writer | researcher | academic
Happy Black History Month This post is an extended version of a comment I made on Brittany Lloyd's substack, because it deserved to be an article. Decolonisation has to be an everyday act. I know this from my own attempts: how often do you turn to the 'worthy' thing you might be doing, rather than... Continue Reading →
Brought to you by my PhD chapter on 50 Shades being heavily underway (dare I say almost complete?) 50 Shades of Grey is a peculiar artefact in that it is astoundingly popular and also near immediately forgotten. Similar to James Cameron's movie Avatar, this book shows considerable understanding of genre and audience in a way... Continue Reading →
How can you educate when your own education was a lifetime ago? I recently had the obligation of transcribing for a young student during an exam. Like any educator I find acting as a scribe difficult: your role in this context is to write exactly what they say, ask no leading questions, and not comment... Continue Reading →
My job is strange. For World Book Week, I encouraged several of our staff[1] to read out stories rooted in their own heritage to my students. All my colleagues, however, are incredibly busy, so I agreed to source the stories. I am not the kind of librarian to do things by half, so what follows... Continue Reading →
Or, If I'm Staring At You It's Because I Want To Be Friends Did anybody tell you, when you were young, that 'it's not a fashion parade'? I see you. I see you and your meticulous eye for detail, your desire to live the fantasy version of yourself. Because yes - yes it is a... Continue Reading →
ie the books you should read to understand me, with film and music pairings
for panicking givers.
October 10th to 12th was the London (Autumn) Pen Show. This is like any trade show: you have vendors who like to sell you things, customers who want deals on those things, and a few onlookers trying to build brands, follow next year's marketing trends, make relationships with mutually beneficial businesses… or who just want to hold the bags of somebody they love, looking for a place to sit. I went for the Sunday as a customer.
Literally just a list of central London libraries marked on aspects that add up to ~vibe~
Do you ever find yourself researching something so strange that you stop and wonder what brought you here? I find that it’s almost a daily occurrence for me: whether it’s finding a stack of books on the history of various astrologies (what’s more surprising, that I needed it or that it’s a surprisingly well-covered field?)... Continue Reading →
