Author Olga Hughes

Olga Hughes

Olga Hughes has a BFA from the Victorian College of the Arts and a BA in History and Literary Studies from Deakin University. She has also contributed to websites such as History Behind Game of Thrones. Her research interests include medieval and early modern history, folklore and fairy tales. She is currently writing her Honours thesis on Shakespeare's Richard III.

Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of France and England, Mother of Empires with Sara Cockerill

Olga Hughes

May 27, 2020

History, Interviews

“Writing about Eleanor of Aquitaine has been a very different experience to writing about Eleanor of Castile. With the latter, my almost universal experience was that people had no idea at all who she was. In... Read More...

“From The Ashes” Poetry for Bushfire Relief: Call for Submissions

Olga Hughes

January 23, 2020

Books, News, Poet's Stage

Call for submissions. The 2019-2020 bushfire season has seen unprecedented destruction, as well as an unprecedented national and worldwide response. To contribute to that effort, Maximum Felix Media is accepti... Read More...

His Dark Materials Book to Screen Analysis: Episode 8 Season Finale ‘Betrayal’

Olga Hughes

December 29, 2019

Books, Film & TV, His Dark Materials

Episode 8 Spoilers Betrayal If there was one episode this season that was an almost perfect adaptation of the source material, then Betrayal was it. We saw plenty of dialogue from the books, dæmons on-screen,... Read More...

His Dark Materials Book to Screen Analysis: Episode 7 ‘The Fight to the Death’

Olga Hughes

December 21, 2019

Books, Film & TV, His Dark Materials

Episode 7 Spoilers The Fight to the Death There is no way of getting around the fact that, for book fans at least, episodes six and seven of His Dark Materials have been a little underwhelming, and that expla... Read More...

His Dark Materials Book to Screen Analysis: Episode 6 ‘The Daemon-Cages’

Olga Hughes

December 11, 2019

Books, Film & TV, His Dark Materials

Episode Six Spoilers The Daemon-Cages Philip Pullman once said that “There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children's book.” Northern L... Read More...

His Dark Materials Book to Screen Analysis: Episode Five ‘The Lost Boy’

Olga Hughes

December 5, 2019

Books, Film & TV, His Dark Materials

Episode 5 Spoilers The Lost Boy Who is the ‘lost boy’? Titled for chapter twelve of Northern Lights, in which Lyra discovers what horrifying experiments the Oblation Board has been carrying out on children, T... Read More...

Kerblam? Can the Doctor Bounce Back After Series 11?

Olga Hughes

November 30, 2019

Whovian News

While we have been on a break at Nerdalicous, it has been quite some time since I really wanted to write about Doctor Who. I loved Peter Capaldi’s last season with Bill and Nardole and was gutted when it was an... Read More...

His Dark Materials Book to Screen Analysis: Episode Four ‘Armour’

Olga Hughes

November 27, 2019

Books, Film & TV, His Dark Materials

Episode Four Spoilers Armour We’re now four episodes in, and Armour revealed some small flaws in the thus-far polished veneer of His Dark Materials. Lee Scoresby, however, is not one of those. Lee will always... Read More...

His Dark Materials: On Gyptians

Olga Hughes

November 24, 2019

Books, Film & TV, His Dark Materials

The Gyptians of Philip Pullman’s ‘Brytain’ and the wider world were introduced in the first episode of His Dark Materials by way of a newly-seen coming-of-age ceremony. The community came together to celebrate ... Read More...

His Dark Materials Book to Screen Analysis: Episode Three ‘The Spies’

Olga Hughes

November 20, 2019

Books, Film & TV, His Dark Materials

Episode Three Spoilers The Spies For an episode that took place over a handful of days in even fewer locations, The Spies has been the most revelatory episode thus far. We are now entirely involved with the G... Read More...

Jane Seymour projected the persona people demanded of her: An interview with Adrienne Dillard

Olga Hughes

November 16, 2019

Books, History, Interviews

It is difficult to try and define which of Henry VIII’s queens have been the most maligned, because they have all been the victims of misogyny, stereotyping or scapegoating, often in the pursuit of entertainmen... Read More...

His Dark Materials Book to Screen Analysis: Episode Two ‘The Idea of the North’

Olga Hughes

November 13, 2019

Books, Film & TV, His Dark Materials

Episode Two Spoilers The Idea of the North In his lecture 'The Writer’s Responsibility', Philip Pullman quotes film director and playwright David Mamet, who says the basic storytelling question is ‘Where do I... Read More...

His Dark Materials Book to Screen Analysis: Episode One ‘Lyra’s Jordan’

Olga Hughes

November 5, 2019

Books, Film & TV, His Dark Materials

Episode One Spoilers Lyra's Jordan If, as a book fan, you had any reservations about His Dark Materials, the opening episode Lyra’s Jordan should have succeeded in smashing them. I had been completely confide... Read More...

His Dark Materials Book to Screen Analysis: ‘The Golden Compass’ and Pre-Show Thoughts

Olga Hughes

November 3, 2019

Books, Film & TV, His Dark Materials

The following is spoiler-free but references themes from the His Dark Materials book trilogy. The Golden Compass has its twelve year anniversary coming up shortly. I first saw it on its Boxing Day release in A... Read More...

For Halloween We Present ‘A Prisoner of This Tower’

Olga Hughes

October 31, 2019

Poet's Stage

For this year's Halloween poem I have chosen C.S. Hughes' A Prisoner of This Tower, for the eerie connection between the verse and those who perished in the Tower of London who have been on my mind of late. ... Read More...

Richard III before Bosworth Field by James Walton

Olga Hughes

May 30, 2017

History, Poet's Stage

I was walking on a local beach known for its dinosaur fossils, playing with pebbles and sea weed, thinking about the elapse of time in waves, and how the same amount of water has always existed, and... Read More...

My Name is Jane…Boleyn

Olga Hughes

May 19, 2017

History

“War and hate are their business, and one of their chief weapons is un-Naming—making people not know who they are. If someone knows who he is, really knows, then he doesn’t need to hate. That’s why we still nee... Read More...