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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)

@aliciaandrz.bsky.social

13K followers 5.9K following 3.1K posts

assistant prof. of Shakespeare | book: “queer pregnancy in Shakespeare’s plays” | proud CUNY alum | bylines: Chronicle, Boston Globe, LA Review of Books, Electric Lit, Catapult, American Theatre, LitHub, Huffington Post, etc aliciaandrzejewskiphd.com

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · Nov 10

hi everyone! I’m a Shakespeare prof at William & Mary & a public scholar, writing for venues on everything from early modern abortion to serpent handling. I post about my sobriety journey, pedagogy, motherhood, mental illness, & more.

I hope my Twitter community finds me, I miss them dearly.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1h

did not have someone telling me “I’m biracial so I can’t be a bigot” on my bingo card for today but, for the record, marginalized people can absolutely be bigoted, terrible, evil people—because they’re human.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 2h

I hung all my jewelry up on my wall today because it’s art & I know it’s chaotic but now I can admire it even if I’m not wearing it.

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Reposted by Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)

Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 8h

woke up at 2:22 & the demon was a nightmare about my family of origin. I haven’t gone back to sleep. sometimes I think the “wounds,” as my therapist calls them, are too big & infected to ever heal.

but one day I’ll get the courage to write about them & that will be a start.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 5h

good morning from the little grey one. she says that you need to resist feeling the Sunday scaries today & instead enjoy yourself. it can all wait until tomorrow.

a little grey kitten with her paw on a blue notepad looking earnestly at you

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 6h

times are hard, my students are brilliant, & concerns over grade inflation are bullshit. I’ll give As all day every day.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 8h

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Reposted by Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)

Abhijeet @bingingout.bsky.social · 14h

We all have our own outlets

A line art cartoon of a smoking woman with a beehive haircut drawn over a photo of an outlet

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 17h

but I find familiarity in lots of perspectives, like about mothering for example. even if the experiences are distinct & particular some things are shared.

Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 17h

yes!

Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 18h

she’s so good.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 18h

will go find it now ❤️

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 18h

yes the art is often about the Black experience and it is also necessarily about the HUMAN experience & we are all human.

besides, art doesn’t belong to anyone. no one can tell me I can’t consume art by these artists. I would laugh in their face. this art is mine too.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 18h

Black people have enjoyed & taken inspiration from art by white people & their concerns forever. so you have a god-given right to enjoy & even identify with art by Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Keise Laymon, @jeremyoharris.bsky.social, Cardi B, Kehinde Wiley, whoever you want!

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 18h

I get so dismayed when fellow white people say they don’t engage with art by Black creatives because it’s not “for them.” like, it doesn’t have to be “for you”? what do you mean?

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

709 days sober.

some followers are annoyed I seem to be celebrating two years sober early, suggesting pride & hubris instead of the humility needed for sobriety. it occurred to me I’m also sort of celebrating tenure prematurely. but who cares? I have faith it’s all coming.

a woman in a low cut grey shirt with brown & blonde hair and a smile

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

I dreamt last night I had to seduce Trump to save my kid & escape his hotel. I complimented him profusely & said, “I’ve stayed in hotels in England, Holland, Thailand, & Brazil & yours are the best.” he looked at me & sincerely said, “really, you think so?”

that’s all it took.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

my husband & I were going to go see the new DiCaprio movie & right before he came to me & said, “Ali, I’m just not up to it tonight, watching gun violence. I just don’t want to see it.”

we stayed home & watched “is it cake?” instead. because, I thought, why do we want to see it?

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

google TMS & look into it. my insurance covered some of it because I had tried at least three antidepressants with no results. it doesn’t have many side effects so worth a shot. it’s too early to know if it’s working for me but I’ve heard good things.

Reposted by Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)

Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 2d

hello to the few academics that follow me. it’s job market time, so here are the materials that got me a tenure-track job in literature at William & Mary.

academic job hunting is like buying a lottery ticket to attend a shit show, but here they are:

www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxln6...

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 2d

god, I just want to resist the trope of the tortured artist so badly. we don’t have to be in pain to create good art. we can learn to embrace & channel our sensitivity & empathy in good health. I know we can.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 2d

23 days till 2 years sober.

I’m going to do it; it’s in the bag.

a selfie of a woman with long brown and blonde hair wearing a black dress and rose lipstick

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 2d

I got up early & wrote 750 words of my article on working with @jodipicoult.bsky.social on her book, By Any Other Name. it feels good to be writing again.

maybe the brain zaps are working.

I read an early draft of By Any Other Name while at the beach with my family. I remember the moment I first encountered Shakespeare in the text. I was not happy: “This [man] was slighter, with a receding hairline and a weak chin badly camouflaged by a dark beard” (144). Emilia immediately remembers reading one of his very bad plays as Hunsdon’s companion. At the bar, Shakespeare claims, “I, too, will write for the stage” and Emilia thinks “Badly” (144). When reading this exchange, I thought: “Jodi, you don’t have to be so mean about it.” Quickly, though, I realized that this is exactly the sentiment built by Shakespeareans Picoult wanted to poke at—the belief that Shakespeare is a god beyond reproach.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 2d

remembering a student eval I got that said something like, “yes Dr. A struggles with depression, which is the most logical & ethical response to the times we live in.”

I love how my students have gone to bat for me in their evals. I guess like they know I’d go to bat for them.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 2d

I think there’s no better evidence that I’m depressed than how lucky I am & how great my life is. I really want to enjoy it & it’s been so hard. the source of my depression? it’s been a lifelong journey to try & find it. but whatever it is is very real & nothing good can touch it.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 2d

nobody deserves the Nobel peace prize like Greta. I have never seen someone act so selflessly & with such humanity in my life. she is the best of us. she reminds us that we never had to be this way & we will never have to be this way.

she reminds us that peace is possible.

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