About
Raffaella Sero is an academic, a dramaturg, and a writer of fiction and non-fiction. Recently, her writing appeared in The Times Literary Supplement and was long-listed for the Four Faced Liar Short Story Competition. Her plays have been staged in London, in Cambridge, and at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Originally from Italy, she moved to the UK in 2015 to read Classics at the University of Oxford. She has just completed her PhD in English at the University of Cambridge.
selected non-fiction
PREVIOUS WRITING
The Christie Mystery
December 2017
"One is usually given the impression that, behind the little sparkle in Poirot’s eyes, there is something more than the solution to a problem, something more than the frantic working of his ‘little grey cells’ and the serene application of ‘order and method’. And indeed, all through his series of exploits, there is some greater, deeper secret ‘papa Poirot’ is in the knowledge of: that is the secret of understanding life and its power, as much as murder and its appeal."
In this article I wrote for Cherwell, I investigate the mystery behind Agatha Christie's enduring charm.
'Obstinate, headstrong girl!'
October 2017
"Inspiring faithful representations as much as widely original retellings, Austen's stories have captured our imagination as those of no other author. But all the adaptations and retellings, all the Lizzies and the Emmas, far from deepening our knowledge of Austen, have only draped her figure in layers of other people’s impressions of her ...
Two-hundred years from her death, the real Jane Austen is furthest from our sight than ever."
A piece on my favourite writer I wrote for the Oxford Student.
“Bitch That I am”: A conversation
with Professor Mary Beard
March 2018
Professor Mary Beard does not have all the answers, but she asks the right questions about the attitudes of classical texts to women, which continue to show us where and how misogyny works in our own society. Read more about in my interview with Mary Beard on her book "Women and Power"
Evidence of Magic at the British Library
December 2017
"A beautiful balance is achieved between all that is Rowling-related, such as the writer’s notes and plans and the lovely sketches she drew while working on the books, and items whose only association with Harry Potter is their existence in the same world of magic and mystery."
A review of the British Library Exhibition "Harry Potter: A History of Magic" that I wrote for Cherwell.
La Belle Sauvage: His Darkest One Yet
"Lyra, the protagonist of His Dark Materials, is a half-wild creature, brave and fierce and slightly savage from the start of the books. Malcolm Polstead, the protagonist of La Belle Sauvage, is at first glance very different. "
A review of Pullman's latest novel I wrote for Cherwell.
December 2017
