Villain Era: How Boy Parts by Eliza Clark Exposes the Trend of Readers’ Craving Unlikeable Female Characters
From Small-Town China to Photographing Raye for British Vogue: An Interview with Jean Yuzheng
If you’ve been at a gig recently, you might’ve spotted Jean and her camera at the front, dancing along, snapping away. You might be one of the many people who’ve seen her images on her Instagram feed (@jeanyuzhengart) or in British Vogue. The images she captures feel like moments: subjects are caught in various states of in-between-ness, like you could touch the screen or print or whatever vessel you’re viewing it on and the image would play, teeming with energy that threatens to spill out and pool in your palms…
Entering My Villain Era: How ‘Boy Parts’ by Eliza Clark Exposes a Wider Trend of Readers’ Cravings for Unlikeable Female Characters
So why is this phenomenon happening now? Why is the world so starved for messy, toxic, unlikeable women in their novels? There has long been a lack of balance between male and female characters in the mainstream media and literary canon. Name any ‘must watch’ film or ‘must read’ book and it is most likely that the main character of said book or film will be a man…
This Woman Writes: An Interview with Eva Verde
Eva Verde is a writer from East London. Her debut novel, Lives Like Mine, was published by Simon and Schuster in 2021. They are also publishing her new novel, In Bloom, which was recently released on 31st August 2023. As a working-class woman of dual heritage, her prose deals with themes of identity, class and female rage…
This Woman Writes: An Interview with Uju Asika
Uju is the author of Bringing Up Race: How to Raise a Kind Child in a Prejudiced World. Her latest book, Raising Boys Who Do Better, was published on June 1, 2023 by DK. A former journalist, Uju’s work has featured in The Guardian, Salon.com, Time Out and the Daily Times Nigeria. Her poetry is published in select literary anthologies including the landmark collection IC3: The Penguin Anthology of New Black Writing in Britain…
Kick-Ass Creatives: An Interview with Forbes Listed Creative Director Jolene Delisle
Jolene Delisle is the Founder and Creative Director of the branding and creative agency The Working Assembly. It’s been an upward trajectory for her: she’s a Founding Member of Chief, she joined Dreamers & Doers as an Executive Member, spoke at HOW Design Live, was a Design Judge for The Drum, and Judge for the AICP Next Awards. In 2023, she became a Board Member of Type Directors Club. To top it all off, she even owns her own ice cream shop, Cherries (we’re very jealous)…
Kick-Ass Creatives: An Interview with Award-Winning Associate Creative Director, Olivia Downing
Copywriting, as with any type of writing, is a craft. The difference is, rather than writing as yourself, you’re sort of a method actor – stepping into the shoes and tone of the brands you work for to convey the right messages for them. That’s why it's so important to read a lot as a creative writer – not just books on advertising, but newspapers, comics, tabloids, classic literature. All of it. The more tonalities you can put into your mental toolkit, the more you can flex your tone and style in your job…
Splintered Selves: A Look at Loneliness and Loss of Community in the 21st Century
We have been underestimating loneliness due to failing definitions, and twice over due to stigma, believing loneliness to suggest a personal failure rather than a consequence of life circumstance or a reflection of our society…
The Yassification of Jane Austen: Is Film and Television Studios Trying to ‘Girlbossify’ this Classic Author a Bad Thing?
Anyone who enjoys a) the work of Jane Austen and b) films and shows where people wear funny trousers and declare their love for one another a lot will be aware of Netflix’s recent adaptation of Persuasion. Experimental takes on the much-adapted work of Austen are sometimes considered a welcome innovation, but to call the response to director Carrie Cracknell’s film divided would be generous. Viewers seem baffled by her take on the classic novel…
A Lolita for the Twenty-First Century: Revisiting Nabokov’s Classic in the MeToo Era
It often feels like female characters fall into two categories: the ingenue or the whore. Female characters are either a princess – innocent and naive, existing to be fallen in love with – or they are a witch, existing to thwart the ingenue. The women we are supposed to root for are virginal, whereas the villainous women are the opposite…
Ten Books Written by Transgender Authors You Should Read
Trans people, especially black trans women, are increasingly vulnerable across the globe. In order to support the trans community, it is important to first listen to trans voices. One way to do this is by reading books written by trans authors. The following is a (non-exhaustive) list of books written by trans and non-binary writers, with books written by black trans authors highlighted in bold…