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Impressed with Edinburgh's weather, which is contriving to rain at the front of the house, and snow out the back.

It's very exciting seeing proposals come in for 'Woolf & Dissidence' School of Media, Arts and Humanities King's English The deadline for proposals is 13th December, so do submit your proposal soon! woolf2025.uk IVWS MSA (Modernism) British Association for Modernist Studies Virginia Woolf Society GB

Please donate something if you can to help Jue Jue, a friend of a friend who's been subjected to an appalling hate crime. Look out for your mates, and God's curse on the people who encourage and excuse this hatred gofund.me/835e11bb

If you're interested in the MA in English Studies at Durham, there's an info. session next Tuesday 3 December, 5-6pm (GMT), with some excellent colleagues. Those with interests in the body/the senses are well catered for here: eventbrite.co.uk/e/info-session…

We spent a bit of this morning at Starbank Park listening to carols from (part of) the Edinburgh Brass Band, amongst many excited smalls high on their advent calendar chocolate. What a lovely event, & a gorgeous day for it, with the sun sparkling off the sea.

We should all be worried by the 2024 National Literacy Trust report, cited here: just 34.6% of 8-18 yr olds enjoy reading. Reading enjoyment has more impact on cognitive development than having a degree-educated parent. We have never needed English Studies more.

I see The Guardian is recommending we stock up on 'spare [Christmas] gifts for unexpected visitors, such as new partners or stray aunts.' F*ck me, that's patronising. Are we really still doing 'surplus women' discourse in the Year of Our Lord 2024? Justice for aunties!

#LifeWriteNow seminar this week looked at Brandon Taylor's Real Life + essays by both Taylor & Tope Folarin. With group presentations on the racial politics of the 'autofiction' label & why Taylor's novel shouldn't've been stuck with it in the first place. blgtylr.substack.com/p/the-tiny-whi…

Rounded off my favourite term in nearly 10 years at Durham by having lunch with Christian Drury & giving the Ulysses lecture. Our students have been ON FORM over the past 10 weeks, & everyone's been saying so. What a great honour this job is. ✨

It's giving 'We've spoken to these lovely sharks, and they've promised not to bite us, so the Blood-Covered Swimmers' Session can continue as planned.'

New work from former supervisee and teaching colleague Dr Christian Drury, for the mountaineering-and-modernity crowd: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

Review of Rach 3 at the Usher Hall on Friday night. I was attending with the reviewer, but my incisive commentary ('That man has got at least three hands, & you cannot convince me otherwise') hasn't made it into print, alas: thetimes.com/uk/scotland/ar…

Just finished first run of Life Write Now: Reading Contemporary Autofiction, & the student work has been OUTSTANDING. Just read an essay on 'rigour' across sexual & theoretical/textual encounters in Garth Greenwell that was so good it brought a tear to my eye. Roll on next year!

Colleagues at Durham University: if you spot an Arctic-related dissertation in your marking pile, don't forget it may be eligible for a DurhamARCTIC Project Dissertation Award & cash prize. All Faculties can submit! Deadline 1 July 2025: durham.ac.uk/research/insti…

We're so pleased that Mark Gatiss will join our brilliant Research in English At Durham graduands for the 7 July 2025 Congregation & celebrations. Looking forward to seeing him in Durham soon.

A pleasure to be in Brussels recently to examine this excellent PhD thesis, & to meet Dr Deroo’s family, friends, & fans (numerous).

The Paris heatwave was a challenge, but couldn’t dent the pleasure of representing DurhamARCTIC Project at the Polar X conference. Interdisciplinarity, extractivism, Indigenous voices, & the role of gender in polar research, feat. new friends & old.

Great recital from Young Sounds UK musicians in Edinburgh last night. Lovely to hear some French horn, Ethan had everyone smiling, & Casey at ‘wtf?’ levels of brilliant. Thanks to all, & to Edinburgh Society of Musicians for the pretty venue.