Eyewitness to History: the PLO Member Who Became an Ambassador
By Yasmin Soltan




By Yasmin Soltan
Yasmin is a BA media and communications student in her second year. While being ethnically Egyptian, she was born and raised in the UAE, until she moved to the UK almost 7 years ago. She is currently specializing in journalism and her interests are international politics, cultural issues and filmmaking.
Edited By Louis Chapman
Do It In 10 Weeks: Creative Writing in Media
by Serena Savini
Having gone through this process twice already, I will attempt to give an account of exactly how things go in these classes, and hopefully give you an idea of whether this type of process will work for you...
Having gone through this process twice already, I will attempt to give an account of exactly how things go in these classes, and hopefully give you an idea of whether this type of process will work for you.
Stage One- Ideas
Of course, this is where you start. And this, unfortunately, is the step that cannot be streamlined or rationalised. On the very first day, we raise the question: where do ideas come from? The answer, unfortunately is: anywhere. This is not particularly helpful, I admit. So mostly the solution is to pay attention, when you’re on the bus, or in the shower, or procrastinating on essays. And then write it down.
What you have to do: bring three ideas to class.
What you can expect: writing exercises, smelling incense, listening to curious music, and attempting to get inspired. With varying results.
Stage Two - Character Profiles
Profiles come when you already have an idea of what the players in your story will be, but still aren’t sure exactly what makes them tick.
They take different forms, and you can expect to discuss these in class. Interviews are very common: sometimes you learn the most about your characters just by asking yourself questions.
Stage Three - Outlines
Whether you will develop outlines for all three of your ideas, or just the one you are definitely going to pursue is both up to you and your tutor. They might only require one, but you might be unsure, or torn between two ideas. You still have time, at this point.
If you’ve ever attempted any writing at all, you might know that the creative process is deeply personal, and varies from person to person.
Which is why it’s particularly hard to devise a plan that will fit a class of fifteen different people, all with different interests, tempers and styles.Regardless, if you plan on joining any creative writing class, that is what awaits you.
Here in the Media Department at Goldsmiths – speaking from a Media and English degree perspective – we must do it in ten weeks.
The good thing about outlining, is that this is the point where you start to get feedback. Your classmates are there to point out the bits that seem to make no sense, and give you further ideas. Truly great things (and not-so-great things, and absolutely bizarre things) have sprung out from these sessions. I can’t promise you won’t want to kill your classmates at any given time, but I also never promised this would be a painless process.
Stage Four - First Draft
The good news is: in the words of American novelist Jane Smiley, ‘all the first draft has to do is exist.’ This is not going to save you from critique from your tutor and your classmates, but it is good to keep it in mind while writing. I found, myself, that turning off my inner editor while writing is often the only way to get to the end.
Depending on how things work for your year and your class, you might have a month or you might have a week to churn out your first draft.
What you’ll have to do: read lots, write a report on other drafts, take good notes.
Stage Five - Even More Drafts
Feedback sessions from the first draft can be really helpful, but also really confusing. At this point, you can write a second, or third draft. Unless you’re very lucky and your piece is already perfect.
One thing to look forward to: dramatic group readings. Especially if someone wrote a comedy script.
by Serena Savini
Having gone through this process twice already, I will attempt to give an account of exactly how things go in these classes, and hopefully give you an idea of whether this type of process will work for you...
The Hunger Games: What Does It Mean to be a Woman in Today’s Dystopias?
By Melanie Smith
Too often, I believe, people when reading books, watching TV, or analyzing films only focus on one strong female role/lead. Whether this is because it's so rare that there's an appearance of such strong female roles that it commands undue attention...
Too often, I believe, people when reading books, watching TV, or analyzing films only focus on one strong female role/lead. Whether this is because it's so rare that there's an appearance of such strong female roles that it commands undue attention, or whether it is simply because it's often easier to look at just one character – the protagonist – rather than undertaking a broader analysis, I'm not sure. It's probably both.
When this idea first struck me, I thought immediately of The Hunger Games, a series which, for me, provoked a lot of thought about what “strong” femininity actually means to people in today’s world. Broad reaching issues are discussed, inevitably under much scrutiny; The Hunger Games has become a very treasured piece of popular culture. However, what culture, exactly, is Suzanne Collins’ series cultivating, criticizing and down-right mocking?
Femininity? Violence? War? Oppression? Power constraints? Police brutality? Romance? The Media? All equally valid themes to debate and discuss when discussing character types and experience.
With more and more women and men alike participating actively in debates around gender representation, women’s and trans' lives, and socio-economic feminist issues around the world, Panem – the fictional state in which Katniss Everdeen survives a life of persecution, torture, and near death on several occasions – was always a going to be a place surrounded by criticism, passion and creative debate from its audience of over 90 million.
Ironically, however, the Hunger Games series (now a Hollywood blockbuster and franchise) mocks exactly what it became: the dystopic reality of people –audience members – so fixated on entertaining themselves through pop-culture and TV (on what the subjects they are watching wear, the colour of their skin, their class, their make-up, and their age) that it almost becomes a distraction from their own, mundane, privileged realities.
Indeed, Suzanne Collins admitted in an interview after her trilogy’s world-wide best-seller success that she had been inspired to write the books after watching reality TV programmes.
Of course, now, aside from representations of the protagonist’s role as a powerful, yet oppressed and subjected, tortured and damaged character, there must be more debate centred around other female characters in the novels, of which there are many, most of whom you would consider to be “strong”.
But what do we mean when we say “strong female”? This is, of course, a very loose definition, an umbrella category for the sort of person feminists want representing their community. Katniss Everdeen, thankfully, and refreshingly, was. She fought a battle to defend and save her family and her community, she chose to protect more than one opponent that she easily could have killed, edging her nearer to winning the games, she flagrantly mocked audiences in the Capitol (including President Snow), who watched her on TV; and become an emblem for revolution in Panem.
All of this is impressive, and shows the kind of courage and initiative usually associated with a male hero. Indeed, the issues around today’s pre-futuristic feminist ideals still surface in both the books and the films. Katniss was subjected to wearing make-up for her debut TV appearance for the first time as a poor hunter-gatherer from district 12. Dolled up, a highly dramatized team of designers, make-up artists, hair-dressers gathered around her and cut off her body hair, exfoliated her skin and emphasized her bust in dark, fiery dresses.
Collins discussed all of these issues boldly and cleverly, never quite letting us forget that a character who otherwise could have appeared “manly” and “brash” at times to some was indeed a woman, subjected to the daily dilemmas we in the West must undergo.
However, these issues – discussed time and time again on blogs, fan-pages, forums, newspapers, magazines and Vlogs/videos – often always centre on Katniss.
Here is where the debate falls short. In order to truly recognize the points that Collins’ trilogy and other sociological critiques try to make about over-all issues in modern society, including gender roles and femininity, we must discuss the characters that also appear to embody what we hate, and not just what we love.
It is here that I refer to Effie Trinket, a character you will of course immediately despise as much as I did when first encountering her in the books (and perhaps even more powerfully in the films) – yes, there is something about the way she was transcribed from descriptions in the paperback to her representation on screen. The sticking colours, the bold make-up and lavish dresses. Trinket is, like the type of person she is mocking, unaware of her privilege, extremely naïve, self-absorbed, and vain. She is obsessed with delicacy, good manners, elegance, beauty and attention. She speaks well, too well, and doesn’t have a sense of humour. Although, like Katniss, she does have extremely dislikable traits, many of which may make it impossible for you to talk to someone like that in real life, Trinket also has many redeeming features. She is not a powerful character because of her wealth, position, and job; like President Snow, she is a powerful character because of her relationships with others. Her frank honesty and, in the end, downright sympathy remove her as a candidate from your kill-list. Trinket displays moments of motherly care, going completely against the cold, unfeeling ideology of the Capitol she otherwise completely embraces.
Here, she is a rebel. A rebel character is always a powerful one.
So, what does it mean to be a woman, in today’s dystopic speculations of the future? The Hunger Games is, of course, one of the best places to explore this debate, as it is embodies probably one of the most broad-reaching critiques of cultural attitudes to be found in this 'dystopia' genre. Reaching into sociological corners many dystopias before haven’t dared to go; looking into marginalized Black communities such as those who live in District 9 (a member of which got shot by the Capitol’s security for seemingly no reason); the oppression of women by not only the media and the beauty myth, but by rich and powerful men (illustrated by the physical metaphors of Katniss and President Snow) and the vast swathes of inequality reaching far into every corner of a country (demonstrated by the exaggerated and dramatic lavish lives of those who live in the Capitol, compared to the protagonists’ experience underground, in hiding with little room to manoeuvre up, enforced by those in the secret District 13).
Being a woman in these places is shown in completely different ways, each with its own struggles, but with shared common issues: the same oppressors. Here, Collins’ Hunger Games series well illustrates that in a future where feminist movements have not strived and fought against those oppressing minority groups and women, a similar world awaits all.
The two female characters I’ve discussed are equally strong; and there is no one way to be strong woman in modern society. Whether lavishly beautiful, rich and eccentric but emotional, sympathetic and kind, or a warrior rebel, but brave hearted, raw and down-to-earth, or a powerful leader, stubborn and brave, each female character, very differently, shows a woman’s place in a dystopic world.
by Melanie Smith
The New Wave of Political Protests: Why Are Publishers Planning on Selling Female-Only Books?
by Melanie Smith
Literature is a powerful thing. From the age of Enlightenment, to the modern multi-story shelves of Waterstones' book-shops, people have bought books that align, influence or uphold their world-view, their culture and their moral compass and values...
Literature is a powerful thing. From the age of Enlightenment, to the modern multi-story shelves of Waterstones' book-shops, people have bought books that align, influence or uphold their world-view, their culture and their moral compass and values. But it is not just the books that we as individuals buy, borrow and wistfully gaze at that speak of our morals and journeys; so do the books that publishers choose to sell.
Sophie Lewis, an editor at publishing house ‘And Other Stories’ told The Independent that her company will, for one year, only be releasing books written by women authors. She is not alone in pursuing this goal. There was a call made by Kamila Shamsie, owner of the The Bookhouse, for book publishers to only release the work of female writers in 2008 (100 years after the climax of the Suffragette movement).
Shamsie urged other women in publishing to follow the trend. This may seem, to some, a step too far. The rise in cultural feminism may be extending its arm to all reaches of our culture, including more heavy criticism (in not only books, but TV, film and games), but it also brings with it negative waves of counter-feminism: those arguing that these measures aren’t needed, or are too demanded. Shamsie, in her post, has answers for this. In fact, so does most of the main-stream online press.
In 2012, research found that in the UK two-thirds of all books sold are bought by women. And there is no doubt that money speaks. Money speaks tons, it tells us a lot about not only individual cultural appetite, but also tells an undeniable truth. With the big money-making business of modern day book consumerism also comes the power-structures that dictate our cultural and sociological trends.
For the past five years, The Guardian has asked 252 ‘cultural figures’, most of them celebrated writers, to choose their selection of recommendable/favourite works from the past 12 months. 56% of the men asked chose only books submitted by their male counterparts, while just 15% of them chose female only literature. A gap of 41%, compared to the minute gap of only a 3% difference between the female choices of men’s and women’s works (32% choosing works women authors, whilst 29% were selecting the works of male entries). These numbers indicate that male writers are much more likely than women writers to value books by writers of their own gender. And this can have potentially damaging consequences when applied to the publishing/literary world.
Although these trends are not obvious, they are undoubtedly there. We are reading the books that (in the most part) men want us to read – that are, in the most part, written by men. Of course this is not an inherently bad thing, but it does pose the question as to what we are missing out on. Is the work we see published truly reflective of what a predominantly female consumer base wants, or is it just what they are getting?
Perhaps these jibes are not fair. After all, some of the most celebrated authors of all time are female (and certainly, female authors such as J.K Rowling, Virgina Woolf, Sylvia Plath and Jodi Picoult are the people that, for me, come to mind when I think about great writers). But we cannot deny that many smaller publishing companies have submissions that are predominantly by male authors sent to them each year. As Lewis says in The Independent: “We have been putting it about, gently, for the last few years, that we’re particularly looking for fiction by women. They could be from anywhere really. And what do people send us? Why, more exciting, boundary-pushing men, of course.” What great female literature are we missing out on, then?
For many, including Lewis, it is not just about publication, but recognition, about awards, prizes and perhaps even a chance for “more under-represented voices to be heard”. So perhaps, in the future, BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) books and poetry may be the only works published for a year, and then, maybe one day LGTBQ publications too. I sincerely hope so.
Money really does talk, whether you are a consumer of literature, a powerful retailer, or a publishing house, wisely re-investing in the talent of the future. The books that people are reading say a lot about our culture and who we are as people. Undoubtedly, if many Publishing houses catch on to this trend, 2018 could be an explosive year for under-confident female writers to show their hand in a man’s world.
Shamsie concludes her article in a well-chosen rhetorical stance: “What will happen in 2019. It is indeed, a fascinating debate, whether you agree with this ‘radical’ call or not. It is clear to me that the socio-economic power that undoubtedly favoured men has for years seeped its way into common literature, but perhaps, for some people, what we read is not what we believe, nor what we sell, either.
by Melanie Smith
Wells Blog
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