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Books

Defiance: Racial Injustice, Police Brutality, A Sister’s Fight for the Truth by Janet Alder

At Oxford’s Wesley Memorial Church, Janet Alder offered a harrowing and unflinching account of resilience in the face of systemic injustice.

Review: Making the Weather: Six Politicians Who Shaped Modern Britain by Vernon Bogdanor

Six essays are included here, one for each Carlylean “great man”, covering biographical and ideological context as well as political analysis.

A literary map of Oxford

Look no further for the perfect afternoon dawdle, as you chase the ghosts of literary greats through the town.

Should we judge a book by its cover?

Maybe we need to start giving a chance to the books we wouldn't usually take a second glance at. 

Autumn by Ali Smith: a seasonal portrait of post-Brexit Britain

The first book in Smith's ongoing quartet reminds us that sympathy is possible in our polarised times

Strange creatures: monstrosity in Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’

The world of literature is abundant with monsters: physical monsters, psychological monsters, benevolent monsters, evil monsters. However, there is hardly a monster as puzzling...

Normal People Review – ‘a novel that speaks to the current climate’

Jenny Scoones discusses the portrayal of masculinity and friendship in Sally Rooney's second novel

Factfulness review: On the importance of truth

Dr Hans Rosling's final book reminds us of the enduring importance of truth, says Harry Lloyd

Idle reading: books in praise of laziness

A consideration of two books with different approaches to the same philosophy: the art of laziness.

Stephen King’s It: the horror novel that sparked a love affair

The pleasure and terror of reading Stephen King

Characters we love to hate

Sam Millward surveys the rise of the antihero as a problematic but compelling character

The ‘Brideshead Revisited’ reputation haunting Oxford

Is there any truth in the fictional portrayals of the University?

‘I have only ever tried to show you beauty’: Florence Welch’s ‘Useless Magic’

Kate Haselden considers how the publication of Florence Welch's first book proves her affinity for beauty, and talent as an artist, extends beyond music into poetry

Review: Charly Cox ‘She Must Be Mad’

Charly Cox's poetry confronts the reality of life as a young woman in the age of social media

Modern China from a new perspective

Jacob Cheli talks to BBC Correspondent Michael Bristow about his travels around China with a cross-dressing language teacher

Is the publishing boom ‘a sign of cultural vitality’?

Despite the recent publishing boom, the literary landscape is looking increasingly

In search of Irish Revolutionaries

Eric Sheng discusses former Oxford don Roy Fisher’s recent work on Revolutionary Ireland

Travels with a Cross-Dressing friend: A Personal Biography of China

Michael Bristow, a former BBC Foreign Correspondent, hopes his book will challenge the Chinese government

‘Reversed’: An interview with Lois Letchford

Kurien Parel interviews author Lois Letchford about her memoir 'Reversed' which follows the journey of her learning disabled son, Nicholas, from the bottom of the class to Oxford PHD student.

Childhood’s Clarity in ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane’

The Ocean at the End of the Lane opens with an epigraph from Maurice Sendak, “I remember my own childhood vividly… I knew terrible things. But I knew I mustn’t let adults know I knew. It would scare them.”

Reversed: A Memoir

'One of the striking points the memoir illustrates is the level of abuse children with learning disabilities face, from teachers and others' says Kurien Parel

Patriotism and Chilean Poetry

Bridget McNulty discusses Hugh Ortega's debut collection and Chilean identity

I was overcome with a sense of familiarity, intermingled with strangeness

Beth James reflects on the forgotten female modernist poet, Hope Mirrlees

Daemon Voices Lecture Review – Two generations share the same world view

Pullman and Rundell make for an oddly cohesive pair at their talk in Blackwells.

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