Francesca Turauskis

Tennessee Williams worked as a caretaker, Robert Frost delivered newspapers and J.K.Rowling was a secretary. The idea of a penniless writer trying to make ends meet is well established, and many aspiring writers find themselves working multiple side jobs whilst sending off manuscripts to potential publishers. Look at the jobs that famous writers found themselves doing whilst they penned thier famous work, as an inspiration to budding writers.

Whilst transformations can be seen in many cultures, but i've noticed that it seems most prevalant in Japanese work. From popular cartoons such as Dragonball, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, through Studio Ghibli to video games like Super Mario, the idea of 'leveling-up' and improving as a physical transfomation, rather than just a skillful one, is very strong. Why is this the case? I would be intrigued to see if there is a link to Japanese theatre and mythology, and whether the use of such transformations in Western culture has been more common since such programs have become popular here.

I would like to see a guide to the common style and structure of Russian literature. It would also be good to see some suggestions for a Russian literature novice to try reading.

With the summer holidays on the way, a run-down of recommended holiday reads would be interesting. It could be a list of particular titles that are set in holiday destinations, or information about travel writers that will give you itchy feet.

Good titles might be 'A Moveable Feast' by Hemingway, 'Tracks' by Robyn Davidson or 'Travels with Herodotus' Ryszard Kapuscinski

Product placement is perhaps a necessary evil for films. It is not a new concept – it actually began in novels, including those by Arthur Conan Doyle and Jules Verne – but there are some films that do it well, some that don't and some that do it tongue-in-cheek (Nescafe in Night Watch (2004) for example.) A look at some movies from each catergory would be interesting.

There is a plethora of musicals that are adapated from another source, from older ones such as Les Miserables, through the 90's and 00's hits such as The Lion King, Wicked and Billy Elliot to the recent Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate factory. Whilst this is not unique to musicals, what is notable is that there is so very few original scripts to balance it. You could count the original musicals in the last 10 years on one hand (Book of Mormon and Avenue Q, which have the same makers.) It would be nice to see this from the pont for view of someone who is well versed in musicals, and to see if there is a reason for it beyond unoriginality.

So often in cinema woman are portrayed by their relationship to men. I thought it might be interesting to look at this through the use of women as brides, especially as quite a few female-led films have women in this role. Good films to look at might be any Dracula, The Corpse Bride (2005) Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)

An analysis of films or literature that was set in the future when it was written, but is now our past/present. You could look at how accurate it is, or speculate if anything is a self-fulfilling prophecy (such as the Big Brother shows named after Orwell's book.)