The Poetry Pharmacy: making poetry more accessible
When was the first time you encountered poetry? Perhaps it was within the realms of the classroom. Laboriously studying whether Sonnet 29 was written in iambic pentameter, tediously counting foot…
The role of literature in unlocking empathy
In school, the many benefits of reading were often preached, and the one that always stuck out to me the most was the argument that reading fiction increases empathy. It…
Rebutting the brooding Swede
As winter threatens with increasing menace, literary inspiration may soon turn to ideas of a lonely detective marching through deep midwinter, bemoaning the latest grisly murder to have occurred within…
The art of historical retellings
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is set during the Greek Heroic Age. It portrays the romance between Achilles, a god-born child to a king, and Patroclus, an exiled…
The Rise of Book Bans and Why We Should Be Concerned
A recent rise in book bans in American public schools is the latest issue on the agenda of the culture war in the United States. This is according to a…
The Book that Defined our Generation
Generation Z has been raised on many books, but perhaps the most prevalent genre to this generation is Young Adult Dystopian Literature. More specifically, The Hunger Games trilogy. Now, why…
Poets’ Corner: the best spoken word nights in Edinburgh
Edinburgh has been a hot spot for poetry since Aneirin composed the Y Gododdin in the Dark Ages. Poets plaster the city, from the Scott Monument on Princes Street to…
Examining the ‘whodunit’ plot line
The concept of a ‘whodunit’ (who has done it?) storyline dictates that the main focus be on the nature of the crime and who has committed it. These novels tend…