Looking for a new challenge in 2026? Join SUP and support not-for-profit academic publishing. We have three vacancies for editorial board members. Submit your application by Monday 2 February 2026 https://www.sup.ac.uk/news/editorial-board-vacancies

Delighted to see that my article, '"Many Little Wildernesses": Harriet Monroe, Poetry, and the Reader as Tourist' is out in the latest issue of the Journal of Modern Periodical Studies! doi.org/10.5325/jmodeperistud.16.2.0107

A magical musical moment amidst the madness.

"I am a children's entertainer who specializes in face painting," writes a woman now in hiding from the federal government for witnessing a state-sanctioned street execution

The UK university sector has gone beyond the red line and is now in a stage of rapid decomposition. Only a fundamental reset could save whole chunks of it. Probably too late for large parts. blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

The BAAS website has been updated with news of a whole host of new books in American Studies 📚

join @modernistudies.bsky.social! 3 PGR Rep roles are available, see below for a blog post from @lilyvmartin.bsky.social & yours truly about our time as reps so far.

Not the main thing ofc, but indicting a foreign head of state for conspiring to possess a machine gun is low key hilarious.

Pantone just updated their Color Of The Year

British Academy's pioneering 'cold spots' work now replicated by HESA. 'University "cold spots" are developing in some parts of the country, new data analysis suggests, with courses in some subjects no longer available to students in certain regions.' 1/2

Very welcome news today that the UK will join the Erasmus+ programme in 2027. This will enable greater opportunities for study abroad and contributions in UK universities, and is something we called for in our most recent Manifesto.

NEW on Wonkhe: The abolition of the binary divide in HE made visible the wealth of research excellence in what became known as the post-92 part of the sector. Katie Normington worries that forcing specialisation risks eroding longstanding research ecosystems buff.ly/a2Lusby

Open-access and in print - Muireann Maguire (@muireanndinosaur.bsky.social), Invading the American Canon: Translators of Russian Literary Fiction, 1863-1984 (@bloomsburyhist.bsky.social, @bloomsburylit.bsky.social, 2025; h/t @jrdwrrn.bsky.social, #skystorians) www.bloomsbury.com/us/invading-...

Postdoc Opportunity! University of Rochester - Postdoctoral Fellowship in Digital Humanities networks.h-net.org/jobs/69418/u...

“Four years ago, we suffered an earlier redundancy programme that we were told would secure the future of the university. That clearly was not true." #UKHE www.leicester.news/university-o...

Private Eye nailing it.

Relectures féministes de Michel Foucault. Colloque International (2025) Feminist Re-readings of Michel Foucault, Hybrid, 7–8 Nov 2025, Sciences Po, Paris Registration link for anyone who might wish to attend online   Friday, November 7, 2025 (room K011) 9:15–10:00 – Introduction Judith Revel…

Southampton Solent University accused of “unprecedented” attempt to move staff on to “inferior” pension schemes, with those not complying facing losing their jobs www.timeshighereducation.com/news/southam... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

New at Print Plus: "Virginia Woolf in Circulation: The Hogarth Press Order Books, Modernist Bookselling, and Digital Practice" by Alice Staveley et al sheds light on the business of modernism and reads order books as digital portals for literary history modernismmodernity.org/articles/sta...

Are you a grad student, untenured faculty member, or an independent scholar doing research in Romantic-era literature and culture? There's still time to apply for a Pforzheimer Award! Apply by Nov. 1 to be considered. Find more information here: www.k-saa.org/pforzheimera...

'And some academics are angry that universities are allowing or even encouraging the use of AI tools — many of which are controlled by companies, have unknown cognitive impacts and are dogged by ethical and environmental concerns.'

New open-access article on a peculiar type of periodical, the county magazine: Rural Modernity in an Interwar English County Magazine: Cheshire Life, 1934–39 doi.org/10.1080/1478... In Cultural and Social History

“AI has turbocharged the spread of bullshit and falsehoods. It is not able to produce actual, qualitative academic work, despite the claims of some in the AI industry. As researchers, as universities, we should be clearer about pushing back against these false claims by the AI industry.”

The most Minnesotan protest sign. #NoKings

ICYMI on Tuesday, here's my *new* and *free* short-form summary of what's gone wrong in our universities. This is something of a last word really, because unless the Budget and White Paper do something really radical, the fate of much HE is already sealed. politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/where-n...

Tony Harrison’s poem ‘V.’ is to be performed in the Leeds cemetery that inspired it. The day of site-specific readings will now also serve as a tribute to the poet, who died last week. Read the article: www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/s... Book tickets here: www.slunglow.org/v-a-homecomi...

‘Them & [uz]’ by Tony Harrison (1937–2025)

Very much enjoying the culture of trust and respect implicit in the installation of room usage monitoring devices on academics' office doors today. Imagine my shock on discovering that managers' doors remain unsullied…

Gillian Rose's on law, history, and Marxism. This should be an essential workshop with deep intellectual and theoretical engagement that is becoming rarer by the day in UK legal academia. Organised by the wonderful Rosie Woodhouse. Registration and more info here: warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/...

Jeremy Noel-Tod on the importance of ‘unfunded’ or ‘hobbyist’ research in academica. open.substack.com/pub/someflow...

We’re excited to share #TheModernistReview57, our first autumn issue! It includes seven reviews on diverse topics in modernist studies. Go check it out! we hope you enjoy reading: modernistreviewcouk.wordpress.com/2025/09/09/t...

We’re delighted to announce a CFP for a Virginia Woolf special issue of TMR, marking the 34th Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf. Please see the details below:

📢📢📢 Upcoming Conference: 'Rethinking Weimar Cinema' (University of Oxford, 17 - 19 June 2026) Full Call for Papers: drive.google.com/file/d/1pxBI... Deadline: 31 October 2025 Please share widely with anyone who may be interested in joining us in Oxford next year!

very much enjoyed reviewing Jane Cholmeley's excellent A BOOKSHOP OF ONE'S OWN for Publishing Research Quarterly link.springer.com/article/10.1...

This is what I'm hearing too. A total failure of public policy all the more staggering for having been totally predicted and predictable. A disaster.

Further to this @thetls.bsky.social essay about Una Marson's early work as a publisher, the full run of Marson's 1920s/1930s magazine, The Cosmopolitan, is now freely available on the Digital Library of the Caribbean (@dlocaribbean.bsky.social): www.dloc.com/AA00114844/0...

In 2026, the MSA Conference will look a bit different-- weird, even! That's because we're having a joint conference with BAMS @modernistudies.bsky.social in Loughborough, UK from July 1- 4, 2026. The CFP will be out soon! But in the meantime, please save the date.

Very pleased to see my piece on Teju Cole published and available as open access for now. www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/...

Bye forever, WeTransfer.

Our latest cluster, "Hope Mirrlees's 'Paris: A Poem' @ 100", edited by Nell Wasserstrom and Rio Matchett, takes a long walk along the Seine. Read more here: modernismmodernity.org/forums/mirrl...

Superb piece from the ISRF on the Great University Crisis: all financial changes to Higher Ed should have to undergo an open and public Educational Impact Assesment. Great to see an actual new idea in what passes for the 'debate'. isrf.org/blog/a-new-r...

Balliol College (University of Oxford) and the Proceeds of Slavery: Project Report. #highered #history www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/sites/defaul...

Daniel Hannan day greetings to all those working in the higher education sector. www.reaction.life/p/britain-lo...

Just caught up with this fine summary of the total mess of UK universities today.