Gillian Wright

And I loved reading it.

Wow!

The Pushkin job: unmasking the thieves behind an international rare books heist The long read: Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe. Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bi...

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

Why the BBC’s Shipping Forecast still entrances people after 100 years Designed to ensure safe sailing for those on the sea, a dedicated shipping forecast was first broadcast by the BBC in 1925.

theconversation.com/why-the-bbcs...

We surveyed British MPs – most don’t know how urgent climate action is New study finds both MPs and the public underestimate how quickly global emissions must be cut.

theconversation.com/we-surveyed-...

Rathlin: Manx Shearwater breeds on island for first time in decades The Manx Shearwater was once present on Rathlin Island in

how about that?!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘If you get it wrong, it’s sacrilegious!’ TV’s problem with Irish accents From James Norton’s ‘terror’ at playing a Dubliner in House of Guinness to Helen Mirren doing an impersonation so atrocious it went viral – why do actors struggle to play people from Ireland?

Very true.

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

At this event I will be talking to singer Adriana Festeu and Christopher White, Head of Opera at the RAM, about the opera-elitism stereotype and how things differ between Britain and Germany. Free to attend and open to all but you need to book a space.

With the usual prudent caveats about first examples in the OED; I love that Jonson is the first to be cited for "I told you so"

Gulliver’s Afterlives The first deep dive into the cultural afterlives of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, this book explores how the strange adventures of the 18th-century voyag…

Out soon: www.bloomsbury.com/us/gullivers...

The 17th-century woman who wrote about surviving domestic abuse In the 17th century, Anne Wentworth spoke out against her abusive husband and the religious institution that protected him.

Women have been speaking out about abuse for centuries! I wrote about Anne Wentworth, a 17th-century survivor of domestic abuse, for @theconversation.com #earlymodern

Peatlands: Northern Ireland's first protection strategy launched Stormont minister says the plan to protect peatlands is a

It's something.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Died #OTD 1701 the exiled King James II. In 1688 the king's Catholic wife, Mary Beatrice, had given birth to a son setting the country on a path towards the so-called 'Glorious Revolution' and James's removal from the throne. Find out more here 👇

Flax: The historic plant making a comeback in Northern Ireland Flax is being looked at as a tool to restore soil health and even help decarbonise manufacturing.

Flax redux:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

91-year-old author Maureen Duffy wins Pioneer prize launched by Bernardine Evaristo The RSL president has set up a new literary award for female writers over 60 using the £100,000 she herself won through the Women’s prize

A wonderful new prize, and a very worthy first winner. Tremendous news!

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/s...

Much for university staff to learn here too. It's all very reminiscent of what minority ethnic students say about their experience.

Preschool teachers provide fewer participation opportunities to working-class students than those from more privileged backgrounds | PNAS Social class disparities exist from the earliest stages of education. Research has suggested that class-based differences in factors such as social...

Interesting, depressing, and entirely unsurprising insights from France. I'd be amazed if it wasn't the same elsewhere.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Queer London In August 1934, young Cyril L. wrote to his friend Billy about all the exciting men he had met, the swinging nightclubs he had visited, and the vibrant new life he had forged for himself in the big ci...

It is twenty years today since my first book Queer London: Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis, 1918-57 was published by @uchicagopress.bsky.social and I am feeling contemplative.

press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Cold spots: Mapping inequality in SHAPE provision in UK higher education This British Academy report reveals that many parts of the UK are becoming subject cold spots – areas with no provision in a subject within a commutable distance. These are often in rural, coastal or ...

📢 Today the Academy launches a major new report urging action to tackle a growing crisis in our universities. Cuts to courses mean more regions than ever are ‘cold spots’ for access to many SHAPE subjects - with even more at risk. 🧵

📍Read the full report: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

Lovely to see you too, and I hope all is going well, with both you and your work.

I'm OK, but Mum has been having a few ups and downs this year, and recently moved into a care home. Not easy for either of us.

Brilliant to see this in print at last! Many congrats to the editors and all contributors.

Senate House Library announces relaunch of Visiting Research Fellowship Senate House Library and the Friends of Senate House Library are delighted to report that the Visiting Research Fellowships programme has been relaunched.

📣Only one week left to apply for the Senate House Library Visiting Fellowships 📣

In 2025-6 up to two awards of £1500 will be allocated to support a fellowship of up to two weeks.

Deadline: 15 September 2025

More info 👇
https://tinyurl.com/ykudv9tn

Does anyone know whether Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland could vote in Stormont and local elections in the 1950s? As far as I can work out, the Elections and Franchise Act 1946 limited the franchise to British subjects who were either born in NI or had lived in the UK for seven years.

National Trust enter Lough Neagh fray with £90k Stormont grant to 'develop Forever Mournes approach' to beset lake They say they "have no interest in ownership of the Lough"

The National Trust has entered the Lough Neagh fray with £90,000 in grant funding from Stormont to develop the beginnings of a “roadmap to recovery” for the beleaguered lake.
Read more here 👇
theearthscorr.substack.com/p/national-t...

Dia dhaoibh, a chairde!

The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project has just landed on Bluesky. We will be sharing stories, history and a few surprises behind our local place-names.

Do you have ideas on what type of content you would like to see? Maps, archives or just fun facts? Let us know below 😀

Since the lough is back in the (national) news, here's the blog version of my co-authored @politicalquarterly.bsky.social article from earlier in the year. #LoughNeagh

#AngloDutch relations?

Four fellowships awarded to encourage research into the RIA’s historic links with colonial enterprises - Royal Irish Academy The awarding of four fellowships (valued at €5,000 each) follows on from the Royal Irish Academy Colonial Legacies scoping exercise which was undertaken by Dr. Frances Nolan.

Four new fellowships will support research into the RIA’s historic ties to colonialism. Projects will explore museum collections, imperial knowledge networks, colonial cartography, and the Academy’s role in the spoils of empire.

Find out more 👉 https://tinyurl.com/5bxknnkx
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The long battle for equality: Northern Ireland’s LGBTQ+ history The Ulster Museum is taking significant steps to integrate LGBTQ+ history into its broader historical exhibits

The 2nd Lurgan Pride is tomorow. A relatively small town, it experienced a 1950s show trial so bad it shocked homophile activists in Britain. That event is now forgotten but we should think about the long ramifications of the virulently homophobic postwar years. www.irishnews.com/news/norther...

📣John Locke’s Forgotten Manuscript

We are thrilled to announce that @davidrarmitage.bsky.social's
article on his discovery of a new John Locke manuscript is out now👇

It sheds new light on Locke's practical involvement in political economy & his engagement with Ireland 📜🗃️