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 …
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 …
Beyond the Books: What Has University Taught Me?
June 11, 2020
Besides (hopefully) gaining an English degree, going to University has taught me so much. From theatre practitioners, the Irish Literary Revival and the works of Alexander Pope, to key poetic techniques and the acquisition of children’s language, my degree’s breadth has equipped me with vital analytical and critical skills. Yet my University education certainly went …
Mental Health Awareness in the English Department
June 8, 2020
Becky Cameron is known for sending out emails. In fact, any English student’s emails are most definitely 60% Becky Cameron, which I say with the utmost fondness – especially after the day she organised on the 12th of March 2020. I always find myself a little sceptical of Mental Health Awareness week. It sometimes feels …
Taking Refuge in Literature
June 4, 2020
As we turned inward during lockdown, we may have felt more compelled than ever to turn to books to find refuge during these trying times. We turn to devour endless pages with imaginary places of fantasy to a world buzzing with life. A reality of social life which, to us, felt fictional and so far …
The Myth of Individualism
June 1, 2020
In the Dutch historian Rutger Bregman’s latest book Humankind, he researches a real-life version of Lord of the Flies. In June 1965, six boys from Tonga floated out to sea in a stolen boat, and found themselves washed up on a desert island for fifteen months. Unlike William Golding’s novel, however, which ends in brutality …
Catharsis, Comfort and the Contemporary Poetry of Rupi Kaur
May 28, 2020
Reception of Rupi Kaur’s pared-down poetry divides her readership into those who celebrate her popularisation of poetry (Kaur sold more copies of her debut collection in 2016 than the other top ten poets combined) and those who decry her work as somehow lazy in its brevity, and lacking the vocabulary and sophistication of traditional poetry. …
The Friendly Introvert
March 11, 2020
On a large campus, it is very easy to get swallowed up by the crowd. However, part of the university experience is getting out there and meeting new people. Not only is making connections important in making the campus feel more like a home, it is also an important skill to develop for your budding …
Review: The Emotional Impact of Pale Blue Dot
March 5, 2020
In times of stress or worry, I think it’s important to read literature that puts things into perspective. I am always drawn to “YOU ARE HERE”, a chapter in Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot, the most reflective and emotionally impactful work of non-fiction I have read. The chapter describes the journey NASA’s Voyager was making …
Bittersweet Symphony – my ode to being a final year English student
February 27, 2020
It seemed that as soon as I arrived back to University after Christmas, all fresh-faced and bushy tailed, the prospect of (gulp) graduating and (gulp) leaving Nottingham, hit me like a tonne of bricks (or should I say books?). I have become so accustomed to my routine as an English student at Nottingham. Weekdays are …
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