It's a great feeling to have this out in the world, finally. And was a wonderful process working with everyone @stanfordpress.bsky.social!

Bosnian women’s tattoos have lately made it to Eurovision, become popular in the diaspora, and even caused a brief spat with Turkish media. I wrote about how they fold back into familiar tropes about the Balkans, the Ottoman past, and Christian-Muslim relations: newlinesmag.com/essays/the-o...

I'm sure everyone's heard about the Bosnian tattoos by now. I explored the story for the @newlinesmag.bsky.social, and if you’re curious about Ottoman Bosnia, Catholic women, and the stakes of turning complicated histories into myths, take a look: newlinesmag.com/essays/the-o...

bosnian catholics are routinely robbed of culture, history and agency and almost as frequently enough, they relinquish it readily, embracing the erasure and diminishing themselves while surrendering to nationalistic predation of people who despise them. time to dive deeper into ourselves, not shrink

I'm sure everyone's heard about the Bosnian tattoos by now. I explored the story for the @newlinesmag.bsky.social, and if you’re curious about Ottoman Bosnia, Catholic women, and the stakes of turning complicated histories into myths, take a look: newlinesmag.com/essays/the-o...

"Brothers with Baggage: Eight Chapters on the Austro-Hungarian Civilizing Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina" is out, including an essay of mine (in Czech) on "Colonial ambivalence: On foreigners and expertise in Habsburg Bosnia" — plus many more interesting essays here: avu.cz/publikace/br...

The only professional images of executions from the war in Yugoslavia have long been a subject of rumor and controversy. Barbara Matejčić investigates how and why they came to exist. 

A proud editor moment: this piece hits with exactly the right intensity, and I might spend the next few days asking everyone around me to read it. + @anasekulic.bsky.social did an amazing job streamlining the story

We’re closing our winter special with a gem: Lejla Talić’s intimate exploration of bodily and sexual repression in 2000s Croatia, and the passion and love found beyond it. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/sleep...

Croatian interior minister announced today that demining is now fully complete - 31 years after the war in Croatia ended. The MIS portal also shows no suspected areas remaining: misportal.hcr.hr/HCRweb/faces...

"The Marriage Customs of the Romanian Peasants" - last year I discovered an unknown study from 1837 by Romanian historian Mihail Kogălniceanu and republished it with a commentary. (In Romanian) Now #OpenAccess in @researchgate.bsky.social www.researchgate.net/publication/...

The Afterlife of Ottoman Europe is now available in paperback. Plus take advantage of @stanfordpress.bsky.social Valentine’s Day Sale for a few more days. www.sup.org/books/histor... 🗃️ #menasky #ottoman #bosniaandherzegovina #bosnia #muslims #austriahungary

Check out Growing Pains, a new essay in our Bodies of the Balkans winter special. Iva Jelušić explores parental expectations that eschewed words, living instead in bodies, gestures, and things. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/growi...

Latest podcast! We talk to Simone Kenyon, choreographer + artistic creator of the place-sensitive performance piece Into the Mountain, inspired by the lyrical & embodied prose of Nan Shepherd’s 1974 book. shorturl.at/ac6QE @anasekulic.bsky.social @annamfleming.bsky.social @papayranger.bsky.social

So I wrote something about ethnicity and gender, and the feeling of being "Other" in both. Thanks so much to @womenwritebalkans.bsky.social for publishing it, hope people find it an interesting read!

The third essay of our winter special Bodies of the Balkans is now on the website! @alexsaysstuff.bsky.social writes about bodies—national and personal—and costs of classification. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/on-cl...

In the second part of our winter special, Bodies of The Balkans, Magdalena Crăciun guides us through the river crossing between socialist Romania and Bulgaria, exploring the shadow economy and the delicious pleasures on the other side with a touch of life-changing suspense. tinyurl.com/3v24vamk

Our winter special, "Bodies of the Balkans," begins with a piece by Alja Gudžević that takes us to Ikaria, where stories of hunger and long life unfold.

Join us for our first podcast! We talk with the amazing Alexandra Cotofana about landscape sentience in the Romanian Carpathians and the concept of xenophobic mountains. shorturl.at/DfOrj @drdavidcooper.bsky.social @timhannigan.bsky.social @issygapp.bsky.social @asleuki.bsky.social

I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...

Each year, we publish lists of books, journal articles, and chapters published by historians working off the tenure track. It's never too early to start collecting, so if you or someone you know has something with a 2025 publication date to submit, have at it!

We’re looking for nonfiction—of any length or form—that dives into the many meanings and manifestations of embodiment in and of the Balkans. Send us your pitches (50–100 words) by October 1 and join us for our first-ever Virtual Open House on September 24: www.womenwritethebalkans.com/specials

"Although I didn’t understand it at the time, nature could cradle us and root us, while borders and nations spat us out like bitter, sinewy morsels."

A couple of years ago I read an essay by Ana Sekulić (@anasekulic.bsky.social ), "Threads of Life", which explained my situation exceptionally well, and I felt seen for the first time. I am really grateful. I strongly recommend you read it. [12/12] www.mangalmedia.net/english/find...

Here is a little story about the #earlymodern emoticon "<3" and the complex symbolic meaning of this typographical entity that I posted yesterday. Follow me, for catholic symbolism and some #bookhistory, dear #skystorians of the blue skies. Here we go...

My article on the etymology of 'kukuruz' is now published in "Zeitschrift für Balkanologie" - get in touch if you would like a copy www.zeitschrift-fuer-balkanologie.de/index.php/zf...

Super proud of @evrenko.bsky.social 💜 Check out this gem of late Ottoman printing now in English.

enjoyed this lovely piece. it appears that in scholarship, writing, and life really, the richest insights come from the dislodged. "Disciplines are homes that I don’t belong to anymore and I can’t say that’s something I regret."

È online Digital Adriatic! Un archivio orale #digitale per esplorare voci, luoghi e identità che hanno attraversato frontiere e regimi lungo l’Adriatico orientale. La #mappa della memoria è ora disponibile in versione beta! 🔗 digitaladriatic.eu #firstpost #introduction #digitalhistory #dh

Not all Balkan blooms are soft and fragrant—some are green, spiky, and delicious. This week, Rebecca Duras takes us to Istria for a hands-on introduction to the art of wild asparagus picking and shows us what to do with it once we’re back in the kitchen.🌱 www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/a-few...

Spring is late and somewhat treacherous this year, but our first essay in the Balkan Blooms series is here, brought to you by Madeleine Corcoran. www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/mothe...

Such a moving piece, and in so many ways. I am particularly interested in women doing house construction as mentioned here: "my father pointed at a wall in the house and, referring to the stone within, said, “Baba brought all of it from the river on her back.”

Habsburg people and anyone in the know: what should I read about the construction of the Trieste-Vienna railway? Monographs, anything at all. Thanks!

We are so excited to reveal the cover for “Ancient Pasts for Modern Audiences: Public Scholarship and the Mediterranean World” designed by the amazing @flaroh.bsky.social! 🤩 Pre-orders begin Feb 7th and the volume will be GOLD open access! Find out more here: www.routledge.com/Ancient-Past...

Did you write a dissertation on the environmental history of Europe the past two years? Know someone who did? The deadline for the ESEH Tallinn Dissertation Prize is Jan. 15! @eseh.bsky.social @esehnextgate.bsky.social eseh.org/call-for-sub...

Happy 2025! And yes, I’m bringing my “door handle of Lower Silesia” cycle to Bluesky. As a reminder that one gesture is enough to open up new opportunities. After all, door handles are a perfect midpoint between you and something new. Here’s to new beginnings✨ Let’s go.

If you’ve ever written a book, or haven’t, you probably need to read this. #BookSky 💙📚 www.ask-polly.com/p/i-publishe...

I've been thinking about intersections of historical record, material culture, and family silence and part of it is now an essay here: www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/the-w...

what's the point of making films if they become so embroiled in distribution rights (?) that you can't ever watch them. wanted to show a bunch of different things this semester, and every single one was unavailable even with the best efforts of the amazing library staff.

Intervju o mojoj novoj knjizi Nakon Osmanske Evrope: Muslimani u Habsburškoj Bosni i Hercegovini @ajbalkans.bsky.social @stanfordpress.bsky.social #menasky #Balkansky 🗃 #skystorians #AcademicSky #Balkans #History #Ottoman #Habsburg #BosnaiHercegovina balkans.aljazeera.net/teme/2024/12...

Are you a graduate student pursuing a PhD in Middle East Studies? If so, I’d welcome the opportunity to learn more about your research interests! As a book review editor for IJMES, I am always looking to find new voices to engage with the very latest #MiddleEastStudies scholarship. #academicsky

what publishers or academic press imprints would be a good home for a mix of memoir and historical writing?

A chance to write for @womenwritebalkans.bsky.social on the theme of Balkan Blooms. See below or visit www.womenwritethebalkans.com for more info. We'd love to hear from you!

Another amazing piece by Ana Sekulić “Karst was imagined as a landscape of inversion where the rugged rock ruled over people as a thirsty overlord, while the people—their faces, hands, and sometimes hearts, too—turned into stone.” www.womenwritethebalkans.com/essays/the-w...

We have two monograph prizes next year, the Tallinn Dissertation Prize and the Turku Book Award, both with the deadline 15 January 2025. Read more here: 1. Tallinn Dissertation Prize: eseh.org/call-for-sub... 2. Turku Book Award: eseh.org/awards-and-g... (Photo by Thom Milkovic, cropped) #EnvHist

Beautifully woven together, this brilliant piece by @anasekulic.bsky.social is equally moving and unsettling @womenwritebalkans.bsky.social

This is a REALLY good essay.

Beautiful essay, please give it a read. Every time I read anything Ana writes I feel like it's about me and I am really grateful for that 💗