Writer's Block Magazine

Warriors: Coming of age through cats

February 21, 2017

by Books, Elise van der Linde, Literature, WB Recommendations

I get a variety of reactions when I tell people that the series I read throughout my childhood and early teens was one about cats. What’s so great about cats? How can you read book after book, thousands of pages about cats? What can the writer possibly still write about? I too wondered that…

The Disappearance of the Hatchet Job

February 17, 2017

by Essay, Literature, Tom van Veenendaal

In 2012, review aggregator website The Omnivore launched the Hatchet Job of the Year award, given to the “the writer of the angriest, funniest, most trenchant book review” of the last year in Britain. The prize was a year’s worth of potted shrimp donated by The Fish Society. By now defunct, the award was only…

Review: 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields

February 14, 2017

by Luc de Vries, Music, WB Recommendations

Ah, love songs. They’re hard to love, but harder to hate. The two are never far apart. Except for today, that is. Around Valentine’s Day people usually start to ponder more about love. What’s it all about? Worth the trouble, or just a pile of rubble? It’s different for everyone. Yet the songs on the…

Hidden Cultures

February 8, 2017

by Life, Sophie van Hellenberg Hubar, WB Column

The term ‘hidden cultures’ might make you think of various religions and nationalistic customs. That’s not what I would like to talk about, however. I’d like to make an observation about hidden worlds which are often linked to a profession or hobby. Lately, I’ve been discovering a few societies which were previously unknown to me.…

Passionately Curious: What The Hell Is Quantum?

February 3, 2017

by Passionately Curious, Paul Hofma

If there was ever a word that a physicist dreads hearing in common parlance, it has to be ‘quantum’. Believe me, I think I’ve heard this word abused more than perhaps any other. As such, in this episode of Passionately Curious, back after a long hiatus, we’ll be diving into the how and what of…