I'm very proud to have written this article about two newly identified photographs, or card portraits, of Baudelaire's long-term mistress, Jeanne Duval. The first (left, below) was discovered by American writer Summer Brennan, and published on her brilliant Substack A Writer's Notebook in 2021.

This beautiful delivery has just arrived, thanks to the SERD (Société des etudes romantiques et dix-neuviémistes). Season-themed, original articles by many well known 19C scholars. Comes free with membership, postage included, and SERD membership costs only £10 if you are a UK SDN member already.

Today is the deadline! It's not too late to get your proposal in for "Health and Happiness" (in a 19th-century French context) in Cardiff...

Only a few days till the deadline! Still time to get your proposal in...

🚨 One week until the deadline! 🚨

The SDN has written to Senior Management at the University of Nottingham to urge them to reconsider their threatened suspension of Modern Languages. #SaveNottinghamLanguages #WeAreUoN @uniofnottingham.bsky.social Please sign, comment on, and share, the linked petition: x.com/uk_sdn/statu...

The second session on Impact will take place on 14th November, 4pm GMT. It will be hosted by Professor Helen Abbott (Birmingham) and Dr Hannah Scott (Newcastle). Sign ups will open in October for this event.

The first session will be on Alt-Ac Careers on 26th September at 4pm BST, delivered by Dr James Illingworth (IFSA) and Dr Stacie Allan (Translator and Consultant) To sign up for this session, please register with eventbrite here: www.eventbrite.com/e/edn-2025-a...

We are delighted to share the details of our upcoming Early Career training sessions. These are open to postgraduate and early career members of the Society, and will take the form of a roundtable with the panelists, followed by an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

It’s mid-September and we are fully feeling those “back-to-school” vibes here at SDN. Start the new academic year on a high by sending us your abstract for #SDNCardiff2026, on the theme of health and happiness. More details here: uksdn.co.uk/health-and-h...

Very excited for this semester's NCFS Unbound events (@ncfsassn.bsky.social). This is a great chance to hear from lots of fantastic 19th-century scholars who’ll be discussing their new books! Find out more here: ncfs-assn.byu.edu/ncfs-in-capt...

Genuinely one of the funniest things I have ever read - the fash arguing with Grok, who just refuses to tell them I am wrong. "I don't care what anybody says, look at Ariel footage."

Ok it's probably nearly 20 years since I last used it regularly but god the staff in the BnF café have changed their approach. Helpful, friendly, warm. I *think* I like it.

Anyone have suggestions for a v. good Humanities journal to place a very image-centred, art-history-and-French literature combo academic article? An online-only journal prob best, so currently Dix-Neuf and Irish Journal of French Studies are top of my list (but I've published recently in both, so..)

And if you are an ECR who is not a member of SDN, you can sort that out here: uksdn.co.uk/membership/

This deadline is fast approaching, if you are an ECR SDN member...

Is it normal, when you've bought a RER ticket via Bonjour RATP app, to open your Navigo app and see only the home screen? I am told my ticket is stored on this app, but... nothing showing.

Really enjoyed this excellent and long-delayed inaugural lecture (on Hugo and stars) by a wonderful colleague, Head of Department, scholar, and human being, Prof Fiona Cox -- it was a few weeks ago now, but I am still thinking about it. What a privilege it was to be there.

See a comparison fashion plate for the Jeanne Duval photo in replies to this thread (and in my book).

Some thoughts about this photo of Jeanne Duval, which I have been obsessing over since seeing it for the first time at the weekend. Thanks again, SO much, to @summerbrennan.bsky.social who discovered it, and please do go to her substack for more on this www.awritersnotebook.org/p/jeanne-duv... 1/12

A really exciting find!

So, this seems totally legitimate -- what an amazing, incredible find by writer and investigative journalist Summer Brennan @summerbrennan.bsky.social, who found it in a box of photo archives in the Richelieu library. For a sense of why this is so important, see Therese Dolan's 1/5

Does anyone recognise this photo? Saw it for the first time yesterday, in the Wikipedia entry for Jeanne Duval, uploaded in late April. If it's really her, I can't believe it isn't better known. Date (1862) rings true.

Susan Hiner is about to start speaking now...

Start thinking about health and happiness for your SDN conference proposal for 2026...

Congratulations to the winner of our 2025 Postgraduate Prize, Abigail Fields, for her paper, ‘Vous, les agriculteurs, hommes de progrès et de moralité!’; or, Flaubert and the Politics of the Comices Agricoles’ 🥳

Oh good grief. This is what happens when we devalue expertise. Journalists, Librarians, Booksellers, Writers, literally ANYONE WHO READS could have made a real list of real books that actually exist.

A contributor has had to withdraw from something I'm editing, late in the day. I'm looking for a sprightly 10,000 book historical words on the broad theme of 'consumers/consumption' and the period 1450-1650 (not necessarily all of it).

I regularly measure gender distribution of citations. Once you see the problem it's hard to stop.

If General Aupick was really the Head of the Ecole Polytechnique in the middle of a révolution democratique then how come his stepson never wrote a poem about this?

I am so delighted to announce that we are #hiring! A two year full-time teaching and research post in French 🇫🇷 Come and join our big and beautiful School of Languages, Cultures and Societies in leafy Leeds! Please post to your networks. jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... @lcsleeds.bsky.social

Amy Rigby nailed it in 2018. "They say the best is yet to come and there's no shame in being dumb." youtu.be/tIIffRN9APQ?...

Thug.

I will be speaking on Zoom this Friday, May 2nd with Colin Foss at 14:30 EST/19:30 UK about my book Hustlers in the Ivory Tower as part of the Nineteenth-Century French Studies Unbound series. All welcome! Register here: southalabama.zoom.us/meeting/regi... @ncfs.bsky.social @livunipress.bsky.social

Been thinking for a while that Baudelaire must have been reading the amazing Sophie de Grouchy for one of his poems (have already published an article about how Stendhal's De l'Amour rips her off) and learned just now that Baudelaire's dad probably had an affair with her, and he probably knew.

“The lack of viewpoint diversity can be a real issue. The solutions proffered, though, often threaten to make the problem worse.” My @observeruk.bsky.social column: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“To take equality seriously, we must accept that rights matter in relation to both sex and gender… We must accept, too, that we need to defend rights for all individuals whether they define themselves by sex or gender.” My new Observer column: observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Macron shook one hand.

These ghouls decimated humanities research for propagandistic nonsense. What sculptor would choose to work for these ghoulish monsters? What descendants of real heroes would agree to have their parent or grandparent (or ancestor) displayed in this ghoulish exhibit? Scream.

The full text of our letter to Nick Thomas-Symonds is below. Grateful to Labour colleagues from communities across the country for their support. I am very optimistic that there is a stronger UK/EU deal to be done on defence, trade and a visa based youth mobility deal.

14 years today. My poem for St George's Day, taken from my first full collection, The Knives of Villalejo...

Just asked Google a basic question about the French alexandrine (I know, but I have not had my morning coffee yet) and the most charitable thing I can say about the AI answer I got is that Wikipedia is starting to look pretty authoritative by comparison.

Relieved to have had this response from @drjogrady.bsky.social. UCU GS distances herself from the malevolent messaging in a photo she shared from the protest this weekend against the Supreme Court ruling.

Everyone should read this great piece from @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social about the crisis in universities and the danger of only chasing Reform UK sponsored policies www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

roughly once a day at the moment I think of the guy I spoke to in Maryland before the election who was still undecided because "one of them's a felon and the other one's a woman! whatever happens no one will take us seriously again!"

My NEH Public Scholar Award was just unlawfully terminated by DOGE. Unlike many NEH recipients, I received no termination notice. But, my NEH page now says "Warning: FULL: Administrative Termination.” I continue to honor my award terms; DOGE continues to violate lawful contracts. We will fight this.

If I forget my passwords, am I still me?