We began our discussion of Alondra Nelson’s ‘AfroFuturism: Past-Future Visions’ by considering a quote from Ishmael Reed: ‘Necromancers used to lie in the guts of the dead or in tombs to receive visions of the future. That is prophecy. The black writer lies in the guts of old America, making readings about the future.’ Reed’s … Continue reading “Contemporary Theory Reading Group – AfroFuturism (22/10/2019)”
Author: Liam Harrison
‘Common People: An Anthology of Working-Class Writers’: Birmingham Literature Festival 2019 (10/10/2019)
Members of CCLC attended a Birmingham Literature Festival event celebrating the recent publication Common People, an anthology of 33 working class writers, edited by Kit De Waal and published by Unbound. The four authors present read segments from their published works in the anthology. Lisa Blower spoke of childhood in Stoke-on-Trent and ‘always being ten … Continue reading “‘Common People: An Anthology of Working-Class Writers’: Birmingham Literature Festival 2019 (10/10/2019)”
Contemporary Theory Reading Group – Video Games (08/10/2019)
For the first Contemporary Theory Reading Group of the academic year we discussed ‘The Rhetoric of Video Games’ (2008) by Ian Bogost. Bogost begins his article ‘The Rhetoric of Video Games’ by examining Animal Crossing, a quaint, village-based game, where Tom Nook an ‘unassuming raccoon continues to offer renovations’ on a player’s house as they … Continue reading “Contemporary Theory Reading Group – Video Games (08/10/2019)”