Cool, Cruel World

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Iona has just started her first teaching job when her mum dies from cancer. Obviously, it is unexpected, and it changes everything. As a writer, performer, poet, and clown, Iona finds it oddly comforting to imagine her apparently quiet grief as an extravagant circus act. For centuries, women have been objectified, mistreated, ignored and forced to live in the shadow of men. Iona tries to change this perception and to give a voice to the voiceless; her poems are a cry for justice and equality for girls.

So be Santa’s baby this Christmas time and try out the satin slip, as I declare it a must-have for every angel this Christmastime. With a piece like this, choosing a metallic colour, maybe silver, maybe gold, can really spin Christmas spirit even if the average sparkle isn’t really your thing; styling you in an elegant epitome without seeming too loud in the sequins which always somehow end up all over the dance floor. Her poems paint the image of a harsh world and we might want to believe that our reality is not like this. However, "in the light of recent events, like the case of Sarah Everard, it's clear to see that there's not been much improvement; there is a long way to go. Hopefully as times are changing, and people are recognizing the problems, things can get better", adds Iona. In this six-part-series, we see Shane grow from the discombobulated novice he once was, to the pertinent beauty guru who, within seconds, has the power of cataclysmic consequence upon the literal and metaphorical web of beauty.Werewolves? Vampires? Zombies? Those trends are dead. Instead, we have the treat of peeking at the more iconic screams of Hollywood nightlife, crawling with supervillains, the unnatural and…ogres? Iona Todd, a Second year Journalism student, has released her first poetry book. Entitled Cool, Cruel World, the publication is an eulogy of women, who are not afraid to grow, love and fight for their rights. The path to improvement is paved with small acts that we can begin to do daily. As Todd contemplates "we should pay attention to each other more. Don't just listen so you can talk. Try to actually listen, take in what people are telling you and learn from their experiences". After that, writing became an important part of her life, leading her to pursue a career in Journalism. "It's nice doing both [journalism and poetry], because there is a quite different dynamic. When you write poetry, the words just flow, whereas in journalism you've got the rigid structure that you need to follow”, declares Iona.

Iona May has such an exciting poetic voice – made district by her mix of tenderness and disarming wit. This collection is unflinchingly honest, sumptuously extravagant, and quietly devastating all at once.’– Ellen Renton ABOUT THE AUTHOR What is instantly inspiring about this week’s icon, is the archetypal embodiment of success he imposes upon his fans, in creating a world of openness for all kinds of people wanting to access what he has on offer.She reveals that her favourite poem from the book is Pink Bathroom Tiles. Presenting the story of a girl who tries to understand her femininity, the text hides a powerful message. The author explains that "there is a line that says 'XX rated' and, obviously, you just assume that means 'explicit', because women, in their bodies, are assumed to be explicit, but I wrote it as in the XX chromosome [the feminine chromosome]. " Iona's passion for writing started at a young age: "it was that period when you come home from school and you've got nothing to do. I liked reading at that time, so I started writing a lot as well. I just did that in my spare time and I built up, so much so, I thought I might as well do something with that. So, I put it all together in this book", she remembers nostalgically.

As a journalist, she has been writing for The Courier, Jesmond Local, and a personal blog called Tell me about it. In a hybrid of sultry sheerness, paired with the fullness of the flow-y feel, the satin slip dress glides onto the figure in the time it takes to kiss the seal of a Christmas card – making every busy lady an effortless supermodel draped in glossy satin, and making you the jingle-bell beauty at every ball this season. Thinking of going as a ghost? Again? It’s an aborigine of all things scary, deathly true, and if you’re in two minds of channelling Lady Gaga’s 2014 rendition of the cover of ‘sheet ghost’ chic, then I like your style this Hallo-season. Yet, with every passing year, celebrities are known to hand in the towel on classics, and opt for the more heterogenous homages to Halloween. I wanted to create a deeper meaning: how society constitutes women as being sexual objects, but they are much more than that." There are lots ofthemes of womanhood and femininity in the book. All of them come from my own experiences. What's more, I like reading about growth and girlhood in other authors’ work and then intertwining their motifs with my own and trying to see how far I can go with creating images that I like", says Iona for The Courier.One Mr Shane Dawson – long-time YouTuber – is being heralded in the beauty industry this week, and is taking no qualms from non-believers upon the release of his ‘Conspiracy’ collection of makeup in partnership with epitomal, billion-dollar business-babe Jeffree Star.

As a manner of this, you could believe that beauty then becomes a pathway of self-expression, whether that be through wearing a red eyeshadow look to your Monday lecture, or using a ‘pig’ as the mirror-side of the conspiracy conjecture. In her a little less than child-friendly costume, Rihanna stepped out of the shadows in a classic red lip, with less than classically green hair (because can’t you tell that green is totally in with every Halloween?), followed by fellow clique in total turtle power – battle-ready under the moon of the 31st. Armed and anthropomorphic, she inspired festoons of fans to imitate the image afterwards. If that doesn’t answer your question enough, then yes, she did live up to the theme tune, and yes, she was ‘really hip.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Spooky season has flitted from the forefront (Mariah Carey is already harmonising in the distance), but seemingly, I simply can’t shift my mind from the crisp coherence of conspiracies.