So, here's a little nugget from my data set. From 1978-1991, out of the five SF editors LEAST receptive to female authors (as measured by their % of female-authored SF titles), four of those editors .... were women. Now, let's play a guessing game. Which 1980s editor had ...

I should've been an accountant, b/c despite being a humanities, I have an insane love of spreadsheets. For instance, the years 1977-1981 are when Del Rey Books became the first publisher to successfully establish FANTASY as a publishing category. So one thing I'm analyzing ...

Been working on my spreadsheet on SFF publishing b/t1972-1991. The results are wild. Here's a brief sample. Throughout the 1970s, Berkley Medallion was a major SFF publisher, and in the first four years of my data set, they published 55 novels .... and all but two were written by guys.

I already know that I tend to over-prep for classes ... but I just finished my final lesson plan for ENGL 380: LITERARY ANALYSIS, and I've just bested my own record. All told, my total lesson plans span 110 pages and nearly 60,000 words of content. I also created five cinematic powerpoints.

Re-reading THE ESSENTIAL ELLISON .... and damn, I'm just going to come out and say it. Harlan Ellison's the best prose writer that SFF has ever had. Fight me.

Are you a grad student working on post-1945 culture? Could your research benefit from incorporating some data, even minimally? Want feedback from journal editors? This Post45 Data Collective virtual workshop may be for you! Applications are due DECEMBER 1: data.post45.org/news/grad-wo...

I just saw this thing for the first time. I'm not exactly sure what kind of snack it is, but I'm guessing it's a candy with only 17 syllables.

You know, I've read a LOT of student papers created through Generative AI ... and I can't remember seeing a single emdash in any of them. I'm not sure where the "AI = emdashes" myth came from, but if there was ever a basis for it, there's not anymore, so far as I can tell.

Wow now, THIS is cool. Last year, I served as the scholarly consultant and interviewee for "Judy-Lynn del Rey: The Galaxy," a biographical documentary about the woman who made SFF into a publishing powerhouse. This episode was for the PBS series RENEGADES. 1/3

Apparently, there now exists a thing called GROKIPEDIA. Also apparently, it still needs some help getting its facts straight. @adambolivar.bsky.social @sfpoetry.bsky.social @medievalists.bsky.social @rhunedhel.bsky.social stratofanatic.blogspot.com/2025/10/anal...

Just saw a long, heart-felt tweet about how the "best" way to discourage Generative AI is to encourage students to view themselves as writers, and to take pride in their own distinct writing voices.... ... and it's precisely that combination of idealism & wish-fulfillment ...1/2

An author from the upcoming issue of Forgotten Ground Regained!

Countdown to the next issue of FORGOTTEN GROUND REGAINED begins!

Reading the "about" section from Giovanni's Room bookstore in Philly, one of the oldest queer bookstores in the world, but I'm guessing that the following tidbit, while definitely interesting, is maaaaaaybe every HR person's nightmare: 1/2

Oh, in addition to accidentally re-inventing book history, looks like I've also accidentally re-invented distance reading (!). Absolutely love this article by Ted Underwood" dhq.digitalhumanities.org/vol/11/2/000...

Given my newfound appreciation for how book packaging & distribution -- hc vs. pb, covers, bookstores vs. wholesalers -- affects interpretation, I realized I've just invented a new field of literary studies. I think I'm going to call it "book history." Hope it catches on!

Just saw that this came out! Holmes has always written *extremely* insightful reviews and articles. I'll be looking forward to this one .... although mainly to see what he says about Tolkien's alliterative poetry! mcfarlandbooks.com/product/tolk...

A very pleasant review of my anthology from Douglas A. Anderson, writing for @mythlore.bsky.social . dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol...

I've always been puzzled by standing conferences that have "themes." ICFA always has a theme, and this year's theme ("cognition") is perfectly decent .... but how many academics actually write their paper to match the theme? The chances that any one theme randomly...

Announcing the 2025 Rhysling Award Winners The Rhysling Award honors the year's best in speculative poetry ✨ Nominees were selected by the membership of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Each member is allowed to nominate one work in each of two categories: Long and Short poem thread/

Christmas is coming up...and what do you get the person who has everything? Clearly, SPECULATIVE POETRY & THE MODERN ALLITERATIVE REVIVAL, the most exciting compilation since the 10th-century Exeter Book! (Seriously, the pb edition's still on sale for only $25.) www.bloomsbury.com/us/speculati...

Another edition of the Roving Ranger has just been sent to its subscribers. Including: PE 18; Ohio Shakespeare's Smaug; CfP - Fantasy's Present Pasts; Christopher Lee & Tolkien; JRRT, the air raid warden; Bilbo's superpower; what does 'home' mean?; Magic wants the Hobbit; cost of a pint & more...

The fourth poem Forgotten Ground Regained is nominating for #BestOfTheNet: @rosenovick.com's "Monostich Sequence 1": Isolated images that add up to much more than that. alliteration.net/poetry/monostich-sequence-i/

IT'S OUT!!!! ... the *paperback* edition of SPECULATIVE POETRY AND THE MODERN ALLITERATIVE REVIVAL, which was just short-listed for the Mythopoeic Society Scholarship Award. PLUS, publisher' s running a sale, so pb copies are just under $25 (even less for ebook) 1/2

Ah-ha! Other professors are foisting this stuff on hapless students. My mission is done. @rhunedhel.bsky.social @adambolivar.bsky.social @sfpoetry.bsky.social

In honor of Robert Redford, the three best baseball movies ever made: 1. The Natural 2. Bull Durham 3. Field of Dreams (Anything who thinks Major League belongs on this list should be swiftly kicked.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-o_...

Spent another morning writing about three fantasy novels from during the Del Rey Hegemony (i.e., the 1980s!). For all my usual action-packed commentary, plus a reference to "massive puppykickers," check out the following. stratofanatic.blogspot.com/2025/09/thre...

Finally took the plunge: I'm beginning an "absolutely no electronics" policy in my classroom this semester. Just too much evidence out there about the negative impact it has on peoples' attentions. Just converted ALL my course links to pdfs, that students can print & bring.

In my class on close reading, I'm spending one day walking my students through FINNEGANS WAKE. Super beginner stuff, of course (I myself haven't read more than 50 pages of it), but man .... I've been studying some supplemental materials, and I'm only now realize how hilarious Joyce is.

"We are contacting you because your *expertise in areas related to linguistics (if any)* makes you an ideal candidate to review [ms.]." Um .... I'm selected for my expertise in linguistics, *IF* I have any expertise in linguistics? Gosh, shucks, you guys sure know how to make a girl feel special.

After another day of "Reading papers at Conferences" discourse on Twitter, I wonder how much of the whole debate from Humanities folks boils down to sheer in-group/out-group mentality. All the arguments for the "necessity" of straight-reading paper are specious.

Ooof. I'm focusing a lot on the history of criticism for my Literary Analysis course, and I thought, "Oh, I should share a chapter from POSTMODERN POOH by Frederick Crews. It's funny and accessible, and gives a taste of what different methodologies in literary studies looks like."

Having just read Klarkash-Ton's THE LAST INCANTATION, I'm liking some of these phrasings!

There's a conference on alliteration in poetry & cultural history, University of East Anglia, Norwich UK, Sept. 1st. You have till Aug. 18th to register for the conference, till Aug. 14th to register for the conference dinner, which will include informal poetry readings www.uea.ac.uk/groups-and-c...

I'll give this for Google AI: I'm currently prepping my ENGL 380: Literary Analysis class, and I asked, "What's the worst poem in the English language?" Google AI didn't even have to think. "William McGonagall's 'The Tay Bridge Disaster'", it said. One point to AI!

Whoa. This looks like an amazing new dataset from the folks over at @post45data.bsky.social

Well hey, I sent in a reader's report to an editor last night, and today they wrote to me, "... most fun I have had reading a review - ever." I'm glad I could entertain!

Well, check this out! The poet Mari Ness giving some love to FORGOTTEN GROUND REGAINED.

As I research Lester del Rey's biography, I'm seeing a lot about his uncle, Dr. George L. Knapp. He was actually quite a prominent public figure during his day ... and a pretty fair novelist, too. Here's his first novel, THE SCALES OF JUSTICE (1910). stratofanatic.blogspot.com/2025/07/lest...

The latest issue of @extrapolation.bsky.social just came out, and it contains a great set of reviews -- not only mine of CORRODING THE NOW, but also several reviews by several folks whose opinions I'm always keen to listen to! Definitely check it out: liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/epdf/10....

New issue of FORGOTTEN GROUND REGAINED! Lots of good verse under the theme of "prophets, protests, and poetic battles." Plus one action-packed article by yours truly on an astounding alliterative poem by Charles R. Sleeth called "After the Flood." alliteration.net/current-issue/

And as told with the usual wit and verve!

The Summer issue of Forgotten Ground Regained will also contain an article by @denniswise.bsky.social on "After the Flood", a prize-wining poem by Charles R. Sleeth.

Maybe the oddest biographical fact I just realized: Lester del Rey and L. Ron Hubbard went to George Washington University at the same time (1931-1933 vs. 1930-1932), and they both dropped out after their second year.

Two big things in my Lester del Rey research: (1) Two days ago, found a major unknown primary source on Lester's family background; (2) This morning, conclusive evidence that Lester del Rey truly WAS Leonard Knapp. (Before, it was just "the weight of the evidence suggests ...").

There are now several published #poetry collections that primarily consist of #alliterative verse. You can find them (and other collections that have alliterative poetry in them) here: alliteration.net/books/collec... #poetrysky #poetrycommunity #alliterativeverse (links to those books in replies)

Currently researching Lester del Rey -- his real name was "Leonard Knapp" -- and as I'm looking thru Moskowitz's profile of Lester, it's hard to believe ANY one ever believed it. It's nothing but truth nuggets mixed w/ the most obvious utter bullshit that I've ever seen.

I spent way too long crafting this review of a fantasy novel nobody remembers ... but if you check it out, you might see just how much brilliance went into the creation of FANTASY FICTION as a publishing category. stratofanatic.blogspot.com/2025/06/how-...

Modern alliterative verse: Not a contradiction in terms. Here's @jdharlock.bsky.social's "To Consecrate this Carnage" ... unfortunately, it's more appropriate today than when it was written. #alliteration #poem #alliterative #poetry #poetrysky #poetrycommunity alliteration.net/poetry/to-co...