This science fiction short story explores the power of and the utter dependence on technology as well as the importance of nature. At some point in the future humans have lost the ability to live on the earth’s surface, life is taking place underground using a global machine. Every individual has their separate section and […]
This comedy-drama explores racial prejudice, friendship and the complex relationship between a 72-year-old Jewish woman and her black chauffeur. Daisy Werthan is a retired school teacher and doesn’t want to accept she needs help when she crashes her car into her neighbour’s yard. Her son hires Hoke Colburn as her new driver. And although opposed […]
This illustrated drama in text massages retells Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, placing it into a modern setting. We all know the famous story of star-crossed lovers and the drama that follows them. What if you add texting and emojis to the mix? But even with the twists and turns of social media, their love for one […]
This prequel to the successful “The Hunger Games” trilogy or the movie adaptation by the same name tells the story of Coriolanus Snow’s rise to power – a story of friendship, betrayal, manipulation and oppression. For those who have read “The Hunger Games”, you might recognize the name Snow as a villain rather than a protagonist. But like all […]
This play continues the story of Elliot, who returns to Philadelphia as a veteran after serving in Iraq. He suffers from PTSD and feels adrift, not knowing where to find meaning in his life. His job at Subway keeps him afloat financially, but when his adoptive mother passes away, his mental health crumbles. Meanwhile, Elliot’s […]
Based on the musical of the same name, this film is set in 1933 New York City, in the midst of the Great Depression. 11-year-old orphan Annie has always dreamed of being part of a family. Living in an orphanage and being abused by her caretaker, Annie’s life is far from glamorous. Her whole life […]
This dystopian comedy movie explores the power of media, commercialism and simulated reality. Truman has the all-American life: A loving wife, kids, a house complete with a picket fence… Then he starts noticing the occasional oddity. Whether it be his wife sounding like an infomercial or the people around him doing everything in their power […]
This Gothic novel explores the duality of human nature, crime and prosecution and the importance of the Victorian standard of reputation. When a new villain terrorises London’s citizens and causes a great stir, lawyer Utterson faces a great riddle which keeps him awake at night. He discovers a connection between the violent misdeeds of the […]
Beloved is a Postmodern historical fiction novel about slavery, motherhood and community. 1873, it is the time just after the Civil War and the former slave Sethe lives with her 18-year old daughter Denver in 124, a haunted house on the edge of Cincinnati. The novel explores the lives of the two after they escaped from […]
Robinson Crusoe is the unreliable narrator of this travelogue from Restauration and Enlightenment referred to as the first English novel. The protagonist decides to go to sea against his father’s will and becoming quite a successful merchant in the colonies abroad. One day, he is shipwrecked and finds himself on a lonely island where he […]
This classic gothic crime story about murder and vindication, guilt, and insanity starts in medias res: The unnamed, unreliable narrator describes in retrospect that he was haunted by the idea of murdering his old landlord. After committing the murder, he cleverly hid the body underneath the floorboards, praising himself for committing the almost perfect crime […]
This lovely picture book tells the empowering story of a library visit and a bear who escapes from its book. One day, when the children visit the library to listen to the wonderful storytelling of Miss Merryweather, the librarian is missing. Looking for her, they find a rather hairy but friendly liBEARian who tells them […]
This rhyming picture book adaptation of Grimm’s famous fairy tale follows Little Red Reading Hood, who loves to come up with new endings for the stories she reads. She reminds the wolf and the readers of this beautifully illustrated book, that stories can end any way we want them to if we use our creative […]
This beautifully illustrated collection of simple and also more complex Irish poetry for children and young adults explores multiple topics – from animals, seasons, celebrations and daily incidents to myth and legends. Offering a poetic variety from more than 100 Irish poets, this collection takes its readers to an enchanted world. “The Great Blue Whale” […]
This beautifully illustrated picture book of Langston Hughes’s “Dream Variations” (a poem published in 1926) explores the speaker’s vision of a society without racism, discrimination, segregation, and racial prejudice. Dancing through the ‘white day‘, representing dominant white society, and ‘flinging his arms widely‘ the speaker, a young African-American boy dreaming of equality, freedom and ease, […]
In this poem, the speaker contrasts the ideals of the American Dream, such as liberty, freedom, and equality, with the realities of the time. For minorities, the poor, the lower classes, the immigrants, the African- and Native Americans the Dream is nonexistent. Even though the voice seems disillusioned, it also addresses the hope that the […]
This short spoken word poem by Helen Mort praises wild places and outlines, how the speaker (a poet) adapts to them. “The Wild in Me” describes the inspiring and stimulating powers of nature that a poet finds in it and which help him or her to express oneself and being creative. In the video performance, […]
This spoken word poem by Darryll Suliaman Amoako aka ‘Suli Breaks’ deconstructs idealised notions of the ‘American Dream’ and addresses those people striving for success or the ‘pursuit of happiness’ at any cost. Reflecting upon the danger of spending to much time on unsatisfactory jobs and losing oneself the ‘rat race’ from ‘rags to riches’, […]