When I Become a Panther

Foreword: This fictional piece was inspired by my interest in the psychological and neurodevelopmental effects of childhood trauma, which began after reading The Boy Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz. Throughout this story, I have attempted to touch on the powerlessness felt by victims of child abuse and the…

ByLucy Smith22 September 2025

Creative

The Centre Does Hold

There all the barrel-hoops are knit, There all the serpent-tails are bit, There all the gyres converge in one, There all the planets drop in the Sun. – W. B. Yeats, Supernatural Songs, IV 'There' The Brown Betty teapot’s older than the Hills Hoist and twice as stubborn. Five generations of paddy women, and decades of…

ByAtlanta Gervasoni29 August 2025

Creative

Triptych

Constrict Me Serpent Burns the light above Does on petty eyes of mine. From high up as if to guide light To my fingertips and my knuckles. Such advice deemed little To a boy so confused, he forgot how to write. Melancholy, some shout, Others pensive, More merely stranded youth. Yet they…

BySam Singleton22 August 2025

Creative

Aithrí

In Her Name Mary Magdalene is posited as Christianity’s exemplar of repentance, the apostle of Christ, the faithful woman, freed of seven demons. Worthy of hymnal adoration, and biblical heralding… but the rankle, the blister, the problem was she was robust, energetic. A prostitute. None of which were revered in the picture of the Christian…

ByAlice Wilson6 June 2025

Poetry

Into the Jacaranda-Garden

‘And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.’ – T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets Laid out lulled in luscious green, sweet muslin drawing on the breeze Springtime in our courtyard with the jacaranda tree Misty mauve effusive, Her visitation draws…

ByAtlanta Gervasoni7 May 2025

Creative

Oakstand: Part II

3. The great Australian emptiness. First of December 1972 | 12pm The paddocks surrounding Lance had a sense of leopard silence which engulfed him. This land was well-versed in eternity. It made its…

ByJasper Derwent1 April 2025

Opinion

Why We Write

To write, to put one's thoughts on paper and place them before an audience, is, in my opinion, a small act of courage. While spoken words can be swallowed and eaten up, eclipsed by a quick clarification or a huffed laugh, there is a permanency to the written word; a solidity that invites scrutiny. Just…

ByEditorial Team19 March 2025

Creative

Chimeric Blink

“The whole procedure will take roughly twenty minutes. You’ll feel a slight pressure behind your eyes.” Dr Abram peers through bushy black lashes and narrow, wire-rimmed spectacles, his face contorting into an expression of concern. A neuroscience researcher, it’s no mystery why he didn’t pursue general practice. This strange, neurotic little man’s weirdly contrived attempts…

ByAtlanta Gervasoni19 January 2025

Creative Poetry

IMPERMANENCE

DANCER, FIGHTER The lamp rests steady Behind a sea of black lingers. The flame, dances and rides, Upon the rhythm of passing breeze Bringing a light, A little bit of warmth, To the surrounding darkness. And for long the flame rages Neatly seated in her little glass cage, Petit to any wandering eye Yet ferocious…

BySam Singleton15 December 2024

Review

‘Boeing Boeing’: An escape to the farcical world of Parisian romance

It’s that time of year again, when our wonderful students of the Drama Society (DramSoc) put on their annual showstopper of a play. Friends, family, and the St Andrew’s college community flocked to a transformed Parisian dining hall in anticipation for what was sure to be a dynamic performance rife with scandal, satire and sultry…

BySylvie Durrant29 October 2024