On Saturday 21st August 2021 we had a Colloquium on Kenilworth with J.H. Alexander and Lee A. Simpson. They were introduced by our Chairman, Professor Sir Iain R. Torrance
Between 1968 until his retirement in 2001 Professor Alexander taught in the English Department at the University of Aberdeen. Sir Walter Scott has been his central research interest since his BLitt dissertation at Oxford on his poetry in the early sixties. He produced several studies of Scott, mostly on the poetry, before becoming involved with the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels as one of the general editors. He was the volume editor for Kenilworth which was one of the first three novels to appear, in 1993, and his work for the Edinburgh Edition continued up to the final two volumes with the Magnum introductions and notes in 2012.
In 2017 he published a general study, inspired by the Edinburgh Edition, with the title Scott’s Books: Reading the Waverley Novels. In recent years his main research has shifted in a southerly direction and he is currently one of the editorial team for the Oxford Edition of Charles Dickens.
Lee Simpson has been actively involved with the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club for over 20 years. He has served as Co-Editor of the Annual Bulletin and Events Convener for over a decade. He has been the Treasurer since 2003 and he maintains the Club website and social media accounts.
There is, I think, nobody who has done more to help the Club and keep it going. Lee has done quite extraordinary work on the Club’s website and archives. Without his dedicated work we would have floundered during COVID. Instead, with online presentations, Lee has enabled the Club to flourish.
Lee is a self-employed Wedding DJ and Photographer and has worked at over 1000 Weddings under the stage name of "Lee Live" -- winning several awards in the process. He is married with two children and loves Jogging, Outdoor Swimming and Woodland Walks.