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

Generation Z Protests in Mexico: Anti-Violence or Pro-USA?

Lola Dunton-Milenkovic Nov 30, 2025 9 min read

A poster during a protest in Mexico which says in Spanish: "In Mexico, it is safer to be a drug dealer than to be a student."

Lola Dunton-Milenkovic explores the recent Generation Z Protests throughout Mexico, evaluating their anti-corruption and anti-violence sentiments, as well as their potential political motivations which might…

To “Slay” or Not To “Slay”

Elena Chiam Nov 30, 2025 5 min read

Provided by Ngoc Diep (Alice), used with permission. Website: The Oxford English Dictionary.

slay /sleɪ/: to impress someone very much or to be very good or impressive (Cambridge Dictionary, 2025); “slay the house boots down houston i’m deceased”…

Home and Abroad – examining China’s political messaging inside and outside the country

Anonymous Author Nov 29, 2025 9 min read

Home and Abroad – examining China’s political messaging inside and outside the country

China remained shrouded in mystery to the West from the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 until the 1970s. In 1972, US…

Doctor Faustus at the Keble O’Reilly: Reviewed

Rohit Ghosh Nov 28, 2025 6 min read

Doctor Faustus at the Keble O’Reilly: Reviewed

‘I was, at times, simply floored by Carrington’s production of this classic play; there was a constant tension, both emotional and sexual, that wound up…