Left: Nigel Farage using the murder of Henry Nowak to sew division in society, "rights of white people matter less than ethnic minorities" Right: Henry Nowak's father, "We do not want his death used to create further division hated or tension"

This is great, but it's about a third of what the University sector generates for the UK economy. Imagine a headline which celebrated that stat. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I have always loved, and will always love, Forest Whitaker.

"Don’t laugh; Childe Harold may be grey and paunchy, A lame, ex-English, ex-Scottish ex-Romantic Soon to be ex-everything, including ex-raunchy." I loved this poem, loved hearing Byron muse on Moby Dick & Marx, loved that he was still getting digs in at Wordsworth. Thank you for sharing, Simon!

Byron at Sixty-Five, by Edwin Morgan (1987), in @lrb.co.uk: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v0...?

Midnight by Yazoo is such a breathtaking performance by Alison Moyet - and such a spare, precise arrangement by Vince Clarke. Bliss. youtu.be/DkgxthC0pIs?...

🇭🇺🎶 For the first time in Hungarian history, 'The forest is green / Pădure vergyé', the Hungarian Roma community's anthem — which gained that status after a 1993 civil rights protest — was played in parliament, at Prime Minister Péter Magyar's suggestion. Many MPs were in tears, and so was I.

‘Another effect of the funding system introduced in 2012 has been to provide rich pickings for private institutions. Arden University, which obtained degree-granting powers in 2014, may be the biggest UK university you’ve never heard of.’ Stefan Collini www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Armstrong’s first novel was smashing - especially his reading of it as an audiobook. I hope he also got into the studio for Raveheart.

Me when the conversation turns to what AI has done, not done, will do, fails to do, fucks up, or offers.

Nor for me. AI is a useful writing tool for people who 1. don't really enjoy writing/aren't good at it, in which case fair enough, but why would you be working as a writer? or 2. just cannot be arsed

Garden of earthly delights.

Job alert: Lecturer in Creative Writing, Critical Studies, University of Glasgow. Esp. interested in literary fiction, stage or screen writing, & poetry. #academicjobs @uofgartshums.bsky.social @glasgow.ac.uk @univeng.bsky.social @nawewriters.bsky.social www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/lecturer...

From the moment the brick flies in the school window and on through the whole of 'Bandit Country' chapter, my heart was racing like it did when I first read the horseracing scene in Anna Karenina. I'm late to the party, but The Young Team by @graemearmstrong.bsky.social is a masterpiece.

James Kelman’s magnificent novel KIERON SMITH, BOY – “one of the finest books published anywhere” – is being brought back into print in June this year, by @andotherstories.bsky.social www.andotherstories.org/kieron-smith...

I was an American student abroad at Glasgow University in 1992. My lit class was reading early 20th century Scottish classics like Muir, McDairmid, and Gibbon. A kid in the class turned me on to Kelman (and contemporaries) and it altered my perspective in the very best way. Forever grateful.

@agrayarchive.bsky.social FYI! bsky.app/profile/kove...

*James Kelman at 80*: we have a webpage, suitably old skool, thanks to Professor @hinesjumpedup.bsky.social call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/05/... Pls RT! @asls.org.uk @bacls.bsky.social @englishassociation.bsky.social @univeng.bsky.social @uofgartshums.bsky.social @glasgowburns.bsky.social

The Spectator isn't just a harmless retirement home for 1930s-style Tories, or a campaigning club for the return of Gentleman's Relish. It plays with extremism. Any of those who still write for it - including actual "poets" - need to look in the mirror. Enoch is staring back at you licking his lips.

Spectator, this week.

Join us for Raveheart: The Launch Party to celebrate the novel and tell a story of Scotland’s rave revolution through the music that started it 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎶 🕰️: 7pm - 1am, Wed 3rd June. 🏰: SWG3, Glasgow ⚠️: 18+ (ID required) www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Gla...

📣 Job Alert (permanent) 📣 Lecturer in English Literature (Romanticism), The Open University www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRQ222/l...

This is a national scandal.

New research has found 63% of universities now run food banks and a third offer free meals to students in need. Reported in @mirror.co.uk, a new study funded by the British Academy and Leverhulme reveals how students are increasingly relying on free food pantries and vouchers.

man, university libraries are amazing. you can just ask them to help get some obscure thing and they're like "doing that is actually our job, not only are we good at it but also we are excited to make this happen for you"

James Kelman at 80: a conference to mark the 80th birthday of the great Glaswegian writer. Spring 2027, University of Glasgow @glasgow.ac.uk

James Kelman at 80: a conference to mark the 80th birthday of the great Glaswegian writer. Spring 2027, University of Glasgow @glasgow.ac.uk

This Sunday in Glasgow…

Marking dissertations this week and all I will say is that students of literary criticism are bloomin tremendous.

Gorgeous cinematography and a deeply personal story make László Nemes’ ORPHAN both beautiful and painful. In post‑1957 Budapest, a young Jewish boy’s life is shaken when a man claims to be his long‑dead father. 🎟️ Screening now

Assistant Professor in English Dublin City University Permanent Expertise in Children’s Literature is essential. Proven experience lecturing in 19th-century literature, Modernism, and Postmodernism. universityvacancies.com/dublin-city-...

Have you signed up for the #EnglishCreates summer symposium? This free online event brings together colleagues across Literature, Language & Creative Writing to tackle the challenges facing English - and imagine what comes next. Join us: your view matters. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/englishcre...

Labour has never had a woman as leader.

Assistant Professor/Lecturer in Creative Writing (Permanent) Maynooth University www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRL937/a...

A perennial academic sin on social media is moaning, tutting, laughing or sneering at student work you are marking. It's a betrayal & abuse of your contract with students. You probably shouldn't be an academic if you think it's fair use of the power you have as a marker. So tired of seeing it.

Latest in racism news: racist party has racist councillors.

Morning, Sunderland. Meet one of your new councillors. "In now deleted posts, Gibbins ranted on social media that he ‘carnt [sic] believe amount of Nigerians in town’ and they ‘should melt them all down and fill in the pot holes’." What happened to Reform's " metro.co.uk/2026/05/09/r...

The EU flag is flying at Hungary’s parliament again after Péter Magyar was sworn in as prime minister — the first time it’s been displayed there since Viktor Orbán had it removed in 2014.

Instead of being dismissed as a racist, he will now be welcomed as another racist to boost the ranks.

Potayto, potahto. Detention Facility. Concentration camp.

now thats an anecdote with a punch, from Gillian Tett www.ft.com/content/c0ae...

Just when you think you've mastered the MHRA styleguide - even grown to like it - they change it and you're back where you started, lost and confused.

🗣️🗣️🗣️ There's a job at York! 1-year 0.5 FTE postdoctoral fellowship funded by MHRA, working with me on the Collected Works of Mary Wollstonecraft OUP edition. You have to be within 3 years of your PhD - unjust I know but a requirement of the MHRA. jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/rese...

‘In 1989, a young Orbán told the crowds in Heroes’ Square that it was time for the Russians to go home, just as protesters had demanded in 1956; almost four decades later, he was heckled on the campaign trail with the same words.’ @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on Hungary. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

NF>BNP>UKIP>REFORM UK All the same, just getting better at dressing violent racist hatred in a suit and tie.

Very proud of our former student the Oxford Brookes English Literature graduate, @micaelatuckwell.bsky.social, executive director of UPP, the best cinema in Oxford, currently under threat because of a (greedy?) landlord: www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

On 29 June, I'll be leading a writing day at Clare Cottage, #Helpston where my shepherding ancestors lived with the poet & family in the 1820s. I can't wait to explore #JohnClare's nature poetry in the garden where my 3x great-grandfather took his first steps! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1983961113...

This tremendous story of academic vanity, venality and prestige-hunting reminds me of the Professor who invited himself to be a plenary at his own conference. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

This is a terrific new scheme in France. We know students in the UK go hungry too. Let's feed them. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...