Elizabeth Boyle

Top notch replies on here, I feel proud to be a Blueskyer today 🫡

A brown penguin chick of some kind. It looks very much like a man in a suit. It is bedraggled and miserable

Made it to Friday but at what cost

In which we discuss oyster shells and candles, pigments and what to do when you have a hole in your parchment:

The House of Lords Digital & Communications Committee just published their report on AI, copyright & the creative industries, and their conclusions could not be clearer.

🧵 1/5

This appalling fat cat wants to shut the door on all my mature students, many of whom left school after GCSE and give up a lot to go to university. I can tell him that they’re the hungriest for education and far from being unable to graduate, they regularly get the highest grades. Hateful man.

António Lobo Antunes, One of Europe’s Most Revered Writers, Dies at 83

'“I don’t want people to ‘read’ my novels, ... I want people to live them, to ‘catch’ them, the way you would catch an illness.” In Mr. Antunes’s optic, the absence of a discernible plot is much closer to the way people actually “live” their lives.'

[Gift article]

Vladimir review – Rachel Weisz is unswervingly brilliant in a TV show you’ll admire for years to come This adaptation of the 2022 novel – starring Weisz, Leo Woodall and John Slattery – fits it perfectly to television. It’s a proper show for proper grownups

"[Weisz plays] a tenured English professor beloved by her students, whose husband, John ..., another tenured academic on the same campus – has just been suspended for sleeping with students. His defence is that this was before the rules changed. “It was a different time” is a recurring phrase ..."

My sexual freedom odyssey: what ancient African wisdom can teach us about pleasure today By speaking to women across the continent, I discovered how reclaiming pre-colonial rites and rituals can help us find joy in our bodies

Nana & I share the same agent (the wonderful Robert Caskie) & spent a lovely few days together in France a couple of years ago. She's an absolutely inspirational writer & activist, & awesome human. Her new book is published in the US today. Check out this article about it in today's @theguardian.com

A table laden with dishes of Syrian food including fatoush and stuffed vine leaves. A large central platter has 4 whole seabass on a bed of rice, decorated with lime, carrots, nuts and corn. The empty plates have napkins on them decorated with a crescent and the words Ramadan Mubarak.

Shared an Iftar meal with my Syrian family this evening. Ramadan Mubarak to everyone in Ireland and beyond who is observing this month of fasting.

Brave, visionary and queer: the Bohemian brilliance of author George Sand With her radical politics and flamboyant affairs, Sand was no stranger to controversy, but it’s time to debunk the myths surrounding a writer ahead of her time

"She was the cross-dressing, cigar-smoking divorcee Charles Baudelaire would label “a latrine”, and Friedrich Nietzsche “a dairy cow”. Yet, through pandemic, riots, typhoid, divorce and custody battles, bereavements and war, Sand never gave up on her vocation."

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...

This is exceptionally thoughtful and well said.

A film honors America’s first self-governed town founded by formerly enslaved people The Spirit We Move With explores the legacy of Mitchelville on Hilton Head Island and its Gullah Geechee community

"The Spirit We Move With, a new documentary set on Hilton Head Island, explores the story of the historic Mitchelville and its connection to Gullah Geechee descendants today... [It] underscores the notion that Gullah Geechee people don’t just have a past; they are also the pioneers of their future."

I think volume iv is out in April so you can just relive today over and over until it's published.

Apparently there are 5 volumes overall (though only 3 have been translated so far). I liked the first one, but not enough to keep going.

At least 40 killed in Israeli strike on girls' school in Iran, state media reports The reported deaths are the latest in the region after the United States and Israeli begun its attack on Iran this morning.

At least 40 people were killed in a strike on a girls' school in southern Iran, Iranian state media has reported.

A provincial official said Israeli strikes hit the school, according to state media jrnl.ie/6970531

No bonus points for me, but I'm reading Erasure by Percival Everett, and it's absolutely brilliant.

Keep going! It's doable! Sometimes you just need to put it down for a while and come back to it with fresh eyes.

Just submitted an article that I've been writing on and off (mostly off) for the past few years. Phew! 🥳🍾🥂

Unfortunately it clashes with our research seminar in Maynooth, Brendan, but we will raise a glass to you afterwards! Congratulations!

Just pushing up the registration link for the virtual book launch here 👇. See you there!

‘The bathrooms were rank, but we didn’t care’: how the grimy-but-great CBGB changed rock for ever Half a century ago, the famed New York venue run by a former marine and folk singer was ground zero for the punk and new wave scenes. Now the bands who played there are being celebrated on a 101-track...

"I can assure you the bathrooms were just as rank as they are reputed to have been … We didn’t care – we knew we were standing on sacred ground."

www.theguardian.com/music/2026/f...

😢

Screenshot of the headline and subheader of an article on Irish news site the Journal, reading: Temple Bar tourist trap pub installs giant St Patrick with a pint, then covers it with a bin bag Then they replaced the bin bag with a green cloth. More as we get it.

I hope the global chaos isn't distracting you from the truly important issues. Luckily the Journal has their eye on the ball. "More as we get it." 😆

#Spéirghorm

Early Medieval England and its Neighbours has had some cracking new articles published in the last week, including on movement of manuscripts in the eighth century and charter forgery at Westminster, as well as an impressive debut article on Byrhtferth of Ramsey: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Assistant Professorship in Medieval Literature (temporary cover) at University of Cambridge Apply now for the Assistant Professorship in Medieval Literature (temporary cover) role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

An opportunity for a medievalist to join the team at Cambridge: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQQ346/a...

Kickstart scholarship deadline soon! @maynoothuniversity.ie

"This scholarship ... was established by the Irish Probation Service, and supported by the Irish Prison Service, to support persons with a criminal justice history experiencing socio-economic disadvantage to access Higher Education (HE)."

Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize The annual prize is awarded to two writers who are currently or formerly incarcerated.

Submissions for this year's Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize, for writers who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated, are open!

The prize honors my sister, who died tragically in 2020 after many years in & out of incarceration.

Please help us spread the word.❤️
truthout.org/articles/kee...

Maynooth University Sanctuary Scholarship applications open. Deadline 20 March!

"Scholarships are open to: 
international protection applicants in Ireland; and  refugees, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, and those with leave to remain in Ireland."

www.maynoothuniversity.ie/edi/excellen...

As a Black man with Tourette Syndrome, the Public Advocate has some thoughts on BAFTA, Pt. 1:

Hear about his experience with Coprolalia, his thoughts on how BAFTA mishandled the moment, and the need for care for all who are harmed:

Full video: youtu.be/FgaqKIxS4Hs