POLITICS & CULTURE – THE AMIEL & MELBURN SEMINAR 2017

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Inter|national and tagged 7 Days, academia, access, activism, alpha male, alt-right, alternative media, Annie Kelly, anti-feminism, art, Athina Karatzogianni, Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust, Chardine Taylor-Stone, class, corruption, critique, culture, culture war, curricula, digital culture, direct action, disillusionment, economics, education, fake news, far right, fascism, feminism, feminist allies, future generations, GE17, higher education, history, holding power to account, ideology, inequality, inheritance, Jo Littler, Judies, knowledge, language, mainstream media, male psyche, marxism, media representation, meritocracy, Michael Rustin, Milo Yiannopolous, Mod, Mod women, modernity, music, neo nazi, neoliberalism, peer-pressure, politics, Politics & Culture Seminar, politics of difference, progress, progress narrative, progressive media, public education, punk, Punk women, representation, Rhian E Jones, right wing, Rosalind Delmar, Roshi Naidoo, Skinhead, Skinhead women, social exclusion, social media, social mobility, socialism, society, strike action, subcultures, talent, Teddy Girls, tenant strike, trust, universities, working class movement, young people, Zahra Dalilah.

by Gunnar Eigener and Rowan Gavin

CW: mentions misogyny, anti-feminism, neo-nazism

Earlier this month, a writer and an editor from the Radical took part in the Amiel & Melburn Trust’s annual residential seminar. The Trust’s aims are “to advance public education, learning and knowledge in all aspects of the philosophy of Marxism, the history of socialism, and the working-class movement’. This year, the topic of the seminar was ‘Politics & Culture’, and the various intertwinings and intersections thereof. What follows are thoughts and reactions about the seminar from our contributors.

REVIEW: THE POWER, BY NAOMI ALDERMAN

Posted on May 6, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged #readwomen, arts, binary, book, books, cis, cisgender, cissexism, commercial, critique, erasure, fiction, gender roles, gender violence, gender-identity, identity, inequality, lens, Naomi Alderman, narrative, novelisation, nuance, parody, reversal, review, scifi, speculative fiction, The Power, writing.

by Eli Lambe

The Power is a profoundly affecting read. In it, Naomi Alderman envisions a switching of roles and of power dynamics, deftly parodying and reflecting back the ways in which we justify, enforce and understand gender roles.

It asks the question: “What if women were stronger than men; What if men had to be afraid of women?” and follows its core characters – Roxy, the daughter of a British crime boss; Tunde, a Nigerian journalist; Allie, an American foster kid who escapes an abusive household; and Margot, an American Mayor trying to balance her city in the wake of this sudden shift, and protect her daughters Jocelyn and Maddie – as the world progresses towards “Cataclysm.” Continue Reading

REVIEW – EMILY HARRISON’S ‘I CAN’T SLEEP ‘CAUSE MY BED’S ON FIRE’

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged #readwomen, arts, BAR, book, Burn After Reading, Burning Eye Books, Carol Ann Duffy, characters, Chardonnay, class, collection, creative writing, critique, domestic violence, Emily Harrison, extrovert, feminism, feminist, gender, home, humour, interview, Jenn Hart, literature, Lolita, love, mental health, page, performance, poem, poet, poetry, Pulp, review, She Grrrowls, stage, TV, Vinnie Jones, women writers, writing.

by Carmina Masoliver

I have seen Emily Harrison share her work countless times at Burn After Reading events, and at my own night, She Grrrowls. She never fails to amaze me in the way she is able to articulate herself, speaking out about mental health issues – amongst other subjects – interwoven with links to gender and class. When I read lines about imaging someone loves you ‘when you simply asked/during a routine blood test, ‘Emily, how are you doing today?’ I sort of imagine she’s what I would be like if I were an extrovert.

The first couple of poems are familiar to me, and it’s hard not to picture Harrison on stage delivering these words, because as much as it’s incredible to be able to read the pieces, seeing them live is an important part of the way the text works, as it tends to be with Burning Eye Books – the go-to publisher for writers who refuse to remain on one side of the page/stage divide.Continue Reading

REVIEW: THE HOLLOW OF THE HAND

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged abortion, Afghanistan, air strike, book, book launch, celebrity, collaboration, critique, feminism, festival, Grimes, inequality, lady gaga, literature, lyrics, music, musician, photography, PJ Harvey, poetry, report, review, Seamus Murphy, song, travel, war, women writers.

by Carmina Masoliver

On 9th and 10th October, the Royal Festival Hall played host to the premier of ‘The Hollow of the Hand’ – a collaboration between musician PJ Harvey and photographer-filmographer Seamus Murphy. It was essentially a book launch, but it will also be a project that includes a film to be released next year. It’s a relatively new breed of art, with politics at its heart, where reportage and art combine to create a particular type of documentary where the genre is combined with artistic photography/videography, poetry, and music.

The project saw Harvey and Murphy travel to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Washington DC. Murphy stated that they went to these countries without any agenda, without a particular message they wished to convey. It appeared Murphy enjoyed going down the road less travelled, and cited a chicken coop in Kosovo as an example of the kinds of places he liked to visit, and was glad Harvey felt the same way.Continue Reading

critique

REVIEW: THE POWER, BY NAOMI ALDERMAN

REVIEW – EMILY HARRISON’S ‘I CAN’T SLEEP ‘CAUSE MY BED’S ON FIRE’

REVIEW: THE HOLLOW OF THE HAND

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