What Mitski Tells Us About Capitalism and Art

I cry at the start of every Mitski song / I guess cause I wish I was making things too. Yeah, I know, very meta of me to almost quote the beginning of the song, but that line never ceases to amaze me. Mitski is describing the thought most artists have: the realization that youContinue reading “What Mitski Tells Us About Capitalism and Art”

Endings: Outer Wilds and the Inevitable

*Mild Spoilers for Outer Wilds1 ahead* I awakened by the campfire on Timber Hearth, my home, ascended to the launch site where a cobbled together ship stood, waiting to take me to the stars, a bright yellow sun encouraging me onward. Gingerly, I travelled outward and landed on the Hearthian moon. There, I meet EskerContinue reading “Endings: Outer Wilds and the Inevitable”

Home

I can go anywhere I want, just not home.  The fifth track of Taylor Swift’s album folklore, “my tears ricochet”, features one of the most relatable lyrics I’ve ever heard. Even though I acknowledge that the context behind this phrase is completely different to the one I put when listening to it, it is stillContinue reading “Home”

Margaret, the Males aren’t Gazing: The Man in my Head Keeps Torturing Me

© Nicolas Regnier ‘Male fantasies, male fantasies, is everything run by male fantasies? Up on a pedestal or down on your knees, it’s all a male fantasy: that you’re strong enough to take what they dish out, or else too weak to do anything about it. Even pretending you aren’t catering to male fantasies isContinue reading “Margaret, the Males aren’t Gazing: The Man in my Head Keeps Torturing Me”

Series of essays on art and laziness as a form of rebellion

Wabi sabi and the picturesque The classic Japanese concept of Wabi-sabi is the beauty of the imperfect, impermanent, incomplete and broken. This concept is reflected in the west through the work of the William Gilpin. His writing responded to the grandfather of aesthetic-theory, Edmund Burke, who claimed that the key elements of beauty are smoothnessContinue reading “Series of essays on art and laziness as a form of rebellion”

Flash Fiction Competition 2022 – Second Place: A Lake of Hidden Wonders

by Noelani Luckas „There’s something in the water“, Ifna stated, crouching beside the dark lake that stretched out all the way to the horizon. From above, it was a bleak, black smudge in the landscape. Not that anyone actually dared to cross it, even from the sky.  Ifna touched the black water with her fingertips,Continue reading “Flash Fiction Competition 2022 – Second Place: A Lake of Hidden Wonders”

Flash Fiction Competition 2022 – Third Place: Passport Profile

by Jeremy Bernard Our voices got lost in the mess but the text is all here so might as well read it.  Dyed blonde hair coated the outer layer, golden splotches over silver rings nestled softly between fidgeting fingers, necklaces that glittered and clothes that shimmered, push up this, flatten that, fix yourself right here,Continue reading “Flash Fiction Competition 2022 – Third Place: Passport Profile”

Join the Writer’s Block Board!

Writer’s Block Magazine is looking for fresh, enthusiastic and creative editorial board members! Do you like writing and editing? Do you have any journalistic aspirations? Then join the Writer’s Block editorial board! What/who is Writer’s Block? Writer’s Block Magazine is a student-run magazine at University of Amsterdam. We have an international readership and contributors fromContinue reading “Join the Writer’s Block Board!”

The History of West Africa

I don’t know about you, but if I had never lived in Africa until I was sixteen, I would not have known anything about African history. And I’m grateful every day that I learned British, Dutch and African history (also specifically Gambian history). Because of this, I thought I’d try to write a crash courseContinue reading “The History of West Africa”