Indigo 800

www.palatinate.org.uk

EDITORIAL

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Thursday, 16 November 2017

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F EATURES 3 An Ode to Indigo 4 In the mood for celebration: Katie Anderson pays tribute to the success of Durham alumni F ILM & TV 5 ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’: A Bond parody or a better Bond?

MUSIC 6 Sexual assault at music festivals: Ashleigh Goodall investigates further 7 A few words with Enter Shikari about their new album, musical unity and on-stage wardrobe malfunctions V I S UAL ARTS 8 Brutal but effective? A history of Durham’s most controversial building BOOKS 9 Palatinate 800: Celebrating Writers from the North F ASHION 10 & 11 Aesthetics from the archives - a nod to Palatinate’s history

CREATIVE WRITING

12 ‘A Beggar’, a poem by Rhiannon Morris STAGE 13 “All the world’s a stage”: Anna Begley discusses the complications that arise when you take a play out of its original setting F O O D & DRINK 14 A sparkling evening in Durham - a selection of the city’s best bars Let them eat cake: the fizzy way to celebrate TRAVEL 15 In conversation with Mark Elliot: are travel guides relevant in the twenty-first century?

Cover Illustration by Faye Chua

nniversary editions have a twofold purpose: to celebrate what has come before and to anticipate what is yet to come. They are necessarily and pleasantly reflective. Forgive me, therefore, if I digress.

Palatinate, in its sixty-ninth year of publication, is one of Britain’s oldest student newspapers. Indigo plays an important role in this heritage; its launch in 2008 created a vital and much-needed space for the discussion and celebration of the arts within university life.

I often feel that Art, in its holistic sense, is sidelined by ambitious Durham students in favour of that which is superficially more ‘useful’. In an increasingly consumerist and materialistic society, Oscar Wilde’s definition of a cynic – “A man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing” – rings more and more true.

The ‘value’, worth and significance of engaging with culture should never be underestimated. I urge you all, at this watermark in Palatinate’s career, to consider art as a powerful means of bringing people together and generating collective conversations.

With this in mind, Fashion pays tribute to Palatinate’s archives, re-discovering those who used to walk the cobbled catwalks of Durham in the early days of the paper. Features celebrates Indigo’s history as well as honouring the success of respective alumni after and beyond university grounds while Books continues the festivities with a feature in praise of writers from the North.

This edition of Indigo maintains a line of continuity from 1948 through until the present day. It takes its place in Palatinate’s history and a massive thank you to all those who have contributed to its content and shaped the publication thus far.

An arts pull-out that harnesses the chaos of the imagination, Indigo challenges its own restrictions. Every voice, every article, every edition represents something much larger than itself. At this moment in time, Palatinate #800, it is well worth asking: at what point does articulation become vision?

INDIGO EDITORS Tamsin Bracher Adele Cooke (deputy) FEATURES EDITORS Divya Shastri Katie Anderson (deputy)

CREATIVE WRITING EDITORS Chloe Uwitonze Scaling Kleopatra Olympiou (deputy) STAGE EDITORS Helena Snider Helen Chatterton (deputy) VISUAL ARTS EDITOR Madeleine Cater Anna Thomas (deputy) BOOKS EDITOR Julia Atherley Tanvi Pahwa (deputy) FASHION EDITORS Anna Gibbs Emma Denison (deputy) FOOD & DRINK EDITORS Emma Taylor Sapphire Demirsöz (deputy) TRAVEL EDITOR Harriet Willis FILM & TV EDITOR Imogen Kaufman MUSIC EDITORS Tom Watling Ashleigh Goodall (deputy)

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Have a question, comment, or an idea for a story you’d like to write?

Email indigo@palatinate.org.uk to get in touch.

FEATURES Thursday, 16 November 2017

By Divya Shastri Features Editor features@palatinate.org.uk

An Ode to Indigo

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Photograph: Anna Ley

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ith Palatinate celebrating its 800th edition, it seemed like a good time to look into the history of Indigo. Indigo has been a part of Palatinate’s history for just under ten years. Prior to Indigo’s conception there were other arts supplements such as P2 and Sense. However, in November 2008, editors Maz Farookhi and Emily Purser formed Indigo as an arts and features supplement. Indigo has been a great way to get students interested in journalism, allowing them to write about issues they are passionate about. There is a celebration of arts and culture both within Durham and globally. There is discussion around important topics such as mental health, body image and racism, but there is also a look at good food, exotic travel locations and good reads. Indigo allows for there to be a blend between talking about important social issues as well as enjoying and appreciating art and culture. It has been a privilege of mine to be part of Indigo and part of the legacy it will leave behind.

Photographs by Divya Shastri

FEATURES Thursday, 16 November 2017

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In the mood for celebration

Features pays tribute to the success of Durham alumni, both past and present

By Katie Anderson Deputy Features Editor deputy.features@palatinate.org.uk

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s Palatinate dons its best party hat to celebrate the 800th issue, it seems appropriate to draw attention to a handful of outstanding members of the Durham University community, both past and present, who have succeeded in furthering society or else enriched it culturally.

Fiona Meashem deserves recognition for her progressive research into the relationship between drug use and the UK dance scene If we hurtle back to before the first world war, the young E.S Anderson was undertaking an undergraduate science degree at Durham. Unbeknown to him then, his scholarship would in time notably advance public perception and understanding of genetic resistance. His academic findings have undoubtedly impacted, or will impact, the life of each reader: given that his identification of the increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics has aided the way in which governments and medical co-operations have since viewed and conducted the act of prescription.

He argued vehemently that unless antibiotics were preserved and protected, the medical world was liable to lose the ability to easily counteract many commonplace diseases- an issue that continues to rage with the force of MRSA shaking British hospitals. We must celebrate his perseverance in the face of outrage exuded by commercial companies and farmers, after he determined that low dose antibiotics in animal feeding stuff (used to enhance livestock physically and increase profit) was the cause of multiple drug resistances developing in livestock enteric bacteria. This had potentially detrimental knock-on consequences for the human population.

Members of the Durham University community, have succeeded in furthering society or else enriching it culturally.

As the founder of ‘Traidcraft’, a NGO which promotes ethical shopping on a mass-scale, Richard Adams is another commendable individual. It was whilst at Durham that his interest in International Development was sparked, diverting his attention away from his previous ambitions of becoming a clergyman. It became his aim to lessen the importance of the middle man during trade, enabling farmers to earn more from their produce. He has since been placed in the The Independent’s top fifty people who are ‘making the world a better place’.

Over the years, his enterprise has branched out from fruit and vegetables to the wholesale of handicrafts such as cotton, jute and wood products: such merchandise provides many women in less economically developed areas with a substantial income within the domestic setting, drastically improving their quality of life. Perhaps his most admirable input has been

his overall lack of delusion about the Fairtrade industry: he understands that it may keep farmers trapped in an unsustainable trade if they fail to diversify, yet he remains committed and realistic about the solutions required for the long-term diminution of social inequalities. His main piece of advice for young people is to retain enthusiasm and ‘ to match it with a degree of expertise and experience’.

A Durham sporting figure is surely worthy of a mention, and Sophie Hosking seems the perfect candidate given her incredible contribution to the 2012 Olympic effort, where she and her partner Copeland achieved Gold medals in the lightweight double sculls. Beating their Chinese competitors by two seconds, she stands as a perfect exemplar for University Students: hard working, resilient and a wonderful team player. Having studied for a science degree at Durham she is converting to Law for her retirement, having assured the BBC that “I put all of myself into the sport over the past 12 years and I am very proud of the athlete I became and the results that I achieved.”

Founder of Traidcfraft, Richard Adams is a commendable individual

stress the dubious nature of government projections of falling drug use, given that class A drug consumption and drug related deaths are on the rise.

As the founder of the harm reduction NGO ‘The Loop’, a drug testing service operating at two independent festivals so far, she is a woman clearly interested in the welfare of the younger generation.

With the need for her expertise growing, she estimates that roughly half a million people will have access to her potentially life-saving services in the following year. Her work can be perceived as a breakthrough that signals a shift away from the traditional dependence of drug policies upon penalisation, towards a focus on harm reduction and public health.

Sophie Hosking made an incredible contribution to the 2012 Olympic effort An apology is in order for all the illustrious alumni who I have failed to mention, and in the same way I must applaud the current bunch of incumbents and stars of tomorrow that are surely growing in presence and achievement around our cobbled streets and dimly-lit lecture halls.

Elsewhere, a brilliant Durham addition to British culture is David Sproxton, the cofounder of Aardman studios which bestowed us with the likes of Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run. Only a creative genius with a typically Durham-esque streak of eccentricity could have conceived and lucratively executed a feature length film based upon the ‘Great Escape’ using clay poultry. Before his time the notion of an entire movie using the stop-motion technique seemed ludicrous, and for this reason he remains an esteemed figure within the cartoon industry. Although he studied Geography here, he was always committed to the dextrous sculpting of his charmingly imperfect figurines- which the British public have come to value so highly. Despite the old school methodology of his art, his company has retained relevance having recently collaborated with Google on a 360 degrees short, and has conquered a multitude of avenues, including film, TV, partner content and digital rights.

A brilliant Durham addition to British culture is David Sproxton, the co-founder of Aardman studios & Chicken Run To conclude we have Fiona Meashem, a professor in the Criminology department, who deserves recognition for her progressive research into the relationship between drug use and the UK dance scene. She has utilised her academic grounding to communicate effectively with government officials and the police about the worthiness of more thorough drug inquiry. Her focus is on local level decision making, and she has taken great effort to

Illustration by Charlotte Way

FILM & TV 5

Thursday, 16 November 2017

‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ A Bond parody or a better Bond?

The reason for these combat scenes inevitably, is the movie’s antagonist and central (read *only actual*) female character, Poppy.

A woman in charge of the majority of the world’s drug market who is played with gusto by Julianne Moore. Apparently immune to shows of violence, she displays a lack of morals and numbness to bloodletting that should make her terrifying. Unfortunately, despite a great performance by Moore, the character falls short, probably because we do not see her outside of her lair (in the middle of the jungle…), instead seeing her lieutenants carrying out her bidding. She is however, entertainingly over the top, as with many classic Bond villains (Blofeld stroking his cat anyone?) and this self-awareness from the movie’s creators should be applauded.

By Emma Johnson-Ferguson film@palatinate.org.uk

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eaving the cinema after watching the second instalment of the Kingsman franchise, I couldn’t help thinking that its director, Matthew Vaughn, had just provided a more Bond-like movie than Sam Mendes has in recent years.

Since Daniel Craig’s assuming of the role, Bond has become increasingly less chauvinistically polished, with new haunting backstories and emotional depths that were rarely pillaged in the earlier Bond offerings. However, whether Kingsman: The Golden Circle, does us a favour by shirking this ‘plagued and rugged spy’ trend is yet to be seen.

When it comes to action scenes, Vaughn knows what he is doing.

Matthew Vaughn provides a more Bondlike movie than Sam Mendes

It would be wrong to critique the move that Bond movies have made in recent years to shirk the sexist and often racist stereotypes that permeate the franchise. However, as a fresh addition to the arena, Kingsman has managed, relatively successfully, to dodge any of these labels. A 21st century franchise, villains in each movie have artificial and deadly limbs whilst actors of colour (most notably of course Samuel L. Jackson’s villain) are cast without it being of note.

The chauvinist streak that Bond cannot completely shed is toyed with brilliantly by Taron Egerton without ever truly becoming oily or bothersome.

A key change in recent Bond movies has arguably been the bigger role that women have come to play. Still all gorgeous, Bond-girl now has implications of intelligence as well as beauty, in a way it didn’t always before. (Eva Green’s Vespa Lynd in Casino Royale arguably provided the foundation for this increase in stronger female characters in the Bond franchise for which we are all indebted.) Indeed, Spectre had its oldest Bond-girl yet, showing the lessening need for simply young and pretty women to fill the role.

On the other hand, in the new Kingsman, we lose one of the central female characters a few minutes in, whilst once-Bond-girl-herself Halle Berry plays an unconvincing techgirl who desperately wants to join her male counterparts in the field. Even her ‘nerdy’ glasses don’t help her pull off the jittery Brainiac role that she has been handed. Is it impossible in 2017 to simply have a confident and intelligent assistant that happens to be gorgeous? (For more examples of failures in this area from this year alone, please watch Nina Dobrev’s attempt in xXx: Return of Xander Cage).

It should however be mentioned that Eggsy, our loveable protagonist, is in a committed relationship that continues to have narrative-legs throughout the movie. Despite this, the lack of women in central roles is too predictable. Whilst Bond has a way to go, so, unfortunately, does the younger and more easily-mutable Kingsman franchise.

However, when it comes to action scenes, Vaughn knows what he is doing. Claiming to despise ‘glorified violence’, he delivers, once again, action scenes that are choreographed to a level of brilliance that is both detached and amusing. The audience never feels re-

pulsed despite their explicit nature, which results in stand-out scenes that cannot be ignored. A contrast to the gritty violence of modern Bond offering, these scenes are cinematically ingenious. Now somewhat of a signature for the director they match the first movie in their ridiculousness and also, thankfully their dependability.

Whilst Bond has a way to go, so, unfortunately, does the younger and more easily-mutable Kingsman franchise

Kingsman: The Secret Circle gives us many things that Bond does not. I finished Spectre feeling emotionally drained, whilst Vaughn’s movie is entertaining from start to finish. Of course, it isn’t cheerful all the way through, but we get the outrageous drama and entertaining characters we’re looking for, all tied up in a parcel that has satisfyingly endof-the-world stakes. What more could we want from a spy-flick?

Is it as good as the first one? No. Does that mean it is an average movie? Also no. Vaughn seems to have found an area (or ‘secret circle’ if you will), between the chauvinistic Bond offerings of the last century and the raw, gritty offerings from the revived franchise. Vaughn delivered such a dazzling film first time around, that the second one falling a tad short does not detract from its enjoyability and nature as a thoroughly charming 2 hours.

Image by mskaylaann via Flickr

MUSIC 6

Thursday, 16 November 2017

Sexual assault at music festivals In the wake of recent sexual harassment scandals, Music investigates live music shows

By Ashleigh Goodall music@palatinate.org.uk

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n 19th August 2017, the Brightonbased metalcore band Architects hit newspaper headlines all over the UK, because they paused their show midset to speak out about an issue which is largely underplayed by festivals and gig venues across the UK. After witnessing a member of the audience attempt to inappropriately touch a female crowd-surfer, lead vocalist Sam Carter stopped and shouted “it is not your fucking body, and you do not fucking grab at someone.

Not at my fucking show.” Carter’s actions made national news – and rightly so - but we should not be surprised by this. The issue of sexual assault and harassment at live music shows remains hidden behind an absence of statistical figures.

How can we expect anything less when the very nature of some lyrics normalise rape culture?

In 2013, a male nurse was convicted of raping two unconscious women in the medical tent at Wilderness festival in Oxfordshire. Between 2014 and 2016, eight sexual offences were reported at Reading festival. In 2015, three people were raped at Glastonbury; up from two the year before. To some people that might not sound like a lot, but let’s put it into perspective: Glastonbury festival has a capacity of 175,000 – that’s slightly smaller than the population of Kingstonupon-Thames. If three people were raped within the space of four days in Kingstonupon-Thames, that would be pretty big news.

And the scary part is, statistics show that 85% of sex-related offences go unreported.

Statistics show that 85% of sex-related offences go unreported An important thing to note about the term “sexual assault” is that it doesn’t just mean rape – it is an umbrella term for any form of sexual violence. This might include attempted rape, forcing a victim to perform a sexual act, or unwanted sexual touching – or “groping.” It doesn’t just happen to women, and it doesn’t just happen to members of the crowd: when chatting to a New York radio station in 2014, rapper Iggy Azalea admitted that she had to stop crowd-surfing at her shows due to fans of both genders trying to forcefully insert their fingers into her vagina.

But how can we expect anything less, when the very nature of some of the lyrics artists are singing out at shows for the crowd to shout back at them normalise rape culture? One of the most well-known examples is Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ – “I know you want it / I hate these blurred lines.” But what

about ‘Stay Wide Awake’ by Eminem? - “Heard of me before see whore you’re the kind of girl that I’d, assault and rape.” Or a shockingly blatant example of daterape from ‘U.O.E.N.O’ by Rocko, Rick Ross & Future – “Put Molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it / I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.”

Whilst some areas of the live music industry

continue to demonstrate ignorance towards this problem - and arguably are even contributing to it other areas can be seen to be pro-actively tackling this disgusting issue.

In the past couple of years, several organisations such as Safe Gigs For Women and Girls Against have been set up, and are starting to draw attention to this problem.

They’re doing this by challenging venues to take reports of sexual harassment more seriously, and work harder to create a safe space for everyone to enjoy music freely without fear of being assaulted – a basic human right which is still being denied, even in the 21st century. Several music artists have rallied to support these organisations: including Slaves, Frank Carter, Circa Waves, and others.

We still have a long way to go before the threat of sexual violence is eliminated from gigs and festivals I’ve also been delighted to witness bands standing up for this issue in their own ways: as I stood amongst the crowd at 2000 Trees festival in July, I listened as the group Petrol Girls played recordings of women talking about their own harrowing experiences of sexual assault which had occurred at this very festival, before the band launched into ‘Touch Me Again’ – a song about sexual assault, which features the lyrics “touch me again and I’ll fucking kill you.” More recently, I cheered from the crowd as the lead singer of American punk band Anti-Flag gave a short speech about how sexism and sexual violence was not welcome at their show, and neither were those who commit sexually abusive acts.

I’ve also been delighted to witness bands standing up for this issue in their own ways Whilst it is encouraging to see influential members of the music industry speak out about this issue, we still have a long way to go. To have any chance of doing this, we need to stop condoning sexist, misogynistic lyrics that normalise sexual assault and rape culture. And we need to raise awareness of assaults that are happening at gigs and festivals – it is never okay, and we need to make sure that everyone knows that. For many people, music is a perfect opportunity for people of all ages, cultures, and walks of life to join together over a shared passion: to meet people, to make friends, and to have a good time. It should

never, ever be seen as an opportunity to grope, threaten, harass, assault, or rape any person – man or woman.

Illustration by Katie Butler

MUSIC 7

Thursday, 16 November 2017

A few words with Enter Shikari Music spoke to Rou Reynolds about their new album ‘The Spark’, musical unity, and on-stage wardrobe malfunctions

By Elliott Ayers music@palatinate.org.uk

these tools of unity, to play musical instruments and bring people together is an amazing feeling, so that’s definitely, absolutely imperative to what Shikari are doing. Or trying to do anyway.

“To play musical instruments and bring people together is an amazing feeling”

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hikari have always had this kind of political edge, you like singing about current issues and arguments.

Do you think this is intrinsic to the identity of Enter Shikari, or is it just what you want to write about?

I don’t know whether it’s intrinsic, because certainly when we first started the band, that was not like a major point of why we were making music. It was only shortly after those last few years of touring where we started building up a fanbase [when] we sort of suddenly realised that people were listening to us, and you sort of start to feel a bit of... not pressure, I dunno, you start to really think about what you’re putting out into the world and what impact that has.

Do you feel like your music has had an impact then?

The album art for your newest album ‘The Spark’ is quite interesting: who came up with it and is it what you envisioned the art would be like?

Yeah, well I wanted to make something physical for this album, something tangible that you could touch, whereas before most of our artwork has been photos, or actual art, so we had this idea to make this - well we just call it “The Machine”. It’s really inspired by minimalism and brutalism and futurism, and the main idea is that it’s not just an instrument, it’s also a radar, so it’s trying to get that idea across that music can be something that guides you through periods of adversity and things - like I was saying before, a fuel basically, that keeps you going. So that’s what we were trying to achieve, and I think the clean nature of the artwork as well, with the aqua background, that’s trying to reinforce this fresh new sound and a new start for the band, because it feels like a new era for us really - more so than any other album.

Yeah I think so, I mean I’m not one of these sort of utopianist people that think “music can change the world!” but I think it’s a fuel, it fuels activism, it fuels enthusiasm for different things.

So do you think you are going to go more in the direction of ‘The Spark’ on future albums?

Or have you not really thought about it yet?

Yeah, I’m not sure where we’ll go from here. I certainly think melody has become really central to what we are doing now. With the song-writing, that’s what I was really concentrating on with this album - the vocals really taking the lead, not relying on so many hectic sounds and so many changes within one song, just aiming for simplicity. I think that’s become quite important though - the last few years I’ve built my confidence up a lot more as a singer, whereas before I felt like the sort of punk DIY kid who just fell into doing vocals really, purely because I’m a songwriter and you normally end up singing your own songs. I’m not a particularly confident person, I’m quite reserved in normal life off the stage, I never had any singing lessons or anything like that, so it’s only the last few years that I’ve found some proper confidence for melody to be the central thing. So that might be something with longevity for the band going forward, but yeah I can never really tell what Shikari are going to do next to be honest!

“Music can be something that guides you through periods of adversity”

“Music is a fuel - it fuels activism”

Do you have any funny moments that have happened on tour with the band?

Oh jeez. Well, yeah [laughs].

It definitely brings people together!

If you could pick one out, which would it be?

Oh absolutely.

You were at Slam Dunk Festival earlier this year, and the number of people screaming out the words to songs like ‘Anaesthetist’ was incredible.

For me, playing music is like an honour, because it’s the one thing really, like if you go back through human history, any sort of tribe, any culture, any society of humans has always had music, it’s been this tool that brings people together, and we live in such a divisive world now, to be able to wield

atmospheres live, I think we always strive to create really diverse music so we can play a live set and have a whole spectrum of emotions that will hopefully be running through the venue. Things like, ‘Rabble Rouser’ will just be so much fun to play live, but then a track like ‘Airfield’, I can’t wait to play that as well because its more delicate than anything we’ve ever done, so it’ll be such a different atmosphere in the venue. So yeah, I’m looking forward to those two.

Are there any songs on the album you are particularly excited to play live?

I’m, like, super excited to play all of it. There’s gonna be tracks on there that create different

It’s so difficult to hone in on something, it’s just such a broad range of things that have happened. The only one springing to mind is when my belt broke on stage, and my trousers fell down. I was wearing shorts actually, they were big khaki baggy shorts, so they fell straight down and I thought, “I guess I just have to finish the set in boxers”. Everything that could’ve gone wrong on stage has gone wrong, so you just take it as it comes at this point.

Images by Carry On Press

VISUAL ARTS

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Thursday, 16 November 2017

Brutal but effective?

Visual Arts plots the history of Durham’s most controversial building

By Madeleine Cater

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The artistic landscape changed dramatically

Visual Arts Editor visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk

s a newcomer to the editing world of Palatinate, the arrival of our 800th edition came as a chance to stop and look backwards, rather than rushing forwards to the next publication deadline! To be at the current end of this longstanding Durham tradition made me curious about what exactly had come before.

A delve into Palatinate’s archives reveals a plethora of scandals, sports reports and opinion pieces While many of the newspaper’s articles are now online, Palatinate has been in physical print for much longer than this (since its first issue in 1948) and we have a copy of almost every single paper since then.

A delve into Palatinate’s rickety (and rather sketchily organised) archives reveals a plethora of scandals, sports reports and opinion pieces. One particular theme, however, recurred again and again: the DSU’s Dunelm House.

This struck me as being especially poignant considering the Student Union’s recent decision to support the University’s plans to demolish the building.

The artistic landscape of Durham changed dramatically when the Brutalist building was erected, and it will change again once its demolition date is

Tracking back to the 204th edition in 1966, a headline of a double page spread declares: ‘DUNELM HAS FINALLY COME TO LIFE!’ The excitement within these articles suggests the hype surrounding the launch of this purpose-built, incredibly modern building.

And it really was modern for its time. Brutalism as an architectural style was at the height of fashion when Dunelm House was opened in 1966. In addition, its supervising architect, Sir Ove Arup, had recently become acclaimed for his design of the Kingsgate Bridge (situated beside the DSU) and so there must have been a type of glamour associated with the building at its completion.

‘DUNELM HOUSE HAS FINALLY COME TO LIFE!’ Architecturally, yes, one may argue that Dunelm House is ugly, especially to a modern eye. The vast expanse of exposed concrete and the ‘broken’ facades of the building are a world away from the 11th century brickwork of Durham Castle. Yet culturally this building quickly became of significant importance, especially after its Civic Trust award in 1968, and has been an integral part of Durham University life ever since.

What stuck out in the articles during the opening of the building was how useful it was going to

be to its students. The foremost purpose of Brutalist buildings is to prioritise function over anything else. The facilities themselves were termed in Palatinate as ‘a vast improvement on anything Durham students have ever had before.’

These facilities also included bars and cafes which one enthusiastic student declared were ‘better for social mixing than North Road!’ And now, the DSU seems to be returning to this centre of sociability. With the closure of Loveshack over the summer and the move of Shack Up to Dunelm House many prefer this club night over others available on the North Road.

One question still remains: what will take its place?

It is ironic on two levels, then, that Dunelm House will be demolished. First, just as the DSU is beginning to be used again as a place of nightlife and socialising. And secondly, that the brand-new facilities which caused so much anticipation have, 50 years later, been deemed no longer adequate.

One question still remains with the destruction of Dunelm House: what will take its place?

A vast, modern building? Perhaps made with glass rather than concrete? And which focuses on facilities and function? Sounds similar to the aspirations of the initial project in the ‘60s! I wonder whether history will repeat itself and how many times over the next 800 issues the contentious subject of Durham’s Student Union building will be discussed.

Illustration by Faye Chua

BOOKS Thursday, 16 November 2017

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Palatinate 800: Celebrating Writers from the North Beatrix Potter

By Martin Shore

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s a person who grew up reading the stories of Beatrix Potter, I jumped at the chance to mark her out as a figure of importance to literature, certainly for younger audiences. Beatrix Potter may not be the first author you’d expect, but I firmly believe she deserves a place within this Northern literary heritage.

I would wager that many of us who grew up with our noses in books encountered at least one of her thirty children’s books, with Peter Rabbit being the most famous. There is a strong sense of ease in the world of Beatrix Potter, simplistic but fun narratives set in the countryside to which she was so dedicated.

This charming nature makes her work perfect for the family home, bed-time reading, or as a springboard for eager book-worms. With Potter’s works constantly iterated upon, regularly reappearing in new forms of media from ballets to television to an upcoming movie, British literary culture has fully adopted her modest library of stories as timeless classics.

he uses Dickensian imagery ‘Some occult pickpocket/Had slit the soul’s silk and fingered us’ to express hidden feelings of vulnerability and fear. We are faced with the reflection of ourselves in the fabric of the everyday world, human experience and memory.

Hughes’ poetry is vibrant with imagery of nature and violence Hughes’ poetry is vibrant with imagery of nature and violence; he uses animals to illuminate the psychology of human beings. He watches himself; fascinated by his own darkness. He explores it intimately, self-consciously, and ruthlessly.

Hughes and Plath go together; you can’t un-

The Brontës Iona Makin

British literary culture has fully adopted Beatrix Potter’s modest library of stories as timeless classics Sure, her characters might not warrant hours of analysis, and Peter Rabbit’s character is not the next emerging heroic trope, but that shouldn’t mean we should forget Potter’s achievements. The sheer number of people who may have turned to reading for pleasure thanks in part to either reading or having her works read to them means that Beatrix Potter deserves recognition as a key figure to the literary heritage of the North of England.

Ted Hughes

By Rhiannon Morris Ted Hughes is a name I mention with caution and anticipation. A figure intimately associated with alleged responsibility for his wife Sylvia Plath’s suicide as well as that of former lover Assia Wevill, it’s clear that Hughes is a literary villain. The name Ted Hughes is synonymous with ‘woman-destroyer’.

With the dark shadow cast over his name, I’ve asked myself many times: why as a woman do I love his work?

It’s his poetic voice I try most to emulate. Hughes masters a stylistic union; he brings together the subjective and objective perspectives into one vision. He captures personal feelings, pins them down, and celebrates their beauty of being. For example, in ‘Ouija’

poetry often features the North East as a backdrop. His characters are brought colourfully to the forefront against the industrial, urban scene of his home region; “Soon it is/ an avenue/ which cambers arrogantly past the Mechanics’ Institute.” Indeed, he has been proudly vocal about his northern upbringing and rightly so; his experiences in West Yorkshire shaped his language into a form of raw, class-conscious poetry. It is his dry Yorkshire wit that makes Armitage’s poetry so accessible. Combined with a deadpan delivery, he both comforts and disturbs the reader; “Questions/ in the house. You see red. Blue murder. Bed.” Armitage’s ideas of identity are expressed in such a way that distinguish characters from the loud rabble of modern culture yet render us inseparable from our culture and our past.

derstand one without the other. Whatever one may feel about the man, the poet should be read for his self-anatomizing determination to hold himself to account. He doesn’t shrink from his own wrong doing or darkness; he is driven by a desire to understand the man he is and the power he wields.

Simon Armitage

By Anna Begley Simon Armitage is difficult to uncover - in one moment, he is a homeless figure “on the street, under the stars”; the next, a student in a lab playing with scissors “in the naked lilac flame of the Bunsen burner.” This kaleidoscopic characterisation allows Armitage to adopt various personas and narratives in his monologues, interrogating themes of gender, class and identity. His skill for perceptive inquisition is notably found in his poem ‘The Clown Punk’ in which his subtly mocking tone of “the town clown” shifts to the more mournful reminiscence of “the sad tattoos of high punk”, challenging our perceptions of cultural identity.

This intimate theme of self-discovery is later explored in his 2012 book Walking Home which brings Armitage back to his northern heritage. His

I’ve always associated the Brontës with the best of times, thumbing through my battered copy of Jane Eyre in front of the fire, taking muddy family walks to Top Withens, or trudging up glowing slopes to Hawath Parsonage in the haze of a late summer’s rain. I used to love going from room to room of the Parsonage and imagining I was Jane Eyre creeping along the passage with my candle, or Cathy flinging up the sash to spy Heathcliff stumbling in from the moors. Something about the house seems haunted by the imagination.

I’ve always associated the Bront ës with the best of times, thumbing through my battered copy of ‘Jane Eyre’ in front of the fire The Brontës to me also represent a spirit synonymous with their landscape. The subversive passion of their discourse portrays female independence in Jane Eyre; ‘a free human being with an independent will’. It roots their writing firmly in the Yorkshire wilderness. It is their unadulterated lust for life which has fascinated so many writers and inspired Ted Hughes to exalt Emily’s ‘open moor’, chronicling ‘the book becoming a map’ for himself and Sylvia Plath. And it is this, after all these years, that continues to compel contemporary readers to step through time into the passage of the Brontë narrative, the ‘dark flower’ of the moorland.

Illustration by Faye Chua

FASHION 10

Thursday, 16 November 2017

Aesthetics from the archives Fashion delves through the Palatinate archives to find the alumni who walked the cobbled catwalks of Durham in the early days of the paper...

FASHION Thursday, 16 November 2017

11

A Word from the Editor

By Anna Gibbs Fashion Editor fashion@palatinate.org.uk @palatinatefashion

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ne aspect of the ebbs and flows of the fashion realm I love dearly is the constant recycling of eras, core design archetypes, and the juxtaposing of these age old classics with new spins on tradition.

For the 800th edition of Palatinate, I was curious to discover what the students of Durham University were wearing back in the younger years of the paper, and how this both compares to and could potentially inspire the Durham student style scene in 2017. I spent one indulgent lunchtime between a lecture and a seminar cross-legged on the Palatinate office floor poring with increasing glee over the archives. They are kept in a worn, overflowing cabinet in the office and the most ancient sheets crinkle and sigh in your hands as you turn the pages. The cheeky attitudes and quips of the long-gone student writers however, remain perfectly intact. A particular favourite of mine is the savage ‘Horrorscope’ column from an edition published in 1969, with the prediction for Cancer being ‘Give it up, whatever it is.’ and ‘Personally I’d stay in bed for the next fortnight – If you can’t well don’t say I didn’t warn you.’ for Aquarius.

An interesting point to note is that the attire of the boys in the photographs doesn’t differ too drastically from that of Durham boys and their chinos today – I could have sworn that I saw the fair-headed one posing next to a ladder in a Classics lecture the other day. There is also a sole emphasis on women’s fashion – who aren’t often seen wearing anything noticeably androgynous, possibly the most significant difference between student fashion then and now. I’m not particularly fond of the idea of a section titled ‘Woman’s Moan’ either, as that can’t have been particularly helpful for perceptions of women back in the day, but I do feel ‘Chic Feed’ could make a comeback.

The ‘Best Dressed Student’ has got me thinking of resurrecting a similar competition – though with social media it would hopefully be more democratic a voting process than in the 1960s. Of course, this time round we wouldn’t have only female students in the running...

Style transcends gender after all.

Photographs: Palatinate Archives

CREATIVE WRITING 12

Thursday, 16 November 2017

The Beggar

By Rhiannon Morris creative.writing@palatinate.org.uk They hear the hooves, gently, softly, steady on the path.

Eyes, slow to roll, heavy in carved sockets, move up and meet with a proud neck; Like a dance, the crowd of people begin to move in unison.

Shuffling in rags, arms outstretched, their hands begin to turn, until flat palm, is held above dry heads covered in brittle hair.

Supplicate.

Religion and piety in the poor: the silent comi-tragedy that serves as a reminder of the triumph of man.

My head, was bowed, but I lift it when I hear the King pass by on his beauty.

My mouth is full of precious gold rings, teeth cracked and black, blood gurglingRidged, ready, poised to slide down my chin like Mary’s tear.

I offer him this wine, pouring upwards from my throat: “Won’t you grant me alms, king?”

Food, cloth, coin?

I concentrate my requests and petitions into my gaze, I load it with ammunition.

In another life, I could have been your soldier, when poverty did not reduce me thus.

Cries, low and grave, equal one hollow echo of loss. Moses’ sea drenching the royal procession, but their clothes, by some strange rejection of nature and science, remain dry.

The king, trim beard and dark eye, surveys the mass of bodies with recognition and intelligence, throwing his metal tokens of generosity, into strategic gaps.

Will you get off your horse and come amongst us?

He rides on, with strewn bells, clanging, clanging – unholy noise, how do you put up with the clamour and chaos of being king?

Of bustle, and demands?

Is this why you must, like a poultry pie, carve up your energy into sections? You are not God, though you are styled so.

Without omnipotence, you are only fatigable man, and must make one piece bigger than the other, and keep some for yourself.

I try, but I can’t help begging with the throng.

You must know your crown is weighted not only by metal, but by hope and need, from The Other.

We watch you turn. Your glacial eyes look on, to the palace.

Photograph: muriloyamanaka via Crearive Commons and Flickr

STAGE Thursday, 16 November 2017

“All the world’s a stage” Stage discusses the complications that arise when taking a play out of its original settings

By Anna Begley stage@palatinate.org.uk

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his year saw artistic director Emma Rice announce her departure from the Globe. This follows tensions between Rice’s radically modern and stylized approach towards the Globe’s stage and the board’s focus on keeping in line with authentic Shakespearean tradition. It is, as Terri Paddock simply put it, “really disappointing” witnessing the attempt to revive the Bard to engage and entertain a wider and younger audience so quickly crushed by purist ideology. Bawdy, sexy and absurd, Rice’s 2016 A Midsummer Night’s Dream saw Hoxton hipsters, a rendition of Beyoncé and, in a historical gender-bending move, we see Helena become the delightful ‘Helenus’. Shakespeare had become contemporary, fun and indeed a box-office sell-out, entertaining audiences who perhaps wouldn’t have otherwise found comfort in what can be for many an intimidating form of drama.

Photograph by S Pakhrin via Creative Commons

The theatre is a symbol of liberation and experimentation; whether it’s Marlowe’s homoerotic Edward II, Miller’s anti-surveillance play The Crucible or Stoppard’s tragi-comic take on Hamlet in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, the theatre has not been shy of causing controversy. For many directors, the theatre is a way of utilising the full potential of the text to create the greatest impact in the context of their audience. For instance, Doran’s recent production of The Tempest saw his partnership with Intel create a unique cinematic experience which amplified the mirage and magic of the play. As Lyn Gardner notes, art is about “reinvention not replication.” Nor should it bow down to authenticity.

Photograph by S Pakhrin via Creative Commons

That said, there is a strong argument for the purist mode of theatre. There is often a tendency to overlook the beauty and meaning of the text in the pursuit of politicisation and spectacle. Kramer’s Romeo and Juliet, for instance, was described as “engulfing directorial egotism” in its visceral crudity and persistent screeching of what is supposed to be moving, poetical dialogue. Rice’s recent Twelfth Night, moreover, verged on drag musical rather than an insightful comedy of identity and heartbreak.

However, that is not to say that directors shouldn’t play with the text or the setting; art is about pushing limits not setting them, and one theatrical flop shouldn’t deter other directors attempting their own vision for the work.

Photograph by S Pakhrin via Creative Commons

Charlie Kaufman once asserted: “There is theatre in life, obviously, and then there is life in theatre.” Whilst theatre doesn’t necessarily need to be updated to be relevant, it does need to evolve if it is to remain an accessible and exciting outlet for its audiences or risk becoming what Gardner calls “a plaything for academic researchers.” The contextual setting is, in short, a personal preference but Rice’s bold attempt to point Shakespeare’s poetry in a new direction and broaden audiences isn’t something to be condemned but cherished.

Photograph by S Pakhrin via Creative Commons

13

FOOD AND DRINK 14

Thursday, 16 November 2017

A sparkling evening in Durham

By Sapphire Demirsöz Deputy Food and Drink Editor food@palatinate.org.uk urham is a pretty little treasure trove dotted with a small stash of sleek bars, hidden away like coyly winking gems in the nooks of the city (well, mainly under Elvet Bridge). Read on to discover the best Durham coves, in which to carbonate an evening of Prosecco-fuelled fun…

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somewhere warmer, one of their rustic candle-lit tables will more than suffice. You can marvel at the vision of Elvet Bridge bathed in moonbeams from inside whilst getting an additional sensory benefit from the in-house DJ. The Boat Club serves their Prosecco with a refreshing little raspberry, and how can your evening possibly be flat when you’re holding a flute full of fizz?

Fabio’s Bar

Whisky River

Low-key everyone’s favourite bar-slash-nightclub, Fabio’s sits on top of La Spaghettata at the bottom of the Bailey. Beyond the chilled open-air smoking rooftop lies the dark-hued and tightly packed floor to the bar, bathed in a ruby glow and swirling with neon lights.

Always busy and always fun, you can find yourself dancing the cèilidh as you queue. A secluded lounge draped with soft sofas overlooks the main floor, allowing you to sit, chat, and sip, whilst listening to the DJs choice of hip-hop and RnB. The bar staff can make an impressive number of cocktails, but if you’re not in the mood for a whisky or tequilainfused pitcher, one can purchase a bottle of Prosecco for under £20.

A stone’s throw away from everyone’s 2am backdoor Jimmy Allen’s exit – and a world away from the chaos – sits Whisky River, chic and sophisticated. Submerged in a deep golden glow, Whisky River is spacious yet cosy, with plush booths lining the open lounge, and tables perfect for every big party sitting beside the bar. As if you’re back in Paternoster Chop House opposite St Paul’s Cathedral, rows of posh wine glasses shimmer over the counter, with the cocktail of the day (Autumn Russian anyone?) chalked in charming calligraphy behind the bar. Their passion-fruit and Prosecco mix, served with a sliced strawberry on the lip of the glass, is a fabulous way to start a fruity evening!

Image by Sapphire Demirsöz

The Boat Club If you’re looking for somewhere dark where you can enjoy your drink whilst glancing dreamily at the River Wear, The Boat Club is the bar for you. If the air isn’t too nippy, The Boat Club’s balcony is a prime perch for chatting the evening away, but if you prefer

Let them eat cake: the fizzy way to celebrate

By Sapphire Demirsöz

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t’s time to celebrate! Our much-loved newspaper has reached its 800th issue and nothing shows the Palatinate appreciation better than a beautiful homemade cake… except a beautiful homemade cake made with Prosecco. Whether you’re celebrating Palatinate’s landmark issue, prepping for Thanksgiving, beginning the Christmas festivities early, or partying because you’ve made it half way through Michaelmas – woo! – this Prosecco cake is a tip(ple)-top way to get merry!

Ingredients Cake 220g unsalted butter at room temperature 350g granulated sugar 4 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 360g self-raising flour 1 1/2 cups Prosecco (or Champagne!)

Buttercream Frosting & Filling 340g butter at room temperature 650g icing sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla 6 tablespoons Prosecco

Instructions Preheat your oven to 180 oC. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. When mixed, add the eggs one at a time, before tipping in two teaspoons of vanilla.

Gradually add both the flour and the Prosecco: begin by adding approximately a third of the flour and follow with half of the Prosecco, alternating in this way until all is combined.

Butter two cake tins, and divide your gorgeous Prosecco cake mixture into halves between the tins, smoothing the tops for an even bake.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are the most delectable shade of gold sparkling wine.

Image by Sam Howzit via Flickr

For the fizzy frosting, start by beating the butter until smooth. Add half of the sugar and the Prosecco, mixing well, before adding the remaining sugar. Smooth the frosting in between the cake layers before smothering the entire masterpiece in the remaining buttercream loveliness.

Lick the spatula. Cut the cake. Have another glass of Prosecco.

TRAVEL Thursday, 16 November 2017

15 “Georgia still isn’t a massive draw for Brits compared to some European countries, but its popularity has grown enormously and it is currently one of the new travel hotspots for European backpackers – relatively easy and cheap yet still with a great sense of exploration.

For example, look at Georgia’s glorious multiday mountain treks – for example in Swaneti or between Tusheti and Khevsureti. You’ve got soaring Alpine mountains and many of the delights that you might have in, say, the classic New Zealand trails, but none of the crowds and certainly no need to pre-book a place as you need to do on popular routes like the Milford Track.”

But isn’t the development of new routes bad for the ecosystem? “Over time, if there are too many tourists, then maybe. But for now numbers remain very modest.

And on top of that, a lot of the villages up there [in Tusheti] were dying.The populations of poor shepherds now supplement their incomes by supplying simple accommodation to tourists and providing pack horses and serving as guides. Limited tourism has actually made some of these beautiful villages – complete with their astonishing five-storey stone towers – economically sustainable. Places that were on the verge of extinction are essentially being resurrected. Everybody wins”

Places that were on the verge of extinction are essentially being resurrected

Travel interviews travel writer and Palatinate alumnus, Mark Elliot, on the relevance of travel guides in the twentyfirst century

By Harriet Willis Travel Editor travel@palatinate.org.uk

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In the age of Trip Advisor, why should we still buy paperback travel guides?”. This is my first question for Mark Elliott, travel writer, Palatinate alumnus and past president of the Durham Union society. Elliott is best known for his unique ‘treasure-map’ style travel books that guide tourists around lesser-known Asian countries (Asia Overland, SE Asia Graphic Guide), and also for contributing to over 50 Lonely Planet guides.

“If you’re doing an interrail trip where all you need to know is the location of key sights for a selection of cities, then maybe you don’t need one,” Elliot starts, “just look up the best hostel online and you’re ready.

However, for those planning on spending a bit more time in one country, a guidebook can be a good way to get you started – especially if you’re seeking a cultural experience rather than a list of activities. To get to know the people, a good start is to pick some short term travel goals that get you slowly off the standard traveller route – the guidebook can be useful by offering locations where you are likely to be a rarity as a foreigner. In such places, without the guidebook it is all too easy to stumble into cultural faux pas without even realising why.”

“Of course, the particular need for a guidebook will vary greatly depending on where you visit. If you’re going to Norway – where lot of people speak English – when you turn up at a hotel, you will discover that a lot of things are self service, and that you really should have called ahead to book. But, you will learn that as you go. On the other hand, if you step out of a plane in Novosibirsk, you likely didn’t realise that virtually no one speaks English. And you probably didn’t realise that to buy a train ticket you have to write your name in Cyrillic. You can’t just learn that stuff as you go. In places like this, having a guidebook can be a massive help, if only in showing phrases and hotel names to taxi drivers who can’t read Latin script.”

“Another important point – the way that a publisher might sell the importance of a guidebook – is that you’re buying a ‘trustworthy voice’”. Whilst he doesn’t want to be quoted on precise accusations, Elliott then suggests that there’s a wide suspicion that in certain countries, online ratings get flooded with reviews that have been essentially paid for, thus undermining the reliability of ratings for numerous hotels and restaurants.”

In Novosibirsk, you probably didn’t realise that to buy a train ticket you have to write your name in Cyrillic Described as a ‘masterpiece’ by the Guardian, Elliott’s guidebook to Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan: With Excursions to Georgia) is crammed with hand-drawn maps with thoughtful annotations detailing points of information.

Knowing that Google Maps could possibly be a substitute, I asked why he felt inspired to create such a guide.

“You have to bear in mind that my first books were written in the 1990s. They were all map-based because there were no maps available for many of the places I was covering. It was essentially a pre-Internet world. Nowadays, we live in a world where anyone with a phone or laptop can draw up a perfect map of anywhere on Earth in seconds. Whereas, in certain ex-Soviet countries back then, just being in possession of a detailed topographic map could be considered a form of espionage. So my maps, often made by simply walking the streets and counting paces, were simply the best I could do. And they were very useful in their day. You’ve got to remember there has been a huge change in perceptions to tourism since then.”

Elliott’s guide to Azerbaijan and Georgia (Azerbaijan: With Excursions to Georgia) is advertised as the only detailed guide to the country. “Why should I visit somewhere that has such little written on it?” I ask.

My first books were all map-based because there were no maps available

One of my questions for Elliott, given his 30 years of travel experience, is about unexpected cultural insights that might prove surprising to an oblivious tourist.

“In Azerbaijan there are plenty of curiosities that you might never stop to notice without someone telling you. The whole Absheron peninsula surrounding the capital looks a little drab at first glance but with a good guide you can find places where fire comes spontaneously out of the ground, holy hoof prints and even a shrine where you can get a bottle broken over your head as a way to cure you from jumpy nerves. Don’t worry – it doesn’t hurt. On any city courtyard you’re likely to find bags of bread hanging from trees - usually mouldy. Why do you think that is? The answer is that bread is seen as coming from God so should be treated with reverence. For example, if you’re eating and you happen to drop a piece of bread on the ground, you should pick it up and kiss it and then put it carefully aside. You don’t throw away bread with other waste, either. Hence there is a dilemma of how do you get rid of the stuff. Those tree-hanging bags solve the problem.”

“Another place ripe for serious cultural misunderstandings was in Cameroon. I’d come to write what I thought would be a rather uncontroversial magazine article on some rare birds in the country’s northwest highlands. But the complication was that the area where the birds lived was on the borderline between two of Cameroon’s 180 mini kingdoms, each with its own language, culture and fon (monarch). The polite way to visit as an outsider is to start off by presenting oneself to the fon. In the kingdom of Kom, this meeting turned out to be something like walking onto the set of an Indiana Jones movie. The fon sat on his throne finished with ivory tusks at the focus of a rough stone amphitheatre. Facing him were his courtiers, lolling in strange poses. I had been carefully briefed and thus came equipped with the requisite bottle of J&B Rare whisky which was promptly placed within the king’s stash… and now and again handed to various courtiers to drink. It was like a student party night with all kinds of ‘down in one’ drinking rules. Failing to sink one’s drink, and many other breaches of etiquette, were liable to incur fines denominated in goats. Yes, real goats. I was fined two goats for taking a photo of the fon. Looking him in the eyes was worth two more.”

Photograph of a Tusheti mountain trail by Richard, via Flickr creative commons