Category: Literature

Clamping Down on Misquotation

Literature is all too often a victim of misquotation and misattribution. These mistakes, once made, proliferate at an alarming rate, entrenching what John Green never said and what Virginia Woolf said in slightly different words in the public memory. Or should I say public imagination?

How Instafeminism is Damaging the Feminism 101 Genre

If there’s one thing the Florence Given v Slumflower scandal has highlighted, it’s the snobbery surrounding ‘feminist 101’ books. Searching Twitter for both influencers’ names returns Tweets like: ‘loooool not Florence Given and The Slumflower fighting over who monetised the Pinterest quotes they shared on Instagram and put in a book’.

The Author and the Ghost

Have you ever considered hiring a professional ghost?

No, not the supernatural kind – the literary kind. Splicing the word “ghostwriter” into two, this professional ghost entices prospective clients with the promise of its own invisibility. It increases its allure by marketing itself as a formless entity detached from its own literary labour.

Enid Blyton’s Class of 2020

Huddled under the covers, clutching my little torch, reading late into the night is a fond memory of my childhood. Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers series was always a firm favourite of mine, and I simply couldn’t hide my delight in seeing it being adapted into a series by the BBC early last year. Despite an array of university deadlines, a global pandemic hit and I had a whole lot of time on my hands. As such, I found myself rushing downstairs at lunchtime to snuggle on the sofa with my younger sister, reliving my childhood, and cherishing every single episode.