Joseph blazer, Zara blouse, Dolce & Gabbana skirt. And trainers. Of course and always trainers.

Starting my final year of PhD, starting to teach, starting to feel nervous.

Pretty scenery and my prettiest skirt complete with the regulation thick tights which are not pretty but feel perfect.

Tulle and charity shop cashmere. A bit colder but when you are in your 40s you have your peri-menopause to warm you up.

Sometimes I wonder if I am actually a member of the band Spandau Ballet.

Dressing like it is a special day when it is not in any way at all other than it is Thursday and I feel nervous.

Planning etc.

I have enrolled in my third and final year of my PhD and feel a little bit 1997.

Charity shop bouclé, pearls & Maje cardi.

My charity shop collection includes many blouses so I am forcing self to wear them. I am drawn to the bow of them and their beautiful work ethic.

There is a theme in the September outfits.

A blouse with a bow. And pearls. And nerves.

I will always love you, bows.

Outfit planning.

The weekend was lovely and distracting and outfit filled and now it is Sunday evening and it is raining and I have jet lag from watching all of the athletics tv coverage from Tokyo and I feel a little bit nervous.

Seasonal charity shop outfit. Plus no tulle. A rare sight.

Autumn walk and apple scone and I may need to wear a coat soon 🩷

A Sunday in September.

Charity shop outfit week: the one where it went from summer to an April/Autumn.

When you have a huge amount of work to do, put on your biggest bow dress 🩷

I nearly cried and nearly gave up, my back is so sore but I have lots going on and changes in my life and I am rubbish at anything new, so I carried on and finished. I love my Saturday morning parkrun 🩷

I was invited to write a post for the @ihr.bsky.social blog about #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems. 'The book tells a story about how England has been shaped over the centuries - and, between the lines, I think it tells a story about my working life here at the IHR...' blog.history.ac.uk/2025/09/a-hi...

I carried around my paper copy maquette of my final PhD collection from home to Mcr to home yesterday and didn’t lose it, hence the nervous face. Now I have to type it all up. I am literally living my creative life as a precarious maquette.

Friday after the Thursday before.

From now until March or April, you will find me only in massively thick tights. Hurrah 🩷

Up early, did my presentation, got very exciting news, saw my @serenbooks.bsky.social, saw my BH.

So lovely to meet you!!

Look who else I bumped into! 🩷

Look who I bumped into in @blackwellsmcr.bsky.social 🩷 @serenbooks.bsky.social

You know I have a long day when I’ve gone wild with the bronzer.

Like when I wanted autumn, I was thinking cardigans, a lightweight jumper, straight hair. Walking with a coffee, not wavy cagoule hair and winged eyeliner which fails. I have enough failure.

New event for diary planning. Come along to @poetrysociety.org.uk poetry cafe to celebrate the launch of some @brokensleepbooks.bsky.social books and I will read from my beloved Plastic Tubed Little Bird ❤️

Look at this! 😍 My new book, #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems, invites readers to add in their own choice of poems at the end - the lines which transport them into moments in the past, whether history or their own memory. The brilliant @wendycaitlin.bsky.social has taken up the invitation! Thank you!

Tomorrow!!

I am so excited to go to The Whitworth, Manchester tomorrow I have butterflies 🩷

I love the idea of these pages. I wanted to remember what I was loving at the time of reading this book.

How the sonnets look in my PhD.

'Wastelands' launch events, first dates announced. Details (and more dates) to follow. Manchester Poetry Library (dual launch w @taniahershman.bsky.social & Prerana Kumar) Sep 25 4pm, Oxford Blackwells (w @drlauravarnam.bsky.social Pos) Nov 16 3pm. Links and how to book coming soon!

It was so lovely to meet @cathamclarke.bsky.social last night. I have already written poems in the back of this book which frame my own life in my reading of this book, almost like a reverse worm hole. I am thinking constantly about my maquettes and their place in art history.

How the sonnets look in my PhD.

And just like that, look who I bumped into: @chloehanks23.bsky.social and Becca Drake at @cathamclarke.bsky.social’s launch 🩷

The leather dress did not fall apart. I did not get lost.

Congratulations @cathamclarke.bsky.social on the launch of your book and the amazing discussion with Hannah Lowe. And how exciting to meet you 🩷

Things I saw that I liked 🩷

I have found my way using my paper handwritten directions, and it appears that I am good at finding places when it is an unmodern way. I worry for the way home as things seem v. different from the opposite direction. Meanwhile I will eat honey cake and be glad 🩷

Wearing a leather dress which has just been repaired after splitting all up the back and having to try to not get lost is making me feel as precarious as my lovely maquettes. Is this cosplay?

Thursday! Will I remember to change my slides as I talk? Probably not. Will I tell you how much I love the maquette? Of course! @dcahf-met.bsky.social.

Here is the link for the reading 🩷

I have found the thing I was looking for. I have found the thing. I have found the poem I love incredibly.

A text message from @wendycaitlin.bsky.social reminds me of this line in Barthes’s essay on Réquichot. Never mind modernity; I’m simply finding it a very good description of being 54.