She is back, my pretty one. The long and limber, svelte and ephemeral. A barely-there hair. I don’t remember her growing, only woke to find her trapped in lips tight with the wishings of silent dreams. Back again. I greet her like a friend though there is an air of the uncanny about her. Familiar… Continue reading the barely-there hair
The desolate car park of the BP gas station on the outskirts of Calais is almost unrecognisable. What once was a place for refugees to gather to avail of the NGO services operating in the area has, overnight and thanks to the latest police eviction, become a new refugee settlement; yet another fragmented spin-off of… Continue reading Fed up and Frustrated: What the “migrant crisis” really looks like in Calais
I saw a zine on social media this week that depicted two people catching up. "What did you do today?" One asked the other. "Oh, nothing out of the ordinary," the other replied. "I just gave money to an anti-racist cause, continued my unlearning, and then didn't tell anybody about it."* *I'm paraphrasing. I can't… Continue reading Weekly Weigh In #5
"Privilege is not about what you've gone through, but what you haven't had to go through" - Janaya Khan. So here it is, here I am, doing absolutely not enough but something. Holding myself accountable. Making sure I won't do what I always do - get all hyped up on the injustice of the moment,… Continue reading Wednesday Weigh In #1
Dear Reader, I'm going to endeavour to keep this short because it's Christmas and most reading this are too hungover, frazzled, and marinated in mulled wine and the repressed wrath only once-a-year family reunions can ignite to read more than is absolutely necessary. I assure you, this is absolutely necessary. Christmas is, in my opinion,… Continue reading Writing for rights and writing wrongs this December
Whether in an office intern, a romantic interest, or an over-zealous waiter, earnestness is inherently and almost universally unattractive. Nobody wants to own that trait too eager to be endearing and too pushy to be popular. And yet, I believe nothing is more important than being earnest. In this world of ubiquitous injustice and ambiguous… Continue reading The importance of being earnest
Greta Thunberg is not just an inspiring climate activist argues HOLLY HUGHES, while fighting hard to change the world, this remarkable young woman is also forcing us to readdress how we see and assert ourselves in it. How many times have you been enmeshed in an argument, a discussion or even a negotiation and, despite… Continue reading Be more Greta
I have spent the past few weeks searching for hope in a global sadness occasioned by Nora Quoirin’s death. Unable to stop thinking of the siblings left behind without a sister, it occurred to me that, too often, it takes tragedy to loosen our lips and become verbose on the subject of love. Too often,… Continue reading Honouring Nora Quoirin with an Ode to Sisterhood
This article featured in the Irish Examiner Weekend Magazine in March 2019. If I had to choose one memory to define my childhood, it would begin and end with a meringue princess dress. Adorned with tiara, bedecked in what I called jewels but everyone else termed plastic crap, watching a Disney movie with rapt eyes… Continue reading I am not a prize to be won: The problematic misogyny of Disney
Earnest & Ethereal 