novel Archives - The Oxford Blue

Illustration of Oxford buildings and study materials surrounding text that reads 'Second Draft'

Second Draft: Lists, Marmite, and smelling books

by Eleanor Davies November 20, 2025November 24, 2025

The Trial illustration

Why Kafka’s The Trial Still Resonates, 100 Years On

by Joshua McGillivray May 20, 2025May 20, 2025

Dark Academia: the playground of rich, white men?

by Aria Chakravorty January 27, 2025June 30, 2025

Stars over Poland

Orbital by Samantha Harvey review – Booker Prize Winner 2024

by Greta Stone January 23, 2025May 14, 2025

Illustration of a person reading against a tree.

A Guide to Seasonal Reading

by Isabelle Winter January 7, 2025May 14, 2025

The new modern author: Coco Mellors – “characters that are as addictive as the substances that plague them.”

by Kiaya Phillips August 15, 2024August 14, 2024

Echoes and Empty Spaces: Immigration and Valeria Luiselli’s work

by Emiliano Cruz Villanueva May 16, 2024May 15, 2024

Me, My Shelf, and I

by Nina Naidu February 12, 2024February 12, 2024

Nina is Not OK (and nor am I)

by Nina Naidu January 27, 2024May 12, 2024

Tender is the Night

by Ethan McLucas January 23, 2024January 23, 2024

Growing Up: The Beginning of an Oxford Experience

Nancy Pierre Dec 9, 2025 6 min read

picture of the Radcliffe Camera and surrounding buildings at night

“It is not a loss to forget some of my old routines and habits, but a privilege to learn new ones, and to share my…

Investigating the Kidlington Waste Pile

Ewan Messenger Dec 7, 2025 5 min read

Investigating the Kidlington Waste Pile

On 21 November 2025, between the river Cherwell and the A34, the Environmental Agency declared the presence of a 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft)…

The society trap: when finding yourself becomes losing yourself

Matthew Donnelly Dec 7, 2025 3 min read

Source: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

At this year’s Freshers’ Fair, I signed up for tennis and touch rugby with the unmistakable arrogance of someone who has never experienced the workload…

Rare aesthetic: being humbled by study influencers

Téa Sand Dec 6, 2025 5 min read

An image of the Radcliffe Camera against a blue sky

“Whilst I was spending hours in the library on one essay, they were sauntering through assignments in infuriatingly short time-stamped minutes.” Téa Sand talks about…