Esther Brownsmith, PhD

I am beyond excited to share that I am receiving this year’s Brooten Award from the Society of Biblical Literature for my paper, “The Monster at the End of This Essay: Incestuous Whores, Trans Monstrosity, and Genesis 38.” www.sbl-site.org/news/announc...

While I studied reconstruction of Akkadian pronunciation in grad school, I’m not an expert in it myself. I can connect OP with Assyriologists who are, if need be.

If you think antifascists are bad, it just might be because you’re a fascist

So go out and do some damage, friends. Empathize radically and deeply. Love your neighbor as yourself. Sow wildflowers in the dung of his legacy. Water them with your tears, whether of sorrow or relief. Tend the rainbow blossoms as they grow.

A man who ruled an empire of hate died today. He once said that empathy was “a made-up, New Age term” that “does a lot of damage.” (1/2)

Aww, thank you so much! That means a lot.

“She Laughs at the Future” (Prov. 31:24b): Reading Sarah's Queer Jouissance Click on the article title to read more.

The new issue of Religious Studies Review is live, featuring responses to Lee Edelman and the Queer Study of Religion that include my own essay, "'She Laughs at the Future' (Prov. 31:24b): Reading Sarah's Queer Jouissance." It's available open access here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A 1955 writer casually dropping a “Germans tended to go along with Nazis just like your all-American wife goes along with segregation” is both the answer and the question for “how we got here”

The Classical Ideas Podcast: EP 332: Nonbinary Biblical Readings of Mordecai and Beyond w/Dr. Esther Brownsmith Esther Brownsmith (she/her) is Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Dayton. Her first monograph, Gendered Violence in Biblical Narrative: The Devouring Metaphor (Routledge, 2024), ...

Hey everyone, my interview with @gregsoden.bsky.social is live on the Classical Ideas Podcast! Listen up for discussion about my biblical studies journey, nonbinary readings of the Bible, and my exciting upcoming project on biblical killjoys. classicalideaspodcast.libsyn.com/ep-332-nonbi...

Cool stuff!

On the one hand: I do not need to be writing a new article. Also, am not Assyriologist.

On the other hand: I found an Akkadian passage that offers a fascinating new possibility for the Sotah laws of Numbers 5.

Ugh, decisions.

Transcription: How dare you have written about roses, When history burned like woods in summer heat? In today’s libraries the custodian dusts history volumes, And outside the window – returning with spring, Sappho sings a nightingale, How her heart dictates. Róże dla Safony (Roses for Sappho), By Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Trans. Aleksandra Gajowy

This stanza from a 1937 Polish poem really spoke to me in these times.

A 19th-century drawing of a woman sitting in an armchair and reading. Accompanying it is a poem by Esther Brownsmith: "What was it like to live in those times?", they will ask. Well, I will say, there was a lot of compulsively refreshing social media, a lot of bracing myself every time I pulled up the news, a lot of telling my friends that I loved them, because I couldn't tell them that things would be okay. And once, my therapist told me to take a spa day. So I sat in the hot water, and I tried not to think about Gaza or Ukraine or Roe or ICE or— and the water jets timed out. I looked down at my own body; I saw a diaphanous blanket of pinprick bubbles, each one clinging to a hair so faint and fine I'd forgotten they existed. A cocoon of air, stubbornly refusing to float from my skin. (The bubbles are not a metaphor for grace, or resilience, or hope. They simply startled me into seeing my flesh anew.) That is what it is like.

So honored that the inimitable @qgpennyworth.com used a poem that I wrote as part of a mini-zine/pop card! Check it out and share it if you like.

WHAT. MY FANDOMS ARE COLLIDING. ::goes back to comb through banter::

I've written elsewhere about fanfic and the book of Esther! The first article is the most accessible; the others are more academic.
theconversation.com/purims-origi...
bibleandcriticaltheory.com/vol-19-no-1-...
www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-ch...

Episode 70: Fan Fiction and Early Christian Writings with Tom de Bruin Podcastaflevering · It Means What It Means · 23-04-2025 · 1u 17m

Curious? @tdbiii.bsky.social writes brilliantly on fanfic and early Christian writings, and @annapwilson.bsky.social does amazing work on fanfic and premodern writing.
podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/i...
journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/tw...

A blonde white woman says "We have the same bedazzled Bible!"

Tl;dr: Not all scripture uses the mode of fanfic, but some of it does—and recognizing those parallels helps us to understand the goals of the biblical authors better.

Reading these texts through the lens of fanfic helps us understand how emotional attachment, entertainment, and the desire to "fix" canon all motivated ancient authors and readers of scripture, just like they motivate modern fanfic authors and readers.

Sometimes, the texts that made it into the Bible seem firmly rooted in the mode of fan fiction! Examples include the books of Esther (which seems to reimagine the goddess Ishtar as a nice Jewish girl) and Ruth (which tells the untold story of King David's immigrant ancestress).

Less simple: what is fanfic? It's a modern phenomenon, a genre, an exchange of gifts—but for our purposes, it's a mode. Fanfic is a mode of writing fictional texts that respond to preexisting texts, a mode that really emphasizes inspiration, passion, creativity, and community.

Let's start simple: what is the Bible? It's a library: a set of conversations preserved in dozens of texts that respond to each other and build upon each other. (And it's just one fragment of the broader conversations that took place in the ancient world.)

A "Fleabag" screencap that depicts a white brunette woman in the bathtub, reading a Bible. She looks aghast at the camera with a hand over her mouth.

Is the Bible fan fiction? A thread. 📜 ​​

Book cover with text Gendered Violence in Biblical Narrative, The Devouring Metaphor, Esther Brownsmith

Congratulations to Esther Brownsmith @brownsmith.bsky.social, Ph.D., 2020 HBI Scholar in Residence & @universityofdayton.bsky.social Asst. Prof., on the publication of GENDERED VIOLENCE IN BIBLICAL NARRATIVE, THE DEVOURING METAPHOR, now available in Open Access. 1/
www.routledge.com/Gendered-Vio...

… While it certainly hooks onto the fascination/frustration model, I wonder if there’s a specific parallel to the way that slash imagines “what if these characters, but with an erotic aspect to their bond.” Something connected to an erotics of devotion to Jesus. Idk, just spitballing.

I’m halfway through, and this is such a delight! (Also apparently I’ve been mispronouncing your name and I am so sorry. I’ll do better.) One specific thought: I was really struck by your comments about the texts that say “we love this story, but we’d like to see it with more love for Jesus.” …

It’s working! Just responded via DM.

Thank you! Let me know what you think!

I know that celebrating anything these days seems tone deaf. I know. But: if you've been waiting to read my book, I am so pleased to share that it is now officially available free to read in Open Access. So check it out and share widely! bit.ly/thedevouringmetaphor

An advertising banner for "The Trans Biblical Podcast Episode 2," featuring "Nonbinary Characters in the Bible: Mordecai" with Dr. Esther Brownsmith. The images include a picture of the book and of Dr. Brownsmith

Check out the Trans Biblical Podcast for a new episode where I talk about my work on Mordecai as a non-binary character, and why this kind of biblical work is so necessary these days.

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7qU3...

Youtube: youtu.be/SA9k-T-LvOA