Culture – The Orbital

Yikes, did I just ruin the greatest love story of all time?

9Dec

By Habiba KhalilNo Comments

Culture

Yikes, did I just ruin the greatest love story of all time?

By Habiba Khalil A mere 407 years ago, our truly beloved Shakespeare died, but not in vain, for he thankfully set the standard of a true love story for us all before departing. Romeo and Juliet is argued as one of the greatest love stories to ever exist, but would they have lasted in a modern world? A 2024 love story would no doubt have sent Shakespeare crawling into his grave again. I mean, can you imagine explaining a situationship to him? Therefore, it is obviously my job to introduce Romeo and Juliet to the twenty-first Century and hope and pray that I stay off William’s haunting list. Let me set a quick scene for you. The play ends not with a dramatic death scene but instead Romeo and Juliet stumbling across a time machine, right as they are about to die in the name of eternal ...

29Nov

By Lena ZellerNo Comments

Culture, Literature

An Interview with Nadia El-Fassi

By Lena Zeller Imagine yourself walking into a cafe, the cold seeping from your limbs, the air smelling like treats that will not just revive you, but grant you just a little bit more luck. And perhaps you will run into the love of your life… Best Hex Ever comes as close to real magic as it gets, second only to being tolerated by a really grumpy cat. It transports you into a hidden, magical corner of London filled with love, warmth and a journey towards self-acceptance. Perfect not just for romance lovers, but for anyone looking to escape into a cosier, yet spooky reality. I had the pleasure of interviewing the wonderful Nadia El-Fassi, a Royal Holloway alumnus of the Creative Writing Poetry master’s program. Her recent debut novel Best Hex Ever is the ideal book to curl up in t...

A Love Letter for ‘Grace’: Jeff Buckley’s Masterpiece Turns 30

24Nov

By Ruby DayNo Comments

Culture

A Love Letter for ‘Grace’: Jeff Buckley’s Masterpiece Turns 30

By Ruby Day -- Senior Culture Editor Last August marked the 30th anniversary of Jeff Buckley’s Grace. Defined by haunting vocals of unfiltered yearning and timeless instrumentation, the album has captivated the hearts and souls of most that have ever come across it. Since his debut at Sin-é in 1993, Jeff Buckley himself has become a mythological figure in the music industry. In large part because of Grace, the indisputable work of art precursing a stellar career that never was. Throughout the 1990s and beyond, certified music legends have had nothing but praise for Grace. David Bowie credited the album as one that would keep him company on a desert island. Leonard Cohen admired Buckley for reimbuing his track Hallelujah with melancholic vitality. Bob Dylan and Jimmy Page both consid...

Yellowface: the Parasitical Nature of ‘Wokeness’

13Nov

By Kiera GarciaNo Comments

Culture, Culture & Literature, Literature

Yellowface: the Parasitical Nature of ‘Wokeness’

By: Kiera Garcia - Associate Culture Editor R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface tells a striking tale of the commodification of diverse stories in the media and the negative effects they have. These tend to be on both communities they claim to represent as well as on the authors who aim to fulfil this voyeuristic exchange. Her novel follows June Hayward, a floundering novelist who witnesses the death of her friend Athena Liu, a much more successful author. In Athena’s death, June snatches a manuscript from her desk, ultimately choosing to ‘rework it’ and publish it under her own name. June becomes Juniper Song, changing her name and taking new author pictures in the aim to appear more ‘racially ambiguous’, enshrining herself as a writer whose new release, a World War II epic following the...

31Mar

By Daniel PepinNo Comments

Culture, Culture & Literature, Literature, Visual Arts

Are Tote Bags Still Cool?

By Daniel Pepin A cloth sack with straps and a print. That’s all a tote bag is. And yet, it is so much more. Getting across campus without seeing at least one tote bag is impossible. A bold Brick Lane Bookshop tote here and a sleek London Review of Books one there; a rare sighting of the coveted Shakespeare and Co. bag straight from Kilometre Zero Paris – they tend to permeate our surroundings. Each tote comes equipped with its own prestige stamped on the front or hiding in the small pocket stitched into pricier models. At once, it is a fashion and intellectual statement. But are they still cool? You would be hard-pressed to find an established independent bookshop without a tote bag of their very own, which is their genius. Picture a trip to your favourite bookstore - a hidden gem may...

Words from the Wild: The Nature of Poetry – An Interview with Briony Hughes

31Mar

By Charisse HauNo Comments

Culture, Culture & Literature, Literature, Visual Arts

Words from the Wild: The Nature of Poetry – An Interview with Briony Hughes

By Charisse Hau Words from the Wild: The Nature of Poetry is an exhibition exploring different forms of poetry in response to the natural world. The exhibition has been curated by Royal Holloway and TECHNE researchers Caroline Harris, Briony Hughes, and Gareth Hughes, in collaboration with the Royal Holloway Culture Team. In exploring the interplays between materiality and ecopoetry, I had the chance to talk to one of the curators, Briony Hughes, who is also a visiting tutor in English and Creative Writing, and PhD candidate. There are so many intersections between material, and poetry. Why and how is that used in this exhibition? “All of the poets in the space agree that a shift in climate necessitates a shift in how we approach poetic writing, and in particular, a shift in p...

16Nov

By Charisse HauNo Comments

Culture

Step by Step

By Charisse Hau There seems to be a natural tendency to move upwards: the trees grow taller towards the sun; the mountains are formed by building up of sediments; humans grow taller – all upwards. Similarly, I ventured upwards into the unknown world of mountains and cliffs in Greece. It was a 2-hour drive from the city centre of Thessaloniki – through the motorway, countless tunnels, driving up winding slopes, then we made a stop at a café to replenish. We had some mountain tea to cure the motion sickness and continued our journey. After another half an hour of driving, we finally got to our destination, Meteora. Well, not quite. To get to the monasteries on the cliff-tops, we had to tread hundreds of steps to get up there (more well-paved than I expected). The journey had only...

16Nov

By EvelyneforroNo Comments

Culture

Women’s Progression in Print

By Evelyn Fernandez-Jarvis Were you aware of the progression women had to make to have their work published and respected? Well, I recently became aware during a trip to the National Portrait Gallery in London. For centuries women have been striving to get their work, not only, published but respected. Women were only allowed to publish their own work properly in the late 19th century; however, their work did not have as large an impact as their male counterparts because women’s work was not taken as seriously by society. Once I started looking around, I was overwhelmed by women who had made drastic impacts on literature and published their work under pseudonyms to make sure it was received on an even playing field. A well-known example being Mary Ann Evans (1857-1911...

24Apr

By Olivia TaylorNo Comments

Culture

Hopeless Romantic by Dolly Alderton

I have held myself back from discussing Dolly Alderton for quite some time now. I first read her debut memoir Everything I Know About Love three years ago, during lockdown, and I have not shut up about it since. I’ll admit, her fictional debut, Ghosts, did not impress me as much; I quickly realised it was her confessional tone that caught my attention, hence why her autobiographical work and her ‘Dear Dolly’ advice column have left such a lasting impression. Since reading Everything I Know About Love, I have continued to stay up to date with her work, but I only recently found an essay she wrote for The Pound Project in 2018 titled ‘Hopeless Romantic’. The Pound Project is an independent publishing company founded by JP Watson. Their message is to shout about ‘the value of readin...

<strong><em>Will you go on the record? </em>How ‘She Said’ reminds us of the sad realities of Hollywood. </strong>

1Mar

By Daisy ClarksonNo Comments

Culture

Will you go on the record? How ‘She Said’ reminds us of the sad realities of Hollywood.

Released five years after the original article from The New York Times was published, ‘She Said’ tells the story of the two journalists who uncovered the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault scandal. Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey are played by Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan respectively, yet the film also includes actresses who were victims of Weinstein including Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd, who play/voice themselves. The film itself is subtle, yet the statement it makes is bold. By criticising the very industry that it has been created in, the film sets out to confront the industry professionals who will be watching this film – many of whom will have worked with Weinstein, maybe even defended him. ‘She Said’ does not glamorise Hollywood or the media industry – it does the opposite.&...