Now that the glitter has settled on The Life of a Showgirl’s release, and I’ve spent enough time on Reddit fan forums and the comments section of Instagram to feel that I’ve gained both a comprehensive overview of audience reactions and a deep, visceral need to go outside and touch some grass, I wanted to… Continue reading Is it ‘Actually Romantic’ to renounce one’s feminism?
Tag: writing
Swifterature: the book. Coming 4 November
You can find countless articles online – and a few books by now, too – listing all the literary allusions in Taylor Swift’s work, many of which I've also documented on this blog. Beyond suggesting that Swift is familiar with some English literary classics, though, these lists don’t really tell us much at all. When… Continue reading Swifterature: the book. Coming 4 November
Taylor Swift: The New Romantic Poet
In this essay by high school student Anthony Daans (who kindly allowed me to give some feedback on his project), he argues for Taylor Swift as a modern Romantic poet, while also exploring some of the ways in which this persona might stand at odds with other aspects of Swift's career. Thank you so much,… Continue reading Taylor Swift: The New Romantic Poet
A preview of my new book
I'm so excited to share some content from my new book, Stars Around My Scars: The Annotated Poetry of Taylor Swift, out tomorrow (28 January)! If you haven't yet ordered a copy, I'm hoping this will convince you to do so! For each of the 46 songs included in the book (you can find my… Continue reading A preview of my new book
The Taylor Seminars: ‘Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus’
This week, I joined Hannah Chao and Exquisite Williams on their fantastic podcast, The Taylor Seminars. Each week, Hannah and Exquisite do a deep dive into a Taylor track, looking at the lyrics in forensic detail. Since I also run Taylor seminars, of a slightly different sort, this was a perfect match! Hannah and Exquisite… Continue reading The Taylor Seminars: ‘Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus’
Argylle and the Author function
The end of this month will see the release of the film Argylle, directed and produced by Matthew Vaughn. It’s a spy thriller based on a debut novel by American author Elly Conway. So far, so normal. However, when you find out that the film rights were purchased by Apple in 2021 for $200 million, years before the novel was even released, and that there are no pictures of, or interviews with, Elly Conway available online, despite her instagram account having over 40,000 followers, things start to look a little strange. As anyone who knows anything about publishing will tell you, Apple do not pay millions of dollars for the film rights to as-yet-unpublished debut novels by nobodies, and if you want to publish any book these days, good luck to you if you’re not willing to take every chance for self-promotion that you can, including plastering your face all over social media. Who the hell, then, is Elly Conway?
Swifterature 