twenty years ago people attacked universities by deriding “Mickey Mouse degrees” like media studies in favour of “proper” subjects like history, and now universities are skipping that step and simply abolishing everything that isn’t economics

@labouruk.bsky.social, kindly stop titting about and arguing over who knew what about Mandelson and pay attention to the fact a major industry and mechanism of social mobility is collapsing. We beg you.

The day has finally arrived. You can now *officially* watch puffins live from the Farne Islands, 24 hours a day: bit.ly/4tRz72T Please enjoy these puffins kissing in celebration of this momentous event.

Absolutely lovely Job! Senior Research Associate to join the School of Literature, Drama & Creative Writing from 1 September 2026 until 30 April 2029, to work on the AHRC-funded project Beyond the Essay: Creative-Critical Teaching www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRJ527/s...

Print club has been one of the best parts of this academic year. Lovely to spend an evening once a week learning different printing techniques from my excellent art colleagues and their students and using the heavy presses. Some side effects, though.

A good summary why UK HE has ended up in such a mess. I’d also add the growth of a managerial layer who refuse to take any responsibility for things they are responsible for; fall in available research funding, which wastes huge amounts of labour; and the pointless hamster wheel of REF! 🫠

GOOD NEWS: we've got some last-minute tickets available for next week's public lecture 'Food for Thought – The Bayeux Tapestry Revisited' in Bristol. Get yours before they're gone! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/public-lec...

Very tired.

all these universities kept axing medieval history departments as if they thought tyrants beefing with the Pope was going to stop being relevant

Midlands medieval story-loving friends! I'm performing 'Yde and Olive' at Wolverhampton's wonderful Arena Theatre on the 15th April. It is a beautiful performance space and one I often teach in, so it will be a real honour to share this story there. Please share. wlv.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...

FINALLY

Triptych of BBC articles. 24th, 25th, 26th March 2026. (No, I'm not going to watch the thing that funded the other two).

Someone drew a little bird in a hat in this 16th century Welsh manuscript of regulations for bards. British Library, Add MS 19711.

Another university getting rid of things you could only ever do at a university and replacing them with stuff a 13-year-old can do on a phone

Horrified to say that I have at least three stories I could tell on this subject!

Man, one of the most depressing aspects of modern scholarship is finding a great article and then looking up the scholar to see what else they’ve done and just catching a glimpse of an abbreviated career hopping between visiting positions and publishing great pieces before disappearing from academia

Please share: due to withdrawal I have a space on my castles panel for #LeedsIMC. If you’ve an idea needs airing on time and temporalities in castles, give me a shout/submit via link! imc-leeds.confex.com/imc/2026/pre... @imc-leeds.bsky.social @castlestudies.bsky.social Original CfP below ⬇️

London friends! I am giving a talk on medieval drama at the Senate House at 5 today (4th March). If you have ever wondered about the state of table manners in the medieval Fall plays, this is your time to find out. www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

Well, this looks worryingly similar to what is happening here, too. At least 8 colleagues I know through gender and medieval studies research are having modules and courses cancelled and jobs threatened. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It feels like this is worth sharing again. Sir Ian McKellan giving The Strangers Case monologue from Sir Thomas Moore, attributed to William Shakespeare. youtu.be/wXq58BbhCO4?...

This weekend I'm reviving a former show: reworking it with all the new things I learnt through my last storytelling tour. Looking forward to performing 'Bayeux Tapestry: the Full Yarn' at Wolves LitFest in February! wolvesliteraturefestival.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...

Very happy to have an article on storytelling with the brilliant @janebonsall.bsky.social in this publication! Very much recommend her as the nicest writing partner.

Special Collection: Global Premodern Literature in the Digital Age: The Seven Sages of Rome/ Sindbad/ Syntipas/ Dolopathos olh.openlibhums.org/issue/1302/i... #openaccess @openlibhums.org @mosspepe.bsky.social @daisyeblack.bsky.social @hdohertyharrison.bsky.social @hdohertyharrison.bsky.social

'Creative Medievalisms Now: Writing the Middle Ages Today and Tomorrow', forthcoming symposium at Cambridge. A two-day symposium for writer-researchers working on medieval materials to reflect on craft, research processes, and work in progress. Booking essential: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/creative-m...

'What are we looking for when we pick up a “reimagined classic” or a “bold and subversive retelling” of a centuries-old tale?' Our latest Meet a Medievalist Maker post is by @sarafredman.bsky.social, author of 'Griselda is Dead, and Also Her Patience', a reimagining of Chaucer’s 'Clerk's Tale'👇

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

Universities are in crisis, and I don’t think it’s helpful to phrase that as “exiting the market”. They’re not mid-range shoe shops, these are educational pillars in society

Excited to be telling this story in Emmeline Pankhurst's dining room in Manchester tomorrow. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/yde-et-oli...

Posted this last night. In case you missed it, Hope Projects does amazing work with people utterly abandoned by the state. Giving them some money will annoy Nigel Farage, Shabana Mahmood, Lee Anderson, Tommy Robinson and the Daily Mail.

It was great to write this blog post for the @guildmedmak.bsky.social and to give readers a little glimpse into my creative-critical practice, as my 'ecocreative' translations turn from storms 🌧 and ice ❄ to heat and fire 🔥 via the OE poem on The Phoenix #medievalsky.

A wild week beckons, with 'Yde and Olive' in Leamington Spa on Tues and Edinburgh on Fri. I'm teaching it on my Queer Medieval module too, so my students will likely give me new ideas for the performances! Leamington: daisyblack.uk/event/storyt... Edinburgh: daisyblack.uk/event/yde-an...

Our History Research Seminar @uninorthampton.bsky.social kicks off next Wed 1 Oct with a talk by me on my new project 'Medievalism, gender and politicised nostalgia in the British extreme right, 1962 – 1982'. It will be at 12pm UK time and on Teams. Email rachel.moss @ northampton.ac.uk for a link.

An honour to talk to my creative friends about storytelling and 'behind the scenes' in Yde and Olive. You can read all about it here, see the next performance in Manchester on the 17th September, or catch one of the last venues on my tour: daisyblack.uk/events/

@britishacademy.bsky.social will be running a webinar for UK-based researchers in the humanities and social sciences interested in applying for @erc.europa.eu Synergy Grants on Monday 8 September at 12.00 U.K. time. Register to attend here: forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

Jane Bonsall just came by our stand at #IMC2025 to show off her latest book "Women and Magic in Medieval Romance". Save 50% and get free shipping on your copy with code BB094 here: buff.ly/R42jWOe @janebonsall.bsky.social #MedievalSky

Throwing your students under the bus is a bad idea if you are an educational institution.

Next up for #MAMOmonth is our Thursday panel, 'Visibility, Connectivity, Creativity: Honouring Medieval Women’s Stories in the Modern World'! With Laura Varnam (@drlauravarnam.bsky.social, Oxford), Sheila Passey (Wolverhampton), and Daisy Black (@daisyeblack.bsky.social, Wolverhampton).

This absolute icon at Canterbury Pride 🩷🤍🩵

Open to everyone! To book: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/daisy-blac...

I am just writing a paper about adapting this show to present at this conference too!

@shahidhabari.bsky.social introduces a powerful episode of BBCRadio4 BBCFreeThinking on a subject of perennial interest (to me especially): *wolves*. She talks to @adamweymouth.bsky.social Zoe Gilbert, @daisyeblack.bsky.social Ben Goldsmith, Brian Zimmerman www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Delighted to see that my creative-critical Old English eco-poetics article is now out, Open Access, in Postmedieval (thanks to @postmedieval.bsky.social): link.springer.com/article/10.1... #medievalsky #oldenglish

Off to London to talk about medieval wolf folklore on BBC Radio 4. In 950, King Edgar imposed a tax of 300 wolf skins on the Welsh. Luckily for the wolves, William the Conqueror later imposed a tax of 1 king skin on the English. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

So exciting to see all the details of the MAMO come together - it's going to be good! A timely workshop here from @menysnoweballes.bsky.social

After 3 sell out in-person performances, I'm looking forward to 'Yde and Olive' online on 26th March. Live far away? Avoiding the plague? Want your stories to be less people-y? Want to listen while snuggled in your favourite blanket? This story is for you! livetoyourlivingroom.com/events/daisy...

I find it hard to imagine another sector in which hundreds of job losses being announced each day would be so easily dismissed by so many.

Please encourage your graduate students to submit to this year’s GMS essay prize! Deadline 30th April. medievalgender.co.uk/prizes-bursa...

Other plenaries are @michaeledenart.bsky.social, Angela Weisl and Robert Squillace. MAMO will also feature a special performance of Yde and Olive by @daisyeblack.bsky.social. See more at our Keynotes page, which will be regularly updated: themamo.org/keynote-spea...

Excited to announce the tour dates for my first ever storytelling tour! Very excited to perform ‘Yde and Olive’ at so many lovely venues and festivals. You can find out more about the show and find details for all these events on daisyblack.uk/storytelling/ Photo: @plashingvole.bsky.social