Our Writers Recommend... (07/07/2020)

 
ARTICLE: ‘Novelist Lacy Crawford Writes About Her Sexual Assault While She Was a Student at St. Paul’s School’ - Lacy Crawford
 
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/06/novelist-lacy-crawford-writes-about-her-sexual-assault
 
The article is an extract from Lacy Crawford’s memoir, Notes on a Silencing. It tells her story of how she was sexually assaulted by two boys at a private Episcopal boarding school in New Hampshire, USA, in the early 90s. She does not go into detail about the sexual assault itself, but it is the ‘assault’ she experiences from the school following her reporting which is the most shocking part. Sadly, this is all too familiar when it comes to sexual assault survivor’s stories - the victim-blaming and the slut-shaming, both by the school and, to an extent, from her own parents. Her mother was a priest and her whole family was heavily religious and involved in their local church community back in Chicago. The school’s threats to ruin her reputation and her life with flat out lies of drug dealing and widespread promiscuity, in order to silence Crawford and her parents, is enough to bring tears and fury to any reader - especially when you know that the school allowed those responsible for her assault to graduate and go to college. It is unimaginable to wonder if history repeated itself there. Reading it, I found myself wanting to reach through my phone screen to hug and thank Crawford for her bravery. After nearly 25 years, she has finally found her voice again and has been able to speak about her ordeal. I highly recommend this article for anyone who wants to further understand sexual abuse and the complexity that comes with reporting it.
 
Victim Support website https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/crime-info/types-crime/rape-and-sexual-assault; and helpline: 0845 30 30 900
 
Abby Gilchrist

 
INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT: @poems.in.isolation - Shekhar Mathur
 
https://www.instagram.com/poems.in.isolation/
 
If you aren’t already following this account, be ready to smile.  This collection of musings, comedy, reflections, nonsense and things that make a lot of sense is guaranteed to lift your mood. The inconsistency of genre is in stark contrast to their consistent brilliance. These poems “written out of sheer boredom” are sure to eradicate it, a much appreciated solace among the flawless pics of ‘socially distanced’ drinks. 

 
FILM: Parasite - Director: Bong Joon Ho
 
Available on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Parasite-English-Subtitled-Kang-Song/dp/B07YM14FRG#customer-review-section
 
This year’s Best Picture winner at the Oscars, Parasite is a wonderfully dark, witty and suspenseful thriller set in South Korea. It follows the story of the Kims, who are a lower-class family struggling to make ends meet whilst living in their dingy basement apartment. After the son, Ki-woo, gets a tutoring job at the house of the incredibly wealthy Park family, what ensues is unlike anything you could ever predict. Without giving too much away, this film brilliantly explores inter-class struggles, family relationships, and how far some people will go to get to where they want to be. Joon Ho’s breathtaking cinematography throughout will also thoroughly enrapture any viewer - it seamlessly transports you from the sewage-ridden streets of the Kim’s residence to the spotless elegance of the Park household. 
 
I highly recommend it to any movie-lover, and especially to any fans of 2017’s Get Out, of which I found this film to be very reminiscent of. At times wickedly funny, at times disturbingly gruesome, and at other times deeply moving, Parasite will keep you on the edge of your seat for its entirety. 
 
Ellie Williamson
 
 
ARTICLE: ‘Leo Hutton: A man of eternal vigilance, versatility and purpose - Almanack’ - Neville Cardus
 
https://www.wisden.com/almanack/len-hutton-a-man-of-eternal-vigilance-versatility-and-purpose-almanack
 
Wisden delves into its prodigious archives to find an account of one of cricket’s finest players, written by the game’s most accomplished and eloquent ambassador. An examination framed in the metaphors of classicism speaks of a bygone era of cricket analysis, which sought to represent the anatomy of the sport more as an art form than a means of entertainment. 
 
Michael Schutzer-Weissmann
 
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BOOK: Everything I Know About Love - Dolly Alderton
 
If you haven’t heard about Dolly Alderton by now, you must have spent quarantine, and most of 2019 as a matter of fact, under a rock. This hilarious book about Alderton’s love life - from her pre-teen years on MSN Messenger to the year she turned 30 - is a fantastic read, made even more relatable by her complete openness when it comes to talking about her failures in life, love and sex. Whether it’s accidentally getting a taxi from Central London to Oxford at 4am, to unintentionally finding herself in a threesome with two guys in New York, you can’t help but laugh at every one of Dolly’s stories. As well as her love life, however, she also writes beautifully about the importance of strong female friendships, from those she has known since childhood to the friends she made at university, and how important these were in shaping her life. If like me, you then become obsessed with Alderton and her writing, she has a weekly podcast series called The High Low, as well as an agony aunt column in The Sunday Times Style magazine. Her book can be found on Amazon or Waterstones, but I recommend everyone to support their local businesses during this time and order from your local bookshop instead. Jeff Bezos has enough money as it is. 
 
Abby Gilchrist