MADE BY SEA AND WOOD, IN DARKNESS BY ALEXANDROS PLASATIS – REVIEW

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged abuse, Alexandros Plasatis, anthropology, consent, Egypt, featured, Greece, homophobia, humour, Kavala, literature, Made by Sea and Wood in Darkness, migration, misogyny, novel, police, review, sex, sexual hara, sexual violence, surrealism, trans, translation, violence, xenophobia.

By Carmina Masoliver

Content warning: references to and short descriptions of sexual harassment, sexual violence, xenophobia, homophobic & transphobic abuse.

Made by Sea and Wood, in Darkness, the debut novel by Alexandros Plasatis, weaves together a collage of stories that tell the experience of Egyptian immigrants in Greece through a variety of voices. The stories are primarily set in and around Café Papaya in Kavala, where Pavlo the waiter works nights, acting as both a main character and an observer of the Egyptian fishermen. In snapshots of a male underworld, violence dominates this narrative, as the central female character Angie the barmaid fights against being cast as a victim.

THE RIGHT TO RIDICULE: SATIRE AS PROTEST

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged accountability, boggart, Boris Johnson, Brexit, capitalism, Extinction Rebellion, featured, fields of wheat, Get Ready For Brexit, Grenfell tower, Have I Got News For You, humour, jacob rees-mogg, led by donkeys, Mock The Week, politicians, politics, power, propaganda, protest, rhetoric, right wing media, satire, The Mash Report, theresa may, Tories, TV, uk.

By Jess O’Dwyer

“There is a political power in laughing at these people.”

So say Led By Donkeys, a “Brexit accountability project” created by four friends who wanted to “[channel] frustration into action and [hold] politicians to account with a bit of humour.” The group go around the country putting up billboards with quotes or Tweets from pro-Brexit politicians, as well as projecting or broadcasting previous interviews on Brexit. This is to show a side-by-side comparison of their changes in stance, highlighting contradiction and hypocrisy.

EXTRACTING THE HITLER URINE

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Community, Inter|national and tagged antifa, Blues Brothers, Brexit, counterprotest, creative, EDL, fascism, featured, Hitler, humour, mocking, Nazi, norfolk, norwich, protest, punch nazis, racism, rally, ridicule, satire, slogans, Unity UK.

by Zoe Harding

Article contains strong language.

I went to a counter-protest last week.

Chances are you did too, if you’re reading this. The protest, by a group called Unity UK, was opposite the Norwich town hall and was probably against immigrants, although most of the people there seemed to think it was in favour of Brexit and one chap wanted to Drain The Swamp (an odd choice of slogan in a county that would be little more than Thetford and a lot of dry mud if we drained it, but I digress.) The counter-protest, on the other hand, was a who’s who of Norwich’s local lefties, turning up with drums, flags, megaphones and a generally good-natured if slightly intense demeanor, to stand opposite them and drown them out.Continue Reading

ELLIOT AND ELIOTT NEED FRIENDS – TESTING THE WATER AT THE BIRDCAGE

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged Alexander Oliver, Brighton fringe, comedian, comedy, Elliot and Eliott, Elliot and Eliott Need Friends, Elliot Simpson, Elliot Wengler, featured, humour, stand up, stand up comedy, the birdcage, tinder.

by Eli Lambe

In preparation for their upcoming show at Brighton fringe, Eliott Simpson and Elliot Wengler took the stage armed with their Tinder profiles – to proposition the audience for friendship. Closing a mixed bag of a night, their set contained some much needed reminders of how comedy can work without the tired, “edgy” humour that so often seems to haunt the stand-up world and which, in my mind, ruined so many of the night’s previous performances.

BILL MAHER: A JOKE

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged audience, bill maher, comedy, debate, free speech, history, host, humour, Ice Cube, John Oliver, joke, language, late night show, media, PC, politics, power, privilege, punchline, race, racism, Real Time, Samantha Bee, sarcasm, slur, Stephen Colbert, Symone Sanders, talk show, taste, Trevor Noah, US.

by Richard Worth

CW: discussion of racial slur

Twiglets, I have an unusual and likely unhealthy relationship with twiglets. Everything about them disgusts me. Their burnt and bitter flavour, their odd withered and gnarled appearance and the quantity in which I consume them. Likewise, I have an unusual and likely unhealthy relationship with Bill Maher and his show Real Talk.

REVIEW: UNDERPASS – UEA UNDERGRADUATE CREATIVE WRITING ANTHOLOGY

Posted on June 3, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Student and tagged Angela Carter, anthology, cliché, creative writing, Edgar Allan Poe, EggBox Press, event, Fight Club, gothic, H P Lovecraft, horror, humour, launch, LDC, literature, norwich, poetry, prose, review, short story, story, student, teen fantasy, Tyler Durden, UEA, Underpass, University of East Anglia, writin, writing.

by Eli Lambe

The Underpass Anthology launch was a real testament to the work and co-operation evident in the newly student-run EggBox publishers – a packed celebration of new talent and potential, and a true contribution to the uniquely welcoming and encouraging style of the Norwich arts scene.

The anthology itself worked in the same way, amplifying both familiar and new voices, and bringing them together in a truly collaborative and beautiful book. The experimental and the traditional complement each other, and every writer and editor involved should feel immensely proud of themselves.Continue Reading

STRIPTEASE: ADMIRATION FOR SATIRICAL CARTOON

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged artist, arts, caricature, cartoon, cartooning, Charlie Hedbo, Colbert, comics, commentary, free speech, funny, humour, illustration, jeremy corbyn, joke, laugh, media, politicians, politics, power, representation, satire, Steve Bell, strip, theresa may, turkey, vulgar.

by Richard Worth

If you have read my work here at The Norwich Radical and elsewhere (shameless self-promotion, I know) it should be apparent that I enjoy satire. And as reality subtly blends in a dystopian crap-scape, one of the very few plus sides is that the satire game is booming. In addition to the plethora of late night hosts to match personal preference (Colbert does it for me) keeping us informed and helping us to laugh instead of cry, the humble illustration has been holding a mirror up to the corrupt, the cruel, and the incompetent and making them look ridiculous, and they know it.Continue Reading

REVIEW: ROWENA KNIGHT’S ALL THE FOOTPRINTS I LEFT WERE RED

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged #readwomen, artivism, arts, book, Cadaverine, creative writing, Dorothy Parker, Enid Blyton, feminist, food, gender, humour, immigrant, language, Magma, metaphor, migration, New Zealand, personal, poetry, review, rhyme, Rialto, She Grrrowls, sound, teenage, terminal illness, vegetarian, woman, women, women poets, women writers, writing.

by Carmina Masoliver

Rowena Knight has been making waves both in terms of poetry on the page (including Magma, Cadaverine and The Rialto) and on the stage, being a regular at poetry nights across London, as well as a team member of She Grrrowls. Self-identifying ‘Feminist Killjoy’, the collection deals with becoming a woman and growing up as an immigrant from New Zealand as a teenager.Continue Reading

REVIEW: AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES, BY JOHN GREEN

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged ableism, adaptation, an abundance of katherines, author, bestseller, book, colin, dehumanisation, dialogue, entitlement, expectations, fault in our stars, film, hassan, humour, John Green, language, literature, love, makeup, meditation, mysogyny, okay, reading, relationship, review, romance, sexism, tampons, teen, teenagers, travel, writing, YA fiction.

by Carmina Masoliver

I picked this book up on my travels from a Silent Meditation Retreat in Ubud, Bali. Reading a good book is like meditation for those of us whose minds won’t shut up. It’s something I know I should do more, especially as an English Literature graduate and as a writer. But in the age of social media, I find myself clicking on different articles deep into the night instead. That said, a good writer will keep you hooked enough to pull you away from such distractions.

I had read John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars, which rightfully brought him to critical acclaim (as well as a film deal). An Abundance of Katherines was first published ten years ago, but is seeing a revival now that Green is a bestselling author. I felt excited to start reading it, and I enjoyed it so much that I made sure I had a copy waiting for me when I returned home, in between jetting off to Spain, where I’m now living.Continue Reading

THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL: A REVIEW OF TRIBUTE ACTS

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Community and tagged art, arts, bill clinton, bleak, Brexit, Community, creative writing, crisis, daughter, disenchanted, drama, father, humour, new art, norfolk, norwich, Norwich Arts Centre, parenting, parents, personal, Philip Larkin, poetry, political, politics, review, theatre, theatre review, theatrestate, tony blair, tribute acts, women, women writers.

by Hannah Rose

Tribute Acts is a bittersweet piece of autobio-theatre written and performed by Tess Seddon and Cheryl Gallacher from Theatrestate. Set against a space-age backdrop, Tess and Cheryl introduce their fathers via a pre-recorded video link. The dads look uncomfortable in their suits and ties. Their daughters are wearing spacesuits. The gulf between parent and child is obvious, and the unease is palpable.

humour

THE RIGHT TO RIDICULE: SATIRE AS PROTEST

EXTRACTING THE HITLER URINE

ELLIOT AND ELIOTT NEED FRIENDS – TESTING THE WATER AT THE BIRDCAGE

BILL MAHER: A JOKE

REVIEW: UNDERPASS – UEA UNDERGRADUATE CREATIVE WRITING ANTHOLOGY

STRIPTEASE: ADMIRATION FOR SATIRICAL CARTOON

REVIEW: ROWENA KNIGHT’S ALL THE FOOTPRINTS I LEFT WERE RED

REVIEW: AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES, BY JOHN GREEN

THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL: A REVIEW OF TRIBUTE ACTS

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