‘Another effect of the funding system introduced in 2012 has been to provide rich pickings for private institutions. Arden University, which obtained degree-granting powers in 2014, may be the biggest UK university you’ve never heard of.’ Stefan Collini www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Essay on reading Ali Smith’s "How to Be Both" and Percival Everett’s "Telephone" in the age of cruel optimism (Lauren Berlant) … both of which employ multiple published versions to unsettle narrative unity and readerly expectations. Such strategies are in response to accelerated instability #Lit

UKRI are recruiting for a new Exec Chair for Research England (£160k-£170k). It is a crucial role including QR funding and the REF. I hope they get a great field. But I worry a bit. It's hard to find on their website (see link below) fa-evzn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Assistant Professor in English and Creative Writing University of Sussex 12 months www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRO639/a...

Went to my first meeting yesterday where an AI attended (on Teams, as a scribe) rather than a human.

A reminder that this is why we make fun of The Odyssey. The book would not exist if Odysseus was not such a complete chaos goblin who was busy causing problems for himself by arguing with Gods and being a shit navigator. There is no way to make an extremely serious movie out of this material.

I'm delighted that @AndrewEMC & I will be working closely with Thomas Karshan (UEA) & Kate Bomford (IoE) on a major new project, 'Beyond the Essay', on creative-critical practices, spanning school & university English Studies. Do take a look at the website. beyondtheessay.net

! www.pulitzer.org/winners/juli...

Are you interested in applying for European Research Council grants? Join us on 1 June at the British Academy for the ERC Reading Day – a fantastic opportunity to read past proposals and understand what made them successful. Find out more and register: https://bit.ly/42DFsD5

“It is a devastating indictment of the impartiality and competence of the OfS, implicating its operations, leadership, governance and strategy. It raises important and urgent questions for the government" - VC of Sussex, quoted in Research Professional Playbook on the legal judgement against OfS

If you are nearby, apparently a new Banksy has just popped up outside my building www.timeout.com/london/news/...

I wrote for @timeshighered.bsky.social about Sussex -v- OfS. In short I think the regulator needs to urgently review its current approach. The sector needs to be confident that its regulator is acting lawfully, fairly and proportionately www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/suss...

We are offering two great initiatives for humanities and social sciences researchers interested in applying to Horizon Europe. On 1st June we are holding an ERC Reading Day where you can read previously successful ERC grant proposals from a selection of 50 www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/projects/eur...

A finding that says a) you acted beyond your powers b) your understanding of free speech within the law was wrong is about as devastating as it gets for OfS. A head should roll, surely?

Death by Shakespeare Causes of 74 deaths in Shakespeare's plays #ShakespeareDay

Very sad to hear this. English poetry when I became more involved in it was dominated by Prynne and Hill -- I was thinking only today about what etymology meant to both of them after seeing a picture of Prynne's dictionary full of notes. Glad such good work as this marks the passing of a major poet.

Insufferable Tools is such a fabulous title for a book about feminism & big tech. Hats off. www.dukeupress.edu/insufferable...

🚨: My new monograph ARRESTING ECOLOGIES: GLOBAL LITERATURE ACROSS AIR, LAND, and SEA, 1926-2014 is available for preorder from OXFORD UP, with 30 percent discount.

This talk by Dr JT Welsch explores the readerly problems raised when ‘the death of the author’ is not only a literal death but credited with author-like intentions, examining the work and life of the early-20th-century US poet Sara Teasdale. buff.ly/qo2zaC6

CFP: ‘American Democracy and Statecraft: Transatlantic Relations at the 250th’ The Transatlantic Studies Association, July 2026 buff.ly/8DC5HLc Proposals should be shared by 24th April.

I’m thrilled to have finally sent off the manuscript for a new edition of Agnes Grey that I’ve produced for @oxunipress. Working with Anne’s novel has been utterly joyful - she is such a smart writer and woe betide those who underestimate the power of Agnes Grey.

📢 PSA for anyone sending research proposals for academics to read: use a sans serif font. We have a studentship competition open right now and I cannot tell you how many 1,000s of words I have read for them & I need easy-to-read fonts. Please. [squints at screen]

#EnglishCreates: Futures To round off our series on 'Critical Reading', Prof Ben Davies (University of Southern Denmark) takes a fascinating look at some of the books that have shaped his research into reading and readers: universityenglish.ac.uk/a-reading-li... #EnglishStudies

This was fun to do with wonderful collaborators @jenniferacooke.bsky.social @bobeaglestone.bsky.social @gailmarshall.bsky.social CEO @englishassociation.bsky.social @jtwelsch.bsky.social #ReadingMatters @ies-sas.bsky.social

#EnglishCreates: Futures Today, Prof Jennifer Cooke (Loughborough University) discusses the profound value of reading in the age of social media: 'Just as smart phones and social media sites train us in one way, proper reading trains us in another...' universityenglish.ac.uk/really-readi...

Important post on the importance of reading by @jenniferacooke.bsky.social #EnglishCreates @ies-sas.bsky.social @englishassociation.bsky.social @engmediacentre.bsky.social @lboroenglish.bsky.social @rsliterature.bsky.social @literacy-trust.bsky.social

C21 journal has published a ‘round table review’ of Timothy Bewes’s book FREE INDIRECT. It includes a short essay by me; other contributors include Leonid Bilmes, Laura Zander & Adam Kelly. Bewes does a response at the end 👇 c21.openlibhums.org/article/id/2... @c21literature.bsky.social

Today I am writing about carebots. No one seems to like them much, especially the people they are envisioned as helping. Novelists like them, though, & tend to make them likeable.

Got a contemporary lit proposal? Or one on care or feminism or social reproduction? Send it to me!

Tomorrow I am on campus in conversation with award-winning novelist & memoirist Christie Watson, discussing differences between memoir & fiction, the ethics of writing about patients & medical experiences, as well as hearing her read excerpts from her work. DM me if you'd like the Teams link/room.

Went to hear Adam Phillips in conversation with Katherine Angel about his new book, The Life You Want. I find psychoanalysis so endlessly fascinating & am turning to it once again for this book chapter on carers. Highly recommend listening to Phillips’ mellifluous voice too.

Last term I tried an experiment: I walked into my Tech and Design Ethics class, admitted that I had *no idea* what to do about ChatGPT - so I would let them figure it out. As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class. Here's what happened:

Looking for an opportunity to improve the world a bit? @nuffieldfoundation.org is looking for a new trustee. A great organisation supporting a range of research and initiatives such as @adalovelaceinst.bsky.social; all ably led by @gavin-kelly.bsky.social www.saxbam.com/appointment/...

Preliminary proofs are in......

The Centre for Uses of Literature at the University of Southern Denmark is inviting applications for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026 (MSCA-PF). www.sdu.dk/en/forskning... @bacls.bsky.social @c21literature.bsky.social @englishassociation.bsky.social @ies-sas.bsky.social

We are delighted to share the programme for our upcoming conference! We will be running fourteen panels across two days in early February - all online and open to everyone 😊 please see our website for more details on speakers, panels and how to book.

One of the most important December drops every year!

a new monograph by one of our fabulous advisory board ☺️

Alt text for those who need it. This is amazing.

'The report, led by the University of Bristol and funded by Research England, found that some universities are already using generative AI to assess the quality of their research.' 1/3

This week in Glasgow I needed a space to work where I didn’t have to buy anything, with free WiFi & without the vagaries of eduroam. I used the beautiful Hillhead Library. We need to value our public libraries for the wonderful service they provide us all.

A report by the Covid inquiry into political decision-making during the pandemic proves that the “horrific” and disproportionate death toll among disabled people was not inevitable but the result of treating them as an “afterthought” www.disabilitynewsservice.com/inquiry-repo...

Interesting report for HEIs to consider. English degrees deliver a lot of the skills outlined as needed here.

I tried a couple new things this term. It has been my best term since 2019. Among my trial runs was self-directed reading, following the advice of Mary Isbell on @c19podcast.bsky.social I highly recommend this & it should be part of your 2025 best of public humanities, @americanstudier.bsky.social

you do have to do it in a couple of places but this tutorial makes it easy to go uncheck the boxes that otherwise lets Google's AI read all your shit. or move everything over to protonmail but moving everything over is a giant thing I know.

I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight www.cityam.com/the-british-...

all the Prometheus, Icarus, Palantir, Erebor, etc. shows that none of these guys - none, and it is almost all guys - have actually done the reading

Doctoral Researcher, Liam Young, is co-organising the first @bacls.bsky.social graduate conference, held at the Uni of Leeds on 20 May 2026. Participants will be invited to contribute to a special issue of the journal Alluvium. Deadline for abstracts: 4 January 2026. CFP here: bacls.org/news/188/

I'm giving a short talk about my new book, The Help Deficit and the Stories We Tell to Dispel It, in my department's research seminar series on 3rd December, 4.15 pm - 5,30 pm. It's hybrid so let me know if you'd like the Teams link.

👋 Hi Bluesky! The School of Advanced Study, University of London champions the arts and humanities. Working through our renowned specialist institutes and centres of excellence, we offer a rich interdisciplinary environment for researchers to collaborate. Let's connect: 🔗 sas.ac.uk/