Our annual Susan Manning Lecture is an exciting one this year. Cedric Tolliver will be speaking on African-American spy novels. Book here: llc.ed.ac.uk/english-lite... @uoe-llc.bsky.social
I remember that visit! A highlight of the summer.
Don’t go into the maze!
We are still at crocuses in Scotland. No daffodils yet
Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow
Through public scorn,—mud from a muddy spring.
Also wild scenes from the after party!
Scenes from a wonderful symposium at UC Cork and the launch of @claireconnolly.bsky.social ‘s brilliant book
Uses of Romanticism symposium at @ucc.ie opens with a poetry reading from the fabulous Maureen McLane.
Also 89% plant carton. Must be from his bean-rows.
Gotta love a hotel with Yeats on the bottled water
Really enjoyed the Bodleian’s informative Le Carre exhibition. Was pleased to note that The Author seems to have had no more idea about the plot of The Honourable Schoolboy than I do
Just renewed my Bodleian reader’s ticket and was chatting about the changes since my first ticket. The lovely librarian said “This will always be your home” and I nearly burst into tears!
William Blake’s illustration for “The Tyger” has what appears to be a dippy grin for some reason.
The wonderful thing about Tyggers
Is Tyggers are burning bright
Their tops are made out of rubber
In the forest of the night
What bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Immortal hand or eye
Did frame the most wonderful thing about Tyggers,
Their fearful symmetry!
I'm an Anglo-Scot who has lived in Ireland and I'm here to tell you that I do not visit America to experience the joys of "English-Scotts [sic]-Irish" culture.
#FindsFriday
The Cairns Character!
Discovered in a pit at the #IronAge #Broch site of The Cairns on the island of South Ronaldsay, #Orkney. He or She was carved from a beach pebble around 2,000 years ago.
📸 mine
Just reread Silas Marner. Anyone thinking the humanities are a waste of time should read it and review their life choices.
Upcoming symposium: 'Uses of Romanticism' at University College Cork, 18-19 Feb 2026
This symposium will explore the uses and relevance of the term 'Romanticism'. More on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6312
Wonderful evening with @hebridesensemble.bsky.sociali and Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, one of my favourite pieces. Amazing musicianship. We're also lucky to be able to hear contemporary music--I enjoyed Arthur Keegan's beautiful, atmospheric Quartet for the Start of Life.
Burns Night cocktails
Same. I saw it on a plane without any prior knowledge, and was thinking this is great social realism… What the hell? There are vampires! I thought it was great.
Save the Date: 14th International Walter Scott Conference in Edinburgh, 2027
Details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6280
So looking forward discussing Romanticism with these fantastic people in beautiful Cork.
It’s Penguin Awareness Day which seems like a great excuse to post the greatest ever Wikipedia edit.
#Torywars
Uh-oh
New year’s sky
Happy New Year
If it’s Saint Stephens day it’s time for leftover beef and colcannon. The best meal of the holidays.
Middlemarch has a nice Bad Santa vibe when Dorothea and Casaubon go to Rome, but the best Christmas Novel is Silas Marner.
Christmas cocktails: the Bee’s Knees
