For some authors, the Bodleian Libraries have not always a safe haven for their work. Although marginalised texts are no longer demarcated with the phi symbol on their spines, with many having re-entered the undergraduate canon, Sophie Price discusses the valuable lessons we can learn from the Bodleian blacklist which remain pertinent today.
No sympathy laughs from your mate when the joke doesn’t quite land; no in-jokes to fall back on; no new haircut to make fun of. Comedy is a savage mistress.
Much like the 1920s and 30s, we live in a period of great change when all previously-held cultural norms and precedents seem to be shifting under our feet. All the King’s Men speaks to this time of turmoil, questioning how the individual responds to that, whether they challenge it or become corrupted by it.'
The YA fiction boom really was its own mini cultural era. Gone are the days of passing a tattered copy of The Fault in Our Stars around your entire friendship group, but how does YA lit hold up today? And how did that cultural era affect the ‘young adults’ at its centre?
"Alt-rock is characterised by experimentation with texture, timbre, and structure, especially drawing on the raw, distorted punk rock sounds and new wave’s energetic appeal." Jimmy Brewer takes a look back at five bands who defined the sound of the genre.
I will never forget the feeling of looking up from the yellowish parchment paper of the biblical scroll and seeing everyone I love. It was at this moment that I realised what coming of age rituals are all about: the feeling of being part of something larger than yourself.