Clarissa Hard is an academic and writer based in Oxford
Lit in Colour, a campaign launched by Penguin and the Runnymede Trust to diversify English literature, has recently released its five-year progress report. ‘Diversity’ for this campaign doesn’t mean diversity of thought, style, genre, poetic form or historical period, however. It refers to promoting writers on the basis of their BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority
As Iranians revolt against the brutal Islamic theocracy that has throttled their civilisation since 1979, striking images of young Persian women have been circulating online. They are lighting cigarettes by burning photographs of Ayatollah Khamenei. With their insouciant attitude, tumbles of curls, kohl-lined eyes and lolling fags, they could be on the cover of an
Despite the pyrotechnic glories of London’s New Year fireworks, 2026 started off with a whimper rather than a bang. The display, organised by Sadiq Khan and the Greater London Authority, was painfully predictable, trotting out the usual tired clichés about England as a global melting pot and diversity as the jewel in the nation’s crown.
Christmas is traditionally a time of joy, merriment and peace on Earth. Not so in the little town of Erbach, Germany, this year, where depraved individuals destroyed a living nativity scene, tortured two donkeys, vandalised and looted the Christmas market, and proceeded to smash up and defecate in a nearby Protestant church. Tidings of comfort indeed. No luck
When faced with mortal peril, the average member of the British public might prefer to defend themselves with something more robust than a bottle of whiskey. Last Saturday, passengers on board a train found themselves in this dire predicament. The ‘frail / Travelling coincidence’ – as Philip Larkin described the same journey through Doncaster to
Alex Lloyd, a former teacher and head of sixth form in Bournemouth, has been drummed out of the profession for making remarks that many would find intemperate, even insulting, but few would seriously call career-ending. In 2022, Lloyd led a PSHE lesson on so-called ‘honour’ killings. When two pupils giggled during his lesson, he shouted
Defenders of free expression can breathe a collective sigh of relief. Hamit Coskun – the man who burnt a Quran outside the Turkish Consulate in London in February and was found guilty of a ‘religiously aggravated public order offence’ – had his conviction overturned at Southwark Crown Court on Friday. People are still scared to
