This piece was written on the 24th June 2022. Today is a monumental day. It is a monumental day in the same way that for our grandmothers, just shy of fifty years ago, it was a monumental day. It’s not even taken half a century. In under half a century, a progression of maybe two generations, women’sContinue reading “On Being a Woman (IV) & Being Stripped of Our Rights”
Author Archives: saffronrain
On Being a Woman Part III: International Women’s Day Edition
In March, NRTH LASS published the latest in my On Being a Woman collection, a reflection on Women’s Rights on International Women’s Day. The other day, I put forward the offer to write a piece for International Women’s Day. I had just finished The Female Eunuch and purchased The … On Being a Woman PartContinue reading “On Being a Woman Part III: International Women’s Day Edition”
Upon the Death of my Favourite Author
In December I was asked by NRTH LASS to pen a tribute to Joan Didion, following her death. Here you can read my thoughts on her passing, grief more generally and how she has influenced the writer I am/am still becoming. There is a distinct comfort in knowing that certain people are still around. AContinue reading “Upon the Death of my Favourite Author”
On Being a Woman Part II: The Right to Choice
Belatedly adding some externally published writing to my own blog today, including this addressing the regression of reproductive rights in Texas last year. Dr John Sharpe of London, who in 1957 took the considerable risk of referring for an abortion a twenty-two-year-old American on her way to India. … On Being a Woman Part II:Continue reading “On Being a Woman Part II: The Right to Choice”
On Emerging from Lockdown
Humans have a unique capacity for adaptability. This is often seen as a trait, something you either have or you don’t, an asset to put on your CV … On Emerging from Lockdown Another essay of mine, On Emerging from Lockdown, is available to read over on the NRTH LASS website. I discuss how thisContinue reading “On Emerging from Lockdown”
On Being a Woman
This is the kind of narrative that could begin with a trigger warning. I’ve never started anything with a trigger warning, and I don’t intend to now.… On Being a Woman My essay, On Being a Woman, is available to read over on the NRTH LASS website. I discuss my anger, my feminism and hopefullyContinue reading “On Being a Woman”
On Lockdown
I made a conscious decision in March to not try and articulate the reality, implications or opinions I have on being in the midst of a global pandemic. Honestly, everything is saturated with this. Of course it is. Everything was saturated with this before it truly hit European territory. My mind was saturated with thisContinue reading “On Lockdown”
You Never Take the Cover off the Car and it’s Infuriating
You never take the cover off the car and it’s infuriating. It’s infuriating as it demonstrates to the rest of the world just how incapable of living you are, your incapability to leave the house, your inability to exist alongside others, to interact with civility. It demonstrates just how successfully you have achieved a completeContinue reading “You Never Take the Cover off the Car and it’s Infuriating”
On Reading
Today I have read two books written by women, in fact I can’t remember the last time I read a book written by a man. I chose both these books for relatively straightforward reasons. One claimed to be a response to George Orwell’s essay Why I Write, and the other presented itself as a ‘manifesto forContinue reading “On Reading”
Temporary Intermittence
I know that my writing is not successful when I am not being honest, specifically when I am not being honest with myself. I have always used my writing to understand the world I live in, to understand how I form and partake in this world, to understand how I feel about myself; my actions,Continue reading “Temporary Intermittence”
Loneliness & Modernity
I once said that everyone should try living on his or her own. I am still a strong advocate of this, but now I have some more experience. Earlier this year I moved back to my family home, for what I thought would be quite a long time. This wasn’t the case. Within six monthsContinue reading “Loneliness & Modernity”
Greek Holiday
As the sun descends behind its brittle mountains, and the moon increases its boldness, the island of Zakynthos and its inhabitants become difficult to distinguish. During this twilight zone the insects that dominate the day, with their incessant creaking from invisible bodies, moulded into olive trees, begins to deaden as one by one they succumbContinue reading “Greek Holiday”
SAFFRON RAIN 