William Orchard
@billeo.bsky.social
Associate Professor of English, Queens College/ CUNY Graduate Center. Latinx studies, comics and graphic narratives, queer studies.
Today’s arrival— looking forward to digging into this
February 19, 2026 at 2:17 AM
Today’s arrival— looking forward to digging into this
Reposted by William Orchard
Six months ago today, scholar and teacher Ricardo Ortiz suddenly passed away.
New at PB: Maia Gil’Adí (@maiagiladi.bsky.social) remembers his life.
New at PB: Maia Gil’Adí (@maiagiladi.bsky.social) remembers his life.
XOXO, Ricardo Ortiz (1961–2025) - Public Books
“To hear him speak was to feel how literature can still shape a life; how beauty, thought, and feeling can move us forward together.”
www.publicbooks.org
February 18, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Six months ago today, scholar and teacher Ricardo Ortiz suddenly passed away.
New at PB: Maia Gil’Adí (@maiagiladi.bsky.social) remembers his life.
New at PB: Maia Gil’Adí (@maiagiladi.bsky.social) remembers his life.
Reposted by William Orchard
Public libraries are actually existing examples of the world we want. We should not have to fight for them under a democratic socialist mayor.
@nycplan.org is organizing a response. Tell Mamdani to make good on his commitment to baseline funding for libraries!
nycplan.org
@nycplan.org is organizing a response. Tell Mamdani to make good on his commitment to baseline funding for libraries!
nycplan.org
NYC Public Library Action Network
Read our response in our latest newsletter Mar 21 at Make the Road New York (in Queens). Learn how you can advocate for increased public library funding, hear more about the services that libraries…
nycplan.org
February 18, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Public libraries are actually existing examples of the world we want. We should not have to fight for them under a democratic socialist mayor.
@nycplan.org is organizing a response. Tell Mamdani to make good on his commitment to baseline funding for libraries!
nycplan.org
@nycplan.org is organizing a response. Tell Mamdani to make good on his commitment to baseline funding for libraries!
nycplan.org
Reposted by William Orchard
Reposted by William Orchard
Reposted by William Orchard
Dale Jacobs’ book “On Comics and Grief” was selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice, a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Jacobs offers an innovative, emotionally affecting approach to comics scholarship that's accessible to both fans & scholars. 1/8
February 18, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Dale Jacobs’ book “On Comics and Grief” was selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice, a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Jacobs offers an innovative, emotionally affecting approach to comics scholarship that's accessible to both fans & scholars. 1/8
CFP: Panel sponsored by the MLA's Comics and Graphic Narratives Forum on The Hernandez Brothers: Page by Page for the 2027 conference in Los Angeles. Deadline for abstracts: 3/16.
February 18, 2026 at 6:49 PM
CFP: Panel sponsored by the MLA's Comics and Graphic Narratives Forum on The Hernandez Brothers: Page by Page for the 2027 conference in Los Angeles. Deadline for abstracts: 3/16.
Reposted by William Orchard
Last summer, @maiagiladi.bsky.social received a set of questions from Ricardo Ortiz, in preparation for an interview about her first book, “Doom Patterns.” Ricardo passed away before their conversation. Gil’Adí turns his questions into a commemoration of his life.
XOXO, Ricardo Ortiz (1961–2025) - Public Books
“To hear him speak was to feel how literature can still shape a life; how beauty, thought, and feeling can move us forward together.”
www.publicbooks.org
February 18, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Last summer, @maiagiladi.bsky.social received a set of questions from Ricardo Ortiz, in preparation for an interview about her first book, “Doom Patterns.” Ricardo passed away before their conversation. Gil’Adí turns his questions into a commemoration of his life.
Reposted by William Orchard
Against Archival Erasure: a conversation on Caribbean women and the archive. 2/27 at the CUNY Graduate Center.
February 17, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Against Archival Erasure: a conversation on Caribbean women and the archive. 2/27 at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Reposted by William Orchard
“I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
February 17, 2026 at 7:31 PM
“I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
Reposted by William Orchard
“We’re not a perfect people. Yet, we are called to a perfect mission. Our mission to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to house the homeless, to teach the illiterate, to provide jobs for the jobless, and to choose the human race over the nuclear race.”
Jessie Jackson
REST IN PEACE
Jessie Jackson
REST IN PEACE
February 17, 2026 at 10:44 AM
“We’re not a perfect people. Yet, we are called to a perfect mission. Our mission to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to house the homeless, to teach the illiterate, to provide jobs for the jobless, and to choose the human race over the nuclear race.”
Jessie Jackson
REST IN PEACE
Jessie Jackson
REST IN PEACE
Against Archival Erasure: a conversation on Caribbean women and the archive. 2/27 at the CUNY Graduate Center.
February 17, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Against Archival Erasure: a conversation on Caribbean women and the archive. 2/27 at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Rhode Island shoreline on this morning’s commute
February 17, 2026 at 12:23 PM
Rhode Island shoreline on this morning’s commute
after watching Wuthering Heights, had to explain to my partner what the rest of the novel was about, to which he replied "what?!" also had to show the "I am Heathcliff" clip from the William Wyler adaptation, with Merle Oberon as Cathy.
February 17, 2026 at 12:39 AM
after watching Wuthering Heights, had to explain to my partner what the rest of the novel was about, to which he replied "what?!" also had to show the "I am Heathcliff" clip from the William Wyler adaptation, with Merle Oberon as Cathy.
Reposted by William Orchard
The prolific, pioneering filmmaker made dozens of documentaries and chronicled the inner workings of institutions. His 1967 film, Titicut Follies, revealed appalling conditions at a prison facility. n.pr/4rYs8nG
Frederick Wiseman, who captured the weirdness and wonder of everyday life, dies at 96
The prolific, pioneering filmmaker made dozens of documentaries and chronicled the inner workings of institutions. His 1967 film, Titicut Follies, revealed appalling conditions at a prison facility.
n.pr
February 16, 2026 at 11:22 PM
The prolific, pioneering filmmaker made dozens of documentaries and chronicled the inner workings of institutions. His 1967 film, Titicut Follies, revealed appalling conditions at a prison facility. n.pr/4rYs8nG
Reposted by William Orchard
RIP Frederick Wiseman (1930—2026)
February 16, 2026 at 9:14 PM
RIP Frederick Wiseman (1930—2026)
Reposted by William Orchard
Matt Wilkens on the end of DH:
"The steady state of DH, which I once believed was to be fully
subsumed within the humanities, now looks much more likely to involve the diffusion of humanistic knowledge into disciplines...constitutively quantitative and computational" academic.oup.com/alh/article-...
"The steady state of DH, which I once believed was to be fully
subsumed within the humanities, now looks much more likely to involve the diffusion of humanistic knowledge into disciplines...constitutively quantitative and computational" academic.oup.com/alh/article-...
What Instagram and Community Colleges Tell Us about the Future of Digital Humanities
Abstract. Two recent volumes illustrate the resilience of established critical approaches in literary studies, the potential use value of quantitative and
academic.oup.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:51 PM
Matt Wilkens on the end of DH:
"The steady state of DH, which I once believed was to be fully
subsumed within the humanities, now looks much more likely to involve the diffusion of humanistic knowledge into disciplines...constitutively quantitative and computational" academic.oup.com/alh/article-...
"The steady state of DH, which I once believed was to be fully
subsumed within the humanities, now looks much more likely to involve the diffusion of humanistic knowledge into disciplines...constitutively quantitative and computational" academic.oup.com/alh/article-...
Reposted by William Orchard
A child dying of cancer spent her final days fighting to free her wrongfully detained father from ICE custody.
This comes just weeks after a mother from Maryland was denied the right to be at her son’s side as he died from cancer.
Not one dime for this cruelty.
www.cbsnews.com/amp/chicago/...
This comes just weeks after a mother from Maryland was denied the right to be at her son’s side as he died from cancer.
Not one dime for this cruelty.
www.cbsnews.com/amp/chicago/...
Ofelia Torres, teen who fought to have her father released from ICE custody, dies from rare cancer
Ofelia Torres, 16, died on Friday from Stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, her father's lawyer confirmed.
www.cbsnews.com
February 15, 2026 at 9:20 PM
A child dying of cancer spent her final days fighting to free her wrongfully detained father from ICE custody.
This comes just weeks after a mother from Maryland was denied the right to be at her son’s side as he died from cancer.
Not one dime for this cruelty.
www.cbsnews.com/amp/chicago/...
This comes just weeks after a mother from Maryland was denied the right to be at her son’s side as he died from cancer.
Not one dime for this cruelty.
www.cbsnews.com/amp/chicago/...
Reposted by William Orchard
With matter-of-fact precision, Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir powerfully chronicles the shock of discovering her husband’s crimes and the rallying cry that followed. “It seeks a proper transfer of shame from sex-crime victims to their perpetrators, and the perpetrators’ enablers,” our book critic writes.
‘A Hymn to Life’ Review: Gisèle Pelicot’s Memoir Is a Powerfully Written Feminist Manifesto
With matter-of-fact precision, “A Hymn to Life” powerfully chronicles the shock of discovering her husband’s sex crimes, and the rallying cry that followed.
nyti.ms
February 15, 2026 at 3:40 PM
With matter-of-fact precision, Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir powerfully chronicles the shock of discovering her husband’s crimes and the rallying cry that followed. “It seeks a proper transfer of shame from sex-crime victims to their perpetrators, and the perpetrators’ enablers,” our book critic writes.
Reposted by William Orchard
James Scorer’s “Latin American Comics in the Twenty-First Century: Transgressing the Frame” received an Honorable Mention for the Charles Hatfield Book Prize from the Comics Studies Society. Scorer marks the post-2005 period as the dawn of a significant era of growth & transformation. 1/7
February 14, 2026 at 3:56 PM
James Scorer’s “Latin American Comics in the Twenty-First Century: Transgressing the Frame” received an Honorable Mention for the Charles Hatfield Book Prize from the Comics Studies Society. Scorer marks the post-2005 period as the dawn of a significant era of growth & transformation. 1/7
Reposted by William Orchard
As some of you may know, I’m writing a book on the history of high school English in the United States, and I’m excited to share a new article from that project—“High School English and the Making of American Readers”—out today in American Literary History! 🧵
academic.oup.com/alh/article/...
academic.oup.com/alh/article/...
High School English and the Making of American Readers
Abstract. The high school English classroom is the most influential literary institution in the United States, and the most overlooked by literary scholars
academic.oup.com
February 13, 2026 at 7:21 PM
As some of you may know, I’m writing a book on the history of high school English in the United States, and I’m excited to share a new article from that project—“High School English and the Making of American Readers”—out today in American Literary History! 🧵
academic.oup.com/alh/article/...
academic.oup.com/alh/article/...
Reposted by William Orchard
"The scheme recouped more than its net cost of €72m through increases in arts-related expenditure, productivity gains and reduced reliance on other welfare payments, according to a government-commissioned cost-benefit analysis."
Empower the arts ✊
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Empower the arts ✊
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Ireland’s basic income for the arts scheme becomes permanent
When piloted, initiative that provided €325 a week to eligible artists recouped more than its net cost, study shows
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2026 at 6:52 AM
"The scheme recouped more than its net cost of €72m through increases in arts-related expenditure, productivity gains and reduced reliance on other welfare payments, according to a government-commissioned cost-benefit analysis."
Empower the arts ✊
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Empower the arts ✊
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Reposted by William Orchard
Yes it’s Valentine’s Day. But it’s also the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass who was born in 1818 on a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland. He escaped from slavery & rose to become the most eloquent and forceful voice for the abolition of slavery & for Black voting rights in the U.S.
February 14, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Yes it’s Valentine’s Day. But it’s also the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass who was born in 1818 on a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland. He escaped from slavery & rose to become the most eloquent and forceful voice for the abolition of slavery & for Black voting rights in the U.S.
Reposted by William Orchard
“what cool shit can I do as Mayor? oh, I can marry people? awesome, let’s do it”
once again the constant theme of “New York is great, New Yorkers are great, isn’t this great?” comes through
once again the constant theme of “New York is great, New Yorkers are great, isn’t this great?” comes through
Everyone in the world comes to get married at the NYC Marriage Bureau. Last week, the Mayor stopped by to officiate a few of those ceremonies.
Thank you to all the couples who shared their joy with us. Happy Valentine's Day, New York.
Watch the full video at Youtube.com/nycmayorsoffice
Thank you to all the couples who shared their joy with us. Happy Valentine's Day, New York.
Watch the full video at Youtube.com/nycmayorsoffice
February 14, 2026 at 4:25 PM
“what cool shit can I do as Mayor? oh, I can marry people? awesome, let’s do it”
once again the constant theme of “New York is great, New Yorkers are great, isn’t this great?” comes through
once again the constant theme of “New York is great, New Yorkers are great, isn’t this great?” comes through
Reposted by William Orchard
Eliminating gender studies courses helps to ensure that universities and other institutions will continue to protect men who benefit from the abuse of women and girls, either directly or through their connections to those who exploit girls and women for profit.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott
Texas A&M University is the latest school to end women’s and gender studies programs and teaching race. We know why
www.theguardian.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Eliminating gender studies courses helps to ensure that universities and other institutions will continue to protect men who benefit from the abuse of women and girls, either directly or through their connections to those who exploit girls and women for profit.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...