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How do I work on my essay?

“Okay settle down everyone, I have an announcement to make! The assessments are now approaching. And the thought of essays is starting to haunt us,” Observer Yasmin declared as she sat at the big round table with all the other Yasmins. Yes, there was nothing else in the room except for that round table and …

Little beasts: experiments with nature writing  

I discovered a love of lyric essays during my MA in Creative Writing at Nottingham. Before this, I wrote mostly fiction, and toiled on novels. But there was also a weird form of writing I couldn’t categorise, which was more instinctive. I would write these little stream-of-consciousness prose poems but I didn’t really know that’s …

Now and then

I had never thought that The Beatles would release a song in my own lifetime. I suppose I consider them something of the past that I could never feel close too, something that reminds me of my dad because “there will never be a love song quite like The Long and Winding Road”. Maybe I …

Review: Chinglish by Sue Cheung

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 …

Music and English – An Unlikely Connection

Since starting university I have become greatly accustomed to walking around campus in particular the treacherous trek up the downs. My trusted companion of choice tends to be my headphones; not only do they keep my ears warm they also decrease the chances of awkward interactions with strangers (always a win). Regardless of these factors …

Having a ‘creative block’? How to stay creative when immersed in an academic world.

The University of Nottingham is a brilliant place. We are spoiled with an academic environment full of specialists, passionate about the subjects they teach. We are encouraged to read deeply and broadly, be inquisitive, be critical, be this and be that. I sometimes find myself so focused on the academic side of the course that …