At the 71st Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, this roundtable brings together public intellectuals with extensive experience beyond academia to talk about the opportunities, challenges, and stakes of writing, speaking, and programming for the public.

Waterstones presents its annual Christmas Evening. Filled with festivities, including mince pies, Christmas related activities, and the chance to meet some of your favourite authors and get a signed copy of the new paperback edition of Islam Issa's Alexandria – the perfect Christmas present. 

In this expert panel, Islam Issa, Bettany Hughes and Colin Thubron explore the legendary cities of Alexandria, Istanbul and Samarkand. An event related to the British Library exhibition, A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang.

Joined by Seven Wonders author Bettany Hughes,  Islam Issa will discuss his new book on Alexandria and how these ancient monuments created a rich cultural legacy that has shaped the military and political history of the last two millennia. Hosted by Naoíse Mac Sweeney.

A Milton Society of America roundtable at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, to consider changing role of teaching and writing about the work of John Milton within the academic profession and in different contexts across the world. 

A special guest talk at Brandeis University's Mandel Center for Humanities,  in which Islam Issa considers the history, ownership, and reception of Shakespeare. This event is followed by lunch.

Islam Issa hosts the pre-show event for Much Ado About Nothing, showing at the Royal Shakespeare Company. An on-stage Q&A discussion with the play's director Roy Alexander Weise about his RSC debut, offering insight into the process of creating and staging the play.

An event hosted by Shakespeare's Birthplace to launch Islam Issa's new book, Shakespeare and Terrorism. How have extremists responded to Shakespeare's work? How have they attacked him or even been inspired by him?

An online event which seeks to share, celebrate, and reinvigorate approaches to the teaching and study of Shakespeare's plays. "Everything to Everybody": Exploring the Library of Birmingham Collection. 

Bringing together five scholars, this round-table will ask what's wrong with the Renaissance, as a literary discipline (and as a concept), addressing the curriculum, race and the realities of the academy for scholars of colour. Sponsored for the Society for Renaissance Studies. 

Islam Issa hosts the pre-show event for The Whip, showing at the Royal Shakespeare Company. An on-stage Q&A discussion with the play's author Juliet Gilkes Romero and its director Kimberley Sykes, offering the audience an insight into the process of creating and staging the play. 

A panel hosted by the 17th Century Literature group entitled "Seventeenth-Century Race Thinking: Rights and Law". The MLA Convention is the largest international gathering of language and literature scholars.  Dr Islam Issa talks about orientalise adaptation of Milton.

A two-day course on "Literary reception: hegemony, ownership and appropriation". Featuring an exclusive screening, it seeks to answer such questions as: why does literary reception matter and what can it tell us about the world around us?