Nonfiction
Fangirls and Fantasies: Why we Love to Hate Twilight
It’s 2008: the era of galaxy-print leggings and Club Penguin. The radio incessantly plays Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed A Girl’ and ‘Viva La Vida’ by Coldplay. Lounging on your bed after school, you flip through the glossy pages of Seventeen magazine, fanatically poring over the pale, golden-eyed Robert Pattinson and the bashful Kristen Stewart. Adapted […]
3 June 2021
on worth
I measure my worth in the number of meetings I attend, in the number of responses I get in my 9am sociology class, and in how many people have liked my latest Instagram poem. When I feel my back start to crack, I tell myself —“one more reading and you can rest”, and then one […]
23 April 2021
Still a Love Story, Only More
In the backseat of my family’s old sedan, the air was warm in spite of the blasting air conditioning. I leaned against the window, scanning the houses we passed by. The weekend was so close that I could’ve grasped it between my fingers. At eight years old, a lot of things looked brand new. At […]
23 April 2021
Curly Hair: An Analysis
“Your hair is so cool! Can I feel it?” These are words I have grown accustomed to hearing throughout my entire life. Growing up in a predominantly white community, my mixed-race curly hair was seen as somewhat of a novelty. Friends, teachers at school, other adults and passersby all seemed to be drawn towards it. […]
23 April 2021
The Little Things: a Partly Solved Mystery
When I was younger, the saying, “it’s the little things in life,” used to both annoy and confuse me. As adults would patiently explain, the smallest moments—another leaf sprouting from a houseplant, slipping into crisp, clean bed sheets—were the stuffing of life. The sustenance, the good stuff—the point, really. These wise explanations fell on deaf […]
23 April 2021
To Listen to the Mockingbirds: Why celebrating literature by PoC authors is the key to countering racism in the literary canon
content warning: Discussions of racism and colonialism, mentions of police violence. Halfway through my final year of high school, I made an executive decision: from then on, I would exclusively read books written by people of colour. I also announced this decision to anybody who would listen. Many implied that I was being “extreme”. In […]
23 April 2021
Why I’m Breaking Up with Goodreads
In April 2010, I opened a Goodreads account. On January 24 2021, I deleted it. Like many readers, I used Goodreads to track the past, present, and future of my reading. I also created custom shelves to ensure books written by authors from diverse backgrounds did not disappear into the abyss that was my “to […]
23 April 2021
Blue Hope in Blue Ray
The transitional and temporary nature of the art world Neoliberal capitalistic institutions of contemporary art and higher education express conflict between the “national” and “transnational” as well as what is “temporary” and “permanent”. From special exhibitions to performances, any form of ephemeral art makes its “temporary” nature more precious and distinguished. Along with globalisation, an […]
23 April 2021Art Musing: Curatorial Intentions
Sophie Gerhard always thought that she would be an artist. But six months into a Fine Arts degree, she realised that it wasn’t for her. “I didn’t like the criticism,” she told me. “I probably just wasn’t very good.” So, she left her degree to study Art History at the University of Leeds. Here, she […]
23 April 2021
Athlete or “Athlete”
I prefer not to talk about athletics outside the track. “You’re an athlete? So, are you going to Tokyo?” “…No.” “Well, not with that attitude you won’t!” A well-intended response, but from someone who just doesn’t understand the elitism that the Olympic level demands. My attitude is not going to add an odd meter-and-a-half to […]
23 April 2021