In recent years, Zadie Smith has become something of a fashion icon. It’s a fate that’s arrived, for better or worse, at a number of our greatest female authors, from Virginia Woolf to Sylvia Plath and Joan Didion. Smith currently looks out at us from the cover of The Gentlewoman magazine, and at a number…
Arts, OldVenue
Alan Johnson at UEA Literary Festival
Alan Johnson has had enough of a life for two men – or more. A Labour Party MP since 1997 (for the constituency of Hull West and Hessle), he served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010, having previously served as both Health and Education Secretary, before becoming the Shadow Chancellor of the…
Music, OldVenue
Review: Meghan Trainor’s Title
The confidence was always there. Throughout even her first forays into media and television appearances, as well as in the video for debut single All About That Bass, Meghan Trainor exuded a winking, “ready-when-you-are” sense of belonging. This self-assuredness, coupled with a mastery of the new world of album-release Twitter campaigns and Instagram teasers, ensured…
Arts
Richard Holmes talks origins, human nature and bridging the gap between art and science at UEA Literary Festival
For the final night of the 2014 Arthur Miller International Literary Festival last Tuesday, the set-up was a little different. Rather than there being a table and chairs, with the obligatory glasses and bottles of still and sparkling water on stage, a projection on the wall implied that this was to be a lecture of…
Arts, OldVenue
Review: ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ at Norwich Theatre Royal
One unfortunate truth about theatre is that, unlike film and music, it rarely crosses the radar of those who don’t choose to seek it out. Even if you’re an avowed chart avoider, you’ve probably heard Happy and Fancy. If cinema does nothing for you, you’re still probably aware that Interstellar is currently filling seats across…
Features
No-shoe November
This week, Concrete spoke to someone you may have noticed around campus recently – second-year Jessica Bruce, who’s partaking in ‘No-Shoe November’ this month with two friends. What is it? Read our interview below for the facts… To start, what is ‘No-Shoe November’, and why are you taking part? No Shoe November is basically a…
Music
An interview with Jess Glynne
Jess Glynne, I am told, is not feeling too well, and therefore needs to postpone the interview for half an hour. Her ailment, which I learn is sheer exhaustion, comes as no surprise; in the sixth months since Rather Be debuted, Glynne has sung on two Number One hits, and played a constant rotation of…
Arts, OldVenue
Review: ‘Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense’ at the Norwich Theatre Royal
For the past week, Norwich Theatre Royal has hosted The Goodale Brothers’ Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense. The show, arriving for its Norwich stint direct from London’s West End, had clearly been eagerly anticipated by Tuesday’s opening night audience, and with good reason – the show received a Laurence Olivier Award for ‘Best New…
Arts, OldVenue
Stephen Fry at UEA’s Autumn Literary Festival
At 7pm this past Wednesday, October 9th, UEA’s campus was functioning as normal. The last dishes of the day were being served at the campus kitchen, the sun was setting over the lake. Crowds of sports teams filled the Blue Bar, hollering chants and call-and-response tunes at the top of their lungs while others, working…
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