Succession
Russian journalist Natalia Portyakova from Izvestia emailed this week to ask my thoughts about rumoured succession plans in North Korea. An extended version of my response: Kang Pan Sok, Kim Jong Suk,...
View ArticleA Prayer in the Time of Coronavirus
A version of these intercessions were read by the author at St James’, King Street in Sydney on the 18th of October 2020. The service may be watched online and features the Choir of St James’ singing...
View ArticleThe Book of Beasts: Animal & Human Nature in Children’s Literature
The following speech was delivered online in English and Korean on the 5th of December 2020. The event was entitled: ‘Building Up Cross-Cultural Understanding Through Children’s Literature Between...
View ArticleNewington College Festival of Literature for 2021
In April I had the pleasure of attending the Newington College Festival of Literature for 2021. It was my first festival appearance since the easing of Covid restrictions in Sydney and a glorious way...
View ArticleIrresistible Rise? Brecht’s V‑Effekt from The Threepenny Opera to Watchmen
By Christopher Richardson Reviewing a 2018 production of Bertolt Brecht’s 1941 play The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui in New York City, Alexandra Schwartz observed that, “the play’s warning about an...
View ArticlePlagues & Peoples in Korea
As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage populations worldwide — I write these words in November 2021 — the DPRK (North Korea) continues to insist that it has successfully maintained Covid Zero....
View ArticleDr Richardson’s Summer Suggestions for My Students
My teaching year has ended for 2021 and so begins a long-awaited summer of reading, writing, watching films, and swimming in the sea. At the end of our encounter with Romanticism (from Blake’s ‘The...
View ArticleNorth Lights
Today I am excited to launch North Lights, a new online journal about North(ern) Korea … its past, present, and future. North Lights will publish exciting new work and share links to the best global...
View ArticleThe Divine Commedia: Reflections on the Commedia dell’arte
Commedia dell’arte established itself in Sixteenth Century Europe as one of the most enduring traditions in world theatre. As a high school drama student, I was enraptured with the form, with the...
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