Tuesday 22nd July 2025
Blog Page 722

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

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

A few years ago, it seemed that the favourite conversation topic of the literary world was the decline of the printed book. There was no shortage of those who were willing to proclaim the death of the book, insisting that the prevalence of online information and transference of texts to an online format would render the format obsolete. Sociologist Frank Furedi wrote about the ‘Gutenburg parenthesis’ in his 2015 book Power of Reading – the concept that ‘books’, as a literary form, had a limited lifespan, and that the rise of the internet is driving us back to an oral culture. With the increasing ease of the ability to promote one’s own views online, it would seem that books had had their day. 

Nonetheless, according to statistics released by the Publishers Association, books sales actually rose the year Furedi suggested that the printed book was declining. Moreover, the number of digital copies sold decreased for the first time in history. The self-publishing industry has also boomed over the past few years. The bibliographic information company Bowker has stated that ISBN registrations leapt with a 21% increase from 2014 to 2015, and publishing continues to be a fast-growing industry. The fastest grower in the publishing field is audiobooks, and the industry has been valued at around $2.8bn in 2015. To most readers, this huge increase in the production of literary material should be a cause for celebration – if we are publishing more books, surely we are publishing a wider variety of books for readers to enjoy. The ability of writers to self-publish should, in theory, mean that readers should be exposed to a wider range of books than ever before. 

But it’s possible to argue that this rise in publishing –  if anything – has made the industry more streamlined, and less diverse. You just have to look at the shelves of high street booksellers to appreciate the cookie-cutter approach which retailers have taken to publishing in recent years. The same sort of celebrity (auto)biographies, young adult fiction, and thriller novels all dominate the shelves. In part, this is the fault of an increasingly narrow market, which results from enormous competition between publishers. The abundance of eCommercial retailers  –  such as the enormous amazon.com –  has resulted in the availability of a huge number of easily available and inexpensive books. The domination of the audiobook publishing field by behemoths, such as Audible, results in a further monopolisation of the content which is released, leading to less diversity despite the increase in releases. The ever-increasing demands of consumerism in the internet age results in the proliferation of published works. A 2014 report from the International Publishers’ Association revealed that the UK was the country that published the highest number of books per capita by a significant margin. In response, literary agent Jonny Geller,  at leading publishing firm Curtis Brown said to the Guardian at the time that this was “either a sign of cultural vitality or publishing suicide”. 

This is not to say we aren’t publishing anything new, important or interesting. Last year saw the releases of Samantha Rooney’s debut novel Conversations with Friends, Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, and Man Booker prize-winner Lincoln in the Bardo. There are clearly good and original books being written all the time, but in a competitive market, it’s a struggle for unknown authors to get published. In order to keep pushing for diverse content, it is clearly important for book-lovers to support new authors, as well as indie publishers more likely to be approached by an up-and-coming writer. Making use of independent bookstores, which are likely to stock lesser-known authors, is crucial in supporting the underground publishing market not dominated by corporate giants. The only type of publishing death in the UK will be self-inflicted by the reader.

Romeo and Juliet – Preview

Cherwell Stage
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Romeo and Juliet – Preview

SquidInk Theatre’s production of Romeo and Juliet at the Keble O’Reilly this week places the tale of gang warfare in a female offenders unit: HM Prison Verona. It is a production that promises to challenge audience preconceptions of the Shakespearean canon, as well as advance a conversation about women in the Criminal Justice System.

The prison setting lends itself well to depicting gang violence and claustrophobia, and the almost exclusively female cast is of paramount importance in encouraging a reevaluation of characters that have become ‘stock’ for many, such is the ubiquity of Romeo and Juliet. I was shown two of the most famous scenes: the Queen Mab speech, and Romeo (Lorelei Piper) and Juliet’s (Emelye Moulton) encounter at the Capulet party, which was a brave choice from the crew, but one that, in general, paid off. Consumed by her imagination in reciting the Queen Mab speech, Romeo and Juliet’s fellow inmate, Mercutio (Lucy McIlgorm) momentarily escapes from the quotidian misery of prison life. Viewed in the prison context, one may also perceive Mercutio as a character who has experienced a past trauma. An advantage of staging Shakespeare is that the audience is likely to know the plot, and watching McIlgorm’s performance reminds you of the great loss that Mercutio will be to the play when he dies.

I was initially wondering, in a predominantly female cast dressed identically in white shirts and grey tracksuits, whether characters would be easily ‘recognisable’, but this was no problem. Admittedly, I was speaking to director Conky Kampfner about casting before the preview, but McIlgorm’s performance could only have been attached to Mercutio, and contrasted well with Romeo’s forlorn complaints. Capulet’s (Imogen Edwards-Lawrence) entrance to the party, parading proudly from the balcony, signposted the character’s dominance at this stage of the play.

The prison setting does not necessitate the dazzling set design of the party scene made famous by Luhrmann’s film. This makes the task of creating the correct atmosphere more challenging, with responsibility falling entirely to the actors to create the excitement. More energy was perhaps needed to convey the revels, but to portray decadence in a prison context is difficult. This production remains true to the prison setting, and the result was a depiction of prisoners relaxing in each other’s company, rather than a wild party scene, but perhaps this was intentional in encouraging  the audience focus on the claustrophobic conditions of the setting.

This did not mean that there was a lack of creativity in use of the set. Props were sparse: a bunk-bed, barbed wire, steel beams, a table, and a translucent curtain. Tybalt (Lara Deering) seethes with anger from behind the table when she notices Romeo, whilst inmates dance seductively either side of her. Romeo and Juliet have their first encounter behind the translucent curtain. This worked particularly well in its suggestion that, from the beginning, their love does not belong to quotidian world. It is certainly not of the world that this production depicts. References to “holy palmers” and “saints” in the moments before their first kiss seem particularly incongruous in this setting, where the omnipotent figures are gang leaders. This is underlined by Capulet’s lingering on the balcony as she enters.

One issue lay in the transitions between scenes. The noise made in moving the table after the party scene distracted from the moment when Romeo realises that she has just kissed a Capulet. It was a shame to have attention taken away from Piper’s performance. However, this was a very minor flaw in a promising production. The cast seemed very close, and this sense underlined the ensemble aspect of the play, and reminded me of how multiple characters share responsibility in causing the lovers’ deaths. Kampfner was keen to underline her interpretation: that this is a play where young people are let down by their elders. Even in their isolation, there was very much the feeling in these scenes that the old, arrogant and ignorant were stifling the protagonists’ chances of happiness.

SquidInk Theatre have produced a show that unafraid to challenge audience preconceptions. It is ambitious, and promises to deliver.

St John’s JCR declares war on LMH

Havard Yttredal
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St John’s JCR declares war on LMH

St John’s College JCR declared war on Lady Margaret Hall JCR yesterday in response to the latter declaring war on Sweden. LMH’s JCR maintains that the Scandinavian country is responsible for the college’s bop ban this term.

In the interests of the war effort, LMH has also voted to start a nuclear arms programme and initiate a process of granting their JCR president power to single-handedly pass legislation and to dismiss and appoint members of the executive committee.

The St John’s motion stated that “the granting of legislative powers to the president is a worrying move towards dictatorship,” appealing to the college’s duty to “protect the democratic integrity of the University’s JCRs.”

The JCR war urged to “honour current and former students’ commitment to preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by any means necessary.”

The motion resolved to “mandate the JCR President to commence ‘Operation LMH Freedom’, which will aim to invade LMH, shut down their nuclear programme and restore democracy within the LMH JCR by deposing and bringing to justice so-called ‘Field Marshall Tulloch’.”

St John’s JCR President, Christine Jiang, told Cherwell: “As a bastion of freedom and democracy, I’m heartened to see that St John’s JCR have picked up on LMH’s egregious violation of the Rome Statute. We do not accept unilateral declarations of war nor the threat of nuclear arms, and will not stand by idly while Sweden’s national security is undermined.

“St John’s currently employs a falcon, Missy, and a falconer, to address the extensive pigeon problem in Tommy White Quad. I expect that Missy will be weaponised as part of our Armed Forces.”

A fourth year chemist at St John’s, Dan Sowood, was alone in opposing the motion.

Sowood told Cherwell: “Despite my impassioned speech to the contrary, I am sad to say that the Motion passed with large majority. With the small amount of remaining time I have here, I intend to vigorously and wholeheartedly pursue peaceful negotiations between any and all parties as an alternative to the actions proposed in this Motion.”

Another St John’s student, Charlie Clegg, told Cherwell: “I’ll admit to being somewhat mercenary in support of or opposition to war against LMH. Having previously stated that war would be good, however, I now agree that peace is better. I hope LMH ceases hostilities with the Kingdom of Sweden, not least because ABBA are re-forming and I’d really hate for anything to jeopardise that.”

Whilst others appear to take the coming war quite seriously, Alfie Deere-Hall, the motion’s proposer, sees it as a joke.

When asked about how he reconciles his proclaimed pacifism with his motion, he told Cherwell: “I believe that LMH ‘declared war’ on Sweden as a joke; in the same way, my motion to declare war on LMH in response is a joke. Student politics needs to be fun; the laughter which greeted my motion and my speech strongly imply that the joke was funny.

“My pacifism does not, I contend, need to be reconciled with my motion.”

LMH Field Marshall Josh Tulloch (who until recently held the title of “President”) and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been contacted for comment.

Dining al Desko Preview – ‘a tale of high treachery and highlighters’

Alexander Rugman
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Dining al Desko Preview – ‘a tale of high treachery and highlighters’

I first saw Dining Al Desko six months ago. A tale of high treachery and highlighters set in an office, it was expertly performed by Julia Pilkington as receptionist Julie in a distinctly un-theatrical room in Keble. It has grown considerably since then, with the addition of Christopher Page as Tom the accountant with another, interlinking monologue for a single performance at the Old Fire Station in January, and then a run at the prestigious National Student Drama Festival in March. It won considerable plaudits there, and so it should be no surprise to see it returning to Oxford for a run at the Burton Taylor Studio this week, before it heads up the te Edinburgh Fringe for August. This latest run introduces office intern Trish, played by Kate Weir.

This is a masterclass in comic character study. The rehearsal I was shown featured only Weir as intern come social media star Trish, but, having witnessed the previous runs of this show, it is clear that all three actors will be on top comedic form. Pilkington is desperately funny as Julie, a receptionist teetering on the edge of despair as she fights for her job. She frequently breaks the fourth wall to discuss the high politics of the office with the audience, but what’s amusing here is that the politics of this office isn’t high. It’s low to middling at best, and Pilkington does very well to find consistent moments of hilarity in this inanity.

Page is on equally good form as Tom, a rather serious accountant who works in the basement and has secrets to hide. I attended a rehearsal with Weir and director Philippa Lawford, and it was abundantly clear just how much everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Weir revels in the obnoxiousness of Trish’s vacuous behaviour, and maintains poise as she stretches, squats, and then offloads upon the audience her treatise on life:  “One word. Social Media. Not even one word – literally two”. Weir handles the script with utter conviction, imbuing Trish’s utter triviality with a fresh comic impetus.

For the run this week, these three monologues have been spliced together to create an intertwining narrative which will be told within an hour. Alastair Curtis has crafted a very fine script indeed. It is peppered with jibes and witticisms that provide a constant stream of material for the three actors, all of whom possess considerable comic talent and timing. Importantly, Curtis succeeds where other comic scripts so often fail in his ability to add depth to the undeniably funny facade. Because there is something more here, something that is evident perhaps in Julie’s quiet despair, and it doesn’t feel gratuitous or bolted on to the comedy in some ramshackle attempt to give meaning to the humour. This is a richly detailed examination of character in the pressure cooker office environment. Acutely observed, it attends to the supposedly unimportant with nuance and skill, and is not to be missed.

‘IT glitch’ means Clinton talk sells out before tickets go on sale

Matthew Roller
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‘IT glitch’ means Clinton talk sells out before tickets go on sale

Tickets for this year’s Romanes Lecture sold out before they officially went on sale, due to an error with the University’s system.

The University originally announced that registration to attend the talk, which will be delivered by Hillary Clinton, would open at 9am on Monday morning.

But the ticketing page went live earlier than planned, meaning that students and staff were able to snap up the 400 available tickets – which were free of charge – before they had officially gone on sale.

A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “We are very sorry to those who missed out.”

The spokesperson said: “The automated registration page went live earlier than expected, so many people were able to get tickets before the intended opening time.

“We are investigating how this happened and hope to make changes so it does not happen again.

“Tickets have now sold out due to exceptionally high demand, but we encourage anyone interested in attending to join the waiting list by contacting [email protected].”

On Twitter, the University’s account blamed an “IT glitch” for the mistake.

University staff and students expressed their disappointment at the mistake.

Political theory tutor Sophie Smith tweeted:

A University College student, Alfie Steer, then explained the situation:

Clinton’s talk will take place at the start of 10th week (25th June) at the Sheldonian Theatre.

The University also clarified that the lecture will be live streamed.

Join Cherwell’s editorial team for Michaelmas 2018

Fred Dimbleby and Matthew Roller
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Join Cherwell’s editorial team for Michaelmas 2018

We’re now hiring for editorial positions for Michaelmas 2018. This is your opportunity to be part of one of the longest-running student newspapers in Europe, and to follow in the footsteps of past contributors like Evelyn Waugh, Hadley Freeman, and Evan Davis.

Cherwell is recruiting for section editors, deputy section editors, illustrators, photographers, and broadcasters across all sections of the organisation. These include:

News

Comment

Features

Life 

Food

Culture

Music

Film & TV

Theatre

Visual Arts

Fashion

Sport

Video

Online/Photography

Applications for section editor positions can be found here, and applications for deputy section editor can be found here. Applications for the Video team are also available here.

In addition to these sections, we are also looking for cartoonists and illustrators. If you are interested in any of these roles, please email [email protected] expressing your interest.

To apply, download a copy of the relevant form and email a completed version to [email protected] by midnight on Sunday, 10th June.

News

News is a big section to edit, but it’s the one that has our most exciting headlines and reporting opportunities. This term, Cherwell has broken stories that grabbed national headlines: from the removal of Theresa May’s portrait to the hidden cost of trashing, we covered the stories that matter – and even reached The New York Times.

Being a news editor means you work closely with the senior editorial team, designing the news coverage, front page, and posting content online. We need tenacious student journalists who have a nose for news.

To apply for News Editor, fill out the Section Editor form. It’s very easy to become a News Reporter (and you can still contribute to other sections of the paper too): just send an email to [email protected], come along to our weekly meetings, and you can be at the forefront of student journalism (maybe even literally on the front page).

Investigations

Our news coverage is supported and supplemented by our investigations team. This is where our in-depth investigative journalism is done, tackling the issues big and small in Oxford today. This term, we’ve exposed Oxford’s most controversial donors, revealed the impact that college endowments have on academic performance, and uncovered the most outrageous expenses of college bosses.

Being an investigations editor means you will work closely with the senior editorial team to plan and execute a number of investigations during term. It also involves working with data and submitting freedom of information requests. We need tenacious student journalists who are willing to put in the hours to nurture a story.

We are recruiting for two Investigations Editors and up to three Deputy Investigations Editors.

Comment

The comment section of the newspaper publishes a range of cutting-edge opinion pieces from students on a range of issues, with a specific focus on Oxford issues. Our best debate and opinion pieces are read across the University and online, and shape the conversation amongst students.

Opinion is recruiting for two Comment Editors and up to three Comment Contributing Editors. The Comment editors have overall responsibility for the section and the contributing editors will form a permanent core of regular writers for the section. If you wish to write on an ad hoc basis, there’s no need to fill out a form – just pitch via email.

Features

Features is Cherwell’s long read section – it publishes just one long form piece a week, covering a wide range of issues. Features offers contributors the chance to interrogate a subject and explore it in more detail – but otherwise, its remit is broad and there’s room to be inventive. If you’re a fan of the Guardian’s ‘Long Reads’, or want to try your hand commissioning and editing essays and creative pieces, then this is the section for you.

This term, Features highlights include an exposé of college porters’ unconscious bias, an investigation into the gender gap within Stem subjects at Oxford, and an analysis of the state of student activism. We are recruiting for two Features Editors.

Life (and Food)

The Life section is home to several of Cherwell‘s longest-running features, including the historic John Evelyn gossip column and Blind Date. The section is a home to both light-hearted and serious discussions of the major issues of Oxford life.

Life also contains the Food page, which features a wide variety of reviews and recipes. If you want to review college meals, or Oxford’s extensive number of bars or restaurants, this is the place to look.

We are recruiting for two Life Editors and up to two Deputy Life Editors. For the Food section, we are recruiting for two Food Editors.

Culture (Music, Film, Theatre, Visuals, and Books)

The Culture section is at the heart of the newspaper. The section, which works in coordination with Music, Film, Theatre, and Books, presents an up-to-the-minute review of Oxford’s cultural scene week by week, and features a number of pieces exploring a cultural theme.

We are recruiting for two Culture Editors.

Music

The Music section is the place to find reviews and features on the latest going on in Oxford’s musical scene. The section reviews work by Oxford musicians, as well as reviews of national performances in Oxford. The Music section also prides itself on reviewing up-and-coming musicians and the latest in Oxford nightlife – so if you want a place to tell it how it is, consider joining our Music team.

We are recruiting for two Music Editors.

Film

The Film & TV page  features reviews of the latest films and television programmes, picks of the weeks from the editors, and a look at the latest that Oxford students are up to. The page aims to keep a focus on what Oxford students watch – but it’s a great place to keep up to date on the Oxford film scene.

We are recruiting for two Film Editors.

Theatre

Theatre is one of the most important parts of Cherwell culture, playing a key role in the Oxford drama scene. Theatre aims to provide comprehensive coverage of the theatre scene – it features previews, reviews, and interviews with the major plays and figures involved. No in-depth knowledge of the drama scene is required.

We are recruiting for two Theatre Editors.

Visuals

Visuals is consistently one of the most aesthetically pleasing sections of our newspaper. Covering thoughtpieces on visual art of all forms, while also showcasing the creative designs of Oxford students, editors of this section have the autonomy to create some truly beautiful pieces.

We are recruiting for two Visuals Editors.

Books

The Books section is the home of literature at Oxford. It features reviews of the latest books and literature, as well as feature pieces and interviews.

We are recruiting for two Books Editors.

Fashion

Our Fashion section has gone from strength to strength this term. If you want to organise weekly photo-shoots, or you’ve got opinions on fashion and fancy being the next sartorialist, this is the section for you.

Deputy Fashion Editors are intended to form a permanent core of reliable writers which can called upon regularly to write for the section and to help with the weekly fashion shoots.

We are recruiting for two Fashion Editors and up to two Deputy Fashion Editors.

Sport

We report on all the major sporting events in Oxford: whether your passion is for football or frisbee, cricket or croquet, there are opportunities to cover the biggest spectacles of the University’s sporting calendar. But the section is for more than just match reports – we’ve also interviewed pioneers of women’s sport, some of the biggest names in cricket journalism, and a celebrity referee this term. Michaelmas Term brings with it the opportunity to cover the men’s and women’s rugby Blues ahead of December’s Varsity Match at Twickenham, where our reporters had press accreditation last year. We are also looking for a core group of Sports Reporters to reliably cover all the big Oxford fixtures.

We are recruiting for two Sport Editors and up to two Sports Reporters.

Video

The Cherwell Video team plays a vital role supplementing our print content and updating it for the digital age. It produces weekly news round-ups, snapshots on the latest goings-on at Oxford, and interviews with some of the bigger names on campus.

The Video team is particularly looking for people with experience with production and editing, or who are interested in those two areas.

We are recruiting for two Video Editors and up to three Deputy Video Editors – apply by emailing [email protected]

Online

Cherwell is a modern paper. While we still devote most of our energy into our print run, continuing almost 100 years of tradition, we are always keen to adapt to the realities of modern-day journalism.

By applying to work for our Online Team, you’ll be working to ensure Cherwell is more engaged with the student body than ever before. You’ll be devising innovative online strategies and implementing them to ensure our content gets maximum reach across all our social media outlets. You will also play a key role in our website evaluation, and possible redesign.

We are recruiting for two Online Deputy Editors..

Photography

Photos are such a vital part of all Cherwell articies. They not only spark interest in the reader, but a well-chosen one can tell the story far better than words.

We’re therefore keen to encourage more original photos from student photographers. A Photo Editor will take this charge of this, and be expected to take photos themselves but also co-ordinate between editors and photographers to ensure we have good quality photographs by the time we go to print.

We are recruiting for at least one Photo Editor.

Letter to: Graduation Anxiety

Becky Cook
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Letter to: Graduation Anxiety

It was around Halfway Hall last term that we first became acquainted. You arrived in various guises; creeping up on me as questions of bloodcurdling enormity, implied insinuations amid casual discussions with friends and family about potential careers.  Each time you were an unsolicited visitor that made it feel as if the ground was sliding and slipping beneath me. You created moments of murky panic, before I flung you back into the furthest peripheries of my mind.

In turn, you morphed into another beast: this time in my inability to focus on the present. I told myself and those around me that ‘I need to think about it’ when confronted with questions about life after university—though I never did think about it. The thought of prolonged reflection filled me with a mixture of existential distress and a hollowing dread.

You are a peculiar nonentity, fed by the looming inevitability of student debt, growing underemployment and the 9 to 5 lifestyle that is only really fun when Dolly Parton sings about it. You seem to thrive on the numerous ‘what ifs’ and ‘did I make the right choice’ fears, coupled with the age-old adage that university is supposed to be the best years of your life, making anything afterwards appear darkened with an expectation of disappointment.

Graduation marks itself as a jarring change: change in occupation, relationships, residence. As a point of severe transition, it is accompanied with a sense of foreseeable loss that you are bolstered by. The familiar structure of Oxford life, with its eight-week terms of binge drinking and deadlines, will be peeled away and replaced with a void I have to fill with cover letters and Skype interviews.

I can already see myself looking back with fond nostalgia on the essay crises I currently abhor, becoming one of the misty eyed alumnus that I have seen return to college. This is the effect you have had on me: my personality is split. I feel as if I am living my second year as both the protagonist and the distant spectator, already feeling like its coming to an end.

Until it does though, I suppose I will accept that you are now a part of this limbo I am in and have been in for nearly two years. This delicious purgatory in between adolescence and adulthood. The change is an inevitability, and it has unfortunately dawned on me that I will have to make an actual decision at some point soon, and hopefully once I do, you will be less of a burden and more of a stimulus to just get on with it.

Once I have survived finals and join the ranks of Oxford graduates, I hope that you will have grown into a nervous exhilaration for what is to come.

Yours sincerely,

Becky Cook

Music finalists raise concerns over ‘illegible’ exam paper

Julia Mueller
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Music finalists raise concerns over ‘illegible’ exam paper

The Music Faculty has come under fire after printing an “unacceptable” mistake in a finals exam paper.

Cherwell understands that musical scores provided to candidates during the FHS Analysis exam were incorrectly photocopied, meaning they were almost illegible.

The Faculty only apologised for the mistake after several students raised concerns.

In a letter to the Music Faculty, one finalist wrote: “What happened during the exam, and the way the faculty is responding to this… is frankly unacceptable.”

The FHS Analysis exam is a three-hour unseen paper. Candidates are expected to analyse an unknown musical score provided by the Faculty during the exam. They are not allowed to listen to the piece, and their essays rely entirely on their examination of the printed score.

During the exam on 24th May, many candidates were allegedly given musical scores that had been incorrectly photocopied. The text of the score was “extremely small” and “extremely difficult to read”.

The candidates who had received these “illegible” scores continued with the exam, attempting to annotate the score and write their essays. The error was eventually realised, and after 30 minutes a larger-print score was issued to these students.

One student said that the misprint and half-hour delay made it “impossible to find time to finish.”

Concerns have been raised by finalists as to whether the Faculty can fairly evaluate all students, given only some were affected by the misprint.

Chair of Examiners Daniel Grimley was present during the exam. Six days later, Grimley sent an email to all Music finalists apologising for the problems. He explained that he was “fully aware of the situation” and had overseen “contingency plans we put in place” during the exam.

The University’s exam regulations say that evidence of a “serious problem in the original examination process” is required in order for the Proctors Office to authorise paper re-evaluation.

Grimley said in his email that the issue will be brought to the attention of the Examination Board and discussed with the Proctors Office.

The Music Faculty and the University have been contacted for comment.

Casual racism is endemic in Oxford

Millie Chu
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Casual racism is endemic in Oxford

We set up Oxford’s first Mixed Heritage society this term for a wide range of reasons. Central to this was a desire to create a welcoming and inclusive space for people that may not feel that they fully ‘belong’ to other societies at Oxford. In a world in which being mixed heritage is becoming increasingly common, the ethos of the society is founded on optimism for the future. It provides those with mixed heritages a platform within Oxford’s racial discourse. Both these things are gaining considerable traction.

As someone who identifies as mixed heritage, growing up attempting to navigate places defined by white privilege came with its moments of uncertainty, self-questioning, and what I have come to call ‘casual racism’; instances of almost unconscious micro- aggression, largely from men, that resulted in my discomfort and a sense of displacement within my surroundings.

I came to Oxford in the confident knowledge that it would be a space of uninhibited tolerance in which I could celebrate my kaleidoscopic heritage with others. What baffles me is that certain white, entitled men feel the need to constantly assert what they believe to be their dominance in places like Oxford; places that should be a site for increased awareness and understanding of the multi-faceted nature of our peers and their backgrounds. What saddens me is that this is not a singular occurrence.

Upon speaking to other women of mixed heritages, these instances of seemingly ‘casual’ racism are a daily occurrence. There is an undeniable communal feeling of being exoticised by men who use language in order to demean, demonise, and fetishise mixed-race women. Being a young mixed-race or mixed-heritage individual requires finding an equilibrium between open-mindedness and vulnerability in disclosure of your identity, and maintaining a guard against potential prejudice. This balancing act is exhausting, and yet maddeningly inevitable. Of course, I fully acknowledge my privilege as being a mixed-heritage woman who can easily pass as white, but the fact that I endure this incessant micro-aggression and am made to feel uncomfortable about being mixed-heritage is telling of the environment we are fostering here at Oxford.

In the wake of the publication of Oxford’s admissions statistics, it seems more important than ever to confront these issues surrounding marginalisation head-on, with increased frankness and transparency. In her forward to the report, vice chancellor Louise Richardson maintains that “in these debates emotion often trumps evidence, the facts are often overlooked.”

However, it is impossible to neglect the importance of emotion within this discourse. As a female, mixed-heritage student who has been subject to instances of racial quips and more serious insults, I have the right to anger and disdain at how our university approaches, or indeed doesn’t approach, these cases of “casual racism” that are still so prevalent.

How can we encourage students from a range of backgrounds to apply when the news is fraught with instances of misogyny, classism, and racism in our Universities?

A glimmer of hope this week came from the statement made by the JCR Presidents’ Committee, which concluded that “There is a place for you here”. This message of optimism was a powerful one, and illustrated how the majority of the University’s student body share a vision of unity and equality.

However, while diversity and access are at the forefront of many University-wide initiatives and societies, it is clearly not enough and there is undeniably more to be done and over- come, as the Committee’s statement states. This is part of a much larger issue that we face as Oxford students who aim to see increased diversity within our colleges which, sadly, for the time being is still a dream.

We have a long way to go with regards to the university’s accessibility for those under- represented here; a sure way to catalyse it how- ever is to tackle the problem closer to home, and confront the pervading marginalization that current students encounter every day. It is of paramount importance that we continue to strive for awareness and open-mindedness, but simultaneously also to call these people out when necessary.

The time for upholding and perpetuating this outdated mentality is over.

Surviving on Chips, Cheese and MSGs

Aine Kennedy
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Surviving on Chips, Cheese and MSGs

It’s that time of the year again: birds are singing, the sun is shining, and every hallowed corridor of the University of Oxford reeks of chip fat, decomposing kebab meat, and despair. Welcome to exam season, and the eating habits that accompany it.

Oh, there are some who have it all: catch them flicking through colour-coded flashcards on the quad with their perfectly manicured salads of succulent cucumber and dulcet pear, balanced by a homemade vinaigrette as sharp as their tutorial repartée.

Or perhaps striding past the dreaming spires, resplendent in their Lycra – like the cast of a Village People music video scripted by Evelyn Waugh – and sipping demurely from whey protein and coconut milk smoothies. To these people, not only the body but the mind is a temple, lovingly and strategically nourished with a level of self-discipline and logic unknown to lesser mortals who still can’t utter the words ‘nut butter’ with a straight face.

Lingering just below them in this great chain of being are the moderates, who are organised enough to show up to hall at least twice a day, but supplement this flow of lurid sweet and sour pork and quick-cook rice with the occasional takeout order, perhaps as a reward for surviving a particularly strenuous revision session. There is a method to their caloric madness: they will sometimes go as far as ordering a vegetable side dish along with whatever chilli-sluiced concoction the local kebab joint has crafted exclusively for stress-numbed student tastebuds. They have the presence of mind to put food waste in an outside bin so the odour of garlic and misery will dissipate by morning.

Finally, at the shady underbelly of exam season life, there are those who occupy the dietary equivalent of the post-apocalyptic wasteland – a place of chaos and animalism, characterised by too much oil and not enough water, where a typical mid-morning snack is whipped cream sprayed directly into the mouth while shouting ‘witness me’.

These are the people who skewer their Hassan’s boxes on railings like so many severed heads, as they rip flesh from chicken wings with incisors that haven’t been grazed by a toothbrush in weeks. Every surface has absorbed the flavours of hundreds of meals, and now breathes them moistly back in the face of anyone who dares enter when temperatures rise above 16 degrees. Scouts crack open their doors, grab their bin bags, and flee, wondering how anyone can live like this.

The answer is a need for fuel, and lots of it: when caffeine immunity develops, the only other option is to cram one’s body with enough salt, sugar and MSG to make sleep impossible and an overgrown food baby inevitable, taking up nightly occupation in half the space of a single bed.

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