Comment, Prose

Close Campsfield

by Joanna Engle Unknown to many, North Oxford is the home to one of the UK’s ten immigration removal centres. Campsfield opened in 1993 and its detainees have included refugees, asylum seekers, foreign national offenders, and ‘overstayers’.  All of them are held without charge, without a time limit, often without legal representation. Around 25,000 people […]

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Poetry

Head Clot

by Monim Wains   Seeping out the hole in his heart, Black blood, clinging to the ribs in his core, Pulling him to the floor, Pulling the light in his eyes away.   At times he would hide it, Dam the lump in his throat with his teeth, Eyes grinning cheek to cheek, Happy as […]

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Comment, Prose

Fortune – A Fresher’s Perspective

by Martin Yip Would you agree with the claim that all freshers are fortunate? Each year, about 3200 undergraduates are admitted to Oxford, which comes to a 17% admissions rate. That percentage is slated to decrease, as the number of applicants has been increasing over the last few years, while the number of places has […]

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Poetry

On Fortune

by David Asamoah   Fortune’s a gentle breeze lost in life’s storm  Whose guiding breaths often keep me afloat I fear those breaths will stop being the norm And give cruel Neptune time to flex and gloat I steer the wheel yet move as fate allows  My destiny feels out of my control Is it […]

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Culture, Prose, Reviews

Talaash: A Preview

by Zad El Bacha I was cold and tired, searching for Saint Antony’s music room, when a vibrant singing called to me from across the quad. I stepped into the room, and the energy of the cast and the rich, vivid music overwhelmed me. This is how I was introduced to a preview of Talaash, […]

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Comment, Prose

A Word on Movember

by Michael Angerer This, dear readers, would usually be the place to share with you some etymological musings on the word ‘spark’. Usually, we might inform you that according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it rather unremarkably derives from Old English spearca, meaning ‘a small particle of fire’; and that, more interestingly, it eventually also […]

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