Catherine E. de Vries

A tremendous pleasure, and honor, to talk with @catherinedevries.bsky.social about the process of writing. She is a genius at writing herself, as evident in how she drew the threads of our convo together in this wonderful piece. Subscribe to her amazing substack blog to learn more. 🧵👇

Writing is a form of freedom & of struggle. The challenge is what makes it real.

🙏🏼 Big thank you to @katemcnamara.bsky.social for taking the time.

Next week’s conversation is with @erikvoeten.bsky.social

/end

She ends with tips that may help writers find their voice:

- Write a little every day.

- Structure is kindness, guide your reader’s hand.

- Cut adverbs. Use verbs that carry weight.

- Ask of each section: What am I really saying?

6/

If McNamara could etch one lesson into marble, it would be this: “be okay with the struggle.”

“Because it’s hard doesn’t mean you’re dumb. It’s supposed to be hard.”

5/

At the heart of her writing philosophy is imagination.
“People get stuck in the present,” she said. “The far right imagines alternative worlds all the time. We need to reclaim imagination as a tool.”

Writing is resistance, a refusal to accept that things can only ever be as they are.

4/

Freedom in writing, she said, is both liberating and terrifying. The craft depends on how you use it when no one is watching.

She urges us to “be true to our own Interests and instincts”.

The work that lasts begins, as McNamara reminds us, with the courage to follow what truly compels you.

3/

“The notion that your time is your own is an incredible gift,” McNamara told me.

For her, writing is a form of self-governance: the daily act of choosing what deserves your attention & what you can let go.

2/

Good prose, she says, is generous. Writing is a form of dialogue. It’s how we make complexity readable without flattening it.

She thinks as carefully about her sentences as she does about global order, both require balance, rhythm & structure.

1/

Etched in Marble: Kate McNamara on Imagination, Compassion, and the Struggle Worth Having Writers on the Forces That Shape Us and the Writing That Endures

Kate McNamara, Professor & author of The Politics of Everyday Europe, treats writing as a way of thinking clearly about power, markets & the ideas that connect them.

For her, writing isn’t easy, it’s a struggle, but one worth having!

🪶 New: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...

🧵


📢 Since launching EPSS in June 2025, we’ve been thrilled by the positive feedback from across the political science community.

Now that Call for Papers for EPSS Conference in Belfast has closed, we want to share the response has been extraordinary!

🧵

Politiek journalist Coen van de Ven: ‘De woede richt zich op links, terwijl rechts vooral regeert’ Het Uur: Coen van de Ven is politiek journalist. In zijn nieuwe boek Een links verhaal vertelt hij wat er gebeurde op links, terwijl Nederland zich blindstaarde op rechts. In Het Uur spreekt hij met P...

Dit was een heel fijn gesprek, met Pieter van der Wielen.

Hier te luisteren en te lezen: www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

Heel goed gesprek, dank Coen! (Dit is 1 van mijn favo podcasts! Pieter is een hele goede interviewer!)

I am not a lawyer, just a historian, but one fundamental problem with the political debate about the EU, especially in English publications is that the whole principle of the acquis communnitaire is not understood or taken seriously. The EU is a framework of rules, not an alliance.

Maybe we could all “quarantine the morning to read and write” and send non-urgent emails only after lunch? :)

"He protects what he calls his “first-thing” hours: the stretch of morning when thought still moves unfiltered. No meetings before eleven if he can help it, and ideally, no email either."

🙏🏼 Thank you for taking the time @dziblatt.bsky.social

Next week’s conversation with @katemcnamara.bsky.social

Etched in Marble: Daniel Ziblatt on Writing, Struggle, and How Democracy Depends on Both Writers on the Forces That Shape Us and the Writing That Endures

He reminds us that the work of writing, slow, deliberate, full of revision, mirrors the work of democracy itself: staying with difficulty to resolve contradictions

Full conversation here 👉 catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...

4/

Ziblatt’s advice to his students should be etched on every writer’s desk:

- Do your own writing.
- Bring your history to the problem.
- Write now, revise later.

Three short lines form an entire philosophy of the craft of writing.

3/

He told me: “Writing really reminds me of practicing the piano. You work away at it. Time disappears. It’s frustrating and exhilarating at once.”

It’s such a beautiful image: writing as practice, not performance. Precision as discipline.

2/

Ziblatt treats writing not as performance, but as a form of public thinking.

He writes with patience & accountability to his readers.

1/

Etched in Marble: Daniel Ziblatt on Writing, Struggle, and How Democracy Depends on Both Writers on the Forces That Shape Us and the Writing That Endures

Daniel Ziblatt writes the way he studies democracy: with discipline, patience, and a refusal to look away from complexity.

He writes with the conviction that democracy depends on the continuous work of understanding.

🧵

New on Etched in Marble: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...

Don’t forget to apply to EPSS!

Deadline for EPSS 2026 is this Friday!

📊 now in English @fesonline.bsky.social:
Gender gap in voting behavior in Germany📊

It's about the “big picture” since 1953 & current trends 2021-2025.

The gender gap keeps growing, especially among the young.

-> Longer trends are continuing & partly accelerating.

library.fes.de/pdf-files/a-...

EPSS 2026 submissions FAQ - EPSS Submissions are coming in fast for Belfast 2026 and so are your questions about submissions. Here are answers to the most common questions: Where do I go to submit? For panel submission: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/events/75765/symposia/create For paper submission: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/79266/submissions/new? How many papers can I submit? We put a constraint of max one presentation per person. This does …

Please share!: Last week to apply for @epssnet.bsky.social Belfast 2026

really good news is that there's been an amazing response to the call for papers already; now very excited for this meeting

⬇️ We put together a quick FAQ on Qs that have come up on submitting: epssnet.org/conferences/...

Het bejubelde herstel van het politieke midden maskeert de gestage uitholling ervan De media interpeteren de verkiezingsuitslag als ‘een herstel van het politieke midden’, maar het radicaal-rechtse blok is als geheel niet kleiner geworden en het midden is niet zo ver teruggeveerd als...

De Nederlandse politiek zit al 36 jaar in een slingerbeweging. Lange periodes van brede, richtingloze middencoalities worden afgewisseld door korte oprispingen van instabiel bestuur met radicaalrechts.
Maar die slinger zwaait steeds iets minder ver terug.
www.groene.nl/artikel/de-p...

As the Netherlands moves to the center, Brussels is watching It seems the Euroskepticism that once dominated the political mood has given way to a quiet mandate for cooperation and reform.

My take on what 🇳🇱 elections may mean for 🇪🇺 @ Politico.eu

“What is already clear is that the Dutch electorate voted far more pro-European than it did in 2023. […] Euroskepticism that once dominated the political mood has given way to a quiet mandate for cooperation”

www.politico.eu/article/neth...

As the Netherlands moves to the center, Brussels is watching It seems the Euroskepticism that once dominated the political mood has given way to a quiet mandate for cooperation and reform.

On the 🇳🇱elections and the EU @catherinedevries.bsky.social:

"For years now, Dutch politics have been oscillating between pragmatic euro-realism and latent Euroskepticism. But this election may finally signal the pendulum’s slow return toward a more pro-Europe center"
www.politico.eu/article/neth...

As the Netherlands moves to the center, Brussels is watching It seems the Euroskepticism that once dominated the political mood has given way to a quiet mandate for cooperation and reform.

Very good piece by @catherinedevries.bsky.social on what the Dutch election might mean for Europe www.politico.eu/article/neth...

As the Netherlands moves to the center, Brussels is watching It seems the Euroskepticism that once dominated the political mood has given way to a quiet mandate for cooperation and reform.

As the #Netherlands moves to the center, #EU is watching: @catherinedevries.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/neth... #politics