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1 month ago | 
oxfordstudent.com | OxStu Culture |Cici Zhang
We were spinning into the darknessand the Earth was on fireShe can take it backShe can take it back, someday. âPink Floyd, âTake It Backâ1. Tenderness, for me, is watching Clarence Clemons kiss Bruce Springsteen on the mouth during the early E Street Band concerts. Two bulky, broad-shouldered men embrace each other with a ferocity that turns the air electric, a shared carnality found only in music.
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Jan 12, 2025 | 
oxfordstudent.com | OxStu Culture |Sophie Harrison
Three of my favourite authors happen to be Oxford alumni. One is Philip Pullman, whose alternative Oxford in His Dark Materials fascinated me as a child (and as a teenager, when I reread it).Then there is Frances Hardinge, the Costa award-winning author of The Lie Tree, and many other gothic, eccentric childrenâs books besides. And last but not least, Natasha Pulley, a predominantly historical fantasy writer who I discovered later on.
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Jan 11, 2025 | 
oxfordstudent.com | OxStu Culture |Grace Nelson
Last month marked the premiere of Sky Atlantic’s dark comedy drama miniseries Sweetpea, a show centred around the highly introverted Rhiannon (Ella Purnell) as her life enters a vicious downward spiral when her highschool bully Julia (Nicôle Lecky) returns to town to sell the home of Rhiannon’s recently-deceased father. Ella Purnell of Yellowjackets (2021—) and Fallout (2024—) fame shines as the show’s protagonist, perfectly encapsulating the wallflower character.
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
oxfordstudent.com | OxStu Culture |Charlie Stevens
As someone with a soft spot for fantasy, the fact that I’ve never read anything by Susanna Clarke until now remains a bit of a mystery to me. Clarke, who attended Oxford, is known for her bestselling debut novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004), which is an iconic historical-fantasy novel that I’ve heard many glowing reviews about (and definitely intend to read).
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Jan 9, 2025 | 
oxfordstudent.com | OxStu Culture |Sophie Harrison
The manuscript of Mauricewas discovered with the note: âPublishable, but worth it?â. Apparently, the author E.M. Forster concluded that it wasnât; for a novel openly about homosexuality â illegal at the time of writing in England of 1913-14 â the risk was too high. The novel remained hidden in a drawer for 57 years, and would only meet the public eye posthumously in 1971. Even then, reviews were mixed.
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Jan 8, 2025 | 
oxfordstudent.com | OxStu Culture |Sophie Harrison
TikTokâs BookTok niche has provided a platform for recommendations which has caused an explosion in literary sales and inspired a whole new generation of readers. The dominant place occupied by the romance genre within the BookTok sphere cannot escape notice; this includes offshoots like âdark romanceâ â which often has toxic or supernatural elements and ranges from It Ends With Us to Twilight â and âRomantasyâ.
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
oxfordstudent.com | OxStu Culture |Grace Nelson
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen some of the promotion for the upcoming Wicked (2024) movie, an on-screen adaptation of the beloved 2003 musical. The movie is star-studded, with Broadway legend Cynthia Erivo as the main character of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, alongside pop sensation Ariana Grande as Glinda the Good Witch.
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Dec 9, 2024 | 
oxfordstudent.com | OxStu Culture |Seth Saupin
There is no better way to round-off the term than with a Pilch show. At least, that’s what I assured myself as I entered the small black-box theatre with a terrible cold and little confidence I’d make it to the interval without a top-up of Lemsip. Despite this, I was looking forward to the performance. I’d not encountered Shakespeare Abridged before, but enjoyed its premise – the performance of every single Shakespeare play, by the Tatley-Wigginbottom Amateur Theatrics Society.
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Nov 25, 2024 | 
oxfordstudent.com | OxStu Culture |Grace Nelson
Welcome to the Semifinals week of the Great British Bake Off! At this point in the season, tensions are high as each of the four bakers fight for a spot in the Finals. Choose your fighter:Christiaan, 33: Infamous for his unorthodox flavours, this Dutch designer is here to dazzle your tastebuds. Dylan, 20: He may be the baby of the season, but donât underestimate him â Dylan never fails to collect Hollywood Handshakes.
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Nov 12, 2024 | 
oxfordstudent.com | OxStu Culture |Seth Saupin
Cici Zhang’s directorial take on Othellowas something I’d heard whispers of long before it came to fruition. Needless to say, the promise of table-top tangos in University College’s Great Hall, knife fights, musical interludes and fistfuls of polaroids flung at the audience piqued my curiosity. So, early that day, I’d sat in on one of the cast’s rehearsals to get a sense of what exactly I was going to be in for.
