Penned In

A Thought On Journaling

My husband and I got married last year. This made time feel as though it was going by incredibly fast. Faster than I wanted it to.  This sensation of speed seemed to happen at different levels. On...

Oxford's Best Writing Spots - Part II

We return to complete our sojourn into the best writing spots in Oxford. Our selections this week take us northward, through the bustling streets of Jericho. These locations prove, beyond reasonab...

The Wykeham's Culture Desk - June 2026

Welcome to the Wykeham’s Culture Desk. In this new series – released once a month – we recommend one book, one poem, one podcast, and one exhibition or event for our culturally curious readers. Ou...

Oxford's Best Writing Spots – Part I

Oxford has always harboured deep literary associations. Now the home of Wykeham’s Journals, we are proud to situate ourselves within the city’s long lineage of literature lovers. From Matthew Arno...

Right On Cue: Laughter & Diplomacy In Congress

Whatever you think of King Charles’s speech at Congress, it was a masterclass in timing. He has received criticism for remaining overly-cooperative. Some saw this as a missed opportunity to make a...

“Few die well that die in a battle” | Henry V Review

I realise, as I finally sat down to write this, that I’d been putting it off.  When approaching Shakespeare, I’ve always been on the deferential side. Knowing a lot about Shakespeare is not a clai...

The Art Of Noticing

There is a particular kind of light that exists for about twenty minutes after sunrise. It arrives low and unhurried, moving across surfaces at an angle that ordinary daylight never finds. It catc...

Phone vs. Pen: a zero-sum game?

A common complaint made against pen and paper is that they are less ‘efficient’ than phones. In the eyes of many they are anachronistic forebears of the devices which now do it all for us. The gen...

A Glimpse of Don McCullin

I hadn’t expected to come across Don McCullin on a farm in Somerset. I was on holiday to escape from things; nothing in particular, just the responsibility and concomitant stress of the everyday. ...

Review: Mihail Sebastian, Women (1933)

This week we review Women, by Mihail Sebastian.  First published in 1933, this is a seductive, heady and at times unsettling novella. It explores the relationships that its central character, Ste...