My contributor’s copy of this fine collection arrived today. Thank you to the editors, @fearfuljoycuit.bsky.social, Bridget English, and @drreznicek.bsky.social, for including me!

“The apocalypse is cheaper than therapy” —a student in my course on the end times

📚 Recently published | The Corpse in Modern Irish Literature is available now! This is the first book to centre on the figure of the corpse in Irish literature, and it ranges from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century. Discover more here ⬇️ www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....

Fans of early 19th century Irish history! Gather round! We have a lovely event on @ullibrary.bsky.social on 22 Jan (next week) on the world behind the Ordnance Survey maps - free and all are most welcome. Just book your place via this link & tell your friends! forms.office.com/pages/respon...

Putting it out there!

WELL HELLO THERE

I miss the days when expensive academic books were at least well-made, rather than crappy print-on-demand units that have weak bindings, use terrible paper, and smell weird.

Wil je promoveren op jongeren die wél lezen in tijden van digitalisering en ontlezing? Ik zoek twee promovendi binnen mijn Vidi-project 'Anatomy of the #Bookish'! Solliciteren kan tot 1 maart. www.ru.nl/werken-bij/v...

🗃️ Time to rewrite immigration history with Native history in mind. The US was founded on the conquest, dispossession, removal, exploitation, or genocide of Native people. Denial of that fact generated counter-myths: empty land, waste land, Manifest Destiny—and the slogan “nation of immigrants.” 🧵1/7

I miss the days when expensive academic books were at least well-made, rather than crappy print-on-demand units that have weak bindings, use terrible paper, and smell weird.

English academic friends: @deborahlam.bsky.social and I have been gushing to each other about how much we love THE POCKET INSTRUCTOR for teaching inspo. are there any other good teaching exercise collections out there that we've been sleeping on? i have Showalter and Collier

David Bowie would have been 79 today. Here’s something I wrote about him back when he was 65. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...

We are delighted that Catriona Kennedy will give the @ssnci.bsky.social annual lecture on 'Women & Irish politics in the age of revolution'!! It will be held @nlireland.bsky.social on 22 January. For more see www.nli.ie/exhibitions-...

One of the best literary journals anywhere, outside and in, is @winterpapers.bsky.social. Their open submissions period for the 2026 issue is 14-28 February. Everything will be read and replied to early August. The editing is excellent: acute & sympathetic. Have a go! winterpapers.com/submissions

Finalising the syllabus tomorrow. Give me all your suggestions!

It's terrifying just how swiftly search engines have become completely unusable. Just layer upon layer of AI shite.

jail

Been considering for years to refocus my research, just so I can spend a few weeks at the CCI!

We are delighted to announce that we'll be hosting the SSNCI conference in Maynooth next June. Call for papers attached. Please spread far and wide!

Barnabe Rich explaining that "bookes are like cheese"

Please help me, Bluesky!

One of the 10 or so articles I really want to write but just don’t have time for is about Moby-Dick. It truly is a splendid thing. Also, its longueurs are absolutely essential to its overall effect.

Because of budget cut mathing, my course on the apocalypse will go from seven 3-hour seminars to twelve 2-hour seminars. Which 21st-century books, films, series should I definitely include? Particularly looking for a replacement for Good Omens that engages equally explicitly with Revelation.

This was excellent – just my kind of book. I knew some of Tanning’s art, but had no idea she could write as well as paint. I bought it on the strength of it being a Virago Modern Classic, and as usual that label delivered the goods.

Enjoyed the first few pages. Looking forward to reading the full thing!

today’s entry in Things Lincoln Didn’t Say

In what's now become an annual tradition, I've written another piece for The Gist about how and why I hate A.I. On a bubble about to burst, a future rotted to its core, and the limits of the Mrs Doyle Theory of artificial intelligence. www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...

Really wanted to finish one more book before the end of the year, but forgot I’d promised to bake my tried and tested lemon poppy seed cake for tonight (about to bedrizzle this thing). On the plus side, we now have cake.

Some of Sergei Dovlatov’s work remains untranslated. This is an outrage.

If one of your resolutions is to buy fewer books in 2026, just buy loads in December instead! Follow me for more budgeting tips.

Or you could just not.

Out in February from @livunipress.bsky.social: The Corpse in Modern Irish Literature. The book started as a lockdown tweet. Delighted that it’s finally done! With Bridget English and @drreznicek.bsky.social

In Paris, a couple of tourists once asked me if I could direct them to the Eiffel Tower. Which we were standing in front of. In their defence, it was snowing heavily.

My resolutions for 2026: - finish the fucking monograph

Finishing the year with a few short books to bring my 2025 list to a round number.

Our 2025 titles are all part of our bumper book sale. Save up to 50% on a wide range of #poetry direct from us: ninearchespress.com/shop Support #indiepublishing

He ys ridinge a horse He ys emerald and svelte He will get reallye weirde If you lie about beltes The Greene Knighte Ys Cominge To Toun

Last Christmas I gave you my art But the very next day You gave it away This year I cut off my ear - Vincent Wham Gogh

My sister and I went to IKEA today with her two children, who loudly but obviously rightly berated us for not buying them every furry toy strategically placed in the showroom despite sybaritically splurging on luxuries for ourselves, such as *checks notes* a sieve, a bath curtain, and a dish rack.

I desperately want this article to finish writing itself.

Have returned for however long it may last for some light lurking and book promo.

In this week’s TLS: my review of @janjancl.bsky.social’s very interesting Immigration and Apocalypse (which I filed absolute ages ago). www.the-tls.com/religion/rel...

Read two collections from Tommy Pico’s Teebs tetralogy over the past month. Amazing.

Made myself a new friend.

Hiding from the world in a cabin somewhere. Have finished five books since I arrived two days ago. I could get used to this.

Received an extremely thoughtful and superbly executed homemade gift from a student this week. The world is burning and like many other teachers I often wonder why we still bother, but this is the kind of thing that reminds me it’s all worthwhile.

Published today.

The single most infuriating thing about Office is that it resets your settings with every. fucking. update. No, Word, I do not EVER want you to auto-“correct” things as I type, particularly given the fact that half the time you don’t even recognise what language I’m working in.

A lovely thunderstorm, and the pitter-patter of much-needed rain!