Latest Entries
The importance of making up stories for kids
The benefits of reading books to children are well known, but making up stories for and with them is the pinnacle of care and teaching. The good news is, it isn’t about telling a perfect story. Instead, it’s about giving interactive attention to the children, creating memories, passing on morals and culture that are important … Continue reading
You kicked in the middle of a global pandemic
And you kicked… Just as the applause for the NHS workers began to rise Pitter patters Accompanying the fireworks in the sky And you kicked In the middle of a global pandemic As sanctions crushed the earth which dreamt you into existence As healthcare workers battled to save lives & workers walked out factory gates, … Continue reading
Talent isn’t “in the testicles” – Leonora Carrington: Surrealist paintings and quotes
Her painting technique is a bit rougher, and her paintings overall are darker, but that isn’t why we study Salvador Dali in school instead of another surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington. Dali once said “talent is in the balls” to explain why there were no female painters with the same stature as Michelangelo. He was part … Continue reading
In the Netflix / social media era, is it really necessary to read fiction books?
When I can settle down into a book, I feel like someone who has been running frantically for days and is finally home. Reading is one of the most fulfilling things I do, and it is easy – no transport or planning necessary. Yet after a long, exhausting day of work, I often find that … Continue reading
Art that confronts imperialism
“There aren’t poor and rich countries, there are countries that have been enriched thanks to the impoverishment of other countries,” wrote Rafael del Castillo. But there is a shyness, today (along with a lot of denial) to talk about imperialism. Much of the mainstream media would prefer to see any wars, violence, poverty, and human … Continue reading
The destructive myth of the objective journalist
The existence of objective or neutral journalists is a myth, and those who claim to revere such journalism are only attempting to justify an absence of context and depth in coverage and are elevating pro-status-quo journalism. Male sports journalists tend to know the sport they cover well and feel passionate about it, but when it … Continue reading
Writing for liberation exercise: go further than you can go
Have you ever noticed that when you write that first get-it-off-your-chest draft of a poem or story, it’s often the last bit that has the gems in it? When we first start writing, we’re often not sure where we want to take something, or what it is exactly that we’re trying to say, but the … Continue reading
Against the odds: Kamala Ibrahim Ishaq
Being an artist, writer, musician, teacher, journalist, or other professions involves a lifetime of learning and a never-ending-journey. Perhaps no one understands this better than Kamala Ibrahim Ishaq, who graduated from the College of Fine Arts in Khartoum in 1963 and was a founding member of the Khartoum School, a modern art movement established in … Continue reading
Writing for liberation exercise: The shapes of things
“The shape of power … is a tree. Root to tip, central trunk branch and re-branching … the shape of power is the outline of a living thing straining outward, sending its fine tendrils a little further and a little further,” wrote Naomi Alderman in The Power. Have a think about Alderman’s description of what … Continue reading
A poem for when we watch injustice like a captive audience
We Lived Happily during the War And when they bombed other people’s houses, we protested but not enough, we opposed them but not enough. I was in my bed, around my bed America was falling: invisible house by invisible house by invisible house— I took a chair outside and watched the sun. In the sixth … Continue reading
How to rid your search results of unreliable and low-grade content + list of sites to block
Sometimes you have to click through to the forth of fifth page of Google results to get past the content-farmed sites and unhelpful Quora pages, and it’s starting to get really annoying. What’s particularly concerning is that the average web user won’t go past the first five search results – meaning that corporate sponsored content … Continue reading
