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  ‘I was looking for you’, he shouted signalling with his coiled-up whip and before finishing what he was saying, two men pounced on top of the women knocking over the tent and breaking the inkpot, they attacked her with their feet and hands and shoved her like a sailor’s bag on the brute Mulato. They began to gallop towards the hills. Hours later, when Belisa Crepusculario was on the verge of dying with her heart becoming rice with the jolts of the horse, they came to a halt and four strong hands threw her to the ground. She tried to get onto her feet and lift her head with dignity, but her energy failed her and she collapsed with a sigh, falling into a foggy dream. She awoke several hours later with the whisper of the night in the camp, but she didn’t have time to decipher these sounds, because on opening her eyes she was met with the sight of Mulato, kneeling down at her side. ‘You are finally awake, he said whilst reaching for his canteen so she could drink a sip of aguardien...

  Belisa Crepusculario saved her own live and also discovered by accident writing. On arriving to a small village near the coast, the wind blew a sheet of newspaper to her feet. She took that fragile yellow paper and spent a long time observing it without knowing its use, until her curiosity overcame her shyness. She approached a man who was washing a horse in the same puddle which she had used to quench her thirst. ‘What is this?’ she asked. ‘The sports page of the newspaper,’ the man replied without showing shock over her ignorance. His response left the girl astonished, but she didn’t want to seem rude and stopped herself from asking about the meaning of the little fly legs drawn all over the paper. ‘They are words, child. Here it says that Fulgencio Barba knocked out Nero Tiznao in the third round.’ From this day Belisa Crepusculario understood that words walk free without an owner and that anyone with a little skill could take control of them in order to do business. She...

  She had the name Belisa Crepusculario, but not by baptismal certificate and certainly not by her mother, but because she herself looked up names until she found one and used it for herself. Her job was to sell words. She travelled the country, from the highest and coldest of regions to the hottest of shores, setting herself up in fairs and in markets, where she constructed four poles with a linen tent, which would shelter her from the sun and the rain so she could tend to her clients. She didn’t need to announce her market stall, because so many would walk past here and there, everyone knew her.   There were those who would wait an entire year for her, and when she arrived at the small village with a bundle under her arm they would queue in front of her stall. Her prices were fair. For five centavos [1]  she recounted poems off by heart, for seven she improved the quality of dreams, for nine she wrote love letters, for twelve she thought up insults for irreconcilable en...

  Tokyo is a city of magic. A city which never sleeps, nor stands still for even a moment. Crowds of bustling tourists and residents alike venture down the streets and the sounds of horns seem to never cease as taxis begin queuing on the streets. Salary men carrying suitcases heavy with paperwork march down the train stairs, narrowly avoiding the wandering tourists, amazed by Tokyo’s vibrant atmosphere. The countless travel blogs read didn’t do it justice. Street vendors, with a golden smile of imperfect teeth, give their customers dishes prepped with care and love. Yakiimo. Yakitori. Yakisoba.  The street is full of compliments and laughter – ‘Itadakimasu!’ groups of students recite as they hungrily devour the food before they journey to school.   But, despite all this movement, there is one place which never seems to move with as much urgency – a small shop, with a single barista working through the oncoming orders. The smell of coffee. The coolness of air condit...

  Aphra Behn                                                     Behn was a C.17 th poet, dramatist, and novelist, whose background remains unknown. Despite contributions to European Literature with satirical explorations of taboo topics, she seems to have been largely forgotten. With her works published anonymously due to being a female writer, she influenced the development of the English novel and was able to earn a living through her writing – the first woman to do so. Much of Behn’s work before the 1670s lacked commercial success: it wasn’t until later that Behn gained popularity with the publication of novels like Oroonoko (1688) . This novel was inspired by her childhood ...

Over recent years, environmental concern has increased: rarely is there a day where it isn’t in the news. Organisations like Extinction Rebellion(XR) have separated themselves from the traditional ways of demanding change, instead organising effective demonstrations with a lasting impact. Quoted from their official website, ‘Extinction Rebellion is an international movement that uses non-violent civil disobedience in an attempt to halt mass extinction and minimise the risk of social collapse.’ They follow a set of three key commands: ‘Tell the Truth’, ‘Act Now’ and ‘Beyond Politics’. Joining XR We first asked Tobias, a member of the Hastings and St. Leonards Extinction Rebellion group, about how he got involved. He heard about the organisation on the news and joined, having seen climate change issues when working in Cambodia where it has already had a severe impact, especially on farmers’ crop patterns. Tobias says many in his group had been activists through petitions and writing ...

S outh Korea has rapidly developed over the last several decades, becoming internationally recognized for its complex history, varied cuisine, and addictive music. However, other interesting aspects of its culture remain lesser known, such as the rise in honjok – a term referring to a movement popularised in 2017, literally meaning ‘alone tribe’. And whilst its umbrella definition is the act of an individual undertaking activities alone, this can be separated into different categories: honbap (eating alone), honsul (drinking alone), and honhaeng ( going to the cinema alone ) are just some of these.  Traditionally having an extremely collectivistic society, groups of people can be seen everywhere in South Korea from the workplace and restaurants to the home, and there’s a focus on reaching goals which will benefit the many, not the few. But, the number of young single households has slowly been rising, with thousands choosing honjok as a way to escape societal expectations surr...