York Literary Review: The Alumni Team Blog
For the past few months we’ve enjoyed reading about the York Literary Review, both from those who submitted to it and those who created it. From how the new Publishing MA course has changed Amy’s career trajectory to Tash’s elation at having their submission accepted into the anthology, we hope you enjoyed reading about their success as much as we did! We especially enjoyed finding out what books our alumni would recommend and what they were currently reading.
Since we asked almost all our respondents what they were reading, and what books they’d recommend, we thought it was only fair that we gave our own answers!
The Alumni Team: books we recommend
To make it fair, we asked ourselves for the book we’d recommend instead of listing five each. When you’ve only got one book to suggest, it can be a little hard to decide which to choose!
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Jess chose this book because it’s the one she always comes back to. Tired of her reading new kid’s books by the time they got home from the shop, Jess’ Mum bought her Jane Eyre to challenge her, and to stop buying so many books! Read as a child, a teenager and during university, Jess would recommend it to anyone for its gothic undertones, its unforgettable story and its subtle exploration of the implications of colonialism and (spoiler alert) insanity in Victorian England.
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Billy chose Frankenstein after reading it for the first time in 2021. Inspired to read it after being recommended it by colleagues, he was impressed by its use of poetic language, its fantastic pacing and its humanisation of the Other. He was also happy to tick another literary classic of his reading list, and would recommend it to anyone wanting to read a classic!
“The world was to me a secret which I desired to devine.”
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Louise chose The Silence of the Lambs after debating between a handful of other options. She settled on this novel to recommend because of its long-lasting appeal to her. The first time she read it, she couldn’t put it down because of its thrilling plot-twists. It kept her on the edge of her seat the entire time she was reading it, and she’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys psychological horror.
“When the Fox hears the Rabbit scream he comes a-runnin’, but not to help.”
Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs
The Women’s History of the World by Rosalind Miles
Susanna chose The Women’s History of the World because this book stayed with her, long after she’d finished reading it. In fact, Susanna said that this was a book that everyone should read because of the new perspective it gives to the historical narrative around women. This book challenges you to look past what has been recorded (by men) into the pivotal role of women throughout history.
Men dominate history because they write it, and their accounts of active, brave, clever or aggressive females constantly tend to sentimentalize, to mythologize or to pull women back to some perceived “norm.” As a result, much of the so-called historical record is simply untrue.
Rosalind Miles, The Women’s History of the World
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Celia chose Catch-22 because of its long-lasting appeal and the fact that it’s the book she always recommends! Since the first time she read it, it’s a book that never fails to evoke powerful emotions due to its impactful appraisal of the absurdity of military life and of war itself.
“It doesn’t make a damned bit of difference who wins the war to someone who’s dead.”
Joseph Heller, Catch-22
What is our team currently reading?
Apart from the beautiful copies of this year’s magazine, we’re currently reading:
Billy: The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl and The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Celia: Dracula by Bram Stoker and In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster
Jess: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Katheryn Howard: The Tainted Queen by Alison Weir.
Louise: Just Ignore Him by Alan Davies and A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin
Susanna: Raising Girls by Steve Biddulph
From literary classics to some fantastic non-fiction, our team reads quite a diverse range of books! If you had to recommend just one book, what would it be?
York Literary Review
We’re so glad we were able to talk to some of our alumni community who contributed to and worked on the anthology. We particularly enjoyed reading about their future plans, both for their careers and for their writing. It was also interesting to see some subjects crop up across more than one blog post!
- A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket was mentioned three times
- Books by Margaret Atwood cropped up twice
- Using gaming consoles was mentioned twice as a hobby
- Frankenstein has been recommended twice
- Being inspired by external influences, like nature or art was mentioned by all of our writers
As we begin seeing students on campus again, we can’t wait to see how next year’s anthology looks from this year’s cohort of Publishing MA students. We can only hope that as the York Literary Review grows, that it can build on this year’s success to reflect the fantastic talent represented within it.
You can buy your copy of the 2020 York Literary Review on the Valley Press website.
You can find out more about our Alumni Team on our website.
