Editor’s Note
Dear Reader,
Welcome back to another issue of RevUU, a student-run literary magazine affiliated with Utrecht University.
Since 2020, the magazine has given a platform to new critical voices, allowing students to tackle topics related to contemporary literature and explore how those works reflect our modern times.
We’re proud to announce that RevUU has expanded this year: for the first time, there are two issues within the coming six-month period. You’re currently reading the first: Patchwork.
When you think of the word “patchwork,” what likely comes to mind is a quilt, perhaps one created by a family member — a work of patience, human craft, and, just maybe, love. As artificial intelligence and stories assisted by it become more and more ubiquitous, patchworks remind us of the joy of working by hand and the perfect imperfections that naturally come with creativity. Patchworks combine disparate objects. Through this action, they become more than the sum of their parts.
In this issue, writers scrutinise the threads stitching together different books released in 2026. We begin with The Weavers, works sewn together by Booker Prize shortlistees: Laura Fabbri and Dorien van Gerven analyse The Things We Never Say, Maja Sikorska reviews Black Bag, and Charlie ter Haar goes on a metaphor-laden journey with John of John.
Invisible Threads magnifies the societal forces woven through our everyday lives: Daria Nicolae, for example, describes how The Calamity Club portrays the institutional sexism that dominated women’s lives in the 20th century southern United States, while Hugo Wolters turns to the modern day with Vigil to view one man’s struggle to accept his contributions to climate change. Other books discussed in this section are Helen of Nowhere, The Future Saints, and Strangers.
In A Human Touch, writers explore questions of craftsmanship and intention. Lilliana Matthews argues that Glyph and Glyff, two novels by Ali Smith, piece together to construct a shared meaning, and Femke Kapteijns deconstructs tropes of fairy tale narratives in her creative critical piece on the anthology Seasons of Glass & Iron: Stories. Writers also examine Taipei Story and The School of Night.
Putting a pin in things, Patterns discusses the various forms and shapes a story can take: Ollie Köhn-Haskins unearths how the shapes and behaviors of trees colour the poetry collection Tree of Knowledge, while Cristel van Kleij questions the narration of trauma in Half His Age. Essays on Departure(s) and Lázár round out the section.
An untold amount of work went into this issue: We’d like to thank the design, editorial, and publicity sections of RevUU, alongside all the writers who shared their voices and perspectives, for helping this magazine come to life. We’d also like to thank our professor, Dr. Mia You, whose assistance in this process has been invaluable.
And thank you, dear reader! We hope that these stories help you peer through the seams of everyday life and that you take a small break while reading the creative additions sewn between the critical pieces. One last surprise: our twin issue, Clockwork, will be released in January. We hope you’ll block out some time to enjoy it as well.
Happy reading!
Liam Beran & Barbara Buzinkayová, editors-in-chief
