Ellen Orange Contributor Gold
I am a 24 year old Marketing Officer from the North East with a passion for arts and writing. I did a BA in English Literature and an MA in Twentieth and Twenty First Century Literature at Durham University, because I love books and reading! I have experience in writing for a variety of student publications, as well as having contributed to Living North, a regional magazine and Culture magazine, a supplement to regional newspaper, The Journal. I have been part of a Young Journalists scheme writing for NewcastleGateshead's Juice Festival, a young people's arts and culture festival, and have since become a Team Juice member. As well as reading and writing, I love theatre, photography and crafts.
- 185 Posts
- 9 Comments
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Blog
24 October 2015Volunteering at festivals: my experience at Durham Book Festival
View BlogGetting involved in festivals can be a great way of getting experience in the industry and getting access to events, as I found out reviewing and volunteering at this year's Durham Book Festival.
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Review
21 October 2015Hamlet at The Barbican Theatre
View ReviewThe Barbican Theatre's new production of Hamlet has been highly anticipated for Benedict Cumberbatch's lead role and the star did not disappoint.
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News
15 October 2015BBC Director of Television, Danny Cohen, steps down
View NewsDanny Cohen has announced that he is standing down from his role as Director of Television for the BBC after eight years of working with the corporation.
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Blog
13 October 2015Why we need to bring the Lush ‘Go Naked’ advert back
View BlogCosmetic company Lush's new adverts have been labelled pornographic and banned in Australia, but body positive campaigns like this are exactly what we need.
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Review
30 September 2015Review: The BBC's Lady Chatterly's Lover
View ReviewThe recent TV adaptation may not have remained faithful, but it does shed new light on the classic.
Latest Comments
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Defending free-speech - and our right to call it out by Ellen Orange -
Sense and Sensitivity by Tom InnissI totally agree on the 'snowflake' front! It frustrates me so much that valid arguments are shot down with the idea that you are just too sensitive. The people who use these terms have clearly never experienced discrimination or oppression, or not enough to appreciate that often us 'snowflakes' are actually fighting to protect basic rights.
Equally I often find that when you call people out for opinions that are racist or sexist, then it becomes your problem for not being inclusive of other people's politics. It frustrates me so much that racism can hide under 'nationalism' as a political stance, and also sexism in the guise of 'religious' views. It seems now that if you try to call these out you get accused 'censoring' people. In my view everyone has their right to an opinion but we absolutely have to right to respond, retaliate and show those ideas for what they are.
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Reading For Wellbeing by Ellen OrangeChecking things out on Goodreads is a great shout, thanks Sam!
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Reading For Wellbeing by Ellen Orange
Thanks for your comment Abhishek! Yeah I think e-readers definitely encouraged more young people into reading, and I love your idea of using a podcast or audiobook! I've started to listen to audiobooks on my commute and actually it is the perfect way to just be in the moment and not think about the stresses of the day.
I don't think anyone would deliberately choose a book that would be detrimental of course, but often we don't know what is in it until we read it which is my only worry as books with serious issues in them, for example abuse, might negatively affect the reader if they are caught off guard. It is also a tough one to control though and I think you are right, we still have to trust readers to make their own decisions.
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Reading For Wellbeing by Ellen Orange
Yeah content is definitely key! Having said that though a big book like Les Mis or Game of Thrones could be perfect if you are reading for escapism? When I'm feeling particularly rubbish I like children's books - Roald Dahl, JK Rowling and Lemony Snicket because they are escapist fantasy, fun, easy to process and feel-good.
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The Good Immigrant, ed. Nikesh Shukla by Bhavesh JadvaI was really keen to read this before but now it's top of my TBR pile! It sounds brilliant!
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Comment posted on 22 March 2017
Books have always been political! The very books people are turning to like 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale were written decades ago in response to the politics of their times. I think it is just more evident to us now as because political positions are getting more extreme, it affects our lives more.
I also think turning to 1984 is interesting because it was originally written in response to Russian totalitarianism - communism rather than fascism or 'alt-right' politics, so slightly ironic that it is being held up as 'liberal' now? It shows that books aren't just words on a page, but also how you read, use and interpret them!
I think the uniting factor is a defence of justice, fairness and true 'democracy' (ie the voice and rights of the people, rather than a political voting system) as opposed to the simplistic delineation of 'left' and 'right'.