Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
Image Description: “The Boulevard Montmartre at Night’ by Camille Pissarro This little novel by Zola (published in 1878) begins in the cloistered luxury of a bourgeois bedroom, bathed in blue light. It is here we encounter Hélène, the hero of the story, who is deep in a heavy, drowsy sleep. Hélène is suddenly woken by […]
Continue Reading
Image description: Plath’s gravestone, vandalised in 2012 Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes are undoubtedly two of the 20th-century’s most celebrated poets. However, in the decades following their death, it seems that the public increasingly disregard their verse in favour of a deep fascination with their married life. Decades after Hughes’ death – and almost 60 […]
Continue Reading
Image description: Agatha Christie’s desk at Greenways Almost anybody would be able to call to mind a number of famous titles from the canon: Jane Eyre, War and Peace, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc., etc. … Because of our acquaintance with these famous works, most people are desensitised to the titles themselves. When one actually considers […]
Continue Reading
‘This morning I’m bored shitless by poetry’ declares Simon Armitage in one of the poems compiled in his latest collection, ‘Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic’, named after the weather station of the same name. It’s a bold line – especially considering his recent appointment as the new Poet Laureate – but is equally one which showcases […]
Continue Reading
The sea is nature’s greatest gift to artists and writers. The mystery of what hides in its depths allows it to stand for the unknown, as does the fact that it separates the continents, making distant lands into a mystery. Something that can represent the unknown can be used to represent everything and anything; that […]
Continue Reading
Upon a brilliant expanse of midnight blue lies a single, gold-leafed tree standing atop a great white hill. The words The Buried Giant are printed boldly underneath. Simple, but elegant. Uncomplicated, by mystical. Seemingly ordinary, but entirely unprecedented. My first expression of Kazuo Ishiguro and his masterpiece was powerful, and ever since I have remained […]
Continue Reading
Five years ago Christ Church student Scott Whitehead started writing his now finished novel ‘The Light Beyond the Garden Wall’. Set in the Middle East in 700BC, the story is a part historical, part inspirational fiction which follows the prophet Isaiah and the challenges involved in his coming of age. Going through an extremely difficult […]
Continue Reading
Much has been made of the announcement this week that hedge fund Man Group, the primary sponsor of the Man Booker prize is pulling its funding of £1.6 million from the award, terminating its almost 20 year long relationship in favour of spending the money on efforts to “promote and improve diversity and inclusion at […]
Continue Reading
There is a wide range of podcasts out there, and it should come as no surprise that a sizeable number of podcasts are concerned with books. As a devoted bookworm and podcast enthusiast, I have pored over lists of “the best podcasts” and tried numerous programmes, coming to establish my own favourites. These podcasts are […]
Continue Reading
1.Cane, Jean Toomer (1923) – Harlem Renaissance author Toomer beautifully interweaves lyric, prose and drama in this series of vignettes written about the cultural history and experiences of African Americans in the United States. These stories are often pervaded by nauseating violence, such as cruel ostracisation in “Becky” or sexual violence in the “Box Seat”, […]
Continue Reading
Travel is a beautiful distorting mirror, one in which we can look back at ourselves and at different places, just like in books. Yet, this becomes even more spine-tingling when done through the lens of another age, through another’s eyes – this was my impression when I entered the world of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage by […]
Continue Reading
Independent bookshops are a dying race, callously destroyed by online purchases and dooming their owners to disillusioning profit losses. However, on 25 Walton Street, a survivor determinedly battles on. The Last Bookshop, providing quaint mint-green tables outside for those who wish to read with a coffee, and a perpetual deal of two books for five […]
Continue Reading
It was recently reported that Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You, has stepped in and put up £360,000 of her own money to ensure that the adult literacy campaign Quick Reads is able to continue. The scheme had got into trouble when funding from both its long-term sponsor Galaxy, and the Arts Council, dried […]
Continue Reading
Reading juvenilia can often seem part of a contrived, even pathetic, attempt to make some profound statement about how an author’s childish scribblings – no matter how underwhelming – actually demonstrate the emergence of later genius. Jane Austen is not one of those authors. Her three surviving notebooks containing novellas, epistolary fiction, and plays written […]
Continue Reading
Over the past few years there has certainly been no shortage of Middle-earth inspired projects for fans to get excited about. From the controversial Shadow of War video game series to the upcoming biopic starring Nicholas Hoult, Tolkien’s cultural influence is showing no signs of slowing down. Now, from out of the blue, HarperCollins has […]
Continue Reading
A recent Twitter challenge to “describe yourself like a male author would” has gone viral, with women satirising the sexual objectification and tired clichés found in much of contemporary fiction. The challenge was instigated by Whitney Reynolds (media personality and television talk show host) in response to a tweet from Gwen C. Katz, who had […]
Continue Reading
As I write, Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine has only just slipped from its spot atop both the E-book and print bestselling charts, after four consecutive weeks. This is a feat unrivalled by any book since Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train, but while Hawkins’ thriller was boosted by an accompanying film, […]
Continue ReadingEven if you aren’t into poetry, if you’re on the Internet, you’ve probably heard of Rupi Kaur. Her poetry collections, Milk and Honey and The Sun and her Flowers, have received a mixed reception across an ever-widening platform, owed largely to the fact that most of her poems are short enough to be squeezed into […]
Continue Reading
Happy endings. Rachel ditches Paris for an overdue reunion with Ross, Harry defeats Voldemort and survives (J.K. Rowling makes her own rules), and Tiny Tim makes a full recovery – sorry for the spoilers. Worldwide, we all switch off the television or turn over the last page with a warm – dare I say tingle […]
Continue Reading