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Hackney Post •

Meet the poet bringing Hackney's marshes to life

Reporter Sarah Smith speaks to poet Jude Rosen on her latest release, her rediscovery of Hackney’s marshlands, and her family history.


Jude Rosen sits serenely in a wicker chair at Islington’s eclectic Candid Cafe, ready to share her poetry wisdom.  


The acclaimed London-based poet has never forgotten her Hackney roots, and her latest release, Reclamations from London’s Edgelands, is inspired by Hackney’s marshlands. “It was a great discovery for me, really,” she says, “because I’ve lived...
Hackney Post •

Hackney mayor calls for action against teacher abuse

On Monday, Caroline Woodley, the Hackney mayor, called for “bold and firm lines” against students’ bad behaviour as a council committee discussed a survey, which revealed violence in UK schools is worsening.


Mayor Woodley cited the most recent data on behaviour in UK schools: an online survey of 6,586 teachers in the UK conducted by the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT).


It found that 37 per cent of teachers experienced physical abuse/violence from...
Hackney Post •

Stamford Hill Jewish community celebrates Purim

For the first time in 25 years, Purim was extended to four days, starting on Thursday 13 March and ending on Sunday 16 March. 


Purim is a holiday that celebrates the story of the book of Esther, where the Jewish people in the Persian empire were saved from a court official’s plot to kill all the Jews in a single day by Queen Esther’s bravery – who, as a member of the Jewish faith, would have also been killed. 


Usually, it lasts one day – beginning on the evening of the 14th day of Adar (th...
Hackney Post •

What we're reading on World Book Day

Today is World Book Day, a celebration of all things literature. It’s only right, then, that we ask our distinguished reporting team what they’ve been getting their teeth into… 


I’ve just finished reading Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, which won the Booker Prize in 2023. Present day Ireland slowly transforms into an authoritarian state undergoing civil war, with clear parallels to totalitarianism and humanitarian crises across the world and throughout history, from Poland’s judicial capture to w...
Hackney Post •

Opposition parties raise concerns about Hackney Council budget 

Councillors have criticised Labour’s cuts to the 2025 to 2026 budget at a Hackney Council meeting last Wednesday (26 February), saying that residents are ‘desperate’. 


Areas affected by the cuts include the voluntary and community sector, youth services and public health. The latter has particularly suffered from many years of increased cuts – it has lost nearly £3m over three years. 


Alastair Binnie-Lubbock, a Green Party councillor, said: “We need to reverse the cuts this administration...
Hackney Post •

Where to find Hackney’s best pancakes this Shrove Tuesday

A warm welcome at the egg yolk yellow double doors awaits anyone who wishes to dine at The Breakfast Club. The aroma of sausages and the sound of clattering cutlery fills the room, and the pancakes  are fluffy and sweet. There are several choices of sweet and savoury toppings. We particularly liked the vegan “THIS Isn’t Pork” sausages, which were flavoured with onion and black pepper, and the blueberry compote, which was fruity and not overly sweetened. The hash browns were a little too salty fo...
The Boar •

Wars over water - a present and future matter for the climate crisis

Most people know that water scarcity is becoming a bigger problem as climate change causes more weather disruptions and drought, leading to more intense competition for water. But not many people know the exact scale of the problem: let me enlighten you. Water scarcity affects about 40% of the world’s population. Therefore, it is no surprise that these shortages are causing conflicts and could even trigger wars in the near future.
According to the Pacific Institute, which has collated a Water Co...
The Boar •

10 foods that are set to become scarcer due to climate change

As temperatures rise and crops fail, many foods we eat daily may no longer be as abundant as we are used to. Here are 10 foods that are set to be particularly threatened by climate change in the coming decades.
Currently, we drink over 2.25 billion cups of coffee worldwide every day – but that is set to change in the near future. The Australian Climate Institute estimates that, if the globe warms by 2˚C by 2050, areas suitable for coffee production will be halved: a substantial loss for coffee l...
The Boar •

How to make your period eco-friendly

Switching to eco-friendly period products may not immediately seem like a way to combat climate change. However, when you consider those who menstruate will have a period around 450 times in their lifetime and use roughly 11,000 tampons in their lifetime, that adds up to a lot of waste which could be reduced by choosing eco-friendly alternatives. With this in mind, let’s have a look at the different planet-friendly period products on offer.
Firstly, there are menstrual cups. These are often made...
The Boar •

Playlists within a book: a hit or a flop?

If I asked you to think about what reading looks like, you would probably picture a bookworm flipping through the pages of a book (or scrolling through an ebook) in a library or a similarly quiet space. But what if I told you that reading can involve your ears as well as your eyes? That’s where the trend of playlists within books comes into play.
Some contemporary writers have created playlists to accompany their novels – although this is relatively rare. Most story playlists are curated by read...
The Boar •

French parliament votes to ban fast fashion advertising

On March 14, the French Parliament voted unanimously in favour of a bill that will ban fast fashion advertising and establish ecological penalties for fast fashion producers. If the Senate vote approves the measures, this bill will make France the first country in the world that has legislated to limit the excesses of fast fashion. 
The emergence of fast fashion in the past decades has had an undeniably negative impact on the environment – France is one among many countries impacted by this toxi...
The Boar •

Enemies-to-lovers: an in-depth exploration of a popular trope

Ah, enemies-to-lovers: it’s perhaps the most contentious romance trope of all, but that’s what makes it so enthralling. Although a mainstay of romance novels, it has also made its way into other genres: fantasy, classics and historical fiction to name a few. It keeps the reader on the edge of their seats with the inevitable drama it provides and it allows for some satisfying character growth. If you think that it’s just a vacuous craze born out of BookTok, however, that’s where you’re wrong.
Alt...
The Boar •

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman review: Delving into Fandom and Boybands

Being an avid and unashamed reader of young adult fiction, it was inevitable that I would stumble upon Alice Oseman’s books. Since her romantic comic series, Heartstopper, catapulted into fame in the late 2010s, I’ve been exploring the Osemanverse in my spare time. I adored the sweet romances in all four volumes of Heartstopper and appreciated the representation of a genuine high school experience in the Netflix series of the same name. Who knew that having actual teenagers playing teenagers wou...
The Boar •

Tomatoes in trouble due to climate change

A recent study published in Nature (a British scientific journal), predicts a 6% decline in tomato yields in major growing regions such as Italy and California by 2050. The study attributes this decline to an increase in air temperature caused by global warming.
The type of tomatoes that this study focuses on is processing tomatoes. These are the tomatoes that are used in our sauces, purées, ketchup bottles and other packaged tomato products. While salad tomatoes are grown in greenhouses, proce...
The Boar •

My Five Favourite Festive Songs

It’s that time of year again – the time of candy canes and warm gingerbread, the time of Santa and snowmen (let’s hope we get snow this year!). And what would Christmas be without the same sixty or so festive songs played on repeat for the whole of December? For me, music brings Christmas to life – I only start feeling Christmassy when every teenage girl feels the desire to spontaneously break out into a rendition of Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas is You.’ So, it only feels natural to...
The Boar •

Climate change is affecting mental health, known as Eco-Anxiety

Eco-anxiety, defined by the American Psychological Association as “a chronic fear of environmental doom”, is on the rise – particularly among children and teenagers.
Eco-anxiety is caused by hearing about the impacts of climate change on our planet (such as increased droughts and flooding) and worrying about the future in a world affected by climate change. It comes with feelings of loss, helplessness, despair, frustration and guilt, but also positive feelings like hope. It is a rational reacti...
The Boar •

Coventry cycle lane to be made permanent

A temporary cycle lane in Coventry will be made permanent. The cycle lane links Coventry city centre at Upper Well Street to the Canal Basin at Leicester Row.
Plans to make the lane permanent were approved at a Coventry City Council meeting that took place on Wednesday 15 June. There were no objections to the proposal.
The council hopes that, by improving the cycle network, this cycle lane will have a positive impact on the environment.
The cycle lane allows cyclists to get to the canal basin fr...
The Boar •

Author Spotlight: Why you should read L. M. Montgomery

If you are looking for a new author to discover, let me introduce you to L.M. Montgomery, a Canadian author born in the 19th century. Also known as Lucy Maud Montgomery, this amazing author wrote over 500 short stories and poems in her lifetime, as well as 20 novels. Including the Anne of Green Gables series, the Emily of New Moon series, and The Blue Castle.
Anne of Green Gables, her most famous novel, acts as an excellent entry point into her work. The story follows Anne, a red-headed orphan g...
The Boar •

Warwickshire County Council prioritises sustainability in its new Council Plan

Warwickshire County Council’s (WCC) new Council Plan has placed sustainability as one of its key priorities. Their aim is to move to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
They wish to develop a transport network that utilises green technology, and to encourage more sustainable journeys by bike, foot or public transport. 
In 2019, Warwickshire had the third highest CO2 emissions per capita of all county local authorities, mainly due to it being a hub of numerous motorway networks. 
As part o...
The Boar •

Demand for English degrees has dropped: here's what we need to do to reverse that

In recent years, the number of students deciding to do an English literature degree has decreased drastically, with a drop of almost a third within less than a decade. But why is this happening? And what can we do about it?
There are several factors that have led to this dramatic decline. As a society, we are spending more of our free time on Netflix and social media than reading. The domination of TV in our lives means that we feel compelled to catch up with the shows that everyone else is watc...
The Boar •

How to write a strong female protagonist

When you think of a strong female lead, what comes to mind? Is it a woman wielding weapons and showing off her physical strength? What about a woman who speaks her mind and pushes aside the stereotypes that try to box her in? A strong female lead is an increasingly difficult thing to define, as characters are becoming more complex. So, in order to find out what it means, let’s go back to the beginning.
Many centuries ago, female representation in stories was virtually non-existent. As most count...
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