Welcome!
The Antithesis blog is back for the year with a whole new team of talented writers and editors eager to share new content with you!
I would like to thank the wonderful blog editorial team for all the hard work they continue to do behind the scenes. Our blog editorial team for 2021 includes the incredible:
Sam Brigden
Laura Habib
Sydney Hartle
Frieda Herrmann
Alistair Trapnell
The theme for this year’s journal is ‘Defy’ but at the blog we are free to explore whatever topics spark our curiosity. The blog is a platform where writers can explore new ideas and reconsider old ones, experiment with their writing and highlight their strengths. From explorations of literary tropes to deep dives of celebrities’ social media accounts, I am truly excited by the variety of unique ideas we have lined up.
Do you have a critical take on the latest social media trend? Or have a lesser-known historical event you just want to talk about? Maybe you have a few poems tucked away that you have been too afraid to share before? Or some art you just really want to talk about? Critical essays, poems, art analyses, film reviews, flash fiction … whatever you’re passionate about, we’d love for you to send it our way.
You can contact us at submissions.antithesis@gmail.com.
Meet the Managing Blog Editor: Maddison Moore
What I’m reading … All That Remains: A Life in Death by Sue Black
I’m obsessed. I cannot stop talking about Professor Dame Sue Black and the incredible work that she does as a forensic anthropologist, anatomist and teacher. The way that she is able to compartmentalise while working in horrific conditions and being exposed to trauma most of us cannot begin to fathom is incredible. She does not allow her emotions to prevent her from excelling at her work. On the topic of death she is nothing but rational.
If you’re looking for something strictly scientific, or a true crime focused you may be turned off by Black’s lyrical musings on death. If you’re after a poetic and philosophical book about death you may find Black’s clinical approach to the situations she is confronted by jarring. It is equally about the philosophy of death as it is about her work as a leader in the field of victim identification.
This book is so fascinating, insightful and thought provoking that it deserves an entire post dedicated to it and to Professor Black’s contribution to the sciences.
What I’m watching … The Office US
Who would have thought that a show about people working at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in Scranton would be so interesting? (Or so quotable?)
Some call it overrated, other’s say it’s not funny but I say it’s a classic comfort show. I know what to expect and that I know I enjoy it.
While the characters may initially come across as being silly and sometimes horrible, a lot of character and relationship development takes place throughout the seasons that I appreciate. There’s a strange sense of normalcy about them. Even the most ridiculous characters reflect the people we’d find in our own workplaces: from the obnoxious boss to the guy who takes his job too seriously and the co-worker who’s somehow still working there even though you have no idea what it is they do (and neither do they).
What I’m listening to … Ologies with Alie Ward podcast
Alie Ward is the only person who would be equally as excited by trees as she is jellyfish, volcanoes and giant sewer rats in New York. Ward is an award-winning science correspondent who interviews enthusiastic ‘ologists’ about their favourite topics in a weekly hour-long podcast.
As someone with an incredibly limited scientific knowledge, I find the podcast to be engaging and accessible since Ward asks questions and provides humorous commentary that breaks down complex topics. It’s exciting to listen to people talk about the things they’re passionate about, especially when the host has a genuine fascination and child-like enthusiasm.
Ologies has as impressively diverse range of topics, including many that I would otherwise have no interest in, but Alie Ward manages to make each ‘ology’ as exciting as the next. It is safe to say that I’m hooked.