pm ceremony, Wednesday 15 July) is a pioneer in social science research, particularly the development of life stories and oral history within sociology and social history.

• Professor Andrew Mack (4pm ceremony, Wednesday 15 July) is an Essex alumnus who helped revolutionise the field of peace research, making important contributions to the work of the United Nations and working at leading universities around the world.

• Peter Firmin (10am ceremony, Thursday 16 July) is an artist who created drawings and puppets for a number of much-loved children’s TV programmes including The Clangers and Noggin the Nog and influenced thousands of children’s childhoods.

• Clive James (10am ceremony, Thursday 16 July). Dr Deirdre Serjeantson will be accepting his Honorary Degree on his behalf.

• Andrea Stark (1pm ceremony, Thursday 16 July) is a founder and first Chief Executive of High House Production Park in Thurrock, a centre of excellence for creative industries.

• Casey Stoney (10am ceremony, Friday 17 July) is an Essex-born footballer who has been capped more than 100 times for the England women’s national football team since making her debut in 2000.

• Murray Melvin (1pm ceremony, Friday 17 July) is an is an actor, director, author and archivist who was part of the Theatre Workshop Company at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East in London. He won the best actor Prix de Cannes in 1962 for his role in A Taste of Honey.

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Note to Editors

For more information please contact the University of Essex Communications Office on 01206 872400 or email comms@essex.ac.uk.