Third year student of English Literature and Philosophy, equal parts bemused and honoured to find myself as Wayzgoose’s Co-Editor-in-Chief for this year. Big fan of corduroys and old railway paths; fiend for mojitos. A long-term admirer of the magazine (even other people’s articles), I look forward to helping this terrific team steer Wayzgoose towards unprecedented successes, supplying readers and writers with authentic and vibrant perspectives. Refined bloke; slippery character; Muswell Hillbilly. Recommendations: Bob Dylan at Budokan (Live), Joni Mitchell’s For the Roses, Wings of Desire (dir. Wim Wenders), The Last Picture Show (dir. Peter Bogdanovich), De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period by J.D Salinger, An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro, Seinfeld.
3rd year English Literature student and knight errant finding myself in the noble position of Wayzgoose’s quartermaster. Brokering patronage is my métier; it’s all my fault your words wind up on our website. Particularly fond of martyrdom, Mapplethorpe and maritime pilgrimages. Find me in the Balkans when I’m not maundering about the Wear. Or straddling the medieval and the modernist in the more conceptual sense of things. Votary of Verlaine and Saint Vincent de Paul. Aborted naval aviator. Potential Proustian passante. Writer-director of earthly movies sponsored and angeled in heaven. A wise man once said: ‘A lunatic is easily recognised, sooner or later he brings up the Templars.’
Recommendations: any Beat literature, the poetry of Siegfried Sassoon, W. R. J. Baron’s translation of The Green Knight, the novel Stoner by John Williams, The Panic in Needle Park (1971), When the Pawn… (1999) by Fiona Apple, Chet Baker Sings (1956) by Chet Baker, the art of John Singer Sargent.
3rd year English Literature student following the tradition of Godard and Withnail adorned walls, deconstructionalist tendencies, and soap-box raconteuring. Wayzgoose has been a loyal indulger of my whims since 1st year; it is an honor and delight to be Editor in Chief of such a brilliant team. We hope our creativity, insight, and provocations will be clement, invigorating, and intriguing to your own sensibilities. Shares birthday with William S. Burroughs.
Recommendations - Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz: the Rebellion of Plath and Sexton - Gail Crowther, The Little Friend - Donna Tartt, Calypso - David Sedaris, Remains of Elmet - Ted Hughes, Gosford Park (2001) - dir. Robert Altman, all chased down by I Love You, Jennifer B (2022) - Jockstrap and This is Hardcore (1998) - Pulp.
A 3rd year BSc Geography student, who inhabits a perpetual state of departure – porous to the elsewhere, attuned to the subtle cartographies of curiosity. To take on the mantle of Travel Editor at Wayzgoose is, for me, the chance to bring together my love of exploring, storytelling and an enduring reverence for the world's texture and complexity. In this role, I hope not only to indulge my own preoccupation with movement and landscape, but to curate stories that broaden our collective sense of place. When I’m not chasing my next adventure, I turn to its intimacies in other forms: braving the North Sea, hiking trails, or surrendering to a film that leaves me a little bit changed. It is in these interstices where art, geography and lived experience converge, that I find the stories I most wish to bring here. To travel, after all, is not only to move through space, but to learn how to notice.
Book Recommendations: The Seven Moons of Maali Almieda (Shehan Karunatilaka), The Motorcycle Diaries (Che Guevara), House of the Spirits (Isabel Allende), Interpreter of Maladies (Jhumpa Lahiri).
Film Recommendations: Innocent Voices (Luis Mandoki), Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul), Nowhere (Gregg Araki), Five Broken Cameras (Emad Burnat), Law of Desire (Pedro Almodóvar).
Third-year English Literature student currently on a year abroad in Prague – equal parts expatriate flâneuse and earnest annotator of margins, I am delighted to find myself shepherding verse for Wayzgoose this year. I spend my days trying to convince stray cats that confessional verse is the sincerest form of flattery. Deeply partial to the uncanny and the intimate.
Recommendations: The Waves - Virginia Woolf; Against Interpretation - Susan Sontag; Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov; the poetry of Anne Sexton; Excuses for Travellers - Mojave 3; Frances Ha (dir. Noah Baumbach); Twin Peaks.
Third-year Philosophy student. I’m delighted to have been appointed Head of Creative Writing this year, and cannot wait to work alongside our fantastic team of (principally) scared humanities students. Wayzgoose is a breeding ground for fresh and interesting writing, fuelled by a variety of influences and perspectives. Whether you’re like me, and take after the complete works of Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Kafka and all those other ones - or like our Editor-in-Chief, Matthew Dodd, who seeks inspiration from Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo; there’s always room for your work at Wayzgoose.
Recommendations - Film: All My Friends Hate Me. Album: VF Vol II, by Sam Gellaitry. Book: Kiss Kiss, by Roald Dahl.
I’m a third year History student, balancing studies of smuggling and Baroque Rome with a healthy helping of new writing. After diving headfirst into Wayzgoose in my second year, I’ve managed to wrangle my way into this cozy corner of the magazine, hoping to help more writers and their notepads into gigs, plays, exhibitions – you name it. Wayzgoose is a fantastic outlet to try new things, offering an opportunity for budding essayists, reviewers, poets, writers and so much more to get their work published. If you’re interested in getting involved with review callouts, join our Facebook contributors group.
Recommendations - Music:
Census Designated – Jane Remover
_Everything, reimagined – Baileyrp
P E G A S U S T H O T Z – Field Medic. Literature:
Notes from No Man’s Land: American Essays – Eula Biss
Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme – Frank McGuinness.
Fourth year English Literature student who has found herself both surprised and excited to be the Co-Head of Culture for the Wayzgoose Magazine. Throughout my life I have kept my thoughts inside my head, but - through one reason or another - something has shifted and I have decided to put pen to paper for my final year at Durham University (or fingers to keyboard, in this case). My interests are in what I don’t know; I want to indulge my senses in music I’ve never listened to, movies I haven’t watched, food I am yet to try, places I want to travel, and so on. It’s more than fair to say that I follow what I love and aim to figure out the rest later… an aspect of myself that I hope is evident in what I both consume and create. But, to make things easier for anyone curious in the specifics, I have listed [some] of my favourite things and recommendations below.
Favourite things: sleeping in; women’s fashion from the 1920s; baby orangutans; collecting postcards from abroad; folk, experimental, garage and electronic music (and really anything your parents listen to as well); my perfume combination; female punks and poets; watching the first season of True Detective with my housemates; cherry flavoured sweets; movies made between the 70s and 80s; long skirts.
Recommendations: A Woman Under The Influence, John Cassavetes; Out of the Blue, Dennis Hopper; Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki; Nurse! - bar italia; Misery is a Butterfly - Blonde Redhead; That’s Us/Wild Combination - Arthur Russell; Subete Urimono - Aunt Sally; The Deadly Tango - The Terminals; anything from Fiona Apple, Georgia O’Keeffe, Vladimir Nabokov, Anaïs Nin, and Susan Sontag.
Third year Anthropology & Archaeology student and vaguely disembodied cerebral girl. I have history as a fashion writer for Raandoom and various other publications, gravitating toward the body politic, the provocative, and underbelly-adjacent. Landing the role of Co-Head Of Culture is thrilling for a magpie like myself- mostly due to the term’s slippery existence- defined only in relation to what it’s not, and thus ripe for collaborative bricolage. I’m interested in creating work that resonates, guided by curiosity and a certain self-awareness. I’m particularly excited to experiment across disciplines and to nurture one of Durham’s few, far-flung creative rendezvous. Vinyl purist. Gregg Araki buff. Yung Lean acolyte. Painter. Part-time narcoleptic.
Favourites: lucre – Dean Blunt; Food For Worms – Shame; 3D Country – Geese; the Black Midi New Road sonic universe; Willem Dafoe in Eggers’ The Lighthouse (2019); My favourite bone is the sternum.
I am a fourth year English and Italian student who is delighted to be the Head Editor of Perspective this year. I look forward to reading and editing the brilliant submissions that Wayzgoose is lucky to receive, and hope to contribute a couple of my own musings from time to time. My interests are wide (if not slightly erratic), but above all I’m a firm believer that there is no better insight into our society’s mood than its pop culture crazes. I spend a fair amount of time thinking, and writing, about what our favourite celebrities, artists and algorithmic trends tell us about life in the 2020s. From modern masculinity to ‘stan culture’ and the dopamine-oriented tastes of us younger generations, I believe the digital age provides an endless amount of material to sink our teeth into. Aside from this, I’m a fiend for 20th Century literature, linguistics and all things music (performing, listening, reviewing…). I’m also a wannabe art history student; anything baroque has my heart.
Literature: Lavinia Greenlaw, The Vast Extent; John Rechy, City of Night.
Art: anything by Caravaggio – Saint Francis in Ecstasy, Narcissus, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas.
Music: Big Thief, Double Infinity; Holly Humberstone, Paint My Bedroom Black.
I’m a third-year Biology student, a wanna-be humanities student, an obsessive rotational reader of the same 3 books (see below), a chronic painting procrastinator (yet someone who’s entire self esteem relies on artistic validation), a patron of double denim, an advocate for pigeons, and a merciless yapper whenever someone mentions diptychs.
My Holy Trinity: ‘Betty’ by Tiffany McDaniel, ‘Priestdaddy’ by Patricia Lockwood, and ‘Upstream’ by Mary Oliver.
2nd year liberal arts student, trying to live her life by Uccello's maxim: ‘O che dolce cosa è questa prospettiva’. I am Wayzgoose photographer, sub-editor and flâneause-in-training, curious about the history of all things unconventional. Aficionado of niche linguistic facts, early modernism, and 1960s rock culture all whilst booking flights to Italy. I hope to explore controversial social movements, historical eccentricities and general dandyism with multiple macharonik insertions. Having absorbed Wayzgoose religiously last year, I am particularly excited to be part of the team.
My recommendations:
Poetry: Mina Loy’s Luna Baedeker; Photography: the work of Robert Mapplethorpe or Masahisa Fukase; Music: Paolo Nutini, Cosmo Sheldrake; Films: Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-Wai), Hit the Road (Panah Panahi).
English Literature finalist, sporadic painter, perennial reader of queer literature, self-conscious debater, wearer (and loser) of many rings, paper calendar defender, sleep denialist, and great talker after fifteen minutes of thawing time. Delighted to be editing for such an inspired and curious publication.
Recommendations: the intertwined journals and verse of Michael Field; Ted Hughes’ Tales From Ovid for its mythic violence rendered anew; Freeman’s Two Friends for its quiet devastations; Highsmith’s The Price of Salt for its beautifully articulated lesbian relationship; and the vast, mythopoetic soundworld of Kate Bush.
I’m a first-year English and History student, and beyond excited to get to work as a sub-editor for Wayzgoose right off the bat. Getting to live in Castle this year and fulfil my childhood Hogwarts dreams may be the only thing that I’m more delighted about. I’m intrigued by the symbiotic relationship between literature and society, and the detailed perspectives of history that literature offers us. Indeed, I’ve been lucky enough to spend the past year travelling, and as I explored other cultures and societies and felt my world view alter, I realised more than ever the prodigious significance of literature and the truly unique benefit that another person’s inner perspective can have. Recommendations: Any of Evelyn Waugh’s satirical novels are a fantastically hysterical read, but his ‘magnum opus’, Brideshead Revisited, should definitely be top of your reading list. Equally, all of Iris Murdoch’s work is fabulous; however, ‘The Sea, The Sea’ is particularly exceptional. Furthermore, the collected poems of Philip Larkin, which draw heavily on ordinary life, are a wonderful insight into post-war Britain.
Music: Florence and the Machine, The Last Dinner Party, and The Divine Comedy.
Films: The Holdovers, Lady Bird, Never Let Me Go.
2nd Year History student, travel and culture enthusiast, with a general longing for adventure. I enjoy attempting to understand the ways in which we consume media and how that shapes our views on art and culture today, especially the way that we are influenced by social media. Be it in the mountains, cities, or my beloved valleys, exploration has always captured my imagination, and I hope to use my writing to discover as much as I can in the time that I have. In all honesty, I'm just trying to put off getting a “proper” job until someone asks me to present a new series of Parts Unknown or Around the World in 80 Days.
Recommendations: Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby, The Junior Officer’s Reading Club by Patrick Henessy, If… by Lindsay Anderson, Love, Honour and Obey by Ray Burdis and Dominic Anciano.
Third year IR student. I have notably disagreed with Jorge Luis Borge’s idea that English is a more flourished language than Spanish, which is why you will find most of my writings ending up as a trail mix of Spanish, English, internal monologue, and far too much imagery.
My co-head of events and I are tremendously excited to create spaces where your angurria to meet like-minded people can finally be satisfied.
¡¡¡Recs:
Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the 60s in Brussels (dir. Chantal Akerman); It’s Not Me (dir. Leos Carax); An American Prayer (Jim Morrison, 1978), specially the third part of spoken poetry concerning “the young poet stoned on a rooftop, with acid dreams”; Kevin Frayer’s 2017 photojournalism collection; Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Ugly Truth (Jeff Kinney), To Men (Ella Wheeler Wilcox).
Final-year Social Sciences student (Sociology, Criminology, and Philosophy), with far too many opinions and a tendency to share them very loudly. Having read Frida Kahlo’s diary when I was about twelve instilled in me a conviction to romanticise my life in writing, a habit countless journals have since had to endure. I’m excited to be joining the Wayzgoose team this year with Val to bring you events that are out of the ordinary, just as cool and intellectually indulgent as the magazine itself. Recommendations: Pizarnik’s poetry, and her letters to Cortazar, Octopus Skin (dir. Ana Cristina Barragán), Rosalía’s El Mal Querer Album, De Mauvais Sujets illustrated by Chagall, Bruna and Her Sisters in the Sleeping City by Alicia Yánez Cossío.
Third year English Literature student in a constant state of hopeful consternation about the interconnectedness of it all. An insatiable desire to know about everything ever made has sent me down many rabbit-holes–from the Cold War commiseries of The Night of the Living Dead to the elegiac isolation embedded in the melodies of Elliott Smith–and I’m excited to put that (frenetic) energy into Wayzgoose. Particularly fond of analysing the comforting, terrible hum of disconnect in life and in media, whilst attempting to make the slightest bit of sense of everything. I also draw and dabble in other forms of mixed media, which is better related to my role here.
Recommendations: Music: Big Thief’s Capacity (actually their whole discography), Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Yasuaki Shimizu’s Kakashi; Films: Aftersun (Charlotte Wells), Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (William Greaves), Thoroughbreds (Cory Finley), In The Mood For Love (Wong Kar Wai); Literature: Fair Play (Tove Jansson), Lunch Poems (Frank O’ Hara), 17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future (Jon Bois).
Third year Human Geographer who has been appointed the role of Chief Yapper of Wayzgoose (Co-Host of the Nosy Goose Podcast). I am honoured and grateful to have been identified and valued for my ability to share my opinion about everything, ranging from classical literature to Durham’s art scene to Formula One drivers’ outfit choices. Thanks to my Italian-Belgian heritage and London upbringing, and my being fortunate enough to travel around the world, I have experienced and learnt from many people and cultures; this has only sharpened my ability to be an effective court jester, being able to adapt to any audience. Finally, while we all wish humans never invented mobile phones or the internet, you can find some peace, laughter, and joy in the Nosy Goose Podcast.
Recommendations: Babel by Rebecca Kuang, The Crucible by Arther Miller, Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth, any song by Adrianne Lenker, and film-wise: La La Land, Good Will Hunting, Starwars episode III- Revenge of the Sith.
Second year Politics and International Relations student, lover of all things audio and the joy of sound, I am thrilled to join the Nosy Goose podcast as its co-host. Following a first year marked by a distinct lack of creative inspiration, a summer of travel and enlightenment led me to the delights of Wayzgoose. I hope to attract fellow connoisseurs of music, arts and culture, and enlighten listeners with stories past and present. Highlighting the incredible talent of my fellow creatives, as well as the finer things in life, notably the nuances of contemporary Italian literature, the British folk music scene and the joys of Richard Curtis films, but to name a few, I invite all to indulge in the niche yet occasionally provocative conversations of the Nosy Goose.
Recommendations: Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan, The Beautiful Summer by Cesare Pavese, 'Little Earl' (The Delines - or in fact anything from the album The Sea Drift), Don’t Forget About Us (Flyte,) Coles Corner (Richard Hawley), and finally, Notting Hill, Past Lives and Sleepless in Seattle.
