Thinking about the future when time has lost all shape and predictability
April 21, 2021
English degrees don’t outline a select career path. We’ve all heard the jokes with that central gist, that the only thing to do with an English degree is to become a teacher (no shade implied; I have nothing but respect for the profession!). Of course, there are plenty of other jobs available to us too. …
Fighting Covid-19 in the time of assessments
March 19, 2021
Three modules, three assessments, all due on the same day. The Autumn term ended, and students dispersed for the upcoming Christmas season. I work as hard as I could in between the festivities we were allowed to have among the current climate. I took a break for Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and let’s be real, …
Review: Chinglish by Sue Cheung
March 15, 2021
As the new year unfolds, to ‘read more’ is undoubtedly many of our new year’s resolution, mine included. However, for us English students this goal becomes far greater since we aim to read more content not related to our course. My personal challenge of this year being to read more works by BAME authors. Having …
Rethinking the World with Chick Lit
February 19, 2021
This Christmas, I was gifted Cecelia Ahern’s One Hundred Names from a family member – with their flawed logic being that if I like the Bridget Jones movies, then romance fiction should be right up my street. But when I accidentally packed it to bring back to Uni alongside all my other books, giving it …
Review: Dark Wonders by Joshua Helmer
February 12, 2021
Dark Wonders is a set of three linked dystopian short stories from Nottingham-based writer Joshua Helmer. Comparisons to Black Mirror are easy to make, as the three stories involve a dark insight into a near future in which different forms of technology have an impact on humans and the world. However, underneath this genre similarity, …
Being Kind To Yourself – Coping With Normality In Changing Times
February 5, 2021
‘Coping with normality’ seems like an odd phrase, but it is one that is needed in these unprecedented times as tasks which seemed simple pre-2020 now seem like a challenge. Everybody knows that 2020 was a year like no other, and going into 2021 I do believe that we need to be kinder to ourselves …
Pandemics and Prejudice: How to combat toxic productivity during lockdown
January 29, 2021
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an individual, experiencing the third lockdown of the year, must make the most of it, Right? I disagree. Whilst it appears that everyone according to your Instagram is learning new skills, getting ALL their university work done and maintaining a strict home workout schedule, I can state this …
Review: Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg
January 22, 2021
Few things pack an emotional punch the way Bojack Horseman, the animated TV show about a depressed talking horse, does. When it ended at the beginning of the year, I was looking for something to fill the void; luckily, creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg had written a new short story collection published last year. Someone Who Will …
How did it all start for you?
January 15, 2021
Mae govannen, mellon nín!* Without contest, one of the most exciting discoveries in my journey as a language enthusiast was the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien, brought to life in no small part by the native tongues of each of the characters. A philologist, Tolkien delighted in crafting these in great detail, and there are …
Confessions of an escapism artist – handling escapism while social distancing
June 25, 2020
At times like these, the urge to escape from the world is greater than ever. This may be through TV, books, games, music… anything that might help someone mentally escape from the reality. And with modern technology, it is all too easy to achieve. You may not even recognise that you are doing it. It’s …
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