John Burnside’s novel A Summer of Drowning takes us into the mind of Liv, a woman remembering the strange, possibly supernatural events of a summer ten years before. I was surprised to be so rapidly drawn into A Summer of Drowning, as I’ve never really warmed to Burnside’s poetry. The teenage Liv is a compelling ...
This Wednesday is Burns Night, a celebration of Robert Burns’ work which will be observed in detail (from Toast to the Lassies to Address to a Haggis) by people all over the world, including many of the 4.7 million Scots in Canada. Burns’ work travels. Auld Lang Syne is sung globally every New Year. He ...
Edited by Jill Dawson in 1992, The Virago Book of Wicked Verse is a collection of international, century-spanning work by women who have subverted the status quo. Sex and misery are the main topics, though they’re never represented the same way twice. Bawdy songs about impoverished prostitutes and compassionless poems about cruelty sit alongside childhood ...
The 1970s was a transitional decade. Less idealistic than the 60s, but without the unchecked conservatism of the 80s. Liz Lochhead’s collection of poetry written between 1967-1984 captures that spirit. Dreaming Frankenstein and Collected Poems is a personal, female examination of a time between naiveté and jadedness. It’s a ruthless look at gender politics and ...
So, we’re having this baby. It’s due in a few weeks and we’re trying to get organized with all...
I recently heard about what is claimed to be the rising phenomenon of Japanese men remaining virgins for longer...
Ladders. Patriarchal conspiracy. I’ll explain… This week I climbed a ladder. I was trying to reach a loft space,...
Dear Madame X, My boyfriend needs to look at porn while we have sex. It bothers me because I...
Mrs. Dalloway is yet another feminist classic that I had to grow into. Wrapped up in Woolf’s instantly recognizable...
Last week saw a Big Thing come to our soggy little island. Well, it was a Big Thing for...
Last weekend I was entertaining a guest, you know, the sort I was planning to have lots and lots...
All little girls want to be princesses… right?! It’s bad enough that toy aisles are separated out by what...
