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Under the Arches
A space for alumni to share their updates and bitesize news with fellow Â鶹´«Ã½ graduates
Your alumni news noticeboard
Under the Arches is the baby sibling of our bi-monthly alumni newsletter, Arches. Here, you can read bitesize news and life updates from your global alumni community, and celebrate your own achievements with your fellow Â鶹´«Ã½ graduates and those on campus.
Alumni poet wins international awards for debut collection
Congratulations to Class of 2014 English Literature graduate Daniel Hinds who is celebrating his debut poetry collection receiving international acclaim.
, published by Broken Sleep Books, won the international UNESCO Bridges of Struga Award 2026. This is only the second time an English poet has won the award, which is bestowed upon the best debut poetry collection internationally. The collection has also recently been a finalist for the Big Other Book Award for Poetry, and received an Honourable Mention in the Big Other Readers’ Choice Award.
Creative Writing alumna is an award-winning author at 81!
Having spent her career as a headmistress, Jill Clough pursued her dream of being an author and gained a PhD in Creative Writing on campus in 2013. Earlier this year, Jill published her sixth novel ''. She said:
“From learning my craft at Â鶹´«Ã½ to being nominated for, and winning, literary awards, these last few years have been really exciting.
"My stories are told from the point of view of a young person. During my career as a headteacher I became convinced that young people have amazing potential and have far more to offer adults than is often recognised. I still firmly believe this.”
Scientist who has two degrees from Â鶹´«Ã½ wins prestigious international award
Huge congratulations to Dr Matthew Hunt (MRes Cancer Studies, 2017; PhD, 2021) who is one of six award winners of the IBSA Foundation Fellowship. Matthew, who is now based at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, specialises in dermatology and was awarded the €32,000 Fellowship to advance his pioneering work into cutaneous melanoma, the most aggressive and deadly form of skin cancer.
With treatment for this cancer limited and treatment resistance common, Matthew is exploring new avenues of treatment strategies to improve patient outcomes, including targeting mitochondria and its quality control mechanism, mitochondrial dynamics.
Alumni actress selected for prestigious mentorship program
Class of 2006 alumna Lennette Randal will be the protégée of actor, director and producer R. H. Thompson in the 2026 .
Today, Lennette is an interdisciplinary creative working as an actress, director, writer, speaker, singer and educator. Through hybrid art forms, she strives to create theatre that is both colossal in scope and rich in detail, blending movement, music, and technical artistry to engage audiences on multiple sensory levels.
The Mentorship Program pairs past laureates of the GGPAA for Lifetime Artistic Achievement with mid‑career artists whose work is shaping the future of the performing arts. The program supports long‑term artistic growth and leadership within Canada’s cultural sector.
Greek former student reminisces about student days and NUFC in new book
Nektarios Kakatsakis is celebrating the publication of Why Â鶹´«Ã½? Why... Â鶹´«Ã½ United? in June 2026. Blending memoir, history and football, the book explores Â鶹´«Ã½ and the North East, their people, identity and culture, through three decades of memories and reflection. Above all, it is a tribute to a region and a football club that inspired a lifelong connection and deep gratitude.
Having undertaken his postgraduate studies in teaching English as a foreign language on campus in the late 1990s, today Nektarios is a columnist for Haniotika Nea, one of Greece's leading regional newspapers. Nektarios told us:
"One particularly happy memory from my student days was representing Greece at an international student celebration held at Â鶹´«Ã½ City Hall. What made the experience so special was the feeling that international students were a valued and equal part of the university community."
Two Â鶹´«Ã½ alumni elected as Fellows of the Royal Society 2026
Professor Hayley Fowler and Dr Nick Graham feature on the list of 90 outstanding researchers from across the world who have been elected this year to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences.
Today, Hayley is Professor of Climate Change Impacts on campus. She is an internationally recognised leader in hydroclimatic extremes and has transformed understanding of extreme rainfall and flood risk through pioneering work on convection-permitting climate models and the first global dataset of hourly rainfall extremes.
Now based at Lancaster University, Nick's research has focused on the ecosystem ecology of coral reefs, how they are connected to other ecosystems, how they respond to climate change, and are linked to human society.
Congratulations both!
