The Beat Generation and the Call of the East
How the Beats inspired and foreshadowed the rise and fall of the Hippie Movement We are living in a spiritually confused and politically terrifying time. We are cut off from…
On Living Where Virginia Woolf Could Not
I was born on the same day Virginia Woolf was born.25 January. For many years, this felt like a literary coincidence, a slightly unsettling detail I would mention in passing,…
Non-fiction: Katie Mack – The End of Everything
It is not often that a book, within the first paragraph, will affirm to you that the earth will eventually (in 5 billion years) be destroyed by the sun (due…
Rise of Written Erotica: Prudish or Political
When I was 13, a classmate approached me and recommended I read A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR). Immediately, I was obsessed! The Tumblr fandom was thriving, the fan…
What Is the Environmental Footprint of Reading?
“You have to choose your battles” is what my friend said to me, as we spoke about the environmental impact of our respective lifestyles. “I agree,” I replied, “and reading…
Sedated by James Davies: How Modern Capitalism Shaped the Mental Health Crisis
In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became the UK’s first female Prime Minister, marking a historical shift in the British economic system. This change may be the culprit behind our dwindling mental…
Escapism Season: Why We Read Differently in Winter
As the term winds down and the evenings grow darker, many of us find ourselves reaching for books that feel familiar. After weeks of deadlines and late nights, there’s something…
In Defence of Banned Books
It is an undeniable truth that books hold an immense amount of power, especially when their subject matter contains controversial topics such as questioning authority, ‘inappropriate’ content, or uncensored historical…
Community at Sussex: The Sussex Big Read 2025
The Sussex Big Read 2025 is underway – with this year’s title, Brighton Bound: Stories of Moving To, Around and Out of the City, 1920s – 2020s, available at the…
Review Belonging by Umi Sinha
Belonging by Umi Sinha is a Sussex classic. The brainchild of a former Sussex lecturer, the book explores themes of identity, loss, and sense of self. Set between Brighton and…
Chloe Michelle Howarth Interview: Crafting Her New Novel
Chloe Michelle Howarth, the author of the sun-soaked debut Sunburn, returns with a chilling new novel, Heap Earth Upon It, transporting readers to a small Irish village in 1965. Where…
Norwegian Wood: Book Review
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, if described in concrete terms of characters and setting, seems rather uninteresting. A coming-of-age story set in Japan during the late 1960s, from the perspective…
Babe, You’re Not a Fig Tree!
It could be my own literary-driven algorithm, but everywhere I turn on social media, I keep seeing the same, often misconstrued, metaphor from Sylvia Plath. Esther, the disturbed heroine of…
Behind the Scenes at Kemptown Bookshop
Earlier this year, after gift shopping in the Lanes, I took a bus over to Kemptown to visit one of Brighton’s most established bookshops. With no essays due and the…
Mad Women and the Legacy of Female ‘Insanity’ in Literature
There is a particular kind of woman who appears, again and again, in literature: beautiful, untameable, and mad. She is Bertha in Jane Eyre, confined to an attic. She is…
From Pages to Person: How What We Read Changes Us
University isn’t just about lectures and deadlines, it’s also about the stories that stay with us. In this article, four Badger writers share the books they discovered during their time…
“A National Emergency”: Laura Bates and Gemma Cairney Confront the Digital War on Women
At University College London’s Brueni Gallery Theatre, the Wollstonecraft Society Lecture became a platform for one of the most urgent conversations of our time. In a powerful exchange with broadcaster…
Inside the Mind of Emma Jane Unsworth: An Unfiltered Conversation
Award-winning author Emma Jane Unsworth has returned with Slags. This bold and emotional new novel explores fractured sisterhood, the power of memory, and the evolution of female identity from adolescence…
The Price of Prestige: The Secret History and Academic Elitism
What if intelligence was not a virtue, but a weapon? At first glance Donna Tartt’s ‘The Secret History’ (TSH) is a thrilling murder mystery consisting of eccentric characters and their…
Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 Review
Absolutely Amazing – ★★★★ DC’s Absolute line of comics has so far been stellar, but their best comic may be here with Absolute Martian Manhunter. I shouldn’t have expected any…