Berthold Schoene

One of my most memorable reads ever!

Rosa von Praunheim, provocative pioneer of gay cinema, dies aged 83 The film-maker, whose 1971 feature about queer life has been described as Germany’s ‘Stonewall moment’, married his long-term partner on Friday

“Nicht der Homosexuelle ist pervers, sondern die Situation, in der er lebt.” www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...

As of course it should be! 🎄

Book Cover of Anthropocene Affordances.

Anthropocene Affordances is now out in the world!🌎
I’m proud (and very excited!) to share that my dissertation Anthropocene Affordances has just been published in the Literary Ecologies series at @transcript-verlag.bsky.social.💡 Check out the book here: www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-7....

Universities: investing millions so students ”develop literacy in the language of AI”

Also universities: defunding the humanities so students are illiterate in ordinary languages

An issue we're seeing at all levels of university is that many students are simply refusing to do *anything*. They aren't reading the syllabus, aren't following assignment guidelines, aren't engaging with material, ignoring deadlines. And this might seem like old news, but it truly has ramped up.

A first look at our new series design for Fictional Objects!

Common by Nikolai Duffy follows its main character as he comes to terms with the circumstances of his life - a reflection on solitude, freedom, responsibility, and the repeated attempt to transcend the legacies of the past.

‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent

Brave New HE www.theguardian.com/education/20...

ALL THAT MAN IS by Szalay is a moving exploration of masculinity across the generations. His TURBULENCE disappointed me (too sparse). Hence all that current hype over FLESH’s breathtaking sparsity leaves me cold. Meanwhile the not-so-sparse beauty of THE LAND IN WINTER did take my breath away.

YouTube video by Bao Nguyen - Grad. Admin Comparative Literature Andreas Malm's Public Lecture, October 10, 2025, Audio Only

"Denial is not an idiosyncracy or private pathology, but a certificate of membership in this particular society, a kind of credit card necessary for moving around in it and accessing its commodities and living without going nuts"

- Prof. Andreas Malm

youtu.be/fVYO7w6UHi8

Autumn colours 🍁

Blown over (!) by HELM. (Porter’s is next.) I love this Prize which rediscovers the novel afresh every year.

With anonymised marking, any meaningful pedagogical engagement or intervention went out of the window. Frustrating for tutors who can no longer delight in a student’s learning as they mark their work & a sad loss for students who are deprived of the personal touch they so clearly continue to crave.

Marnie, optimising summer’s long goodbye

Laureate's block I'm appalled to see newspapers use my name as 'widely-tipped' for a job I'd never seek. Swans come in Domestic, Mute, and Tame and no swan-upper's going to nick my beak

'A poet's death fills other poets with dread.' Harrison was on roaring form here.
www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/feb/...

Cookie politics

Never read anything by Pym before: is this what’s meant by “middle brow”?!

We’ve renamed the house in honour of these two blue wonders 🤩🥰❤️

How kind of you to say so — much appreciated, thank you! 🤩

Thank you for engaging with my work at all! It’s refreshing to hear it’s been of some use. ANITA AND ME is a cracker!

Androdecentrism in the Anthropocene: Weirding Masculinities in the Work of Max Porter, Martin Macinnes, and Matt Hill In an era marked by ecological collapse and accelerated technological transformation, the human subject, and especially the masculine subject, can no longer be imagined as sovereign, stable, or aut...

See also Androdecentrism in the Anthropocene: Weirding Masculinities in the Work of Max Porter, Martin Macinnes, and Matt Hill: Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... by @angelariviz.bsky.social

Wrote about this over 25 years ago & it continues to be one of my absolute favourite Bildungsroman novels journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Mount Fuji, on arrival

Author Nicola Barker: Podcast Episode · The New Statesman: politics and culture · 30/08/2025 · 38m

'If you're experimenting with things, you're always writing against the culture'

Goldsmiths Prize 2017 winner Nicola Barker talks to @tanjilrashid.bsky.social about piecing the novel back together again after H(A)PPY, and much else . . .

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...

Whixall (May 2020)

"Can I read you some of my poetry?"

A screenshot of the ANTI-EXTINCTION syllabus cover page with a dodo representing extinct beings. The text reads: "Though extinction is a natural phenomenon, human activity has hastened species loss in recent centuries. What factors led to the loss of the dodo, the passenger pigeon, and thylacine? What brought the American bison and California condor back from the brink of extinction? What are the promises and perils of de-extinction projects that aim to recreate dire wolves and woolly mammoths? These case studies (among others!) offer critical context for understanding ongoing biodiversity and social justice crises. Organized around questions of multispecies justice, with an emphasis on the significance of stories, this course invites students to consider what kind of existence they want for themselves and for other beings amidst the Sixth Mass Extinction."

In the spirit of syllabus season, here’s a link to an extinction studies course of the #envhist #envhum variety. From the dodo to dire wolves...Please borrow, adapt, share!

drive.google.com/file/d/1SzKp...

cc: @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social!

Vetch — what an odd and ugly name for a very beautiful flower!

TonyInterruptor by Nicola Barker review – satire that sees right through you This brilliantly over-the-top comedy about an unworldly heckler explores art and authenticity – being tripped up by it is part of the fun

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a... “A rollercoaster kind of excess” — hugely looking forward to this when it comes out next week. About time too: it’s been a while since the last Nicola Barker novel!