Most writing about conflict in the Middle East is, at least from an outsider’s perspective, handled with kid-gloves: can I say this, how do I phrase that, how do we make this look less messed up than it was? As far as I can tell, this was a problem Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain […]Read More
Maya Kokerov takes us through her recommendations of books by women you should be reading this year. March was Women’s History Month, a month dedicated to commemorating and celebrating not only women themselves but the vital role they have played in shaping history, culture and society. Sadly, March also transformed into a moment of deep […]Read More
Callum Holgate, a third-year English student, has built an audience on social media, following the footsteps of digitally savvy poets such as Rupi Kaur and Brian Bilston. Holgate’s new poetry collection, Boys Will Be Boys, is the product of three years worth of writing, from poems about toxic masculinity and identity, to rats in Southampton […]Read More
The cover of A Small Man’s England features a man, hunched over, with the St George’s flag over his back. He’s desperate, lost, and isolated. He bears a symbol with great cultural weight which hascontributed to great harm – yet is part of his identity. In A Small Man’s England, Sissonssympathetically explores this figure and […]Read More
When it comes to lecture transcripts as opposed to a book, there is a slight change in receptivity. In a formal book there is the stoic image of the author stooped over the desk detailing over his or her choice of wording and prose. The former captures the spoken voice, the everyday oratory of conversation. […]Read More
Sometimes you look at an animal and think how easy their life must be. That is what Rosanna Hildyard achieves in her pamphlet of short stories Slaughter. She carefully juxtaposes the complexity of the rational human being with the animal who lives and dies. Language is at the forefront of all our conflicts in Hildyard’s writing, as […]Read More
What Abigail Did That Summer is just as you would expect from Ben Aaronovitch. It is an eminently readable return to the world of his Rivers of London series. Set at the same time as Foxglove Summer, it fleshes some of the characters and ideas that are only lightly touched upon in the other books. […]Read More
Who is Vera Kelly? On the surface, it sounds like a simple enough question. The kind of question that if you reveal the answer, you won’t give too many spoilers away. Or so you would think. Vera Kelly’s life is a mystery. But that comes with her circumstance; she’s a Lesbian spy for the CIA, […]Read More
Comma Press, in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University, has announced a two-day online publishing conference, to be held on 24 April and 25 April. This event is aimed at increasing accessibility to the industry, and to provide vital information and support to aspiring publishers. The conference will include two free events, which will be livestreamed […]Read More
Phantom thieves, enchanted singing girls, and former gangster bodyguards—these are the stories Arina Tanemura is known for. And then there’s Frozen. From spin-off books such as A Sister More Like Me, to an immeasurable amount of Olaf toys; it’s a phenomenal franchise that continues to provide content within and outside of its films. A childhood […]Read More
If you’ve ever visited Liverpool, you’ll be well acquainted with Bold Street: a cobbled road bustling with independent businesses offering colourful clothing, music and delicious meals from all across the globe. Upon this street you will also find a shrine to social justice, a hub that has proven to be a force of radical activism […]Read More
British Historian Adam Zamoyski’s 2010 book Chopin: Prince of the Romantics proves to be essential in our understanding of the composer, who is still regarded as a Polish national symbol. It wasn’t Zamoyski’s first publication of Frederic Chopin but a re-working of a 1979 edition. In this updated manuscript he attempts to uncover the myths passed down […]Read More
You’re History is an ode to the “off-putting” women in music. Lesley Chow sets out to understand what is compelling about twelve of the “strangest” women in the industry; women who don’t always put you at ease in their presence. But Chow’s list of the twelve strangest women in music is not immediately explicable: what […]Read More
*This review will include spoilers* The Stone in My Pocket is a coming-of-age Scottish novel that tells the story of teenager Nathan who believes ghosts are speaking to him in the middle of the night. In a desperate attempt to find answers, Nathan joins a spiritual circle in the attic of his village bookshop, telling […]Read More
