By Tessa Whitehouse, Reader in 18th-century Literature and Director of Queen Mary Centre for Religion and Literature, Queen Mary University of London
Inés Gregori Labarta, Lecturer in Creative Writing, Lancaster University
James Miller, Senior Lecturer, School of Creative and Cultural Industries, Kingston University
Jenni Ramone, Associate Professor of Postcolonial and Global Literatures, Nottingham Trent University
Leigh Wilson, Professor of English Literature, University of Westminster
Prathiksha Betala, PhD Researcher in Feminist Futurities, Leeds Beckett University
Reading is very subjective, but one thing most book lovers can agree on is that 2025 was a notable year for fresh, inventive, affecting storytelling. Books translated from their original language are proving increasingly popular as readers seek out global perspectives beyond their own, as evidenced in this year’s International Booker win, Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, which is included here.
We also bring you five other novels our academic experts have chosen as their favourites this year. From a Mrs Dalloway for the service economy, to a dreamlike encounter between people across time,…
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By Anne Cronin, PhD Candidate, Medicine, University of Limerick
Anthony Kelly, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Limerick
Across GP surgeries and hospitals, as migration increases and health systems strain, doctors are turning to an untested helper: Google Translate.
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By Matyas Liptovszky, Professor of Practice and Head of Division of Population Science, University of Nottingham
Great apes are hugely popular with the public at zoos, but a dark illegal trade is affecting the survival of these much-loved animals.
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By Sally Christine Reynolds, Associate Professor in Hominin Palaeoecology, Bournemouth University
Scientists have discovered the single largest dinosaur track site in the world in Carreras Pampa, Torotoro National Park, Bolivia. The tracks were made around 70 million years ago, in the late Cretaceous Period, by theropods – bipedal three-toed dinosaurs – with bird tracks also present in this ancient beach scene.
Over 16,600 footprints and swim traces cover the ancient trackway surface, all heading in the same direction. Swim traces form when floating or swimming animals briefly…
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By Christian Goodwillie, Director and Curator of Special Collections and Archives, Hamilton College
Director Mona Fastvold’s new film, “The Testament of Ann Lee,” features actor Amanda Seyfried in the titular role: the English spiritual seeker who brought the Shaker movement to America. The trailer literally writhes with snakes intercut amid scenes of emotional turmoil, religious ecstasy, orderly and disorderly dancing – and sex. Intense and sometimes menacing music underpins it all: the sounds of the enraptured, singing their way to a fantastic and unimaginable ceremony.
The trailer is riveting and unsettling…
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By Naomi Cahn, Professor of Law, University of Virginia
Reid Kress Weisbord, Distinguished Professor of Law and Judge Norma Shapiro Scholar, Rutgers University - Newark
These rules have a long history in the United States. They played a role in the notorious murders by the Menendez brothers and Scott Peterson.
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By Amnesty International
Preparations for this weekend’s first round of junta-imposed elections in Myanmar have resulted in unlawful attacks that may amount to war crimes as well as a drastic increase in arbitrary detentions and further crackdowns on freedom of expression, Amnesty International said today. The military’s passage in July of the Law on the Protection of Multiparty […] The post Myanmar: Repressive tactics intensify before junta-imposed elections appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Sanjib Chaudhary
Deepa Devkota from Sindhuli District has become the first Nepali woman living with a disability to complete a wheelchair bungee jump at the Bhotekoshi River in Sindhupalchok District.
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Anthony Albanese’s resistance to calling a national royal commission in the wake of Bondi is nearly impossible to comprehend.
Some would argue a benign explanation – that he misjudged the national mood and has dug himself into a hole. Others think he may fear what an inquiry might turn up, in terms of his government’s failures in combatting the spread of antisemitism.
The calls for a federal royal commission are now reaching a roar. The pressure was palpable at Sunday night’s memorial service at Bondi, where Albanese was booed. He’d offered to speak, but organisers decided…
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By Gijsbert Hoogendoorn, Professor in Tourism Geography, University of Johannesburg
Anneli Douglas, Associate Professor of Tourism Management, University of Pretoria
Greg Richards, Professor of Leisure Studies, Tilburg University
Younger South Africans who have the money to travel locally are keen on learning culturally relevant and creative skills while on holiday.
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