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Image description: Professor Sunny Singh holding the Jhalak prize trophy 2019 First awarded in 2017, the Jhalak Prize was founded to celebrate books of all descriptions written by British citizens or British residents of colour. The idea came from two writers, Sunny Singh and Nikesh Shukla, who are supported by the authors club, media diversified […]
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Image Description: A person reading a book over lunch This week, Sarah Moorhouse asked OxStu contributors to tell us about their favourite pieces of short fiction. Perfect to enjoy over breakfast or a quick tea break, these compelling reads will transport you away from a dreary lockdown lifestyle. Helena Aeberli: Francoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse Francoise […]
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Image description: Biblioteca Vasconcelos, Mexico My dream has always been to own a library. Nothing too fancy – I’m not asking for an Austen-esque regency manor with a cavernous expanse of dust jackets and cloth bindings – just an otherwise ordinary room whose decoration represents a shrine to books. Living in an increasingly digital society, […]
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Image description: An illustration of two hands with one holding an ink pen Though much has been said about our abbreviated attention spans during these days, if you find yourself unable to concentrate even on the latest book of essays by the corrosively delightful Samantha Irby or enjoy that ribald, irreverent biography of Princess Margaret […]
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Image description: Picasso’s portrait of Gertrude Stein Right now it’s hard to imagine Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce and Henri Matisse sitting in a room together, yet this was a common occurrence at 27 rue de Fleurus, Paris, in the 1920s and 1930s. They were united by Gertrude Stein, whose weekly […]
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Image description: An Kindle on top of a regular book I’m not old enough to pull the whole ‘back-in-my-day-I-read-by-candlelight’, and I certainly can’t relate to the youngest generation of readers who grew up reading in the dark. That last bit I don’t mean figuratively: Kindle’s, iPad’s and other self-lit electronic devices have made it so […]
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Image Description: The Hollywood sign “Terrible things were happening all around us. Right next to me a huge reptile was gnawing on a woman’s neck, the carpet was a blood-soaked sponge – impossible to walk on it, no footing at all. ‘Order some golf shoes,’ I whispered. ‘Otherwise, we’ll never get out of this place […]
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Image description: A stack of books on a shelf Quarantine has left us all in a constant state of unease. Now more than ever, books serve as a compelling source of comfort and companionship. Here, I present three meaningful selections that may offer readers a sense of solace, appreciation and motivation through these trying times. […]
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Image description: Canvas with strokes of paint The last time I wielded a paintbrush with any intent was aged 13, during art lessons at school. Yet, a couple of weeks into quarantine, I was desperate for new ways to occupy my time and found myself participating in Noel Fielding’s Instagram Art Club with gusto. Each week, […]
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Image description: Stack of books with a notebook next to them There seems to be a certain amount of snobbery within literary and artistic circles around whose opinions are valid when it comes to looking at, appreciating and analysing a work. To a certain extent, I agree that the academic debates around varying interpretations require […]
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Jen Campbell is a bestselling author and award-winning poet. Her most recent books include ‘The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night’, ‘The Girl Aquarium’ and a series of children’s picture books. I was lucky enough to talk to Jen about poetry, the importance of children’s voices, and the magic of online […]
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Image description: Edward Gorey’s cover design Amis’ debut novel stars Jim, a bitter little man who is lost in life. Jim feels out of place of the profession that he has chosen for himself, which is namely academia. As a professional historian who hates history, Jim ultimately feels trapped by everything and everyone around him. […]
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Image description: books and a festive lantern Although we’re a little into the Christmas vacation already, there’s still a while to go before we have to pack our bags and head back to Oxford. The Christmas period is one of seasonal comforts and festive excitement; however, it can also be a time of boredom – […]
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The premise of the novel is boring: it’s a classic coming of age novel where two teenagers, Connor and Marianne, struggle to find themselves and their place in the world in the transition years from high school to university to adult life. It relates a series of minor ups and downs, and the ways that […]
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It has been more than 50 years since the publication of S.E. Hinton’s first novel ‘The Outsiders’. Set in 1960s Oklahoma, ‘The Outsiders’ is a moving coming-of-age story surrounding the gang rivalry between lower-class ‘Greasers’ and upper-class ‘Socials’. Given the big societal changes that have happened since then and how dated, for example, the social […]
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For a newly-launched non-profit, founded and run by two Oxford students, entirely through one social media platform, we were overjoyed to have received 70 donations for our first ever book drive: as Homeless Oxford Literature Drive (HOLD) approaches its second drive this MT19, we hope to raise many more books, and want to encourage as […]
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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 […]
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Image description: Plath’s gravestone 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 years after Plath’s […]
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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 […]
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