Lacuna la-kū’na n. a gap, a hiatus
Lacuna is an online human rights magazine that fills the gap between the short-term immediacy of daily journalism and long-term academic analysis. Skilled storytelling is at the heart of our work and we publish credible, accessible and compelling content that gives readers a better understanding of underreported issues. We stimulate ideas for action and provide resources for those who wish to look deeper than may be possible through mainstream media. A crucial aspect of our work is giving space and assistance to new writers and those who want to speak for themselves.
Now in its ninth year, Lacuna Magazine exposes injustice by telling untold stories, championing new voices, and featuring stories from the frontline of humanitarianism, justice and politics. Our stories have been quoted in Parliament. We’ve featured award-winning photojournalists and writers (including Channel 4’s Jon Snow and Benjamin Zephaniah) alongside students, academics, NGO workers, activists and eyewitnesses. We consider all forms of writing and multimedia art including fiction, non-fiction, journalism, poetry, animation, art, photography, podcasts and video.
Lacuna is produced by the Centre for Human Rights in Practice at the University of Warwick.
Want to write for Lacuna? Read our guidelines for submissions where you’ll find examples of the stories we publish.
The Team
Maureen Freely
Maureen Freely is Lacuna’s Editorial Advisor. She is the director of the Warwick Writing Programme and best known as the translator of the Turkish Nobel Laureate, Orhan Pamuk. Her seventh novel, Sailing through Byzantium, was chosen by the Sunday Times as one of the ten best novels of 2013. She works closely with English PEN on the politics of free expression.
Mary Griffin
Mary Griffin is the editor of Lacuna and a teaching fellow at the Centre for Human Rights in Practice where she co-ordinates the Writing Wrongs programme. An NCTJ-trained journalist, Mary has specialised in development journalism, reporting from Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan, Bosnia, Somalia and Iraq. She was a finalist in the Guardian International Development Journalism Competition and won the Felix Dearden Reporting on Race prize at the UK Regional Press Awards.
James Harrison
James Harrison is one of the editors of Lacuna. He is a Professor at the University of Warwick and Co-Director of the Centre for Human Rights in Practice. You can follow his blog and comment on this article at jamesharrisonblog.wordpress.com. Please email him at at J.Harrison.3@warwick.ac.uk. or follow him on Twitter @JamesNHarrison
Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi
Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi is a freelance journalist and writer-in-residence at Lacuna. Her reporting on immigration and asylum across the European Union was shortlisted for the 2012 George Orwell Prize for Political Writing (blog category). Her collection of work on austerity and the impact on people’s lives was shortlisted for the 2015 George Orwell Prize for Political Writing, this time in the journalism category. In 2012 Rebecca published Gardens, a collaboration with photographer Christina Theisen, which documents pockets of environmental and social activism in London.
Andrew Williams
Andrew Williams is Lacuna’s Editor in Chief. He teaches law and creative writing at the University of Warwick and is the author of ‘A Very British Killing: the Death of Baha Mousa’ that won the George Orwell Prize for Political Writing in 2013. The book tells the story of a murder in Basra in 2003, for which no one has yet been brought to justice.
Publicity Team
Sarah Bamberger
Sarah is a Politics and International Studies student at the University of Warwick, passionate about inequality research and sub-Saharan African politics.
Combating inequalities is at the forefront of her personal and professional aspirations. Through being part of Lacuna’s editorial team but also through her involvement in charities on and off campus, she hopes to expose and remedy some of today’s injustices.
Jieun Lee
Jieun is a MSc Business with Marketing student at the University of Warwick, with a keen interest in women’s rights in Asia. Having spent four years at a women’s university in South Korea, she gained profound insights and a deep commitment to advocating for marginalized communities. She aspires to contribute to addressing global inequality by crafting authentic and impactful marketing messages that promote truth and fairness.
Lacuna alumni
Bella Segal
Bella is a BA Politics, Philosophy, and Law student at the University of Warwick with a keen interest in social justice and politics. She is particularly interested in the study of ideologies and identity, the philosphy of art, and decolonisation. Aside from academics, she enjoys pistachio ice cream, period dramas, and Tori Amos.
Alice Zhang
Alice is a BSc Accounting and Finance student at the University of Warwick. She loves consuming and creating thoughtful content in various forms, whether it be in art or literature. Raising awareness of social issues, particularly topics covering mental health and identity is important to her. She finds creative mediums incredibly effective in doing so. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to audiobooks and watching movies with friends.
Ellie Stocker
Ellie is a BA English and Theatre student at the University of Warwick with a passion in visuals and how art is a language to express intangible ideas. Having grown up with first hand exposure to politics and larger conflicts, her interests also encompass more introspective ideas such as psychology and ideology. When she’s not at work, she can likely be found doing marketing for other shows or attempting to finally get started on a long-term graphic novel.
Esther Ofulue
Esther Ofulue is an LLB Law student at the University of Warwick. She is passionate about social justice and hopes to use the law to facilitate this. She is particularly interested in advocacy and how language can be constructed to challenge the status quo.
Karen Mwendera
An award-winning journalist with a passion for Africa, young people, innovation and storytelling. Karen is a Common Wealth Scholar at the University of Warwick currently pursuing an MSC in Humanitarian Engineering with Management. In her spare time, you can find her drinking a cup of tea, binging on the latest series, researching fashion trends or listening to afro beats. Sometimes she likes to go to the gym, sometimes she doesn’t.
Oreofe Morakinyo
Oreofe Morakinyo is an English and creative writing student at the University of Warwick. She works with Lacuna as an artist/illustrator.
Gurpreet Dhaliwal
Gurpreet Dhaliwal won the Writing Wrongs Schools’ Competition for her essay on the potential exploitation of refugees by human traffickers. She is interested in human rights and mass surveillance, and she is an assistant editor at Lacuna.
Anoshamisa Gonye
Anoshamisa is studying International Development Law & Human Rights at the University of Warwick. She is interested in issues of climate justice, protest and activism and the blurred lines between conflict and peace. She supports Lacuna’s podcasting output.
Mohini Kotecha
Mohini is studying Law and German Law at the University of Warwick. She is interested in human rights and stories exposing injustice.
Ala Lysik
Ala is studying Law at the University of Warwick. She is interested in Eastern European politics and women’s empowerment.
Barnaby Papadopulos
Barnaby studies history at the University of Warwick, where he edits the features section of student newspaper The Boar. He has previously written for the Huffington Post and the New Internationalist.
Alicia Siddons
Alicia Siddons is an English and German student at the University of Warwick. She has a special interest in the environment and works with Lacuna as an editorial assistant.
Jade Okeke
Jade is a Law and Sociology Student at the University of Warwick. She works with Lacuna as an editorial assistant, and is interested in human rights and global equality.