Mia’s Archive
Keeping Pesach
Passover is one of my favourite Jewish holidays. Partly because it's an easy one to explain to a Christian. Explaining what we call Pesach and the traditions and customs that [...]
Mind the gap
I returned home for the Christmas break in late December. Welcomed by the red buses and red noses of local Londoners, I made my first trek into the centre of [...]
“To be loved is to be changed”
I think about this quote, "to be loved is to be changed," often when reflecting on how the people or things I have loved, and the people who have loved [...]
Dare to fly
Two artists meet one misty summer night in Rotterdam central, brought together by the green strobes and bumping bass of the underground rave scene. Taking a reprieve from the hot, [...]
Warrior culture
Michael Paris, a historian at the University of Lancashire, whom I met during my high school history class, has been popping up in my mind, prompting me to consider how [...]
Feeling very gezellig
Gezellig is a Dutch word for which there is no real English equivalent. The Dutch use it to mean comfort, coziness, warmth, togetherness. Often gezellig is experienced in social settings, [...]
2012, 2025, and everything in between
I remember being about seven years old staying up until midnight with my family. The thirty-first of December 2012. Champagne bubbles in Mom's flute and my dad doing a silly [...]
The double life
I’ve started to think more deeply about what identity comprises. For me, it is made up of many things: one’s spirituality and faith, social circle, upbringing, and background. Recently, though, [...]
An original thought?
It’s that time of year again. Where I sit in new classes with new people, and I’m supposed to be learning new things. Our teachers this year are pushing us [...]
The road trip
You learn a lot about someone when you spend two weeks living, cooking and sleeping, in a 2003 Volkswagen T4 with them. You learn even more about yourself. France The [...]
Lost mother tongue
Cultural amnesia, I don’t think there’s a tick box for that on medical forms. Conversations come up in which I have to admit I don’t speak Spanish. They go something [...]
Author
Born and raised in London, Mia Levy began writing essays in her first year of university as a way of archiving the discoveries she is making about herself and the people she meets along the way. Growing up with an English father and Dominican mother, she is interested in youth subcultures, family histories, and relationships. Writing for those who find themselves in the awkward phases of young adult life, she brews answers to the “Who am I?” question, sipping on a mug of English breakfast tea.