about ✩°｡ ⋆⸜ 🎧✮

Hello, kindred spirit! Have some green tea and enjoy the lotus incense. I'm maj, or Vanessa.

 

I'm an anthropologist and sociologist in training, from the beloved University of Manchester, and communications in a boring occupation. I'm an aspiring social researcher where I hope to work with communities and institutions. Anthropological research goes beyond community engagement, I know and have lived it throughout my training: it's a head-first, although we pretend it's logical and organised, charge into challenging systems, an unmaking and remaking to create new ways of living. I hope my writings make you feel the same, if it's over tea, on the bus, or in the throes of essay season.

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My interests of curiosity are sites of tension and juxtaposition; most often this ends up looking like violence, culture, colonialism, labour, the body, time, epistemology, and the daily, mundane experiences of the periphery. The borderlands, both literally and metaphorically. On the downlow, I <3 sudoko, reading, listening to atmospheric and sad music, and scrolling on pinterest.   

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In 2025, I created Into Hinterland Literary, formerly known as mind&mattercollective. This is an anthropological-led literary magazine dedicated to giving space to students, everyday academics, ponderers, and anyone who has something to say. A year and a bit later, we have raised money for Palestine, Indigenous reconciliation work and have published issues on queerness, migration, and academia. 

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You can find more of my work informally on Instagram. You'll also be able to read my stuff on Substack and Medium under the same username! 

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