The NeoLit Research Circle came into being in 1996 as an aftermath of a series of informal discussion meetings of a group of students of the English Department of the University of Silesia; among its founders and most active promoters were Tomasz Kalaga, Aneta Baranska, Marlena Ryl, Michal Kowal, Anna Spyra, Marcin Sarnek, Ewa Macura, Michal Derda-Nowakowski, Dorota Mazur and Magda Bartlomiejczyk. The newly founded organization quickly attracted interest not only among other students, but also among University teachers, who gladly accepted the members' invitations to give seminars in the NeoLit meetings. Today, the NeoLit is a well established part of the academic life of the Institute of British and American Culture and Literature, a nursery of scholars and a forum of unlimited thought exchange. The NeoLit membership oscillates between ten and thirty people; naturally, a number of those interested in the Circle's activities participate in them selectively, or on the on-and-off basis. The solid core of the group, however, consists of ten young scholars, graduate students or junior teachers of various Departments of the University.

Although the NeoLit had its predecessor, the Research Circle of the Students of English, it is now an altogether new body: its open, interdisciplinary formula invites young and not-so-young researchers of all departments to participate in all of the Circle's activities. The NeoLit's primary interests are Literary Theory, the Theory of Culture andMethodology of Literary and Cultural Studies.These, however, by no means exhaust the list of subjects and approaches for which the Circle proves to be a forum: Literary History, Philosophy, Gender Studies, Postcolonialism, Poststructuralism, Translation Theory, and Creative Writing are among the many domains of humanities, in which individual members of the Circle do research. The NeoLit works in a twofold fashion: on the one hand it provides a forum for brainstorming and discussion, while on the other hand it stimulates individual research. Members present their research in the form of papers delivered either during regular weekly meetings at the University, or in conferences organized out of the University premises. So far three conferences took place: two internal weekend sessions of NeoLit organized in Szczyrk, and the International Conference on Crossing and Transgressing Borders organized jointly with the Bolton Institute of Higher Education in Bolton, England. The NeoLit's Partners, represented by Liz Mayes and Cath Grant and supported by Professor Suzanne Stern-Gillet, invited the Poles to a three-day session in Bolton, which proved to be an excellent and valuable experience for both sides. However, the NeoLit members' individual work has also been presented in many other conferences, organized either by the Circle's home Institute or its Partners. A number of papers delivered by the members were published, or are prepared for publication at present.

The NeoLit Student's Research Circle, now four years old, has already proven to be an excellent training ground for adept scholars: suffice it to say that of the original founders four are at present pursuing their education at the Ph.D. level and the remaining group of younger members are well under way to embark on their academic career as well. First and foremost, however, the NeoLit is a body of friendly, understanding and helpful people, whose ultimate goal is involvement in the intellectual fun that painstaking research and advanced discussion give: satisfaction, excellence in studies, and academic success are nothing else but the original fun's inevitable by-products. This is the basic NeoLit philosophy.