Epigram

The latest news and award-winning independent cultural journalism from students and staff at Bristol University

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Featured Writers

Zoë Crowther

News and features journalistJunior political reporter PoliticsHome / The House magazineStories in The Sunday Times • South West Londoner • Daily Mirror • BristolLive • Bristol24/7 • Epigram • The …

Faniki Deche

James Lewis

I am a 21 year old student, aspiring journalist, and current student journalist. I am co Editor-in-Chief of Epigram, the University of Bristol's student newspaper, and winner of Best Publication …

Lily Farrant

London based aspiring journalist, recently graduated from the University of Bristol.

Lucy Downer

News and Features Journalist Background in student media, local news and publishing. Articles in Epigram • Bristol Post/Bristol Live • The Oxford Student • The Publishing Post I care about …

Rebecca Pardon

Journalist and magazine editor based in London, UK.

Latest Articles

Student campaigners and NUS representative go head-to-head in referendum debate

By Natalie Payne, News Reporter On Friday March 6, representatives from the Yes and No camps came together in the Balloon Bar to discuss the most important issues in the referendum on Bristol SU’s affiliation to the National Union of Students (NUS). NUS UK is a nationwide campaign network of …

By Natalie Payne
9th March 2026 • Epigram

Fire engines called to University of Bristol’s Goldney Hall

By Natalie Payne, News Reporter and Stella Phipps, News Reporter The University of Bristol says it is working to identify the cause.The fire service, police and ambulances all arrived at the Clifton hall of residence, home to 261 undergraduate students, between 1.55am and 3.06am on February 4.Fire services arrived on …

By Natalie Payne
8th February 2026 • Epigram

Bristol students walk out ‘in solidarity with Minneapolis’ outside Senate House

By Lenny Osler, News Reporter and Natalie Payne, News Reporter On January 23, around 20 demonstrators gathered opposite Senate House at midday as part of a national student walkout following the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis, a few blocks from where George Floyd was killed.The demonstration mirrors similar anti-administration …

By Natalie Payne
27th January 2026 • Epigram

Clifton Literature Festival

By Alex Boersma, Literature columnist 25/26In it's sixth year of running and with over 60 volunteers this year alone it is safe to say that Clifton's Literature Festival is thriving. I attended three events this year: Childless by choice, Trig Point poetry and Celebrating Bristol's distinguished writers. Each one carefully …

By Alex Boersma
23rd November 2025 • Epigram

The SU's Housing Fair has ‘everything’ you need to know about renting

November’s dragging on, the nights are closing in, and temperatures are dropping faster than students with that cold going round. All students want to do is curl up in the ASS and check off those days until exams are over. Sadly, the reality of being a student in Bristol means …

By James Lewis
19th November 2025 • Epigram

Turning on the pressure to turn up the heating

By Lulu Shasha, Third Year, HistoryAs the pressure mounts to turn on the heating, we face ramifications that extend far beyond the initial annoyance of the seemingly simple question, ‘Shall we turn the heating on?’My own relationship with heating at university has been like a long-distance relationship: runs hot and …

By Lulu Shasha
15th November 2025 • Epigram

What to expect at the Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2025

By Natalie Payne, Second-Year, French, German, and Spanish Since 2011, BPFF has been a force for showcasing Palestinian talent across the arts, and this year is no different. With 15 film and short film screenings, the ten days are filled with incredible projects. As well as cinema, the festival will …

By Natalie Payne
11th November 2025 • Epigram

Was the ASSL's £1.8m makeover worth it?

By Lulu Shasha, Third Year, HistoryPhew! What a relief, the Arts and Social Sciences Library (known to students as the ASS) has finally reopened its doors.So, what’s changed after a £1.8 million facelift? The two upstairs library floors, home to the humanities collections, reading rooms, suffused with the familiar glow …

By Lulu Shasha
7th November 2025 • Epigram

In conversation with Dr Lily Dunn: Memoir as transformation

By Alex Boersma, Literature columnist 25/26Prior to Gloucester Road bookshop's event celebrating her new book: Into Being: The radical craft of memoir and its power to transform, I interviewed author, journalist and teacher Dr Lily Dunn. The evening's conversation alongside fellow memoirist Marianne Brooker's questions followed Dunn's journalistic past, affinity …

By Alex Boersma
1st November 2025 • Epigram

Bristol's ghost stories: from their origins to tales from the city

By Alex Boersma, Literature columnist 25/26We have all watched at least one movie featuring teenagers and children huddled together by torch light telling ghost stories to scare each other. Some of us may even have recreated this with our own friends and tried to out scare each other. Despite not …

By Alex Boersma
23rd October 2025 • Epigram

Ballot opens for whether staff will strike or not

Staff at the University of Bristol, and 136 other institutions in England, will be balloted by the University and Colleges Union (UCU) from today (Monday 20 October) over what they call a ‘derisory’ pay offer from the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), and a ‘worrying escalation’ of proposed job …

By James Lewis
20th October 2025 • Epigram

A real ASSL: Humanities students unhappy with library closure

For months, the ASSL – both revered and despised – has been trapped behind orange fences as refurbishment continues. But until recently no reopening date was given. While Monday 20 October will see access to the library’s print collection restored, the ground floor won’t reopen until 17 November. This delayed …

By James Lewis
16th October 2025 • Epigram

Review: Armour at Arnolfini

The traditional images of the circus that populate our imaginations are filled with bright, garish colours, exaggerated costumes, unbelievable bodies in motion, and animals leaping through rings of fire. It is a world of spectacle and excess, a stage for those positioned outside the boundaries of conventional society; a space …

By Lulu Shasha
10th October 2025 • Epigram

Arts and Social Sciences Library to reopen on 20 October

Epigram can reveal that the ASSL’s upper floors will be reopened on Monday 20 October. In an exclusive statement given to Epigram, a University of Bristol spokesperson said that the reopening on 20 October will restore ‘access to all print collections and both large study areas. The ground floor, which …

By James Lewis
9th October 2025 • Epigram

Lucy Rose on debut novel 'The Lamb', in conversation with Bristol lecturer Joan Passey

Lucy Rose’s debut novel The Lamb is filled with cannibalism, queerness and vivid storytelling. What’s not to love? And what better place to gather and discuss than the dimly lit cavernous interior of the Loco Klub? The literature columnists attended Max Minerva's event and joined Bristol alumni Lucy Rose, Cumbrian …

By Alex Boersma
5th October 2025 • Epigram

‘Operation Raise the Colours’ in Bristol and beyond: a sign of pride or a flag to hide behind?

By Natalie Payne, Second-Year, French, German, and Spanish The UK has seen a controversial surge in displays of Union Jacks and St George’s flags in recent weeks, as part of an effort dubbed ‘Operation Raise the Colours’, sparking further debate about the seemingly blurred line between patriotism and racism, and …

By Natalie Payne
4th October 2025 • Epigram

Free bus pass axed for students living outside Stoke Bishop

The free bus pass used to be offered to all first years living in undergraduate accommodation.Last year, the pass offered unlimited trips on the U1, 3, 4, and 72 bus routes. This has been reduced to the U1, 5, and 77, with free travel on the 3 and 4 only …

By James Lewis
17th September 2025 • Epigram

Fresh reads for freshers: A freshers' guide to Bristol's book clubs

By Alex Boersma, Literature columnist 25/26For bookworm freshers or just those who want to broaden their bookish horizons, here's a little guide to book clubs around Bristol. There are a couple of student-run society book clubs, but also some external book clubs if you want to engage with the wider …

By Alex Boersma
14th September 2025 • Epigram

Trade pre-reading for these autumnal classics

By Alex Boersma, Literature Columnist 25/26While some find the transition from summer to winter grim, I often find so much beauty during the autumnal months. From falling leaves to cosying up with a good book, ideally in a book nook by a crackling fire. If only student accommodation had armchairs …

By Alex Boersma
8th September 2025 • Epigram

Top Ten Pre-Ing Bangers

By Natalie Payne, Second Year French, German, and Spanish Pre-drinking in a random flat in your accommodation is a staple of going out in the first few weeks of university. Whether you’re joining the queue for a Thursday night at OMG, or you prefer the cave-like atmosphere of The Crown, …

By Natalie Payne
1st September 2025 • Epigram

In conversation with Cecelia Koç: President of Comparative Literatures and Cultures society

By Alex Boersma, Literature Columnist 25/26Alex Boersma talks to Cecelia Koç, third year student and president of the comparative literatures and cultures society, about her experience studying and engaging with comparative literatures and cultures at the University of Bristol.I first met Cece through a mutual friend while hanging out at …

By Alex Boersma
31st August 2025 • Epigram

Me, mum, and mental illness

A raw insight into my life as a student with a parent suffering from mental illness

By Annie McNamee
20th July 2025 • Epigram

‘Weeks of disruption on campus’ if the University of Bristol does not reconsider redundancies

Staff at the Centre for Academic Language and Development (CALD) have voted to take industrial action in July and August over the University of Bristol’s plans to make 45 staff members redundant. The centre was established in 1989 to provide English language education to students, ‘whether or not English is …

By James Lewis
6th July 2025 • Epigram

Wills Memorial Building marks 100th anniversary

On June 9 1925, exactly 100 years ago today, Wills Memorial Building was opened by King George V and Queen Mary. The arresting, neo-Gothic building, which many Freshers can be excused for thinking is a cathedral, has been the place of graduation, stressed exam seasons, and equal measures of life-pondering …

By James Lewis
9th June 2025 • Epigram

Review: Drax Project @ The Louisiana

By Rafe Llewellyn, Second Year HistoryDrax Project lived up to their exceptionally high standards on Friday at The Louisiana in the final leg of their debut UK and Europe tour. Explosive energy and musical dynamism, Drax Project are comfortably one of the best bands that can be seen live. Rolling …

By Rafe Llewellyn
1st June 2025 • Epigram

Uncorking Winestock’s price tag

When you think of Winestock, images of wholesome reunions and avoiding that first-year flatmate might spring to mind. Many also feel it to be an event whose ticket price isn’t justified, reliant on social pressures to draw a crowd.‘Winestock is an all-inclusive food and wine festival [...] your food’s included …

By James Lewis
17th May 2025 • Epigram

Opinion | The relationship between effort and success: What do university grades really reflect?

Do you feel that the grades you achieve are reflective of the effort you put in? Or, do you find it impossible to predict the outcome of an assignment? This piece looks into the balance of effort and success in university academics

By Riana McConochie
17th May 2025 • Epigram

Coach’s Diaries: My experience coaching University Men and Women’s Football.

By Faniki Deche Sports EditorGrowing up as a football fan in Kenya, the women’s game carried this Wild West mystique to it. Apart from the World Cup and the Olympics, it was never really on television which meant those occasions carried an excitement akin to when the FA Cup Final …

By Faniki Deche
5th May 2025 • Epigram

Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other: Artists, Angst, and Maybe Some Answers

By Max Bradley-Cole, Film and TV. My review of a documentary about Photographer Joel Meyerowitz and his equally incredible wife, Maggie Barrett

By Max Bradley-Cole
21st April 2025 • Epigram

'Art for Art's sake': In conversation with Holysseus Fly

By Rafe Llewellyn, Second Year HistoryA circle clicked shut as Holly Wellington, better known as Holysseus Fly, sat down with me to discuss her residency at the Beacon and all things going solo. Holly studied at Bristol University and she tells me her housemate wrote for Epigram whilst she was …

By Rafe Llewellyn
15th April 2025 • Epigram