Thoughts on the casting of Hermione: Does the race of an actor really matter?

After today's casting announcement for the 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' stage play, it seems that a lot of fans are up in arms about Hermione being played by black actress, Noma Dumezweni. I've been reading through a lot of the comments and it's got me thinking about how much the race and general appearance of an actor matters when casting an iconic role like this.

World Teachers' Day #WorldTeachersDay #ThankaTeacher

Today is World Teachers' Day, a day to celebrate educators around the world. I work in a school, have many teacher friends and am also married to a teacher, so I know better than most what a difficult job it can be.

From the outside it seems like teachers have a short working day and a lot of cushy holidays, but the reality is that most teachers work many extra hours marking and planning after school and in 'holidays' to ensure their students have the best learning resources. My husband often works until 8pm at school and is never without his laptop, even when we go abroad.

Banned Books Week 2015

This week (September 27th to October 3rd) is Banned Books Week, an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. It's about appreciating and discussing the books that have been challenged, restricted or outright forbidden for various reasons, including sexual or violent content and religious or political messages. 

Check out my post from last year for a list of my favourite banned books and my in-depth views on the censorship of literature.

If you're interested, you can find a list of the most frequently challenged or banned YA fiction from 2014-2015 here. Also, below is a list of classic books that have all been banned at some time.

Discussion: What is the most important aspect of writing that you would want to be preserved from one language to another?

Have you ever read a book that was translated from another language? If you've read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Anna Karenina, Battle Royale, Inkheart or any of these popular books, then the answer is yes. Many of us will have come across a translated novel at some point in our lives, especially during high school English class, as many of these works are considered 'classics'. Some of the best books ever written were first published in a language other than English.

After discovering Smartling, a company that translates websites into many other languages, I got to thinking about how the language of a piece of literature brings the story life and what is the most important aspect I would like to remain consistent between languages.

Why the World Still Needs #Feminism

I don’t usually delve into the realm of politics on my blog, but lately I’ve been preoccupied with the issue of feminism and its relevance in modern society. I’ve read a lot of articles, blog posts and comment forums lately that have left me shaking my head in disbelief. So I feel the need to address some of the misconceptions about feminism and answer a few burning questions, for my own sanity if nothing else.

My musings were sparked by Emma Watson’s UN speech about the campaign He for She. Please watch this if you haven’t already, as I’ll be using this as a reference point.

Banned Books Week: Which Outlawed Books have you Read?

As you may have heard, this week is Banned Books Week, an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. It's about celebrating the books that have been challenged, restricted and outright forbidden in some parts of the world.

According to the American Library Association, more than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982. A challenge is an attempt to ban or restrict materials based upon the objections of a person or group. When books are banned, they are removed from libraries and schools and people's access to them is restricted, so it's a type of censorship. Books have been challenged or banned for all sorts of reasons, including their sexual or violent content and religious or political messages.