Jonathan Tait George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo won the 2017 Man Booker Prize, after the debut novel fought off fierce competition. This year’s shortlist comprised revered literary figures: Ali Smith, Paul […]
The Booker & Its Obvious Choices
The Case for Films Over Books
Jack Davies It’s an age old predicament that cinema-goers and film fanatics regularly find themselves in: watch a film at the pictures, love it, wax lyrical about it to friends only to […]
Against ‘Productivity’
Samantha Hurley ‘I’ve done nothing productive today.’ ‘Staying up until 2AM will make me more productive.’ ‘See you later, I’m going to go and be productive.’ These are all sentences I hear […]
Interview: Professor John Bowen, Expert Dickens Advisor
A Christmas Carol, one of Charles Dickens’ most famous works, is about to be reimagined on stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company this winter. I spoke with its expert advisor, Professor John […]
Should We Decolonise University Staff?
Micah Mackay The past few years have brought a focus on the decolonisation of academic curriculum. In English Literature, for example, the literary canon has often faced criticism for reliance upon white, […]
The Danger of a Single Story
Ellie Fells The debate about the diversity of literature taught by academic institutions is a well-fuelled one. It is widely acknowledged that the literary canon is fundamentally flawed; with its Eurocentric focus […]
In Defence of Ghostwriting
Jess McElhattan Like so many others, finding out that Zac Efron used a ghost singer in the first High School Musical was a profound shock that prompted a slight sense of betrayal. […]
Everything Good About Psychoanalysis
Mau Baiocco It turns out we may all need psychoanalysis. From the Pope to new studies attesting to its effectiveness, psychoanalysis seems once again on the long march to medical and cultural […]
On Literature & Politics
Finley Harnett It’s alleged that President Abraham Lincoln, when he met Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, remarked: ‘So, you’re the little woman who wrote the book […]
Philip Pullman’s ‘Pernicious’ Discounts
Finley Harnett As I walked past W.H. Smith on Coney Street, I noticed new copies of Philip Pullman’s long-awaited follow-up to his Dark Materials trilogy, The Book of Dust. ‘ONLY £9’, a […]
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