Comics and graphic novels can empower refugees to tell their stories on their own terms: There are more refugees in the world today than at any other point in history. The United Nations estimates that there are now more than 120 million people forcibly displaced from their homes. That is one in every 69 people …
Netflix to remake Pride and Prejudice – why Jane Austen novels make perfect period adaptations: Announcing its new six-part adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Netflix quoted screenwriter Dolly Alderton as saying: “Once in a generation, a group of people get to retell this wonderful story.” In the 250th anniversary of her birth, it would seem …
Irish hip-hop, British K-pop and the best end-of-summer novels – what you should watch and read this week: This article was first published in our email newsletter Something Good, which every fortnight brings you a summary of the best things to watch, visit and read, as recommended and analysed by academic experts. Click here to …
Nervous Conditions: on translating one of Zimbabwe’s most famous novels into Shona: The publishing journey of Zimbabwean writer and film-maker Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions wasn’t easy. Yet the novel is today considered by many as one of Africa’s 100 best books of the 20th century and is studied at universities around the world. When she …
Booker prize 2023: why these shortlisted novels represent a ‘golden age’ of Irish writing: This year’s Booker prize shortlist is an exciting line up, melding established, prize-winning authors and debut writers. The 2023 shortlist contains two Irish authors – Paul Murray and Paul Lynch – and on the long list of 13 novels, Elaine Feeney’s …
Remembrance Day: five beautiful novels about war commemoration: Every autumn, the UK participates in an astonishing commemorative practice: the annual charity drive of the Poppy Appeal. From its origins during the first world war to the purple poppy commemorating animals in wartime, the artificial poppy has become a fragile but enduring symbol of remembrance. Writers …
How reading ‘dark academia’ novels can help new students feel more at home at university: Giammarco Boscaro/Unsplash Over the next few weeks, over a million new university students will be heading to campus. Many of them may be nervous about what lies ahead, which is understandable given that most of them will be in a …
How J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels were inspired by Medieval poems of ‘northern bravery’: Knights travel to battle in an illustration from a Medieval manuscript. British Library, CC BY-SA In a moment of distraction from the laborious work of marking an “enormous pile of examination papers”, J.R.R. Tolkien flipped to a blank page on a student essay …
Cormac McCarthy: where to begin reading his searing, brutal and unforgettable novels: The novelist Cormac McCarthy was suspicious of punctuation, profoundly interested in violence, respected skill and physical labour, and loved the richness of the English language. He was particularly fond of short, declarative sentences and the word “and”. McCarthy’s much lamented death at 89 …
Virginia Woolf would have loved The Great British Sewing Bee – as three of her novels prove: Sewing Fisherman’s Wife by Anna Ancher (1890). Randers Museum of Art The Great British Sewing Bee is back. The BBC reality show sees 12 amateur sewers compete in increasingly difficult stitching challenges, all hoping to be crowned the …
Are the Clintons actually writing their novels? An expert uses ‘stylometry’ to analyse Hillary and Bill’s writing: Author James Patterson and former President Bill Clinton attend a book signing for The President is Missing. Shutterstock In 2018, former US president Bill Clinton coauthored a novel with James Patterson, the world’s bestselling author. The President is …
His Dark Materials: how the small-screen adaptation deals with the novel’s big ideas: In its concluding season, the BBC adaptation of His Dark Materials approaches a moment of danger. A story that began with the intimate world building of parallel Oxfords must now take on the fate of the entire multiverse. Season three begins with …
Three graphic novels that creatively confront the climate crisis: An illustration from Ducks. Jonathan Cape, Author provided As the scale and severity of the environmental crisis escalates, our shelves and screens have been bombarded by a whirlwind of climate-themed genres, from climate fiction (cli-fi) to disaster movies. These books and films tend to stumble on …
Five of the best new crime novels to read this autumn (and one golden oldie): Pexels As the nights draw in and we spend more time indoors, autumn can be a good time to get stuck into the literary world’s latest murder mysteries. And the last few months have seen the publication of major new …
Five tourist trips in the UK inspired by classic novels: Some books can really bring to life the place in which they’re set. Their words knit together in such a way that whole landscapes or entire floorplans of buildings you’ve never visited before spring forth in your mind. Often these settings are based upon real …
How cities are taking centre stage as characters in novels: Shinjuku, Tokyo. Luciano Mortula – LGM/Shutterstock Cityscapes have long played an important role in literature. They serve as backdrops for writers looking to explore themes of isolation, destitution, crime and excitement. In Stephen Crane’s 1893 novel Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, New York City …
Five must-read novels on the environment and climate crisis: Pexels Since the start of lockdown, more of us have taken to our bicycles, grown our own vegetables and baked our own bread. So it’s not surprising it has been suggested we should use this experience to rethink our approach to the climate crisis. Reading some …
Five coming-of-age novels where class and love collide: Normal People has been adapted for the BBC. It follows the love story of Connell and Marianne as they navigate love, class and the tricky journey into adulthood. BBC/Element Pictures/Hulu Young Adult Fiction (YA) picks apart first experiences, good and bad. They are often stories about the …