Ann Kennedy Smith
@akennedysmith.bsky.social
Author, critic and researcher. Reviews & essays in TLS, Guardian, History Today, ODNB. Writing about books & women's history in my Cambridge Ladies' Dining Society newsletter. https://akennedysmith.substack.com/
Pinned
Dorothy L. Sayers at Oxford
'Scholar; Master of Arts; Domina'
open.substack.com
I wrote about the first Oxford University graduation ceremony to award degrees to women, which took place on 14 October 1920. 27-year-old Dorothy L. Sayers was among the fifty celebrants that day, and she never forgot it.
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
Black Friday bargain for my double biography of Gwen and Augustus John - Artists Siblings Visionaries nearly half price on Amazon....
November 24, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Black Friday bargain for my double biography of Gwen and Augustus John - Artists Siblings Visionaries nearly half price on Amazon....
My latest post, featuring Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf and Amy Levy, with critics' Books of the Year (including Economica by @vnbateman.bsky.social), new words in dictionaries and old letters in secondhand books (see @sarahjlonsdale.bsky.social)
akennedysmith.substack.com/p/love-lette...
akennedysmith.substack.com/p/love-lette...
Love letters in old books
Reading in November, and other good things
akennedysmith.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:44 PM
My latest post, featuring Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf and Amy Levy, with critics' Books of the Year (including Economica by @vnbateman.bsky.social), new words in dictionaries and old letters in secondhand books (see @sarahjlonsdale.bsky.social)
akennedysmith.substack.com/p/love-lette...
akennedysmith.substack.com/p/love-lette...
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
A stunning portrait of the Scottish classical architect Sir William Bruce (c. 1630-1710) & his sexy cravat, painted in the 1660s by John Michael Wright. Bruce remodelled parts of the Palace of Holyroodhouse & designed Hopetoun House. Portrait spotted at the National Gallery of Scotland last weekend.
November 22, 2025 at 10:49 AM
A stunning portrait of the Scottish classical architect Sir William Bruce (c. 1630-1710) & his sexy cravat, painted in the 1660s by John Michael Wright. Bruce remodelled parts of the Palace of Holyroodhouse & designed Hopetoun House. Portrait spotted at the National Gallery of Scotland last weekend.
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
Grief created by Joan Wisdom, November 1967, in the art therapy studio at Netherne hospital, Surrey where she was compelled to live.
Her surviving works express distress & critique the psychiatric system which held power over her & the dehumanisation she experienced within it
Her surviving works express distress & critique the psychiatric system which held power over her & the dehumanisation she experienced within it
November 22, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Grief created by Joan Wisdom, November 1967, in the art therapy studio at Netherne hospital, Surrey where she was compelled to live.
Her surviving works express distress & critique the psychiatric system which held power over her & the dehumanisation she experienced within it
Her surviving works express distress & critique the psychiatric system which held power over her & the dehumanisation she experienced within it
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
More rain today.
🖼️ Freya Hartas
🖼️ Freya Hartas
November 22, 2025 at 11:21 AM
More rain today.
🖼️ Freya Hartas
🖼️ Freya Hartas
Very good to see @vnbateman.bsky.social's Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth and Power on Martin wolf's best economics books of 2025 list @financialtimes.com
Best books of 2025: Economics
Martin Wolf selects his must-read titles
www.ft.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Very good to see @vnbateman.bsky.social's Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth and Power on Martin wolf's best economics books of 2025 list @financialtimes.com
I've been writing about books, authors and the Cambridge Ladies' Dining Society for two years now on Substack. If you fancy joining the (virtual) tour, there's a special offer this week.
My second Substack anniversary...
...and other reasons to celebrate
akennedysmith.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:37 AM
I've been writing about books, authors and the Cambridge Ladies' Dining Society for two years now on Substack. If you fancy joining the (virtual) tour, there's a special offer this week.
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
Why does Avril Coleridge-Taylor deserve to be heard? Samantha Ege writes about her experience playing the Piano Concerto, out today on @resonus.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
Out of the shadows: why Avril Coleridge-Taylor deserves to be heard
The daughter of the British composer Samuel made controversial choices that took her on a different path to her father’s activism. Ahead of the premiere recording of her piano concerto, its soloist lo...
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Why does Avril Coleridge-Taylor deserve to be heard? Samantha Ege writes about her experience playing the Piano Concerto, out today on @resonus.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
Lovely short thread (with a v good piece at the end). I think Ruth's point at the end is entirely right. Also I think shows that 'being an effective minister' is a skillset in itself. Castle was not a transport wonk or labour market wonk or a welfare wonk, yet she was v effective in all three roles.
This week is Road Safety Week & a chance to talk about Barbara Castle!
Barbara was Transport Minister for three years yet she was able to introduce the Breathalyzer, a proper integrated transport strategy & more!
This was done despite fierce opposition.
📸 Photo from the Parliamentary Achieve
Barbara was Transport Minister for three years yet she was able to introduce the Breathalyzer, a proper integrated transport strategy & more!
This was done despite fierce opposition.
📸 Photo from the Parliamentary Achieve
November 19, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Lovely short thread (with a v good piece at the end). I think Ruth's point at the end is entirely right. Also I think shows that 'being an effective minister' is a skillset in itself. Castle was not a transport wonk or labour market wonk or a welfare wonk, yet she was v effective in all three roles.
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
You can preorder As If the US version now. Out in June 2026 with FSG us.macmillan.com/books/978037...
November 19, 2025 at 3:02 PM
You can preorder As If the US version now. Out in June 2026 with FSG us.macmillan.com/books/978037...
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
Francophones, looking for a translation of 'Souillard' – the late medieval name of a Very Good Dog. It clearly has 'dirty' or 'grubby' connotations, but how best to translate it? Google focuses its modern meaning of a sink plug-hole but I don't think that was meant in the C15! Please RT!
November 19, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Francophones, looking for a translation of 'Souillard' – the late medieval name of a Very Good Dog. It clearly has 'dirty' or 'grubby' connotations, but how best to translate it? Google focuses its modern meaning of a sink plug-hole but I don't think that was meant in the C15! Please RT!
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
Last year, I found an old love letter between the yellowing pages of a second hand book, and asked Bluesky whether you had found similar. I was inundated with responses (see 🧵 below)! My essay has just been published in @slightlyfoxed.bsky.social ! Thank you so much everyone who replied and helped
November 19, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Last year, I found an old love letter between the yellowing pages of a second hand book, and asked Bluesky whether you had found similar. I was inundated with responses (see 🧵 below)! My essay has just been published in @slightlyfoxed.bsky.social ! Thank you so much everyone who replied and helped
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
The industry is not supporting small-press publishers enough, not because it ought to, but because small-press publishing is the future of book production in this country, says Lucy Mercer in our recent Comment piece 👇 #BookSky
Don’t invest in AI, invest in the future of the book
ebx.sh
November 18, 2025 at 12:37 PM
The industry is not supporting small-press publishers enough, not because it ought to, but because small-press publishing is the future of book production in this country, says Lucy Mercer in our recent Comment piece 👇 #BookSky
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
Another plug for my BookWeek Scotland event on Friday, talking about Nan Shepherd's Aberdeen contemporaries and pals. (My name is Timothy Baker, not Barker, and it's Lyn, not Lynn, Irvine, but so it goes...) www.scottishbooktrust.com/book-week-sc...
Nan Shepherd and her friends
Friday 21 November | 14:30-15:30 - Aberdeen Central Library, Aberdeen
www.scottishbooktrust.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Another plug for my BookWeek Scotland event on Friday, talking about Nan Shepherd's Aberdeen contemporaries and pals. (My name is Timothy Baker, not Barker, and it's Lyn, not Lynn, Irvine, but so it goes...) www.scottishbooktrust.com/book-week-sc...
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
You just need to submit a proposal for the @bars.bsky.social conference before 30 Nov and write a *short* application note to apply for the bursary.
Of you're a historian, filmmaker, lawyer, architect, consultant, teacher, librarian - or anything else - share your new #romanticism insights with us!
Of you're a historian, filmmaker, lawyer, architect, consultant, teacher, librarian - or anything else - share your new #romanticism insights with us!
Also a reminder that @bars.bsky.social are offering a new conference #bursary this year, for professionals outside academia (not only teaching, heritage, alt-ac but any job) who are interested in #Romanticis and want to present their research.
Details on BARS website
#funding #IndependentScholars
Details on BARS website
#funding #IndependentScholars
Reminder: CfP closes for BARS 2026 'Romantic Retrospection' at the University of Birmingham, UK, and online on 30 November.
Details below:
www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/arts-...
Details below:
www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/arts-...
November 8, 2025 at 8:27 AM
You just need to submit a proposal for the @bars.bsky.social conference before 30 Nov and write a *short* application note to apply for the bursary.
Of you're a historian, filmmaker, lawyer, architect, consultant, teacher, librarian - or anything else - share your new #romanticism insights with us!
Of you're a historian, filmmaker, lawyer, architect, consultant, teacher, librarian - or anything else - share your new #romanticism insights with us!
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
This week Wednesday at Birkbeck, right in the heart of Bloomsbury: join us for thought-provoking talk by the brilliant Julia Laite on the history of Newfoundland, home of one of the British Empire’s most remote settlements where one of its most complete genocides took place. Free but pls register
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Annual Graduate Lecture 2025 - Stories at the Edge of Empire: Newfoundland, 1763-1829
Join us for an exploration of ways of mapping and knowing Newfoundland in the 18th & 19th centuries delivered by Julia Laite
www.bbk.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 8:00 PM
This week Wednesday at Birkbeck, right in the heart of Bloomsbury: join us for thought-provoking talk by the brilliant Julia Laite on the history of Newfoundland, home of one of the British Empire’s most remote settlements where one of its most complete genocides took place. Free but pls register
If you're in Cambridge in the next few weeks, I can highly recommend this exhibition and it's FREE. Don't miss it.
🧪Hold on to your urine flasks, there are only a few weeks left to visit Curious Cures!
📍 Open until 6 December 2025 at the University Library
🔗Book your FREE ticket: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY
Music by Vlad Bakutov from Pixabay
📍 Open until 6 December 2025 at the University Library
🔗Book your FREE ticket: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY
Music by Vlad Bakutov from Pixabay
November 17, 2025 at 8:09 PM
If you're in Cambridge in the next few weeks, I can highly recommend this exhibition and it's FREE. Don't miss it.
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
It's such fantastic news that poet, writer and journalist Amy Levy's archive has been acquired by Cambridge University Library @theul.bsky.social. I wrote about her time as a student at Newnham College Cambridge here:
akennedysmith.substack.com/p/written-wi...
akennedysmith.substack.com/p/written-wi...
The archive of enigmatic 19th-century writer Amy Levy has a new home at Cambridge University Library.
Find out more: https://loom.ly/RHh3bbc
Thank you to our supporters, including: @thefnl.bsky.social, Arts Council England, Rothschild Foundation, The Polonsky Foundation, T. S. Eliot Foundation.
Find out more: https://loom.ly/RHh3bbc
Thank you to our supporters, including: @thefnl.bsky.social, Arts Council England, Rothschild Foundation, The Polonsky Foundation, T. S. Eliot Foundation.
November 17, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
Look at this excellent handkerchief from 1769 at the V & A museum: a showcase for #18thc practices of remediation. Made to imitate a quodlibet/medley print, a genre that itself aims to simulate, in a trompe l'oeil idiom, a scatter of small printed papers.
Imagine blowing your nose on that!
#scraps
Imagine blowing your nose on that!
#scraps
November 16, 2025 at 6:57 PM
I'm celebrating two years of writing on Substack. Less serious than it looks.
My second Substack anniversary...
...and other reasons to celebrate
akennedysmith.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 6:06 PM
I'm celebrating two years of writing on Substack. Less serious than it looks.
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
My favourite year for oppressed literary masculinity was 2023 when the number of women on the Booker shortlist was smaller than the number of men named Paul
Exactly one woman has won the Booker in the past six years www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
November 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM
My favourite year for oppressed literary masculinity was 2023 when the number of women on the Booker shortlist was smaller than the number of men named Paul
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
Yesterday, three years and one day after our first date, I officially became Mrs @andrewmale.bsky.social in a day overflowing with love and joy. We could not be happier.
November 16, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Yesterday, three years and one day after our first date, I officially became Mrs @andrewmale.bsky.social in a day overflowing with love and joy. We could not be happier.
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
'...in times of frustration or exhaustion I tap into my memories of injustice. I remind myself of why I am doing what I am doing and this sustains me. Anger transforms into a battery charger that gives me a boost when it’s sorely needed.'
#AliceWong
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
#AliceWong
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Alice Wong, ‘luminary’ writer and disability rights activist, dies aged 51
Daughter of immigrants advocated for people with disabilities to have full autonomy over their lives
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:12 PM
'...in times of frustration or exhaustion I tap into my memories of injustice. I remind myself of why I am doing what I am doing and this sustains me. Anger transforms into a battery charger that gives me a boost when it’s sorely needed.'
#AliceWong
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
#AliceWong
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
The shocking but little-known consequences of the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913. Important thread by @misssarahwise.bsky.social
🧵
2/ The Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 introduced a new psychiatric category – the ‘moral defective’. Regardless of IQ, an individual deemed to be hopelessly recidivist was to be warehoused permanently in one of the new Mental Deficiency Colonies
2/ The Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 introduced a new psychiatric category – the ‘moral defective’. Regardless of IQ, an individual deemed to be hopelessly recidivist was to be warehoused permanently in one of the new Mental Deficiency Colonies
November 16, 2025 at 3:12 PM
The shocking but little-known consequences of the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913. Important thread by @misssarahwise.bsky.social
Reposted by Ann Kennedy Smith
