Student | Niamh Smith To me, a literary character is truly great when they step from the pages of the book(s) in which they appear, and can be reincarnated in another time, another place, but still feel as fresh and as vibrant as the first time you read about them. Some characters transcend the literature in which they appear and become a vital part of … Continue reading In Praise of Sherlock Holmes
Student | Mercedes-Georgia Mayes Fanfiction.net is one of many websites used for the dissemination of fan-created fiction, alongside Archive of Our Own and Whattpad, and boasts fiction based on almost 2,500 pre-existing works in the ‘Books’ category alone. Within this, each franchise has anywhere between 1 and 800,000 stories attributed to it of varying length. Such dedication is impressive in itself, but it is the … Continue reading The Infinite Inclusivity of Fan-Fiction
Student Writer | Joshua Rice Upon his death in 2014, Gabriel Garcia Marquez was declared to be ‘the greatest Colombian who ever lived’ by then president of Columbia, Juan Manuel Santos. A central pillar of the Latin American renaissance of the 1960s, Marquez enjoyed several decades of literary fame. Marquez became renowned for going beyond surrealist literature, which transports the reader to another world, to … Continue reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Nobel Prize for Literature 1982
Student Writer | Katie Philippou Looking for something fresh to read? Here is a short guide to contemporary writers who are sure to keep the fantastic reads coming: Sally Rooney Sally Rooney is new onto the Irish literary scene. She was named the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year in 2017 and has only just started. Rooney’s first novel Conversations with Friends(2017) is perfectly … Continue reading Writers at the Centre of the Contemporary Literary Scene
Student | Charlie Mills Madeline Miller’s novel The Song of Achilles was in fact her first, but the vividness and emotion in her writing suggests writing skill far beyond that of any ordinary debut. From the very first page I was hooked, and immediately read the first seventeen chapters over the course of a two-hour train journey. I could barely put the thing down, so … Continue reading The Song of Achilles Review
Arts Editor | Mimi Markham Every so often, a new publication shakes the waters of the usually quiet internet book community. In February 2017, Angie Thomas’ ‘The Hate U Give’ did just this and its ripples have resonated across the publishing industry, inspiring a recent film adaption. The story follows Starr Caster’s journey towards activism after she witnesses the police shooting of her childhood friend, … Continue reading ‘The Hate U Give’, by Angie Thomas: How one book is changing the publishing industry
Student Writer | Tasmin Fatodu For the twelfth year running, the London Literature Festival returned this autumn to the London Southbank Centre with more riveting and diverse Hollywood speakers, poets, authors and artists. The festival was full of lively discussions and talks, with live readings and workshops for all literature interests. Over twenty days, events ranged from a whole weekend of Young Adult fiction to … Continue reading London Literature Festival
Dep. Sports Editor | Jack Wright One of the greatest consistencies within literature is variety. Naturally, this extends to poetry. Genres and themes fade in and out of fashion as cultures evolve and public interest shifts. Homer’s epic poetry, passed on through oral tradition, differs in tone and content from Emily Dickinson’s quatrains. While spotting the differences between one “big” literary name and another, the … Continue reading The Appeal of Short and Sweet Poetry
Editor | Cassandra Lau Royal Holloway’s Musical Theatre Society brings a spooktacular performance of The Addams Family to the Student Union’s main stage. Director Harriet Williams has steered the society towards a different direction this year, bringing “some comedy to the society”. Besides loving a good laugh, Williams explains, “I wanted something different: something fun and funny.” Admitting that “comedy’s quite hard”, she says she has been … Continue reading The Addams Family: A Spooktacular Performance
Deputy Sports Editor | Jack Wright Every writer will, at some point in their lives, have heard this classic piece of advice: ‘write what you know’. I cannot say whether this is good advice. If that is a question that you would like answers to, I would recommend reading some of the insightful opinions shared by published authors. I’m also going to be careful … Continue reading My Life in My Art: Knausgaard and Misty
