I want to be writing for research & public engagement. Instead, I'm frantically working on a bid for a grant I won't win for reasons I'm not wholly sure about. When success rates are well below 10%, as well as skewed to certain subjects & topics, it all seems so pointless.

Monday #tinyjoys I’ve picked up an award for the Promotion of EDI in research and knowledge exchange for work done by the Disabled Researchers Network at LJMU. My first ever trophy too. I hope I never drop it…

5, 6, 7, 8 👐👐👐 Love this news... "Sheffield Hallam University and Sheffield Theatres launch musical theatre degree" - Northern Arts Review share.google/KgpYoQRvZ74t...

Imagine complaining that a work place is committed to equality. This is where we are in the UK in 2026. Heartbreaking to watch a society voluntarily roll back decades of progress.

A couple of phacelia in a field in Norfolk, for the botanical dopamine 🌿

CFP: European Society for Environmental History »Environmental History Beyond Disciplinary Boundaries« 7 — 10 September 2027 · Salzburg, Austria www.ehca.at/eseh2027/ind...

4 days of Annual Leave 😊 Popping down south to see my mum 😍

Eye-watering ticket prices for #JesusChristSuperstar at the London Palladium 😭

Thinking of our Teams' chat about archaeology and soil a while back @williamcarruthers.bsky.social

New book cover alert! The second, expanded edition of the Science of Demons is coming out at the end of this month! It features two new chapters and an epilogue, as well as corrected and updated content. Preorder (with a discount!) at www.routledge.com/The-Science-... #earlymodern #hextag

In other news... excellent time at Sunday's matinee of "Something Rotten" Hope this daft, thoroughly entertaining production gets a West End run 💀🥚🍳 Something Rotten! - 'Tis A New Musical - Coming to Manchester share.google/RhyTVrPXPQ6d...

Finding Common Ground Day 2 also featured Joshua Zeunert's excellent 20-minute film "SOIL | LIFE (LESS)" You can view a short excerpt here: youtu.be/C-fj1ZUKFgk?...

OOOOO. Exeter's got Nous in as well... Of course... (@exeterucu.bsky.social, have you FOIed how much they're paid?) Can we PLEASE put an end to the involvement of these consultancies? They have done nothing but vandalism.

A very poignant Open Day for English Literature and Creative Writing on Saturday 11 July. After heading up English Literature and Creative Writing's admissions & recruitment campaigns for several years, it was Professor John Schad's last Open Day before he leaves the University at the end of July

The outside of Sheffield Train Station looking gorgeous on Thursday 9 July

2/2 of @edgarallanhole.bsky.social excellent poster explaining "Bog Gothic: The Sentient Soil of Beowulf" posted with permission

Finding Common Ground 👇Day 2 was equally fantastic! Alongside the excellent talks, the symposium featured research posters too (also listed on the programme). Here's @edgarallanhole.bsky.social fab poster [1/2] explaining "Bog Gothic: The Sentient soil of Beowulf" posted with permission

We were warned, +2C by 2050 must be averted ... But somehow a world dominated by fossil fuel billionaires ditched, neutered, derailed the message ... "... we may get to 2°C Global Warming by 2027, but with this supercharged El Niño it’s possible - temporarily" meme via WFLA Jeff Berardelli

"The Dust Bowl’s brutal heat was a regional catastrophe. Today’s danger is different: the entire planet is starting from a much warmer baseline. In July 2025, Earth’s average surface temperature reached approximately 62.02°F (16.68°C), making it 3rd-warmest July ever recorded" via Science Explorist

Our government seems to have nothing to say about the horrific effects and repercussions of extreme weather (apart from when they’re cutting overseas climate aid by 14%). www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Wondering... Does "Soil Punk" exist? Yes. Yes it does! e.g.👇 #Soil_Imaginaries #SoilPunk www.tractorbeam.earth/issue/genera...

'Several disciplines including Arab & Islamic Studies, drama, education, modern languages, English, history, film, politics, philosophy, religion and theology could all see teaching staff reduced by up to a quarter. Anthropology teaching provision could halve.'

Fantastic thread from @barbarableiman.bsky.social

It's rare that news media adequately reports the scientific consensus around climate change. Here the Guardian gets it right. Balanced reporting does not mean suggesting that the odd outlying opinion, usually with an industry bias, gives cause for real doubt. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Does that include universities?

The EA, the Institute of English Studies, & University English are holding an online #emergency summit for all English colleagues to address the proliferation of redundancies, restructurings, other significant challenges to our & cognate disciplines across the sector. 👇🏼 mailchi.mp/1b1ef2d5a8a3...

But...as I wait for the 5.51 to Manchester, wondering if it was sensible to commute via train instead of staying over?

Day 1 of this symposium was fantastic! Exemplary organisation by Meg Meredith [many apologies for misnaming you below] and @emjlynajsh.bsky.social Lookin forward to Day 2 Programme here: sheffield.ac.uk/grantham-cen...

The brilliant Michael Walker has interviewed me for @novaramedia.com about Farage, heatwaves, carbon capture and storage, new green tech and a bunch of other stuff. Do give it a watch or a listen: www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3IF...

'A trade union says 36 staff face losing their jobs at the University of Lincoln. The University and College Union (UCU) said it would hold a strike ballot if the proposed redundancies go ahead.'

Goldfinch wing

Here Is My Space - A Twist of Rotten Silk page 14 #ATwistOfRottenSilk #booksky #poem #poetry #Shakespeare

'The decision to slash funding for creative subjects comes despite the field being named as one of the UK’s “highest potential sectors” in the government’s industrial strategy.' 1/2

Heads up, Goths: Ruth Heholt and Mariaconcetta Costantini’s wonderful volume on ‘Gothic Masculinities in the Victorian Age’ has just been published in our Elements series. Available on OA for the next 2 weeks @angelawright1794.bsky.social @ruthheholt.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Today and tomorrow are all about SOIL ! On my way to sheffield.ac.uk/grantham-cen... organised by Megan Lewis and @emjlynajsh.bsky.social #Soil_Imaginaries

Despite all the noise today I'd really like you to read this, as I think it's crucial. The government's in the process of p*ssing up to £264 billion into the ground, at the behest of the fossil fuel industry. Yes, £264 *billion*. It's utterly mad, and has to stop. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Tonight in REP we leave the King’s Men behind and finish our season reading All’s Lost By Lust (1619) by William Rowley, in our special request slot.

Nothing says “inestimable contribution to higher education” like presiding over cuts, casualisation & managerial bloat Knighthood secured Incredible how the UK honours system always seems to find excellence right at the very top le.ac.uk/news/2026/ju...

Putting this specific Health & Safety Executive link here for any UKHEI colleague who might need it: "Investigating potential issues of work-related stress"- HSE share.google/Jp7Da0iScAwH...

This stuff is just utterly normal at universities now.

"They just want to turn it off." A fascinating story of the librarians who have started teaching classes showing people how to remove AI "features" from their phones and apps. www.bangordailynews.com/2026/07/02/m...

We've got a new title we're excited to announce! "Textual Respect and Situated Readings in Spenser, Shakespeare, and Donne: Essays in Honor of Judith H. Anderson" is available NOW --> wmich.edu/medievalpubl...

A handful of universities are determined to destroy all the others. It's that simple. That would end the Burnham regionalism agenda before it'd even got going. Unfortunately, no-one even seems to know this and our governance structures are so pitifully weak there's not even anyone to tell.

Society for Renaissance Studies: Two scholarships of £4,000 each, to contribute to the costs of postgraduate study. rensoc.org.uk/apply/schola...

Upcoming Emergency Summit: 16 July 2026 jointly organised by @ies-sas.bsky.social @englishassociation.bsky.social @univeng.bsky.social "Emergency Action On...the Situation for English" Details here: mailchi.mp/1b1ef2d5a8a3...

The @ies-sas.bsky.social, together with SAS and the University of London are supporting the 2026 National Year of Reading. All year, colleagues from across the University will share the books that shaped them, challenged them and stayed with them. #NationalYearOfReading #UoLReads #GoAllIn2026

Love this! 'Virginia Woolf's idea became my reality' - BBC News share.google/SpOQC6YdjNxO...

Once again today we see who Farage really is, and what Reform really stands for. A leader who bends over backwards for billionaire donors, politicians using the Trumpian playbook, a party swimming in a sea of corruption. Britain deserves so much better than this.

“I am the most verbally and physically attacked public figure or politician of modern times.” The disgraceful Nigel Farage. Remembering Labour MP Jo Cox, born 1974, murdered 2016.

Mathematician Marie-Louise Dubreil-Jacotin, known for her work in both fluid mechanics and abstract algebra, was born #OTD in 1905. She was the first woman to hold a full professorship in Mathematics in France. 🧪 ⚛️ 👩‍🔬 🧮 Image: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive