Literature – Page 4 of 6

Girls Don’t Cry Either: Mitski and the Female Experience

14Nov

By Cecilia MunozNo Comments

Girls Don’t Cry Either: Mitski and the Female Experience

There’s a shared feeling amongst women of having something in your chest ready to burst, a rage or emotion so strong and yet so strictly controlled. Often expressing anger, sadness, frustration and even happiness is frowned upon. Artists like indie-rock singer/songwriter Mitski Miyawaki put poetry to this feeling, this quiet desperation, so no wonder she has gained quite the following among women. Playlists on Spotify and YouTube entitled ‘In this life, it’s just you and Japanese-American singer Mitski against the world’ exist for a reason. As a woman, listening to Mitski is a self-reflective emotional experience that will devastate and console you at the same time. She approaches and explores all aspects of what it means to be a woman in the 21st century with a unique musical sound. ‘...

American War Review: Did Omar El Akkad Predict the Covid 19 Pandemic?

14Nov

By Elena-Teodora ChiujdeaNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

American War Review: Did Omar El Akkad Predict the Covid 19 Pandemic?

“This isn’t a story about war. It’s about ruin.” (American War, chapter 1) Omar Akkad’s 2017 American War is classified as a war science fiction novel. But is it science fiction? The international bestseller and winner of the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize is made up of fragments from real life events. From the first American Civil War, the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, to the more recent Afghanistan conflict in which Akkad was a journalist himself, readers are bombarded with the suffering of others. The metafiction – set between 2075 and 2095 – follows the story of 6-year-old Sarat Chestnut after her father is killed in a homicide bombing. Taken to camp Patience with her siblings and mother, Sarat’s childhood is lived in a state of limbo: not dead, not alive, purely surviving t...

The Mermaid of Black Conch Review: A Mermaid Love Story fused with Colonialism

16Oct

By Leah EdwardsNo Comments

Literature

The Mermaid of Black Conch Review: A Mermaid Love Story fused with Colonialism

Monique Roffey’s The Mermaid of Black Conch has recently gained a lot of publicity, having won Costa Book of the Year in 2020 and more recently, a BBC Sounds audio adaptation. Whether they’re sirens in Greek mythology luring sailors to their deaths, or tiny, doe-eyed Disney characters in colourful seashell bras, we’ve seen and read mermaids in all their forms. On the surface, the novel appears to be just another folk-lore tale, but below scratch beneath the water’s surface and it’s a deeply unique story. The Mermaid of Black Conch is not your typical white European Disney Princess, but an indigenous woman from long agow with a tribal tattoo covered torso. And, instead of a glamorous underwater paradise, the setting is a post-colonial Caribbean world. The novel takes place in April 1...

Beautiful World, Where Are You? review: Rooney’s best book yet?

16Oct

By Eva Townsend BiltonNo Comments

Literature

Beautiful World, Where Are You? review: Rooney’s best book yet?

Whether you read a hundred books a year or struggle finishing just one, you’ve probably heard of Sally Rooney, or at least her second novel Normal People. In the four years since the release of her 2017 debut, Conversations with Friends, Rooney has made herself a household name, and her third novel is acutely aware of it. Beautiful World, Where Are You? follows university friends Alice and Eileen, both on the cusp of turning thirty and both navigating romances that form the basis of the novel’s plot. Famous author, Alice, has moved back to Ireland after the pressures of celebrity life in New York proved too much to handle. Despite their less-than-perfect Tinder date, she invites local warehouse worker, Felix, to join her on a work-trip to Rome. Eileen lives in Dublin, flitting betwe...

Must-Read Poetry Collections by LGBT+ Writers

28Feb

By Jack WrightNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

Must-Read Poetry Collections by LGBT+ Writers

The power of poetry as a means of expression and exploration – of self, of identity, and of place – should not be understated. As it is LGBT+ History Month, we wanted to bring your attention to a number of acclaimed poetry collections by poets for whom sexuality and gender identity are significant themes. Surge by Jay Bernard. As the title suggests, Surge, Jay Bernard’s Ted Hughes prize-winning collection, is a text that considers the concept of change in a multitude of ways. In Bernard’s poetry, they reflect upon the flaws of the response in the wake of the 1981 New Cross, and upon their own experience as non-binary. It is a multi-faceted, moving, and powerful piece of work. Physical by Andrew McMillan. McMillan’s use of the gym and exercise as an entry into thinking ar...

Book review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

25Jan

By Thom Cuffin-MundayNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

Book review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

Mark Manson’s ‘counterintuitive approach to living a good life’ can be found in this book, and to say that it changed my life is not even an overstatement. This book starts off with using some of Manson’s experiences and other peoples’ he knew to describe how one might live their life. Through witty and profane prose, Manson then breaks down the issues that these people may have with fulfilment in their lives, which mostly boils down to a misalignment of values. For example, the author describes how some people might value making money, but that ultimately this will result in exploitation and a lack of fulfilment because there is an end goal, and then what you’d spent most of your life working towards seems meaningless now that you have that thing you were wanting – cue mid-life ...

Problematic Authors: A History… and a Future

25Jan

By Mercedes-Georgia MayesNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

Problematic Authors: A History… and a Future

The phenomena of problematic authors, revived and re-embittered by J.K Rowling like Voldemort himself, is nothing we haven’t seen before. The sudden revelation of her prejudices is but one in a long line of writers whose private beliefs have either trickled into their works or been openly admitted, including H. P. Lovecraft and Rudyard Kipling. Awful as it was, however, it prompts an important question: do these “problematic works” deserve to be read. The black and white answer is no, especially if one includes in their remit the range of texts on offer from political extremists that try to convince their audiences (sometimes successfully) of the insidious agendas to “erase white people” or “eradicate heterosexuality”. When falsehoods are presented as fact, the risk is clear. However, ...

E-Books vs. Print – The Environmental Effects of Reading

18Dec

By Reena BakirNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

E-Books vs. Print – The Environmental Effects of Reading

Reena Bakir In the age of digitalisation, e-readers have come to replace the printed book – spearheaded by an excess of devices like the Amazon Kindle. Slowly dominating the literature sector, digital readers allow users to store thousands of books on a single device, promoting accessibility and ease of use. However, many of us might be wondering just how our reading habits might be harming the planet. Are e-readers truly more environmentally friendly than the traditional book? The publishing industry has long been considered one of the most polluting sectors in the world. The lifetime of the printed book, from manufacturing to disposal, poses many risks to the environment. Of the most obvious of its negative effects is deforestation. The making of paper requires the cutting d...

Book Review: ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ by Viktor E. Frankl

23Nov

By Thom Cuffin-MundayNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

Book Review: ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ by Viktor E. Frankl

Thom Cuffin-Munday This book was recommended to me by a very special person who was aiding me in my soul-searching, especially since going through many a mental health crisis and struggling to find a meaning to existence. Frankl’s book has been regarded as one of the most inspirational stories of the 20th century, describing his experiences of the Holocaust and using this as a basis to explain his alternative to psychoanalysis – logotherapy. The book itself is very short and sweet at only 170 odd pages and can easily be read within a few days to a week – I’m sure you could finish it in a day, but I would allow more time to process what you’re reading! The book is divided into two sections, the first being an account of Frankl’s experiences as a Jew during the Holocaust, moving...

Confessional Writing and the Destigmatisation of Mental Health

23Nov

By Jack WrightNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

Confessional Writing and the Destigmatisation of Mental Health

Jack Wright In the middle of the twentieth century, a new style of poetry saw a surge in popularity, spearheaded by writers such as Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Robert Lowell. Principally, confessional poetry placed an emphasis on the “I” and involved a poet incorporating biographical narrative directly into their writing. Rather than glorifying the mental health struggles of writers, confessional poetry sought to embrace the exploration of topics previously seen as taboo. Mental illness was one, as was sexuality and suicide. A key effect of this style of writing was to expose the imperfections of the domestic which, in both written and filmed media, was often idealised. The world was in recovery mode after the Second World War and would remain ever-changed by eve...