Leeds-based poet, playwright and activist, Khadijah Ibrahim, has recently released her debut poetry collection, Another Crossing, in which she explores, through her own personal experiences, the ever-changing identities of the many ethnically diverse communities in […]
Black History Month | Marvina Babs-Apata profile – one of the most inspirational figures in the Leeds art scene
Marvina Babs-Apata is a Nigerian-born project manager and mother of two. She founded Angel of Youths, a non-profit organisation that builds social projects about young peoples’ passions. In celebration of Black History Month, InTheMiddle profiled […]
TV | Black and white comedy: separate, but equal?
We have a habit in this country of liking to believe that we don’t have a racism problem. We don’t like to talk about it. It comes from that deep part of our cultural subconscious […]
Books | And the Nobel Prize for Exclusion goes to…
You only have to look at any English Literature syllabus to see a canon dominated by white authorship. While no one is denying Dickens’ acerbic wit or the ethereal charm of the Romantics, our literary […]
TV | The Knick is slick, and gloriously gory
Think Call The Midwife with cocaine, suicide, racism, blood – lots of blood – and just a touch of moral ambiguity. Okay, so Call The Midwife might not be the most apt comparison to The […]
Film | Foxcatcher Preview – delving into the heart of darkness
Foxcatcher starts and ends with a fight. It is Channing Tatum – he of G.I Joe and Magic Mike fame – that opens and closes the latest film from Moneyball director Bennett Miller. Not Steve […]
Books | ‘The Establishment’ enlightens readers to the injustices of modern society
In his new book The Establishment: And how they get away with it, Owen Jones attempts to introduce a debate that is ‘long overdue – a debate not just about who rules us, but about […]
Leeds’ Icons – Hyde Park Picture House captures perfectly the early days of cinematic entertainment
As the twenty-eighth Leeds International Film Festival draws closer, it’s time to focus the spotlight on this little cinematic gem located at the heart of Hyde Park. Opened on 7th November 1914, the Hyde Park […]
Film | The Rewrite – Is Hugh Grant back on form?
It’s romcom 101: Hugh Grant as a washed-up, Oscar-winning scriptwriter who finds himself teaching university students in the unknown town of Binghampton after various failed attempts to restart his career. In his fourth collaboration with […]
TV | The Not-so-Great Fire of London
The fact that there’s never been a TV series about the Great Fire of London is surprising given how dramatic an event it was. However, it seems ITV were so convinced that novelty factor alone […]
Theatre | Pains of Youth Preview – LUU’s Theatre Group puts together a dramatic explosion of emotion, entropy and erotica
On 28th -30th October, the Theatre Group will take to the stage in bourgeois style with their interpretation of Pains of Youth by Ferdinand Bruckner (trans. by Martin Crimp). The 1926 play follows the lives […]
Film | The Devil and Daniel Johnston – a hardhitting yet uplifting portrayal of a man struggling with mental illness
Hyde Park Picture House was the perfect setting for an authentic and often haunting documentary about the life and influences of troubled singer, songwriter and artist Daniel Johnston, shown as part of this weekends Leeds […]