“Killing the Angel in the House [is] part of the occupation of a woman writer.” — Toxic masculinity and ghosts go together brilliantly. Take The Shining as a… well, a shining example. But we are not here to talk about famous creations brought to life by male geniuses like King or Kubrick. …

Reviving the Idea of Maternal Finitude — ‘The definition of motherhood in our culture is one in which the mother sacrifices herself to the child. She sacrifices her self,’[1] argues Susan Griffin in ‘Feminism and Motherhood’, an essay she originally published in the 1970s. …

Alice Munro defies the ideal of female domesticity — ‘I am not sure now whether I love any place, and […] it seems to me it was myself that I loved here — some self that I have finished with, and none too soon,’[1] contemplates Alice Munro’s protagonist of ‘Home’ when she returns to the house of her childhood…

Seven practical steps by a Creative Writing MA student — You’re getting up past noon, eating canned beans three times a day, and playing videogames way past a reasonable bedtime. Most importantly, you’re not getting any writing done. It’s a block, a rut, a hibernation, or whatever you want to call this dark period of uncertain length that strikes unexpectedly…

Gender Posing in Deborah Turbeville’s 1975 Vogue Editorial — In 1975, Deborah Turbeville’s fashion editorial “There’s More to a Bathing Suit Than Meets the Eye”, or “Bathhouse” for short, appeared in the American Vogue, marking her breakthrough. Two years later, The New York Times described the rising star as the only American photographer in the triumvirate that has changed…

As another year ends we find ourselves in a numb post-coital phase; with Christmas behind us December’s purpose, too, turns into nothing but freezing air and foggy breaths we don’t quite know what to do with. Soon we rush into the upcoming suicidal season; ins Loch fallen as we say…

Writers should not serve their readers as a moral compass — Due to popular demand (a huge thank you to everyone who responded to my story on trigger warnings, regardless on which platform), I will now continue the conversation I started two weeks ago on the increasing oversensitivity to controversial literary works. Let’s begin with another classroom anecdote (I currently study…

An individually universal experiment — (ex-pe-ri-men-tal [1] wri-ting [2])[3] [5], [6], [7], [8] potion sassy mind solar arm matcha sole [9], [10] /ɛkˌspɛrɪˈmɛnt(ə)l ˈrʌɪtɪŋ/ [11] an unfledged thought, simmering, complete in its in com ple tion. [12] experiment = complete in its incompletion [13] / -t(ə)l/ [14] [1] Lexico says: “based on untested ideas or…

Censorship in lit is near — When I have moved to Nottingham this September to attend the Creative Writing MA course, I have begun learning not just about writing but also about a different culture. …