Scroll

A magazine about words, and all their uses.

Issue 1 - ÂŁ4

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Welcome to Scroll.

A magazine about words and all their uses. Anything that can be written, we write about.

It’s finally here. The first issue of a magazine we have worked tirelessly on bringing to life. And we are so happy to be able to share it with you.

The idea behind Scroll. came to mind on the most random of inspiration-fuelled mornings. I questioned its validity endlessly, but a simple brainstorm resulted in a constant stream of ideas that would not stop flowing. Words are everywhere, we depend on them almost entirely and without the postcards to far away friends, books to get lost in and good morning texts‌ where would we be? I’d like to think that this issue is proof, to myself, that my once very small idea has strength.

In this issue, we met up with PINS, the all-girl indie band to discuss their lyrics and the processes behind the writing of their songs. We explore diaries and letter writing and ask the question, are they standing the test of time? We discuss the gender gap in literature and the media, why are they still so male dominated? We even ventured into the toilets of our favourite pubs and bars to see the newest editions to the growing trend of bathroom graffiti.

We hope you enjoy it.

Find us online: Twitter - @scroll_magazine Instagram - @scrollzine Blog - scrollmagblog.wordpress.com

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About Us

Melissa Svensen, 20 Aspiring music journalist and general rambler about anything and everything.

What’s your favourite word?

Igel. It’s the German word for hedgehog. I’m sure I could have thought of a better one, but it’s just so cute.

If you could only read one book for the rest of your life what would it be?

Probably Alexa Chung’s ‘IT’.

I’d hope if I read it enough I’d eventually morph into her (or close enough).

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Jessica Devine, 21 A coffee advocate and lover of all things clothes and shoes.

What’s your favourite word?

Gorgeous. I’m not sure why, but it’s quite fun to say and it will always have a good meaning.

If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I’m not much of a book lover, so if I could read anything it would be a magazine (probably Love).

This means I would get new copy twice a year and never get bored.

Sophie Woods, 21 A lover of all things creative and a serial (accidental) singer in public spaces What’s your favourite word?

Amy-Lea Wright, 19 Professional procrastinator, probably day-dreaming about Tom Hardy and drinking tea, whilst wishing it was gin.

What’s your favourite word?

Jayde Gamble, 20 A future (hopefully) magazine journalist who questions "why did I do that?" too often in life What’s your favourite word?

I’m not a huge fan of my own writing, but when I write the word Wednesday, it suits it. Plus it’s the middle of the week.

I really like sphincter, but that’s probably not appropriate. We’ll go with shenanigans.

I really like the word 'mundane' but I have no idea why, it's just cool to say. I also love 'fiesta' but who doesn't?

If you could only read one book for the rest of your life what would it be?

If you could only read one book for the rest of your life what would it be?

If you could only read one book for the rest of your life what would it be?

I’d probably go for Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born To Run’. It’s incredible and so full of passion, It left me inspired.

I’m quite bad for reading books but probably Anthony Kiedis’ autobiography - ‘Scar Tissue’.

He’s a living legend.

'A real guide to really getting it together once and for all: (Really) by Ashley Richards, because I need it!

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Contents

Bathroom Graffiti - a look at expression in Manchester’s public toilets

Books we return to - Four people tell us about their favourite books

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Old vs New - can a text mean as much as handwritten letter?

Letter writing - An exploration of whether we should still write letters

Don’t Judge A Book By Its Gender - an exploration of gender bias in literature

Words with PINS a look inside the lyrics of a Manchester girl band

Dear Diary - In an age of

Twitter and Tumblr, is keeping a physical diary a dying art?

Do Words Mean More? Exploring the art of written tattoos

The Way The Cookie Crumbles-A look at the messages inside fortune cookies 7

DON’T JUDGE A BOOK

BY ITS GENDER AMY-LEA WRIGHT

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It can’t be denied that women are the main consumers of books. All the statistics point to the hard facts that women read, buy and write way more fiction than men do, so why do women continue to be sidelined and treated as a minority in the literary world?

Why does having a vagina matter in publishing, in 2017?

Why are women’s voices not being heard?

Not too long ago, Nicola Griffith, the critically-acclaimed author and winner of six literary awards, sparked a conversation that a novel is more likely to win a prize if the focus of the narrative is male.

Griffith looked at the winners of the Pulitzer, Man Booker, National Book award, National Book Critics’ Circle award, Hugo and Newbery medals from 2000 to 2015. She collated the genders of the winners (and that of their protagonists) to find that 41 prizes were won by women and 48 were won by men.

This is definitely a disparity, but far less than the disparity which exists between

the prize-winning books which have a male-driven narrative versus a female one.

“And the more prestigious and influential the award, the greater the imbalance,” says Griffith.

Lets take the Pulitzer Prize, for example.

In this fifteen-year period, not a single book-length work from a woman’s perspective was considered worthy of one. Of the six female authors who won a Pulitzer Prize, three wrote primarily from the perspective of male characters, while the other three gave voice to male and female characters equally.

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- Nicola Griffith

It would be unfair to suggest that the world’s greatest literary works, whether written by men or women, do not feature the female experience. Take Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina, even Matilda - all offer some amazing depictions of the lives of girls and women across centuries and cultures. But it would also be unfair to discount Griffith’s analysis from more recent years.

Novelist Jodi Picoult has also spoke out about sexism in publishing.

“I write women’s fiction,” Picoult told The Telegraph last year. “And women’s fiction doesn’t mean that’s your audience. Unfortunately, it means you have lady parts.”

She also claims the publishing industry ignores big issues in her books by putting a girly spin on them. “When people call The Storyteller [which is about a former Nazi SS guard] ‘chick-lit,’ I actually crease up laughing. Because

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that is the worst, most depressing chicklit ever,” she says.

What happened to romance fiction?

Why does it now get this pink-fluffycover treatment?

It’s patronising to both genders that the publishing world now assumes men aren’t interested in women’s stories.

The fact that JK Rowling is not known worldwide as Joanna Rowling so that males weren’t put off by seeing her name on the cover of Harry Potter says it all.

On the flip side, the ‘chick-lit’ label is rarely given to works by male authors who fall into the romance genre.

Take David Nicholls. If a woman had written One Day, it would have undoubtedly been sold as an airport novel. Instead it became a multi-million pound bestseller and transformed into a Focus Features film.

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Either this means that women writers are self-censoring, or those who judge literary worthiness find women frightening, distasteful, or boring. Certainly the results argue for women’s perspectives being considered uninteresting or unworthy. Women seem to have literary cooties.

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Female bosses are being dislodged from the top jobs.

It’s not just female writers, female characters and the female audience who are suffering from inequality.

Accomplished women are being ousted from inside the biggest and best publishing houses too.

Pan Macmillan is one of the largest publishers in the UK. Despite 80% of its employees being female, there are only four women on the company’s board and only six division heads who are not men.

Publishing is very female-dominated up to a certain level but beyond that level, the balance switches the other way.

Why? Helen Fraser, the former Penguin managing director, retired in 2009 with her job going to a man. Victoria Barnsley, who founded the Fourth Estate publishing house, was replaced as CEO of HarperCollins by Charlie Redmayne. Ursula Mackenzie recently

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announced she is stepping down as Little, Brown chief executive to be replaced by David Shelley.

Industry expert Danuta Kean wrote a piece in Mslexia magazine about this “silent takeover by men of the top jobs.”

She writes: “To some extent the departure of these women reflects a generational shift. All fought their way to the top in the 1980s and all are now of retirement age. But, given the huge workforce of women at every other level in the publishing industry, why aren’t they being replaced by women?”

The media are just as guilty.

VIDA, the research group for women in books, now engage in annual analysis of the gender balance of literary criticism.

The 2012 count found that only three out of ten reviewers from the New Yorker, the Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books were female.

But Nicola Griffith no longer sees her findings of a bias as depressing, but more “as a problem to be solved.”

With VIDA, Griffith is calling for others to also join in the collation of evidence.

“Can we fix this? Oh, yes. That’s the beauty of graphed data: people will look. And if they look, they can’t avoid understanding it,” she said.

“Data is the key. Data doesn’t blame anyone or point fingers; data doesn’t make anyone defensive. It will simply show us patterns. Patterns will lead to correlations. Correlations will lead to possible causes. Causes will help us find solutions.”

The important thing is that women authors, publishers and reviewers should be respected and rewarded on an equal footing with men. How long will it take? Will this nasty varicose vein of sexism that is inherit to the industry ever be compressed?

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OUT NOW

Manchester Evening News

GoodReads

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PLAYLIST

Songs with our favourite lyrics - listen at scrollmagblog.wordpress.com

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Silk - Wolf Alice Shattered & Hollow - First Aid Kit Songbird - Fleetwood Mac Blue Jeans - Lana Del Rey Father and Son - Cat Stevens Running Wild - Johnny Lloyd Soul To Squeeze - Red Hot Chili Peppers Cemetry Gates - The Smiths Long Live The Queen - Frank Turner Heroes - David Bowie Just Like Heaven - The Cure Angels - The xx Everlasting Light - The Black Keys Young And Lovely - Blur Be My Baby - The Ronettes The Selfish Giant - Damon Albarn Magic - Girls Joan of Arc - Jamie T Beautiful Ones - Suede Only Ones Who Know - Arctic Monkeys Fourth of July - Sufjan Stevens Babies - Pulp You’re My Waterloo - The Libertines Iron Sky - Paolo Nutini Sweetie Little Jean - Cage The Elephant

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Words with A journey inside the lyrics of the Manchester girl band

Words & Pictures Melissa Svensen

Throughout Scroll. we’ve been exploring words the way we write, create and consume them. An perhaps not as obvious way is throughout lyrics.

We spoke to Manchester’s PINS - the coolest girl band ahead of their April tour to delve into their brains and find out where, and how, their lyrics come to be...

Do you remember the first lyrics you ever wrote?

Lois: I think I had loads of notebooks with lyrics everywhere but I don’t know if I can remember them…

Kyoko: The only lyrics I wrote when I was younger are too cringe to share.

Lois: I remember, I must have been about 10 in my first band and we wrote a song and the lyrics were just “food,” that’s it. In a rhythmic way, but we didn’t have instruments - we’d just use whatever we could find. We started singing it ‘cause we were dead hungry at school I think. It went: “food, food is what you eat.”

Kyoko: My friend and I used to do this open mic night in Milton Keynes and sometimes we’d push the boat out and do ‘original songs’. We had this test for them: she’d have a sleepover at mine and we’d practice all night long and then when we woke up in the morning, if we could look at the page of lyrics completely sober and not feel any kind of disgust or shame then it was a keeper. I still use that test now, because at night time you feel so poetic and in the mood, but the morning is the cold, harsh reality.

Do you write in the moment, or do you sit down with the intention of writing lyrics?

Faith: These days we usually have the music first, and then I’ll listen to the track with my headphones on and start writing stuff down. It

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evolves from there, really. When I sing it with the rest of the band it’ll change a little bit.

Sophie: Some songs have been through a couple of sets, haven’t they? We’ve started out with something and been like, ‘eh, I’m not sure on this,’ and we’ll try something else, and something else and it finally settles.

Faith: I’ll be like ‘No, I hate it, I hate it I couldn’t possibly ever say those words again.’

It gets a bit like that, but we find them eventually.

Sophie: And when things start off as a joke we need to make sure they don’t stay in. We’ll often say, ‘Oh we can use this for now,’ and then fill it in with something proper later on.

You’re obviously all well practiced in expressing yourselves through lyrics, but do you write anything else?

Faith: I don’t think I’d be able to write stories at all. I think we all enjoy writing pieces for press things, now. We got one recently where we had to write about 10 places in Manchester that we love and we’ve all got quite good at doing that. Creative writing, I don’t do at all, though.

Lois: I’ve started quite enjoying that… ‘unconscious writing’? I can’t remember what it’s called, but basically you just set a timer on your phone and you write, and write, and write until the timer’s done. The majority of it will be shit, but you can pull phrases out from it, or bits from your subconscious that you wouldn’t have got before.

Kyoko: It stops you from being aware as well, and thinking about it too much. When we were in America we had a lot of time driving around, and because I don’t drive I did a lot of sitting around. So I bought one of those old

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school notebooks and started writing. I did a daily entry thing, and it’s true if you stop worrying about your voice and just write it forms itself.

Faith: I forgot you did that! When you read some of it back to us like a month later we were just like ‘when did we do that?!’ It stuff you would forget, so it’s nice to have that written down.

Do you find that with songs as well, that the words will match places or phases in your life?

Faith: Yes but I really wish I’d put notes next to them to say what it was/where it was that influenced them. I sing them so many times that they sort of lose any sense of meaning.

You don’t have that connection with them and they’re just the words to a song.

Faith, you’ve said in the past that you feel wrong singing other people’s lyrics; do you feel that no one can truly understand what you mean with your lyrics?

Faith: I don’t even mind, because I love it

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when people sing our songs. It just reminds me that someone out there has bought our CD or whatever, and if they get something out of it then that’s even more humbling, I suppose.

Kyoko: I always assume I know what a song means, and then I’ll talk to someone and they’ll have taken it completely differently.

Nine times out of ten, I think it’s completely not what the person writing it intended.

Lois: I’m really bad for just making up my own words, just interpreting their words into the words I want it to be. How did I think ‘Mr. Brightside’ went? “I miss the price I pay,” but obviously it’s “Mr. Brightside.”

part of the band and we play them every day but I might not interpret them in the way you wrote them.

A lot of your lyrics aren’t simple, per se, but they get the point across without needing elaborate metaphors. Is that raw honesty intentional?

Faith: I’m not sure, I think they are quite straight forward but I suppose they could still mean different things.

Anna: There’s a line in one of our songs that goes “everyone says we’re no good” which Lois wrote and it’s been used in two songs.

When we all sing it together it sounds really gang-y and empowering.

Kyoko: I always think it’s a cop-out when someone asks a singer if something means a certain thing and they say “well it can mean anything you want it to mean”, but it’s actually not! It’s such a compliment when somebody does read something into what you’ve written.

Sophie: The first time it was released it was on a really sad, slow, low key song. It’s a tearjerker. And then we used it on a proper banger as well, which gives it a completely different meaning, even with the same words.

Lois: I think it’s quite interesting the relationship that we or I would have with the lyrics that Faith’s written, because they’re

Faith: So the words are, “Everyone says we’re no good, we don’t do what we should,” and on the Wild Nights album it’s the last song

and it’s really sad and quite personal even though I didn’t write those lyrics. And then in the next song ‘Bad Thing’, which is on the new EP it’s all of us singing together and we yell it as a girl gang, so it takes on a different meaning.

things you say; the fact that we are a band and we go and play speaks for that as well.

When we play shows and we see young girls watching and they go ‘I didn’t think I could be in a band but now I can’ that’s the most direct, powerful thing.

Sophie: We put those words on merch after the second album even though it wasn’t a lead single or anything, and we didn’t know we were gonna use them again. It’s sort of stuck with us.

Finally, do you have a lyric or quote or set of words that means a lot to you?

Intentionally or not, you draw young girls as a crowd and as fans – do you ever consider who’s going to be on the receiving end of your lyrics? Do you have a responsibility to them?

Faith: I don’t think it’s like a responsibility to do it, it’s just that it needs to be said. So there’s a lot of feminist lyrics of ours that I think just generally need to be out there and because it’s something that we face day to day it’s naturally there to write about. So yeah, I don’t think it’s a responsibility but if it’s something that I (and these guys) already feel then it’s going to come out anyway.

Sophie: I think it’s the lifestyle as well as the

Kyoko: Bare Morrisey lyrics! No, it’d be “And in the darkened underpass, I thought ‘Oh God, my chance has come at last’, but then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn’t ask,” which is obviously ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ by The Smiths. But I just think it’s amazing because the imagery of going under an underpass and it all going dark. It’s a metaphor for like ‘this is my one chance to say how I really feel’, and it’s a feeling everyone knows but you can’t do it.

I just think the conversational tone mixed with the imagery of it has always stuck with me.

Faith: Just before we got here we were singing “Living is easy with eyes closed” which is really nice. It’s not necessarily something I thought of before but it’s

probably something people get tattoos of.

Lois: There’s a Belle & Sebastian line that I had as an email signature and it says: “do something pretty while you can” and I think that’s the way I was feeling at the time. Like I could do anything or go anywhere. That idea of doing it and not waiting was quite nice.

Faith: Or that T-Rex lyric: “it really doesn’t matter at all, life’s a gas” which is just like chill out and relax.

Kyoko: It’s funny because they’re all sort of representing us. I mean I didn’t realise I was so pent up with frustration. 

Pins head out on a UK tour in April. Visit www. wearepins.co.uk for tickets.Their album ‘Wild Nights’ is out now.

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Bathroom

A look at the expressions made inside Manchester’s cafÊs, bars & clubs

Words & pictures Jessica Devine

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Writing on bathroom walls is becoming more common, so we at Scroll. took to the public bathrooms of Manchester and explored what has been said.

Living in a modern city, I have seen my fair share of graffiti, from huge murals on city walls to small scribbles in public bathrooms, and it poses the question shown above: ‘Why are we writing on this wall?’ Usually it is mainly created by individuals to portray a message, whether it be political, societal or simply to tell the world to have a nice day.

Recently, I have taken an interest in bathroom graffiti and have noticed that most public toilets, in every city, I visit have some form of graffiti scribbled over them.

This interest began last month when I went on a short break to Berlin, a city known for it’s outstanding graffiti and I must say everywhere I turned I saw street art and I’m pretty certain that every public bathroom I went in had graffiti (although most of it was in German, so they were no use to me or this article).

So leaving the German scribbles in Germany, I continued my search in English bathrooms, specifically Manchester. I decided to take to a range of different bathrooms, from nightclubs to bars to cafés, to explore the messages people were writing and to see if the venue affected the words written. This sparked questions such as, is someone’s drunken mind in a nightclub more honest and dramatic compared to a person’s who is sat, relaxing with a sandwich and a latte?

While I was wondering around the bathrooms of Manchester, I found that a lot of them had a few topics in common, such as political opinion, with everyone showing

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love for Corbyn and hate for Farage, and as I only had access to women’s bathrooms, I of course saw a lot statement’s such as: ‘F**k Donald Trump’. However, most of the phrases I stumbled across were cute & inspiring words from other women promoting female empowerment.

I narrowed my search down to three bathrooms: an art cafe, a student bar & an indie nightclub. I decided on these as all three places attract different groups of people, so in each bathroom I found a different theme, but they also had an underlying political connection between each one.

In the art cafe I found a current political theme, including racial & gender politics with bold statements and a sense of everyone looking out for everyone. In the student bar I found quite a feminism theme, with the whole girls are better than boys vibe and in the nightclub I found a personal political theme with women making bold statements about their bodies and how powerful they can be.

When you enter the world of the women’s bathroom, a lot of weir d yet wonderful things take place, you become best friends with a complete stranger, you bond over lipstick colours, how pretty everyone is and how nice one another’s outfits are. So if you think about the girls you’ve met in public bathrooms, the friends you’ve made for those 10 minutes and if you take the words from the wonderful conversations you may have had, it’s almost like some of the graffiti written on the walls are the words from those conversations, making the girls’ bathrooms the perfect place for women to express themselves.

Nexus Description: Art Cafe Location: Northern Quarter, MCR

I wondered into Nexus in search for a vanilla latte and WiFi with the intentions of getting some work done, but as I stepped into the girl’s bathrooms I was greeted by a huge display of graffiti, there wasn’t a single space for anymore writing, so I got my camera out and snapped some quotes.

As Nexus is described as an ‘Art Cafe’ it attracts artistic people (obviously), quite a few hippies and a lot of people who are not afraid to express themselves so I found this bathroom left me feeling very positive and very liberated!

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Courtyard Description: Student Bar Location:Chester Street, MCR

Courtyard, a social hub for the students of Manchester known for it’s cheap beer, free pool and huge smoking garden, lit up with many fairy lights.

This bar attracts all kinds of students, from the awkward groups of first years, attempting to get to know one another to the rowdy lads, drinking pints before heading to Deansgate Locks.

So as I explored the walls of Courtyard’s bathroom, I could see the drunken minds that had been there before me, I saw a lot and I mean a LOT of writing about boys and relationships, stating that boys are horrible and that girls need to stick together and avoid them.

I saw girls agreeing with girls and supporting one another’s words such as the quote “Wish I could unshag my ex.” had arrows pointing towards it with girls in agreement.

With statements like “wish I could unshag my ex” and “boys r c*nts” I felt that girl’s are using bathroom walls as a platform to rant and state how they feel to an unknown audience, they seem to feel free and safe in these bathrooms to say whatever is on their minds.

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The Venue Description: Indie Nightclub Location: Jackson’s Row, MCR

After a few gins and dancing to one too many Arctic Monkey’s songs, I stumbled (literally stumbled) into Venue’s bathrooms and explored the writing on the walls. Venue is known for it’s £1.60 drinks, so the bathrooms are filled with girls expressing their drunken minds and feeling more confident than usual.

As I read, I saw a lot of sexual references and ‘girl power’ with sayings such as “send nudes” and “girls need to look out for girls”. I gathered the theme of personal politics, by the way these girls are using sex as a form of empowerment, they are confident in their bodies and presenting themselves in a way where they are in control of their bodies and can decide what way they want to use them.

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Home to quirky books, gifts & accessories.

22 Oldham Street, Manchester, M1 1JN

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HAUL

Amy-Lea Wright scouts the best gifts around, for the times when actions speak just as loud as words.

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1. Rhyming Pen Pot, £9.95 2. Letters To My Grandchild, £14.99 3. Fleetwood Mac ‘Rumours’ Album As Books Print, £24.95 4. Dozen Literary Paper Roses Bouquet, £96 5. Sylvia Plath Literary Notebook, £4.95 6. Fortune Cookies Bath Bombs, £10.75 7. Letter Shaped Books, £19.95

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Copyright © 2006–2017 Notonthehighstreet Enterprises Limited

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OLD vs NEW

Should we really mourn the loss of handwritten letters?

Words Melissa Svensen

A disclaimer before we start: I’m an avid defender of technology. As it thrives, it’s drilled into us that technology is nothing but bad - that it’s ‘taking over’ and it’s dangerous.

Nothing infuriates me more than a wish to return to ‘the good old days’; for a time when ‘kids would play outside and not on an iPad.’ Not only because there’s absolutely nothing to suggest a child can’t do both - and just think what they’ll be able to do in the future if they can work an iPad at 3 - but because technology allows for an ease of communication that is so accessible and rather incredible. And we have to put a stop to this exaggerated, nonsensical nostalgia.

From texting to Instagram, technology allows for an entirely new world of communication.

We can document our lives online, track friendships, reconnect with people, and all at the press of a button. It’s easy to romanticise the past - nostalgia becoming more prevalent and technology becoming more of a demon in society - but really our new forms of communication are just updated versions of old ones. They’re not demons trying to hack into our brains and remove all forms of free thinking. Rather, they should be seen as quite the opposite - new ways of expressing ourselves and getting our thoughts and ideas out in the world. And allowing us to be close to people, no matter what the physical distance.

There are pros and cons of both letter writing and texting, of course. One thing that my mum has instilled in me is quite how meaningless certain things – words and phrases mostly - can become when overused.

For example, when my sisters and I text her saying ‘I love you’ at the end of each and every conversation, while also doing the same to our friends when we say goodbye or hang up the phone, it seems to completely lose its sentiment. I also can’t deny the time put into letter-writing; that there’s certainly something special about sitting down, writing something and physically sending it. It certainly requires

a little more thought than pressing ‘send’ on your phone.

It isn’t always a matter of just pressing ‘send’ on your phone, though; clacking at the keyboard for 10 seconds and flippantly hitting the ‘send’ button. Just as much time and effort can (and often is) put into a text than into a letter. We’ve all spent evenings giggling over a phone with our friends, trying to perfectly word a message, and I’m sure we’ve all done it on our own, too.

Similarly to the time and effort put into texting, there’s nothing to suggest a text is less exciting than a letter. Both can be forms of dull communication - bank statements and reminders of dentist appointment mostly - but just as hand-written letters can cause a twang of excitement so can texts. I’ve received texts that have made my heart skip; and ones that have made it sink. Both can be boring, both can be exciting - one is simply newer, easier and much more practical.

While at university, texting is (as I’m sure it is for most people) the main way I keep in touch with my family. I text my family most of the time, and while it’s mostly fairly menial – usually me asking my sisters which selfie to put on Instagram – this ease of connection means the world to me. I imagine that when people had pen pals, and wrote letters to their loved ones, they chatted about just as silly things. They might seem small, but it’s a maintaining of normality when you’re 200 miles away from your loved ones that just wasn’t possible in the past.

The most soothing things in the world like a cuddle from my mum are replaced by texts when we’re not near each other. Sometimes we won’t have spoken for a day or two and she’ll randomly text me goodnight, or send me a picture of my dogs. It’s silly, but I wouldn’t survive without it. Yes, it won’t ever amount to the physical contact itself, but it’s a good replacement. It does the same job as a letter

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It’s not just silly things, either. My little sister wasn’t particularly happy towards the end of last year; I struggled because I wasn’t around to fully gauge the situation.

Being a typical 13-year-old, however, she wasn’t particularly willing to talk. That didn’t stop me from texting her to let her know I was there if she needed me, and while she wouldn’t answer her phone, she happily texted to let me know that she was okay.

Instantly. I could have written her a letter, but who’s to say it would’ve meant any more?

In fact, it would’ve been weird if I’d sent her a letter. She probably wouldn’t have read it, she definitely wouldn’t have replied and she would have had to wait days to receive it. We caught up completely in the space of a few minutes.

I text my boyfriend every night (aside from when we’re together) to say goodnight. We mostly text throughout the day, but it’s a reminder that we’re both thinking of each other. The best part, again? It takes about 10 seconds. If I’m feeling soppy I can scroll through our texts, back to practically when we first met – my reputation for breaking phones means it’s not all there, but it mostly is. I like to see how awkward we were, and while individual texts may not mean that much, as a collection that I can seemingly endlessly scroll through, they do. And they’re (mostly) permanent.

I text my friends – who, for the time being, are splayed across the country – every few

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days to catch up. I could write them letters, but quite frankly it’s impractical. Even my friend’s drunk texts (“You silly c*!t bucket, I ticking misskyu”) to remind me that despite the fact I couldn’t be there for her 21st birthday, she was still thinking of me, mean just as much as a letter could, in their own funny way. Hell, I think sometimes they almost mean more.

I could write an eight-page letter with forced emotions and gushing paragraphs to everyone I care about, but if anything, I think it would end up meaning less. Also, I think they’d laugh at me. I’d laugh at me. It’s just not a done thing anymore, and perhaps it’s not necessarily a loss.

The point is, really, there’s actually nothing to suggest a text should mean any less than a letter at all. It’s an everyday thing, but letter writing once was too. It’s important to stop romanticising elements of the past that have become irrelevant and impractical.

The last time I received a letter it got devoured by my dog as soon as it dropped through the letter box. As part of our Postcrossing feature (see page 44) I sent a postcard to Russia and it took almost a month to get there; I can text friends around the world in seconds.

While yes, it might be nice to pen something to someone special every now and then, we can also accept that old forms of communication are being replaced for, in my opinion at least, much better ones.

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We have to put a stop to this exaggerated, nonsensical nostalgia

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would, it’s simply instant.

‘THE WORLD NEEDS MORE LOVE LETTERS’ ‘our mission is simple: make love famous.’

Visit Hannah Brencher’s website and send letters to those in need of a spirit lift.

Read their ‘letter requests’, put pen to paper and send a letter of love to those who have been nominated for a bundle of love letters.

WWW.MORELOVELETTERS.COM

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Stationary Supplies, Cards, Gifts & Art Materials Bank House, 12-14 St Mary’s Gate, Manchester, M1 1PX

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diary noun a book in which one keeps a daily record of events and experiences.

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In an age of Twitter and Tumblr, is keeping a physical diary a dying art?

Words & pictures Sophie Woods The rise of technology and the ease of people documenting their lives online has rendered written diaries a rarity.

With people willing to be so open on public platforms such as WordPress, Twitter and Tumblr, I have explored if diaries are a necessity now; is there a need for secrecy anymore? For those who do write diaries, are they creatives?

Writing ideas and thoughts, sketching alongside?

Or are their diaries essential; somewhere they can rage and rant, or simply stop and breathe?

For some, a diary is an escape; a place to be, and be in private. Others create alternate universes, the pages projecting a contrasting life to the one lived by the author. Diaries are where quiet souls voice confident minds. Where regret, loss and failure can be expressed in the safe confinement of the pages. Where you can confess love, because rejection within these pages is impossible.

Samuel Pepys’ diary was where he recorded the on goings of the Great Fire of London. Anne Frank documented her terrifying ordeal in hiding during the Second World War. Whereas for Bridget Jones, it was her place to discuss her weight loss, drinking habits and run-ins with the two loves of her life: Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver. And, more recently, in Carrie Fisher’s memoir The Princess Diarist we learnt about her romance with a married Harrison Ford back in her Star Wars days.

I had a diary when I was seven. It used vocal recognition software; you set a password, said aloud to a microphone on the diary, and that was your key. My password was Justin Timberlake; I was oblivious to who he was at that time. I was a little girl, copying her big sister’s obsession with a man in a boy band. He became N-Sync Justin and Friends with Benefits Justin and “oh he gets better with age” Justin, later on in my life.

I wrote one entry in the diary (to this day I do not know what it was), and never wrote in it again. I presume it was something to do with the difficulty of riding my new bike, tasselled handles and all, across grass or how I fell over

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rollerblading. A child who was always playing outdoors and always mud-up was not interested in a diary. Particularly one with the password being a man who, at that point in my life, didn’t even have a face to team with what I thought was his long and complicated name. And so my first, and so far last, diary was disregarded. I have Justin to thank for that.

Writing, of a personal nature, came to me a lot later in life. A brief stint on Tumblr, where I documented my tough teenage years in a series of attempted angsty posts, came first. A party, a fall out, how ridiculous are my parents? I hated the parties, the fall out never lasted and I loved my parents. But it was the vibe of the site at the time; a teenage girl in turmoil. I went with the trend and it did not suit me.

One evening, around the age of 16, my dad and I routed through boxes of items from his youth.

A series of photo albums, enormous stacks of records, a bus stop sign stolen in a drunken mission of rebellion, and a camera. It was a Pentax k1000 and so he bought me a roll of film and told me to see if it could still be used.

This was where I fell in love with photography; cameras, the sound of a shutter, the smell of fresh prints.

My pictures became my diary. I collected cameras; donated, unwanted, unused cameras from family members, charity shops and a car boot sale. I took photographs, had them developed (I refused to be digital for a time, I was going to follow history’s timeline), and wrote about them. A camera went everywhere with me, capturing everything and everyone. Each image had a story and each story became beautiful and real, no matter how menial the images content. I had a lot to say, and a lot to create, and I did it all within the walls of a caption box.

Although I could not commit to writing my diary, I wanted to know why other people did.

I spoke to two diarists, one whose diary never left and one who has recently been reunited with theirs to find out why their diaries are so important to them. 

Dear diary, you know me too well.

When did you start writing a diary?

I stated writing a diary in 2009. Since then I have filled out, back to front, seven diaries; all of which are in my wardrobe stacked inside a shoe box (away from wandering eyes!) They’re not a secret but they’re private. I’m an open person, the content of my diaries are the content of many conversations with friends and family.

But ultimately they are mine. Those who were curious were hurt by some of the things I wrote, I push people away in there.

Sometimes I write things I think but am scared to say in real life.

Tell us more about you at that time.

I had just started my last year in secondary school and had met a girl who ended up becoming my best friend. I was bright and ambitious and that has got me far. My parents were in the process of splitting up around this time. The days of the split, when my dad packed up his things and began to slowly separate from us, school felt like a relief. I was not forced to sit and think about what was happening in my home, I could focus on working hard and getting good grades.

So the diary was a place where you could write your feelings without having to confront those who were at the root of your upset?

Yes. But as I matured, I began to be able to rationalise my parent’s breakup. They were both happy apart, and I got two Christmas dinners a year. However I kept the diary.

The once painful process became easy. I documented my day every night as I always had done, no matter how uneventful it may have been. On those surprisingly special days I got to write an uplifting entry that I can always look back on. I have folded the corner of the pages where I had the best days so I can find them when I’m feeling nostalgic or in need of a lift.

Could you give me an example of a diary entry from one of those good days?

My favourite was my cousins wedding.

Everyone had such a good day and despite their ongoing divorce, my parents both came along, for my cousin’s sake. I thought that was really brave of them.

What is your opinion that diary writing is a dying art?

I feel like instantly people will assume that there are increasingly less people writing diaries due to technology. It reminds me of

the book vs kindle dispute. But in this case, as a diary is such a personal thing, you can’t look at ‘people’ and instead have to look at each individual person. I feel like I need a diary, it’s an important (and lovely) part of my day. Others are happy writing passiveaggressive tweets or feel they have somebody to go to about anything despite how embarrassing or upsetting their problem is. I could either bottle everything up or I write it down… I choose the latter EVERY TIME. If you had to paint a picture that describes the content of your diary, what would you paint?

This is interesting. Ok, so first of all this would be the worst painting you have ever seen, because I am the least creative person I know. But God loves a trier…

I would probably draw the field behind my boyfriend’s house because that’s my favourite place to walk my dog. But there would be a huge black cloud over half of it. I would stay on the bright side, but the dark stuff is still there somewhere.

“If you wrote a diary entry about today, what would it say?”

I will write about this conversation! I haven’t had a lengthy conversation via email in a long time, it makes me feel extremely old for some reason…

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Dear diary, hello stranger.

When did you start and stop writing a diary?

I started when I was twelve with a series of childish ramblings. Sometime shortly before my fourteenth birthday I had completely forgotten I ever had one.

Why did you start writing a diary?

I was in WHSmith with my mum one afternoon and I spotted the prettiest diary.

It had an art deco kind of design on the front and I would not give up begging my mum for it. She reluctantly spent the £11 on it so I promised to write in it; and I did. After a while, by force of habit maybe, I was still writing in it. The childish ramblings never ceased to make an appearance, however some of the entries were more serious as I got older.

Why did you stop?

To be honest I think I just got a bit bored.

That early teen stage of my life that I looked forward to my whole childhood was more dull than I had expected. Nothing exciting or dramatic happened to me and so the diary seemed more of a chore than something I enjoyed doing.

When you look back at your diary, how do you feel?

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Sometimes I feel embarrassed. Well, most of the time I feel embarrassed actually. I remember thinking at the time that my writing was beautiful and edgy. It really isn’t, it’s actually kind of shit. Aside from the embarrassment though, I kind of feel nostalgic. And a bit sorry for myself, because I was clearly very bored.

Why do you feel nostalgic? Spill…

Well when I was 13 I really fancied a boy I went to school with. He was in the year above, sporty, dark hair, you get the idea.

I really fancied him, I would get nervous when he walked past me in the corridor. As it turns out, years later when I finally became old enough to legally drink, I saw him in a bar. We ended up kissing after a night of Sambuca shots and it was the worst kiss of my entire life. The kiss killed the idea that the absolute dreamboat in the year above was still destined to be mine (every young girl’s crush stays with them as long as mine did I hope!). So now when I read the entries where I mentioned him, I miss the feeling I used to get pre-kiss.

Tell me about your favourite entry in the diary.

I found myself laughing out loud at one of them. This was obviously an incredibly serious matter at the time… my best friend used to copy me a lot, apparently. Obviously my t-shirt and jeans combo was so ‘out there’ that anyone who wore it was blatantly trying to get my back up. I am distraught

in this entry, I even use the word “bitch” somewhere. Now me and my best friend basically have one shared wardrobe and sport near-matching haircuts. The 13-year-old me would not have been happy to see what I have become.

What is your opinion that diary writing is a dying art?

Based purely on the fact nobody I know writes a diary… I would say that I agree with that. I know I wouldn’t go back to writing one. It’s very rare, for example, that you’re on a train and you see someone scribbling away in a notebook. Everyone is either on their phones or reading. One time a man across the bus from me was drawing a picture of me though. That was kind of creepy, but nice I guess.

So where do you take your day-to-day thoughts now?

I would have to say that my boyfriend is my diary, I’m sure he must be exhausted with the amount of menial details I throw at him after a day’s work, but he listens all the same.

Sometimes he even responds to me!

“If you wrote a diary entry about today, what would it say?”

Probably something about how excited I am to go for dinner at my mum and dad’s tonight, I haven’t seen them in 2 weeks and they have adopted a dog. 

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Tattoos: Do words mean more?

Exploring the art of written tattoos

Words & pictures Jessica Devine Getting a tattoo is one of the most important decisions someone can make, it allows a person to open up and feel pain, fear, and excitement, as needles drum into your skin up to a few thousand times a minute.

Personally, I do not have any tattoos so this article is not coming from a tattoo-covered enthusiast but from someone who takes an interest in other people’s ink, especially written, and finding their reasoning behind it.

We see words scribed over many bodies, from the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox having Shakespearean quotes across them to girls from school getting the Chinese symbol for ‘love’, ‘hope’, ‘believe’ (you get the gist) on their backs when we were sixteen, but the question is: are written tattoos more meaningful than images?

I took to the streets of Manchester’s Northern Quarter in search for people with words tattooed on them. Surprisingly it turned out to be more difficult than I predicted, as the majority of people I found had images only, and to be honest most of them had their tattoos simply because ‘they liked it’, with no considered meaning behind them. I dandered into a NQ tattoo studio and met with two artists, they also had this opinion, with one of them saying the only writing he had on his body (which was covered in tattoos) were on his knuckles, he informed me that those words didn’t mean anything to him and that, “tattoos tend not to mean anything to tattoo artists, we get

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them because we can and because we like them,” while the other man, who didn’t say much, nodded his head in agreement.

I then began to move my search into Aflecks Palace, a place with all the weird and wonderful things you can imagine, but also a place with a few tattoo studios and many people covered in them. As I wondered through it, I spotted a girl with writing on her arms and finally my luck began to change.

I met with 3 people and a five-piece girl band. After hearing each individual story about their tattoos, I started to realise that an image may not have the same emotional meaning as a piece of text and that the people who get written tattoos may be making more of a commitment than those with imagery. It made me wonder, is a piece of writing is a lot closer to the heart? Are images less serious and can they be taken in a variation of ways? Are words more meaningful, as they may be what someone might feel, think, believe and when getting that tattooed on a person, does it almost act as a rule for them to follow?

After speaking to such interesting people, I now appreciate written tattoos a lot more.

However, if I’m to be honest with you, when I finally gather some courage and sit myself down on a tattoo artist’s chair, I’ll probably get an image tattoo and state: “I got it ‘cause I liked it.”

“

“

When getting words tattooed on a person, does it act like a rule for them to follow?

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Rebecca Cole, 26: You are the smell in the rain, the blood in my veins “This was the first tattoo I got on my arm, its my favourite song by a band called Brand New. I had wanted this piece of writing for years and years but my dad absolutely hates tattoos and was always against the idea of me getting one, which made me hold off getting the tattoo for a long time, but then one day I thought sod it, I’m going to go get it done.”

Dreams unwind. Love’s a state of mind.

“These are Fleetwood Mac lyrics, I just think they’re really nice. Unlike my Brand New tattoo, these lyrics don’t particularly mean anything to me, but I think they’re lovely, this tattoo was very last minute as I’m really bad at going and getting tattoos on a whim. The rest of my tattoos are all images, but I like the idea of getting band related writing across my body as I find a lot of lyrics very relatable.”

Simon Knowles, 44: You inspire my inner serial killer “This can be taking to ways, to be a killer or not be a killer. I wanted to get something a bit different, that would stand out.

People get tattoos such as ‘love’ and ‘hope’ and I thought getting something a bit strange that can be taking in different ways becomes a talking point.”

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PINS: Now “We were on tour in America and it was my (Sophie) birthday and we had a few days off so we decided to go to Vegas We went out the night before my birthday as a ‘pre night’ before my actual birthday to see what was going on in Vegas and as there was no expectation of the night, it of course ended up wild.

We went to the casino, did some gambling, drank a lot of tequila and then in no time it was 2am and we were booking tattoos at a place called ‘Precious Sluts’. We were all laughing about getting matching tattoos and were deciding what to get, when Lois said what about ‘Now’ and then we started chanting, ‘NOW NOW NOW, when are we going to get it… NOW!’ It was funny because we went to the counter without knowing what we wanted and were just saying, ‘5 tattoos please’, we let the artists choose the font and everything.”

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POSTCROSSING Words Melissa Svensen

Postcrossing is an online project that launched in 2005, allowing people to receive postcards from all over the world. Based on the idea that everyone likes to receive physical post, users request an address, generated from the 670, 029 members, and send a postcard. Someone, somewhere, will do the same with their address.

Interestingly, Postcrossing doesn’t allow for constant communication; it’s not a penpal project that creates a dialogue between two people. Rather, it’s a one-off letter – a fleeting insight into someone’s life and culture, a brief thank-you note to log it as received on the site, and that’s it.

I tried Postcrossing myself. It took 28 days for my postcard to reach Russia, after which I received a thank you note. I’m yet to receive a postcard back, so I reached out to a few frequent users to ask about their experience with Postcrossing.

Justin Johnson is a 5th grade teacher from Liberal, Missouri – a town with a population of just 759 people. He uses Postcrossing to help his students explore the world.

“After hearing some comments about other cultures that I found inappropriate, I decided that I had to find a way to expose my students to more cultures,” Justin tells me.

“What I enjoy most about using Postcrossing in my classroom is that every postcard is an opportunity to learn something new about people and places around the world.

“My students love to look up and find the country the postcard is from and see how far it has travelled. We have had amazing discussions in class that never would have happened without Postcrossing.

“Every time I check the mail here at school I

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know that we’ll have a new discussion and a new opportunity to learn about the amazing people that make up this world we share.”

Johnson’s use of Postcrossing is seemingly intercultural communication in its purest form: to find out about other cultures.

Though for most, with the internet at our fingertips, other cultures don’t seem so far away, Postcrossing allows this for anyone without such access. Johnson says his class not only receives the postcards but collections of maps, flags and other souvenirs. His experience proves not only a willingness to learn about other cultures, but our eagerness to share, too.

Natasha Clayton, from Yorkshire and living in London, uses the site to revisit her childhood love for collecting postcards.

“I really like post through the door and postcards as a way of staying in touch. I still write to the woman who I met on a school exchange nearly 30 years ago. We know each other well, have met several times and do exchange the occasional Whatsapp but our primary communication is through letters.

“When I’m on holiday I send lots of cards to close family and friends, but also more distant relatives who I wouldn’t phone, but who I want to know that I still think about them. I also collected postcards when I was younger and have hundreds of them in boxes.

“Postcrossing seemed to bring it all together, plus you get little glimpses of different lives which helps me to understand other just a little more.”

While users can engage in direct communication following the initial 

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Photos licensed for commercial reuse under Creative Commons

“

You get little glimpses of different lives which helps me to understand other people just a little more.

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postcard, this is done outside of the site.

Postcrossing is more like a tweet – not as open, of course, but it has a similar brevity.

Postcrossing is perhaps an entirely new way of harking back to the past; they’re not just rehashing the idea of writing postcards, but giving them a new lease of life, appealing to a generation used to the immediacy of technology.

random intercultural communication lies in the mystery. We can lay out what we would like – of course – but there’s something nice about having to guess, from little more than a picture and a brief bio, what someone might like to know about you, and your hometown.

Nicola Tams, professor and intercultural communications lecturer, agrees: “I think the travelling postcard project allows people to think about one of the most central aspects of a letter, or even more so a postcard, that is its uncertainty,” says

Another user, Olga Beskrovnaya, likes the challenges postcards pose: “to write enough to fill in the postcard (usually you have too much or too little to say), to pick a card suitable for a particular person.”

“On the one-hand, it is uncertain that a postcard even arrives… on the other hand, the sender can never be sure that the meaning he or she wants to transmit survives the voyage.”

While it’s ultimately down to the author, Postcrossing users can outline what they would like to receive; the type of images they like on Postcards and what they enjoy reading about. When I tried Postcrossing, my recipient had very few demands – she liked Postcards with pictures of the writer’s country but nothing about the content. I found myself writing solely about myself – about my day and what I did. While it made me feel a little self-indulgent this is where Postcrossing appeals to a modern audience: it’s the physical equivalent to social media – a sort of shout into the void about anything in the hope that someone sees it.

A friend also tried Postcrossing, with less success. Her chosen recipient’s About page was a page-long set of rules: she liked pictures of cats, but only with their owners, no babies, no typical tourist views (but she did like landscapes). It was lengthy.

This seemingly goes against how I view Postcrossing. For me, the excitement of such

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This is heightened by language barriers.

Reading and writing a postcard in a language that isn’t your first is difficult (Postcrossing request that all communication is done in English) and while it will inevitably cause for some confusion, this is where the excitement comes in – ultimately you don’t know who’s receiving the postcard, if they’ll understand it, or if they’ll receive it at all.

Though we’re certainly not deprived of communication with other cultures, social media allowing for it pretty constantly, Postcrossing is different. A hark back to old forms of communication – the excitement of post through the door – with the modern twist of its brevity, Postcrossing is exciting. Pictures from Mr. Johnson’s classroom

Start sending a postcrossing.com

From the creator of WRECK THIS JOURNAL...

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Books we return to Here, four people tell us about their favourite books and why they just had to go back.

Words Sophie Woods

Amber Williams, 21

Jayde Gamble, 20

What it’s about A book with aims to help its readers become their best selves, written by one of the world’s most inspiring women.

What I Know For Sure is made up of a collection of updated essays from her O, The Oprah Magazine column. That’s 14 years of life lessons organized by theme—joy, resilience, connection, gratitude, possibility, awe, clarity, and power.

What it’s about A school-year in the life of Eleanor and Park, two sixteen-year- old’s set on falling in love despite knowing that first loves almost never work out. But they’re courageous enough to try.

Why did you return?

My boss bought me it when I was going through a rough time and it helped a lot. It’s only a small book and each chapter has a starting quote and an ending summary which makes it easy to take things away from it. Oprah is a strong woman and teaches you to have good morals and values, but mostly she empowers you, and who wouldn’t want to feel empowered again and again.

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Why did you return?

I read this book a couple of years ago and I wasn’t expecting much as it’s aimed at a teen audience but I was so wrong. This book was the first book that I have ever fallen in love with, it captures the true innocence of falling in love for the first time when you’re young and naive, but they both have REAL big challenges to face day to day. The ending leaves you begging for more about their story and what more determines if a book is good or not? I’m an avid reader and this is the only book that has stuck with me since I read it and still gives me butterflies when I open the first page.

Kate Boughey, 23

Brogen Richards, 25

What’s it about?

Global fashion communications executive, Aliza Licht, is here to mentor you in the world of the fashion industry.

From social media to standing out in a crowd, she aims to help you build your self-confidence with doses of inspiration and advice drawn from her own experiences.

What it’s about?

After her grandmother is wrongly tortured and hanged for being a witch, an enigmatic stranger appears to help Mary Newbury get out before the crowds have a chance to turn on her.

However, what the voyage holds in the end was not to be expected.

Why did you return?

Leave you mark is essentially a sassy, savvy guide on how to excel in your career through wit and hard work. It is filled with must-have insider tips on the rules and brutal truth of the fashion industry and how to break in to it. I feel like this book is my best friend - the type that tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. Aliza Licht’s words are inspiring and empowering.

Whenever I feel I need motivation I always come right back to this book.

Why did you return?

To be honest, I re-read it because there’s a lot of questions that don’t feel answered after you read it once, it’s a very complex story. It’s a really powerful book, you can’t decide if it’s a true story or not, I like that mystery element of it.

I’ve always been interested in history and the witch trials in Salem, of which the author got her inspiration, so I found I came away with information that I could take away and look into afterwards. I’ve read it three times and it keeps getting better.

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REVIEW: ‘Set The Boy Free’ Johnny Marr Words Melissa Svensen

Musicians’ autobiographies are funny things; you almost expect them to have a formula.

Childhood love of music, maybe an element of being the outcast, teenage years of drug and rebellion, followed by fame and more of the latter. A brief demise, an inevitable comeback and so on, and so forth.

The Boy Free’ such an enjoyable read. It sounds like Johnny Marr as you’d imagine him chatting in a pub. Parallel to Morrissey’s lyric-writing, Marr’s writing is infinitely more real. While I’m yet to read his songwriting partner’s autobiography I imagine it to be a lot more indulgent with its language.

Johnny Marr’s ‘Set The Boy Free’ has elements of this formula – most notably his complete obsession with music and childish years of too much drinking and not enough sleeping – but there’s seemingly something different about both Marr and his book.

Yet through all his simplicity and approachability, there’s something rather astounding about Marr; the way he talks about music and musicians. There’s a childlike excitement about the way he talks about everything from guitars to recording studios, something that 30 years on from The Smiths has stuck with him.

Marr manages to detail his abstinence from alcohol, vegan diet and marathon-aday fitness regime without ever sounding pretentious or self-righteous. He boasts his time with The Smiths, playing with Keith Richards and Paul McCartney, the constant demand for him from other bands without ever actually boasting. Rather, he becomes completely human and seems humbled by it all.

There’s a simplicity in his story-telling too.

Despite a surprising vividity for a book that spans almost 50 years (though i suppose had anyone’s life been as exciting as Marr’s they might remember every detail), it’s readable.

He seemingly tells things as they were, no frills and no sugar-coating, just stories.

It’s exactly this simplicity that makes ‘Set

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While I’m almost disappointed by just how likeable Johnny Marr is, there’s something to be said of him steering so clear of stereotypes - of a ‘rock star’ image. Such an image is something that seems to come naturally to Marr.

‘Set The Boy Free’ is a refreshingly clear and honest insight into one of the most interesting musicians and bands ever.

2017

‘Encounter some of your literary heroes in prestigious and unusual settings across the city and beyond.’

Support the Manchester Literature Festival’s Commission Programme: promising to commission new work by both established and emerging authors.

Thursday 25th May, 6:30pm Central Library Visit the website: www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk for tickets and location information

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Event Guide Say goodbye to your winter blues and enter spring by getting involved in these top events.

Words Jessica Devine

Suspiciously Cheap Comedy London’s best new material night is coming to Salford.

Lovingly curated by critically acclaimed sketch groups Gein’s Family Gift Shop and Goose, Suspiciously Cheap Comedy brings you Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner Adam Riches, creator of the smash hit show “What would Beyoncé do?”, Luisa Omelian and Jamalli Maddix.

13 March, New Adelphi, Salford, 7pm, £5.

WOW Festival WOW (Women of the World) is a festival of talks, debates, music, film, comedy and activism, celebrating women and girls. Based on the premise that an equal world is a better world for all of us, WOW is a celebration not only of women and girls but of equality in all its forms.

10-12 March, Hull, various venues, times & prices.

MCR May Day Festival A night of poetry, comedy and fun to round of the May Day Festival, including comedians and poets such as, Kerry Leigh, Gerry Potter, Annette Fagon & Steph Pike, bringing the festival their original material covering a range of writing forms.

30 April, 6:20pm-10:30pm, Mechanics Institute, Manchester.

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International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair The longest running artists’ book fair outside of London celebrates its 20th anniversary. Throughout its history the Fair has attracted national and international participation and welcomed thousands of visitors from across the UK. 4-5 March, The Tetley, Leeds, 10am-5pm daily.

Speak! Spoken Word & Poetry.

‘Speak’. A night of spoken word and poetry. There are 10 open mic spots available on a first come, first served basis. Plus one special guest poet every month. This months headliner is Gerry Potter.

“Pay what you feel on the night, all money raised goes back to getting the poets drunk.”

16 March, Jimmy’s, Manchester, 7:30pm.

Northern Lights Writers’ Conference Presented by Creative Industries Trafford, this conference presents, author’s masterclasses, panel discussions & publishing industry talks. Including authors who will be sharing advice for emerging and mid-career writers, alongside informative sessions with agents, editors & other professionals 18 March, 10am-5pm, Waterside Plaza, Sale, £25-30.

Jimmy’s Comedy Buffet A night of comedy to suite all tastes.

The line up includes: headliner - Gein’s Family Giftshop.

Along with other acts: - Yolav and Graham - Ben Sutton - The Sketch Men 23 March, Jimmy’s Manchester, 7:30pm, £5

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Should we still write letters?

What used to bring the feelings of excitement and love, now brings the feelings of dismay. Love letters have turned into reminders that your bills are overdue. But should this be the case, or should the abundance of happiness letters used to bring us be a feeling that is brought back? For good.

Words Jayde Gamble The art of letter writing is still taught to us in school when we are told to remember that their address always sits on the left and you must never start a letter with ‘Sir’ to end it with ‘Sincerely’, but where has the magic gone?

Writing a letter used to be the only form of communication between two people until the introduction of telephones into both upper and lower class households, rather than just the elite. The big difference between the letters sent then and those that children are taught to write is the contents. In school, we are taught how to write a formal letter and of course those skills are essential in life, but the letters sent between lovers, friends, family back then contained emotion, anecdotes, love – skills we no longer are taught to convey through letter writing.

In this day and age the bond between two people is a million miles away from the bond when letter writing was still the main form of communication, why

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you ask?

Simply because it wasn’t as easy then.

Now, teenagers and young adults can send a text that will reach the other in two seconds, rather than two days. You can talk day in day out to the receiving person so the conversation isn’t as exciting! Having to wait two days for the postman to come and push the letter through your letterbox from the person you love would send your heart racing – waiting to hear about their day, what has been going on in life, to be told how much they love you – that feeling has now become extinct.

For me, I love the art of letter writing and I find writing how I feel a lot easier than communicating it face to face.

From when I can remember, I would always write my mum a letter if I had been a little mischievous when I was younger and push under the door waiting in anticipation for her to emerge and hopefully find me cute enough to forgive me!

Even today, I use writing letters as a way to tell people how I feel and even though I may not be licking a stamp and sending it through a big red post box, I feel like it still encapsulate what a true letter is supposed to – emotion and love.

I took to Twitter and created a poll to question whether people still send letter to one another, a huge 71% said that they no longer do. Following this, I asked three of them why this is no longer a preferred way of communication for them:

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Tania Khan, 20 (@tr0picalskies): “I don’t write letters because I don’t think many people I know would see the point in contacting through a letter as there is faster ways of communicating such as sending a quick text or a phone call”

Grace Low, 20 (@grace_low_): “It is very rare that I will write a letter due to email, social media and mobile phones. I think this is mainly due to convenience and the speed in which the other person will receive your message and be able to reply.

Furthermore, because of smart phones, people can now be in constant communication with one another and can regularly be checking their emails wherever they are, even more reason as to why letters are not viewed as the best way of communicating with people anymore”

Jonathan Hillen, 21 (@jhillen): “As a child you are always taught to write using pencil and then will eventually move on to pen, now children are taught much earlier how to use computers and tablets, proving that letters aren’t valued as much as sending an email for example in this day and age”

In this issue of Scroll. magazine is it my job to identify whether the art of letter writing really is dying, or whether some people are still using the old method of communication as a way of expressing personal feeling that cannot be achieved through digital media.

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National Letter Writing Campaigns It turns out it isn’t just our Scroll. team that thinks we should still write letters regardless of the advanced technology we have today. There are campaigns around the world that are asking people to write letters for their own very different reasons, and we support them all.

Words Jayde Gamble

United Kingdom:

In 2015, the Royal Mail teamed up with National Literacy Trust and created ‘National Letter Writing Week’ with the aim to encourage young children to write letters again.

The National Literacy Trust found that twice as many children who write letters on a monthly basis write above the expected level for their age.

They also found that 1 in 3 girls write letters outside of school once a month compared to less than a quarter of boys.

Their research has stated that the number of children writing letters decreases as they get older as only 1 in 6 children will write letters aged 14-16 years compared to over a third writing between the ages of 8-11 years.

Following the findings, the Royal Mail makes their aim to “encourage people to rediscover the joy and value of putting pen to paper.”

Letters used to be an intimate way of communicating with one another and it is safe to say that the proliferation of social media has failed to maintain the personal touch of a handwritten letter.

Australia:

As well as the National Letter Writing Week, the 1st September every year represents ‘Letter Writing Day’.

Established by Richard Simpkin, who felt receiving a letter was a joyous and exciting experience, Letter Writing Day started as a project called ‘Australian Legends’. Simpkin would send letters to anyone he considered to be an Australian Legend to arrange an interview and photography session.

Receiving a letter back from the legends with their own personal touch was something that Richard enjoyed, he also loved to keep the letters as a collectible item, which cannot be done with digital ways of communication.

Richard Simpkin believes that when we write a letter we are more expressive compared to an email or text when we just want to take ‘short cuts’; “We try not to make spelling mistakes when we write, we usually take pride in our hand writing & we all want our letters to look & sometimes feel special to the receiver, a hint of perfume, a photo, a favourite flower petal. We usually just make more of an effort.”

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USA: Whilst researching for this article, I stumbled across a Facebook page called ‘National Send a Handwritten Letter Day’, this is a campaign set up throughout America who set up a Letter Writing Day on January 17th this year.

The page currently has 1,914 likes and 1,852 follows. Due to their huge success of encouraging people to put pen to paper and send a handwritten letter to a loved one across American, they are now holding the day on the 17th of every month for the full year.

I spoke to Frank, who set up the campaign in 2010 to ask him what his aims for the group are: “I started the page and the holiday seven years ago to do just that, encourage people to start writing again. Part of the impetus was the news at that time that schools were no longer going to teach cursive writing. While email, text messaging and Twitter are wonderful ways to communicate, they cannot equal the thrill of opening up the mailbox and getting a hand-written letter from someone.

A secondary aim was to help give the US Postal Service a shot in the arm by having one day a year where they saw an increase in mail due to people sending out hand-written letters.

January 17 was chosen as the date because it is the birth-date of Benjamin Franklin. Among Franklin’s many inventions is the fact that he was also the first Postmaster General of the United States Post Office.

This year we had thousands of people participating and its grows a little bit larger every year!”

The group stress what we all know that “the art of handwritten letters is dying” – however they also campaign that the postal service is also losing its need.

Therefore they claim that their campaign will ‘pump millions of dollars into the postal service and millions of smiles into the hearts of Americans from coast to coast.’

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Worldwide:

A writing campaign with an impact!

‘Write for Rights’ is a campaign ran every year throughout November and December to encourage people to write message to those who have suffered injustice in the world.

In 2015, the campaign saw 3.7 million letters and messages to people who have experienced unfairness, prejudice and inequality around the world. They wrote to show their unity and solidarity with them as well as writing to authorities who could bring them justice. Putting pen to paper really supported and changed the recipient’s lives’ forever.

Over half a million people wrote to girls in Burkina Faso who were forced into child marriage and called for the government to protect the girls. A few months after receiving the letters, the government stated that it planned to outlaw early marriage.

Another real story to shed light on how writing a letter can impact change is that of Fred Bauma and Yves Makwambala, two youth activists who were imprisoned in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bauma and Makwambala were associated with the organisation LUCHA (Lutte pour le chagement or ‘fight for change) and were facing the death penalty for their activism.

Although the charges have not been dropped, in August 2016 Fred and Yves were released on bail following international pressure and focus on their case; this has allowed them to continue defending human rights.

Letters in New York We all know that one of the greatest perks of receiving a letter through the door is personalisation, nothing beats staring at someone’s handwriting and imaging their voice in your head whilst reading, well, for the receivers of Hannah Brencher’s letters, this couldn’t be done.

Words Jayde Gamble

In 2010, Hannah Brencher began leaving love letters around New York for strangers to find, and whilst that may sound cute and romantic, the reasoning wasn’t so whimsical. At this time, Hannah was suffering depression, being in a big city and feeling alone will never be an easy feeling for anyone to endure and sending the letters meant that Hannah could escape her “own feelings of sadness and loneliness for a while and focus on others in the big city who may have been feeling as lot down as me” Hannah explains in her memoir ‘If you find this letter’, that with every letter she left around the city she learnt a new life lesson. She describes her feelings as “I used to think bravery always meant being strong, never shedding tears, being the one who could hold it all together even when everything seemed to be falling apart. We learn that from the very beginning—how to save face, how to rely on ourselves, how to always be stronger but never (ever) weaker.”

Hannah’s memoir is named after the message she would leave on the envelopes: ‘If you see this, I’m yours’ which we can’t deny would feel great to find around the city.

A small idea to help her through the lowest points has turned into a huge global initiative to encourage the art of letter writing to consequently empower those that are at a low point of their life.

‘THE WORLD NEEDS MORE LOVE LETTERS’ was set up by Hannah is 2011 where her bio claims she has ‘dedicated her life and work to the broken-hearted’.

The website shows a list of ‘letter requests’ where people have nominated family, friends or just someone in need of love. Their stories are displayed on the website along with an address and all the team ask is that readers put pen to paper and send strangers encouragement and love to life them through hard times. Who wouldn’t want to get involved in this?

Those who have been nominated receive hundreds of letters from strangers around the world and write back to the website with thanks and appreciation for the heartfelt words.

Hannah also co-founded ‘If you find this email’ in 2015 as another way of helping people speak out about experiences in their lives as well as the way they are feeling.

Participants write anonymously to the website expressing their life through letters to one another, poems and confessions. I must admit I have spent endless hours scrolling on this website, completely focused on their stories and some of them are heart wrenching, some are uplifting – for example when a girl or boy writes to someone they’ve seen down the street that they thought we beautiful but didn’t have the courage to tell them, and some represent unity – replying to others messages and telling them they are not alone or that their words have spoken to them in a way they hadn’t known possible until finding the website.

I would imagine that receiving letters

and messages from strangers who have no idea about who you are and cannot judge you on things that others can, would be somewhat satisfying. Those that want to help are taking time from their day to tell someone they may never know that they are not alone and to keep smiling through the pain.

Hannah’s own personal experience has impacted her life and thousands of lives’ around the world and it all started with a letter.

The idea gives me hope that there are still people that want to help and have goodness in their hearts to send heartfelt words for nothing in return.

Hannah has managed to find those that are not selfish and want to spread happiness as much as they can.

In terms of whether the art of letter writing is dying out, I agree it is, yes. An inevitable decrease after the introduction of technology thanks to its convenience and ease – which definitely has its positives impacts, but there’s no denying that a Facebook message or Snapchat does not carry the same intimate, tangible and keepsake values that a letter does.

With that being said, the art is definitely not on its way to becoming ‘extinct’ as proved by the positive impact letter writing is still having today – there are those who will always prefer to receive and send a handwritten letter to achieve those positive aspects that social media just cannot compete with.

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Famous Words “The postman only delivers bad news now” – Cosmopolitan “To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.” – Phyllis Theroux “What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can’t reread a phone call.” – Liz Carpenter “Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them.” –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I like writing letters and receiving letters.

It’s a shame that we’ve lost the art of letterwriting and saving correspondence. I mourn that. - Elizabeth McGovern Compare sending someone a text message and getting a love letter delivered by carrier pigeon. No contest. - Bryan Callen In an age life ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what an important part it used to play in people’s live. - Anatole Broyand 59

Letters to our childhood selves As a team, we thought what we be better to end this section than sending mini us letters?

We’ve all hit ‘adulthood’ supposedly so it is now acceptable for us to reflect on our childhood to wish we did some things better or that we chose a different outfit from prom.

Everyone wishes they knew then what they know now so here’s us telling ourselves to stay calm, breathe and definitely change that haircut.

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An extract from ‘Edge’ The woman is perfected Her dead Body wears the smile of accomplishment, The illusion of a Greek necessity Flows in the scrolls of her toga, Her bare Feet seem to be saying: We have come so far, it is over.

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‘Viciousness in the kitchen’ Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Ted Hughes’ death. The man that is the one of the most controversial for feminists and is said to have driven Plath to her suicide. We are not here however, to damage his name but to appreciate the poems of his wife Sylvia Plath including the collection ‘Ariel’ which he was responsible for publishing after her death.

Words Jayde Gamble

Sylvia Plath was said to change the art of confessional poetry. Writers take this form to talk of death and trauma through usually metaphorical technique.

I remember learning about Plath’s poetry during A-levels and immediately fell in love with her honesty, although we were never allowed to say that she was talking about herself within her words, it was always assumed.

Sylvia Plath suffered from deep depression her whole adult life and this became the main shadow over her poetry. Plath refers to her treatments within her poem ‘Tulips’: “They have propped my head between the pillow and the sheet-cuff Like an eye between two white lids that will not shut.

Stupid pupil, it has to take everything in.”

Plath attempted to take her life on three occasions, succeeding on the third and died in 1963 at the age of 30. Although her life was short lived, her poetry still stands as some of the best of its time.

It was always difficult to pin point what Plath was trying to convey within her poetry, most of her work was metaphorical and until you look at it deeply, you cannot really whether it has a positive or negative cast.

A poem that always stood out for me was ‘Daddy’, again we cannot say for certain that the poem refers to Otto Plath, but we can guess. Otto died when Plath was only eight years old and the poem refers to the distance between father and daughter, referring to the father as a Nazi and the daughter, a Jew. “Ich, ich, ich, ich, I could hardly speak.

I thought every German was you.”

“A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen.

I began to talk like a Jew. I think I may well be a Jew.” In an interview with the BBC Plath discussed the changed point in her life: “And then, at nine, I was rather disillusioned — I stopped believing in elves and Santa Claus and all these little beneficent powers — and became more realistic and depressed, I think, and then, gradually, became a bit more adjusted about the age of sixteen or seventeen. . But I certainly didn’t have a happy adolescence — and, perhaps, that’s partly why I turned specially to writing — I wrote diaries, stories, and so forth. I was quite introverted during those early years.”

I always enjoyed poetry at school, but never as much as I enjoyed Plath’s.

There’s something about a poet that

has the ability to make you question everything you’ve just read. Who is this about? What does this mean? Why has she included the imagery of a tree?

After reading her poetry you left feeling like you’d learnt nothing, but yet so much. Her poems made you feel like a real life oxymoron.

I hope that Plath’s poetry and legacy lives on forever, although I know this is a big ask, I think it’s important for our eyes and minds to be opened to something darker than Shakespeare’s sonnets and confessional poetry is definitely a way to do that.

Whether the fact that Plath led a difficult life herself, full of pain and confusing helped with the popularity of her poems, I don’t know. It was a change not to see poems full of love and happiness and think that there was someone behind the words really feeling it.

Sylvia Plath’s poetry was definitely one of a kind, and although there are many that despise Hughes for the ordering of certain poems within the collection he released, we have to be thankful that he published ‘Ariel’ after her death and exposed us all to more of her outstanding work.

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These are not books Words & pictures Sophie Woods

Have you ever heard about books where you’re the author? I’m not talking about sitting down and drafting out a novel, or the rather cliché idea that “your life is your story”, but an easier and rather quirky experience. A book that prompts you to talk about you, or gives you ideas on how to stretch your imagination further to create something entirely your own.

There is an emerging trend in writing journals. These are the books that are encouraging writing. Two things that are seemingly extinct in 2017; writing and books. Physical, pen-to-paper writing in an actual book made of paper. Can you imagine?

They are the equivalent to adult ball pools; you can be a child again. Literally scribble, draw, create and even destroy your way through them for pleasure or purpose. They almost remind me of filling out annuals every Christmas as a child, knowing that with the turn of each page comes a different activity to complete.

The quirky themes, intriguing intros and activities make it impossible to leave them to go dusty on a shelf. Fill them out alone, with a friend or with your entire family; their beautiful covers make them the perfect coffee table books (leave one out and have guests complete a page each, that’s my plan.)

Whether you’re looking for inspiration, preparing for your next bout of nostalgia or just want to get a little bit weird… here is where you need to be. 

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One Line a Day: A Five Year Memory Book Here is a diary, but not as you know it.

It’s smaller in size, larger in content, and wider in time span. One book, five years, and everything you have done inside.

I picked up this book one night, after a long day in the city, and felt exhausted in having to fill it out. Should I leave it for tomorrow? No, because you will forget, and will have forgotten what you even did the day before by then. However, when I opened it I was surprised to find I had been filling it out for a whole year that very evening.

A year ago that night I had been out for a burger and cinema date with my best friend. She is still my best friend and, amazingly, I had seen her that day too.

It’s the little things about your day that when you look back, warm you.

Created in 2009 by San Francisco publishing giant, Chronicle Books, One Line a Day gives you a page for each day of the year. Each page contains five sections with a box to write the year of each entry on. Here you can write, and appreciate, the ups and downs of your day to day life, no matter how menial you consider them to be. At the end of the five years, you will be able to go back and compare each day from different years. You’ll remember the sad days, be inspired by the good days and have absolutely no recollection of others.

For some, this is the perfect chance to write a diary. Something people stray away from or simply don’t deem necessary is being made extremely easy.

My favourite thing about it is that the box is so small. You have five lines to

write everything, even if that’s nothing, about your day. It requires you to pick the favourite, or even just the most significant, parts of your day.

However, this book does require a bit of dedication. And if, like me, you’re incredibly forgetful, you’ll need to set an alarm. I felt like I was dragging my feet during the first year with this book; but you should stick at it.

I promise, it’ll be worth it.

See also: Living Well One Line a Day, Mom’s One Line a Day, One Sketch a Day: A Visual Journal.

Buy for £9.59 on Amazon. 

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712 More Things to Write About I often hear people say “I need to write more”; creatives who, for whatever reason, have gotten caught up in life and neglected an art they once adored. Or, they’re simply under the impression that they have no time for it, that you have to sit for hours if you’re going to write at all.

But along came the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto.

Of all the books I’m going to talk about here, this is the mothership. Released in 2014, 712 More Things to Write About will take you on the happiest, funniest and sometimes most bizarre writing journey you will ever go on. An updated version of the much loved 642 Things to Write About (which was written in one day!!), 712 is a chunky journal filled with writing prompts for your casual writing pleasure.

With this book, you will never be asked to compile pages and pages of writing.

At most you’ll fill an A5 side, with some sections being merely small boxes made to fit a few words. In its introduction, writer and ‘grotto’ founder, Po Bronson, explains rather eloquently that the prompts are created to be completed in 5-10 minutes. So whether you’re waiting for pasta to boil, the taxi to arrive or your lover to grab their things and go, you can be writing.

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I found the best way to tackle this book was to flick through and stop on a random page because, to be honest, the writing prompts are so random it would be impossible to try and organise them depending on how you feel. Although, admittedly, I did spend a good hour choosing which section I wanted to settle on; the choices are endless. You’re never going to expect what you come across, and each one is a surprise and a challenge.

Being a serial over-thinker, however, made the task of sitting with this book and simply writing whatever came to mind a complete nightmare. If you’re like me; come at this book in a moment where your mind is calm.

I bought my friend this book for her birthday last year and have borrowed her copy for the purpose of writing this article. I can see sections she has filled out and that alone has got my mind racing with ideas; seeing how another brain has interpreted these outlandish ideas.

What’s more, when I look back at my own entries I realised that different mindsets will provide you with different answers See also: 642 Lists to Write, 642 Things About You (That I Love), 642 Places to Draw.

Buy for £12.99 on Amazon.

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This Is Not A Book Created by Keri Smith and published in 2009 by The Penguin Group, This Is Not A Book will take you on a real-life adventure. It is a journey, a form of communication, a rebellion, a game and a dinner plate (no kidding, you will be asked to place your dinner on one of the pages) all in one book. This is a book that isn’t a book. Or, at least, it will become something other than a book over time.

It comes with one rule. You must take it everywhere with you and place it in full view at all times, for as long as it takes to complete. These quirky requests are what make it so enticing; each turn

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of the page could require you to do something you’d never even thought of. Flicking through it, I found myself questioning exactly HOW the author thought up these ideas. I imagine she has a busy brain.

The thing I like most about this book is that it aims to get people out into the world. The activities require you to leave the house and add to public spaces. For example, ‘This is a limited-edition art piece’, an activity that asks you to draw something or write a thought in the 10 individual boxes and place them in a public space along with a sign that reads “Limited edition art pieces: free:”. In an

age of glaring screens, your phone won’t matter; your next mission will.

What adds to the excitement is that the end product, however destroyed and confusing that may be, will be unlike any other. You could embark on this journey with your friends and compare your findings at the end. You could throw it in the bin. Or make it into a bin.

See Also: Wreck This Journal and Finish This Book, both by Keri Smith.

Buy for £4.49 on Amazon. 

Me, You, Us: A Book to Fill Out Together Lisa Currie’s Me, You, Us is the most idyllic creative space for you and a friend or your loved one. You can fill out the whole book with one person or each page with a different friend. Aside from the obvious fun element of it this book, when complete, it could have huge sentimental value; an interactive photo album.

Everything in this book is hand written on the page. I’d like to think this is to encourage you to be as playful as you can. It makes you want to dig out your smelly gel pens from school. The bright yellow front cover screams happiness; I feel that’s an essential part of entering

a writing journal with your favourite people or person. Another key element is communication. You’ll need to listen to each other’s ideas, talk about what to scribble in, or fill it in silently and pass it back and forth to surprise one-another; all resulting in an undoubtedly hilarious and heart-warming experience.

Ultimately, I adored this book for its ability to express so much love in such an unconventional way. You’ll find out things your partner or friends think about you that aren’t obvious or that they may not have told you already; the little bits of you that are appreciated.

And what could be better than that?

I first used this book on a train journey with my boyfriend and it kept us entertained for a whole hour. We started with “famous people we want in our clique” and so far, have Bob Ross and Louis Theroux listed as vital members…

I think we may need to revisit that.

See Also: The Positivity Kit and The Scribble Diary, both by Lisa Currie.

Buy for £11.99 at Urban Outfitters 

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The way the cookie crumbles Words and pictures Amy-Lea Wright

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Three billion fortune cookies are made If you’ve ever each year, almost all in the United States. But they have spread around been to a Chinese the world. They are served in ‘Chinese’ restaurants in Britain, Mexico, Italy, restaurant, the France and elsewhere. chances are you But there is one place where fortune were handed a cookies are noticeably absent: China. fortune cookie. The crunchy confection Cracking open the with a plain, history vanilla flavour is Former New York Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee writes in her book, The often a welcome Fortune Cookie Chronicles, that the cookie’s path is relatively easy to trace complement after back to the chop suey restaurants of a heavy meal. But World War II California. There, the cookies were encountered by military it’s the enigmatic personnel on their way back from the Pacific War. When these veterans messages we find returned home, they would ask their local Chinese restaurants why they inside which holds didn’t serve fortune cookies as the San Francisco restaurants did. Chinesethe most flavour, owned manufacturers started producing and has maintained the cookies because enough Californians had started to expect a fortune cookie the popularity of after their Chinese food. fortune cookies for As the popularity of Chinese food spread — both because China was an many years. ally during the war and because Chinese food made the little rationed meat that Americans got go a long way, Lee writes — so did the popularity of fortune cookies.

But not too long ago, researcher Yasuko Nakamachi uncovered something more than a good fortune concealed within a crispy cookie.

Nakamachi, who has long had an interest in the history of sweets and snacks, saw her first fortune cookie in

the 1980s in a New York City Chinese restaurant. At that time she was impressed with Chinese ingenuity, finding the cookies an amusing and clever idea.

It was only in the late 1990s, outside Kyoto in Japan, that she saw that familiar shape at a family bakery called Sohonke Hogyokudo. “These were exactly like fortune cookies,” she said.

“They were shaped exactly the same and there were fortunes inside.” As she researched the cookie’s Japanese origins, among the most persuasive pieces of evidence, Nakamachi found an illustration from a 19th-century book of stories.

A character in one of the tales is an apprentice in a senbei store. In Japan, the cookies are variously called tsujiura senbei (‘fortune crackers’), omikuji senbei (written fortune crackers’), and suzu senbei (‘bell crackers’). The apprentice appears to be grilling wafers in black irons over coals, the same way they are made in Hogyokudo and other present-day bakeries. A sign above him reads ‘tsujiura senbei’ and next to him are tubs filled with little round shapes — the tsujiura senbei themselves.

The illustration, dated 1878, comes decades before the first reports of fortune cookies in America. As it happens, many of those so-called chop suey restaurants in California at the time of World War II were actually owned by Japanese immigrants sent to internment camps during the war. These immigrants came to California and brought the tsuijura senbei with them, (such as Makoto Hagiwara - who is often credited with the introduction of fortune cookies in San Francisco during a New Year celebration) serving and selling them as ‘fortune tea cakes’ under a Chinese disguise.

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Leaving a sweet impression Nakamachi’s visit to the Hogyokudo shop revealed that the Japanese fortune cookies found there and at a handful of nearby bakers differ in some ways from the ones that Americans receive at the end of a meal. The traditional tsujiura senbei are bigger and browner, as their batter contains sesame and miso rather than vanilla and butter. The fortunes are not stuffed inside, but are pinched in the cookie’s fold. (Think of the cookie as a Pac-Man: the paper is tucked into Pac-Man’s mouth rather than inside his body.) Nevertheless, the family resemblance is undeniable.

The bakery has used the same 23 fortunes for decades. In contrast, Wonton Food, the largest fortune cookie manufacturer in the world, has a database of well over 10,000 fortunes.

Hogyokudo’s fortunes are more poetic than prophetic, although some nearby bakeries use newer fortunes that give advice or make predictions.

One from Inariya contains the advice, “To ward off lower back pain or joint

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problems, undertake some at-home measures like yoga.” Conversely, having written thousands of fortunes, Wonton Food’s ‘chief fortune writer,’ Donald Lau, sometimes reshapes familiar adages. (“You are what you eat, but you don’t look Chinese - come more often.”) He might also allude to politics. (“Don’t run for president; you’re not a good liar.”)

“I think the first fortunes I wrote were pretty similar to the database, that you will meet a stranger, and things like that,” Lau said. “I guess they sound more like horoscopes than fortunes.”

But Lau later experimented with his writing, using his dry sense of humour as the foundation of his 120-character pronouncements. “When they eat their fortune cookie, I want the customers to open the fortune, read it, maybe laugh, and leave the restaurant happy so that they come back again next week,” he continued.

Cited as America’s most-read author, the 68-year-old recently announced that he is retiring due to writer’s block. “I used to write 100 a year, but I’ve only written two or three a month over the past year,” Lau recently explained to Time.

Catering to different tastes Fortune cookies have remained a distinctly American phenomenon. In the early 1990s, Wonton Food attempted to expand its business in China, but found that the idea didn’t quite translate.

Chinese diners, unfamiliar with the idea, kept accidentally eating the fortunes, Lau says. (Americans have sometimes gone the opposite way: a survey in the late eighties found that nearly a quarter of diners don’t actually eat the cookie.)

“The company spent a lot of money to explain what a fortune cookie is,” says Lau. “It took too much time. And at that time, about 30 years ago, I think the government was not encouraging.

If someone found a fortune, the government may have considered it superstitious.”

The sentiment that the Japanese may have invented the fortune cookie, but the Chinese people really explored its potential, is echoed among some descendants of those Japanese immigrants who played an early role in fortune cookies. ”If the family had decided to sell fortune cookies, they would have never done it as successfully as the Chinese have,” said Douglas Dawkins, the great-great-grandson of Makoto Hagiwara, “I think it’s great.

I really don’t think the fortune cookie would have taken off if it hadn’t been popularised in such a wide venue.”

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After researching Mr Lau, I decided to offer my services and contribute some fortunes which may just help him overcome his writer’s block. They may also be a way for me to pick up some free salt and pepper chicken next time I’m across the pond. Who knows…

— Smile, despite what Trump tweeted today.

— Love can last a lifetime, unless you’re Taylor Swift.

— Do you know how many calories are in this cookie?

— Bend the rod while it’s still hot. No, I don’t have a clue what this means either.

— The man at the next table would like you to pass the hoisin sauce.

— You will one day choke to death on a fortune cookie.

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The Evaluation of Speech Writing We all remember learning how to write speeches throughout school - we were taught that repetition was key. We listened to ‘I have a dream’ 20 times a lesson and were able to recite it by the end. But why is it that the speeches we here today are no longer as memorable?

Words Jayde Gamble

In August 1963, Martin Luther King blessed us with his iconic ‘I have dream speech’ - he delivered the speech during the March of Washington of Jobs and Freedom and called for an end to racism in the United States.

Throughout the speech, King calls upon changing points for black lives such as the abolition of Slavery: “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.”

He also references his children - we are all aware that mentioning children within a speech draws on the emotion of listeners.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but the content of their character.”

Martin Luther King called out for a huge change in American politics and to end the prejudice towards the minority.

He succeeded and brought the world’s attention to how unfairly blacks were treated.

The writing of the speech took many drafts and the input of multiple people and King was awake until 4am working on the speech.

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With a message so powerful and iconic it is hard to believe that American citizens may be willing to bring racism back into their country with the congression of Donald Trump - but will we come to that shortly.

Although the same technique of repetition was not used by the 1975 as it was by Martin Luther King - instead the dedication of song spoke all the words needed for a fan reaction and a shower of love sent to the Orlando community.

For years, the majority of speeches you would hear on the news, or could research on Google would be that of Politicians and Activist like King himself.

The past two speeches have focused on empowerment for two different communities, standing up for people that have been degraded by society and asking for change.

However, now, it is common for musicians to incorporate speeches within their setlists and for them to be widely publicised. We all remember when Justin Bieber walked off stage due to no one wanting to listen to his speech, right?

Now, there’s no denying that Donald Trump asked for change, but in turn he asked for segregation - has the world of speeches gone backwards?

The 1975 were brought to attention after the Orlando shooting which took place within a LGBTQ+ night club during pride month.

The band, who have always been known for their support of love and equality used the pride flag as a backdrop in Charlottesville and dedicated their song ‘Loving Someone’ to the community.

The song references the fact that the media are “holding up the status quo” and teaching people that they should only want opposite sex relationships.

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“We’ve defended the borders of other nations, while leaving our own borders wide open, for anyone to cross...” ‘...and they were all united by one very simple, but crucial demand, that America must put its own citizens first.. because only then, can we make AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I thought we’d move on from the British staying in Britain and the Spanish living in Spain, I quite enjoy the fact that if I’d like to go live in France tomorrow, they’d accept me and not see me as a threat to their society.

Of course we can’t deny that Donald

is an avid speech giver - he is now the president of the United States after all, but is he showing that as long as you’re confident within your speech you can pretty much tell them anything?

Why the American Citizens would want to rework the change that people such as Martin Luther King and the 1975 stand for and travel back to a time when America was not about equality, I don’t know. But I’m not here to judge what they want.

I do have to question, however, whether they actually know what they’ve signed up for?

If someone within a lower position had given the same speech, would they still agree or would they think they’re living in the past?

Martin Luther King taught us that repetition and calling on changes is the way to a good speech that will always been known as iconic.

The 1975 demonstrated that sometimes the best speeches can come within song, and that dedication to a community can rate highly with the news and fans.

Whilst Donald Trump taught us that if you’re confident in your speech you can get people to believe anything.

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