Life is a struggle when your past self is a stranger
My father has the most impressive memory I have ever encountered.
Tinker Tailor Student Spy
Sunflower lanyard hijacking hurts everyone
Sunflower lanyard hijacking hurts everyone
You may have seen one — a green and yellow sunflower-bedazzled lanyard hung casually around the neck of someone sitting on the bus or pushing a trolley around the supermarket. Perhaps the lanyard...
Anxious times, unable to come home
Anxious times, unable to come home
Two Saturdays ago, while collecting firewood in the back garden, my 65-year-old father collapsed from a heart attack. He was found by my little brother Jack, who alerted my mother, who then called...
Human death need not cause environmental harm
Human death need not cause environmental harm
I love cemeteries. I don’t mean this in a creepy, early-2000s-emo kind of way; I don’t drape myself in diaphanous dresses and wander pensively around, musing on Poe’s dark verses.
Better to be an imperfect ally of the disabled than not try at all
Better to be an imperfect ally of the disabled than not try at all
If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me “but you don’t look sick!” I would be a rich woman. Unless one encounters me in the morning, before I’ve put on makeup and had my coffee, I look...
Opinion: Weight loss device deeply dehumanising
Weight loss device deeply dehumanising
I was scrolling through Twitter the other day, as I am wont to do when a thesis is due and I lack the energy or motivation to write said thesis, when I came upon a photo of an alarming medieval torture device on my timeline.
Writer captures gems from ‘the soul’s dialogue with itself’
Writer captures gems from ‘the soul’s dialogue with itself’
Last year, while working for The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), I ran a number of poetry, writing, and art competitions.
Categories helpful but should not define us
Categories helpful but should not define us
As a teenager, I was known by my family as "the hermit" due to my propensity for hiding out in my room outside of mealtimes, avoiding all church social gatherings, and disappearing as soon as...
Time to change how we value ourselves and the things we do
Time to change how we value ourselves and the things we do
It's that time of year again, when the days are longest, the sunshine brightest, and we are encouraged to reflect on the past year. 2021 is just around the corner, but before we list out our...
The quest for beauty has afflicted humanity through the ages
The quest for beauty has afflicted humanity through the ages
It wasn’t until I felt the sharp sting of lemon juice trickling down into my eye that I realised had made a terrible mistake.
Conversion therapy unethical
Conversion therapy unethical
I was heartened the other day to hear Labour announce that, if re-elected, it will ban conversion therapy and make it a criminal offence to advertise, offer or perform the awful practice.
The saddest words: what might have been
The saddest words: what might have been
Today, September 24, 2020, marks six years since my brother John passed away.
Cannot leave statues as they stand
Cannot leave statues as they stand
All across the globe, statues commemorating the inglorious dead are toppling, writes Jean Balchin.
A lament for Oluwatoyin Salau
A lament for Oluwatoyin Salau
For this week’s column, Jean Balchin decided to ‘‘pass the mic’’ to dear friend and fellow Rhodes Scholar, Mimi Alyce Borders, who has penned this article in response to the murder of Oluwatoyin Salau, a young black woman from Tallahassee, Florida.
Pandemic affects the vulnerable differently
Pandemic affects the vulnerable differently
By the time this article is printed, New Zealand will be in lockdown just as we are in the United Kingdom.
In the future, how will we be remembered?
In the future, how will we be remembered?
This past Sunday, the University of Otago’s Richardson building hosted a brilliant light show, exploring how the Victorians grappled with a world in transition.
Weinstein conviction not enough
Weinstein conviction not enough
Earlier this week, seemingly momentous news broke — disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein was finally found guilty of sexual assault.
Novels succeed without ostentatious writing
Novels succeed without ostentatious writing
‘‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’’
We must confront idols’ flaws
We must confront idols’ flaws
It had started to rain when I heard about Kobe Bryant’s death.
Behind true crime’s appeal
Behind true crime’s appeal
I was in the pub the other night with a few friends after a particularly strenuous rock climbing session when my friend Sebastian told me to close my eyes.