On October 7th, Lauren Groff kicked off UEA Live by discussing her latest novel Matrix, a finalist for the 2021 National Book Awards. Matrix is a historical fiction novel reimagining the 12th century poet Marie de France as a queer, visionary leader. Groff has a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction, four published novels,…
Books
Halloween Read: This Book was Written in 1796 and, Reader, I am Scandalised
‘This book made me blush,’ someone said in my seminar at nine o’clock on a Monday morning, ‘and I haven’t felt anything in two years.’ This week, as part of a module called ‘Dark Romanticism’, we read a book called The Monk. Hailed as one of the most important Gothic novels of the Georgian period,…
Books
UEA’s Undergraduate Creative Writing Anthology launching virtually on June 25th
The Egg Box Publishing Society, the UEA Publishing Project’s student-led imprint, is holding an online launch event for 2021’s Undergraduate anthology entitled Under & Over. The anthology contains work solely by UEA Undergraduate students who have studied a Creative Writing module during the current academic year. In the anthology’s introduction, Egg Box president Emma Seager…
Books
Review: ‘The Beat Goes On’ (The complete Rebus short stories) by Ian Rankin
For many people, a long novel is a treat. But I’ve often found it hard to get through larger books, so when I was recommended to read Ian Rankin for my dissertation, I was a little bemused. Did I really have time to be reading all these books? When I found out about ‘The Beat…
Books
Explicit sex scenes in fiction: important or unnecessary?
Content Warning: brief allusions to sexual assault Readers generally have a problem with sex scenes in fiction and, often, rightly so. It seems to be that poorly written sex scenes are the rule rather than the exception, as demonstrated by the Literary Review’s annual Bad Sex in Fiction Award. The judges cancelled the 2020 prize-giving,…
Books
“There is nothing”: the need for LGBTQ+ representation in fiction
I chose it, if I’m honest, for its size. Sitting in a quiet coffee shop in Valencia, sheltered from the midday sun, I opened one of the few books written in English that I could find in a nearby bookshop – Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life. Sipping an iced coffee, I began to read. Hours…
Creative Writing
Beyond Serenity
“This is the first day of your freedom, kid.” His voice was tender, warm even. The layer of humour softened the blow that this was the end of an era and the start of another. But an icy surface covered the heartfelt, blithe sentiment. The words were familiar. Not in a homely sense, but rather…
Books, Venue
Leaving a fictional character’s identity ambiguous: harmful or helpful?
Genuine representation in literature has been a debated topic for a while now. We all (hopefully) agree representation is important for the voices of minority groups to be acknowledged, heard, and related to, but the technicalities of carrying this out are often contested. When it comes to the explicit representation of identities, readers tend to…
#BLM, Books
Fiction against racism
Race, racism, and racial injustice continue to stain the fabric of our society, as they have done for many years. As they do, the importance of education as a tool to recognise, comprehend and dismantle racism, as well as its associated institutions, has moved to the forefront of conversations surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement….
Latest Comments