Brycchan Carey
@brycchancarey.bsky.social
720 followers 360 following 160 posts

Professor of Literature, Culture, and History; scholar of slavery, empire, and natural history; Stalwart of BSECS, ASLEUKI, the Linnean Society, and Alnwick FoE. From Cornwall, now living in Alnwick, Northumberland. Website: https://www.brycchancarey.com .. more

Brycchan Carey is a British academic and author with research interests in the environmental humanities and the cultural history of slavery and abolition. He was educated at Goldsmiths' College, University of London and Queen Mary, University of London, where he completed a doctorate on "The Rhetoric of Sensibility: Argument, Sentiment, and Slavery in the Late Eighteenth Century". He lectured at Kingston University from 2000 before taking up the role of Professor of Literature, Culture, and History at Northumbria University in 2016. .. more

Political science 30%
History 18%
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Reposted by Brycchan Carey

alnwickfoe.bsky.social
Northumberland Wildlife Trust are appealing for donations to save the Rothbury Estate, a breathtaking mix of moorland, woodland, rivers, and farmland. Until 30 September, whatever you give will be doubled, up to £100,000. You can find out more and donate at www.wildlifetrusts.org/appeals/roth...
Rothbury Estate Match Appeal | The Wildlife Trusts
In the heart of Northumberland, a rare, wild and historic 3,800-hectare estate is at risk of being sold off and lost for nature. Until 30 September 2025, your gift will be doubled to help save it, up ...
www.wildlifetrusts.org

brycchancarey.bsky.social
My travel plans for the week reveal one way British English is clearer than American English:

American: I'm going to Sheffield Wednesday!

British: I'm going to Sheffield on Wednesday.

Reposted by Brycchan Carey

alnwickfoe.bsky.social
We're teaming up with Alnwick Playhouse to present Christo Waller's film Leaving it Better, a compelling story of what happened when environmentalists met with Teesdale farmers. Join us on Tuesday 7 October, 7.30pm. Admission FREE! More information and book at alnwickplayhouse.co.uk/event/leavin...

Reposted by Brycchan Carey

asleuki.bsky.social
ASLE-UKI Online Seminar Eighteenth-Century Literature and Environment

29 January 2026, 3:00-7:00pm GMT

Convenors: Brycchan Carey (Northumbria University) and Tess Somervell (University of Oxford)

Further details: asle.org.uk/events/semin...

Register here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/asle-uki-s...

brycchancarey.bsky.social
Just had a grand day out in #Coldstream - first at the museum (sadly at risk of closure) with a fascinating exhibit on the Coldstream Guards, then the Guards Monument overlooking the Tweed, and finally tea and a walk round the lake at the Hirsel, home of the Douglas-Home family.

Reposted by Brycchan Carey

asleuki.bsky.social
📣Did you know that ASLE-UKI members are entitled to a 30% discount via Taylor and Francis? You can access this on our website: asle.org.uk/green-letters/

brycchancarey.bsky.social
Here’s a lovely rainbow visible from my back garden in #Alnwick this evening, although as usual the crock of gold appears to have landed in the castle rather than the town centre.

brycchancarey.bsky.social
I’ve been at High Hauxley on this rather grey day today where at 3pm sharp every birder, and every bird, was startled by the emergency phone alert test. But saw my first snipe, ruff, pochard, shoveler, and goosander of the year, and my first ever wood sandpiper. Success!

bsecs.bsky.social
The deadline for submitting proposals for #BSECS2026 is only two weeks away. Get scribbling! #skystorians #18thC 🗃️
This year's theme is 'Big and Small', 7-9 January, Pembroke College, Oxford.
www.bsecs.org.uk/conferences/...
BSECS - Submit a Proposal
Submit a Proposal. BSECS welcomes proposals for the Annual Conference. The deadline for submission of papers and panel proposals is usually November.
www.bsecs.org.uk

brycchancarey.bsky.social
"Carey’s razor-sharp key insight is that C18th abolitionism engaged as much with emerging environmental and life sciences as with the moral philosophy with which it has long been associated" - Monique Allewaert reviews The Unnatural Trade in the William & Mary Quarterly: muse.jhu.edu/pub/275/arti...

Reposted by Brycchan Carey

brycchancarey.bsky.social
I was at Kilkenny Castle today with @rosiepaice.bsky.social and Páraic Finnerty. It has many C17th and C18th portraits of the Butler family - Dukes of Ormande - their family, and English royals. If you’re after Stuart monarchs, come here, but if it’s Hanoverians you’re after, try elsewhere.

brycchancarey.bsky.social
I visited the Hill of Tara, Co. Meath, today with @cobrunstrom.bsky.social and @rosiepaice.bsky.social This ancient site has prehistoric burial sites, ancient carvings, the Irish Stone of Destiny, and fabulous views over most of central Ireland. As recommended by generations of high kings!

brycchancarey.bsky.social
Despite Seamus Heaney’s warning, I did park along the Flaggy Shore and try to capture the slate-grey lake full of swans, the glittering sea, somewhat less wild on an August evening, and the flagstones full of fossil corals like ghostly ferns pressed into the limestone.

Reposted by Patrick Lonergan

brycchancarey.bsky.social
The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE-UKI) conference in Galway is concluding with novelist Lisa McInerney reading from her Cork novels and in conversation with Patrick Lonergan. A fabulous end to a fantastic conference! @asleuki.bsky.social

brycchancarey.bsky.social
In the cavernous lecture hall at the @asleuki conference in Galway, John Brannigan is giving his keynote talk “On the place of herons in archipelagic writing”.

brycchancarey.bsky.social
If you’re at the @asleuki.bsky.social conference in Galway, take a look at my book The Unnatural Trade on the book stall. I have copies for sale at the special conference price of €30 - ask me in the coffee/lunch breaks. If you’re not in Galway, find out more at brycchancarey.com/bookshop/ind...

brycchancarey.bsky.social
I’m in Galway this week for the conference of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment UK and Ireland (@asleuki.bsky.social), which this year has the theme of “Erosion”. Conference organiser Ashley Cahillane is giving us a warm welcome!

brycchancarey.bsky.social
I took a drive around the Connemara coast this afternoon. Visibility was often poor but the stunning landscape invariably shone through.

brycchancarey.bsky.social
"Among the many virtues of The Unnatural Trade... are its deep knowledge of abolitionist thought, its systematic approach to cultural and literary history, and its striking and persuasive turns of phrase" -- Timothy Erwin's review in Modern Philology. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

brycchancarey.bsky.social
I paid my respects to W.B. Yeats today. I stopped at his grave in Drumcliff church, Co. Sligo, in the shadow of Ben Bulben. Yeats was the one who really turned me on to the power of poetry. Thank you.

brycchancarey.bsky.social
I’ve been walking around Donegal today - including the Eske Estuary, the ruined abbey, and the once ruined but now partly restored castle. I saw my first kingfisher of the year in the river under the castle!

brycchancarey.bsky.social
I’m staying in Stranraer tonight. The abandoned ferry terminal in front of the hotel sadly reminds me of what Daniel Defoe said of nearby Kirkcudbright: “Here is a harbour without ships, a port without trade, a fishery without nets, a people without business.”

brycchancarey.bsky.social
I'm delighted to announce that my book The Unnatural Trade has been shortlisted for the @asleuki.bsky.social Book Prize! The full list is at asle.org.uk/2025-asle-uk.... You can find out more about the book and order at www.brycchancarey.com/bookshop/unn.... Many thanks to the ASLE-UKI judges!

brycchancarey.bsky.social
I've finished the eighteenth century! My clerical naturalists database now contains biographies and links for all individuals born before 1801, many of whose careers reach into the 1880s. You can find our more about the project and access the full list at www.brycchancarey.com/naturalists/

brycchancarey.bsky.social
I was just in Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire, admiring the ‘Leaves of Southwell’. These 13th-century stone carvings have astonishingly accurate representations of oak, hawthorn, and field maple alongside dogs, pigs, and dragons vying with priests, nuns, princes, and kings.

brycchancarey.bsky.social
In preparation for taking some annual leave, I’ve done nothing but deal with email for the past six and half days. At last, I’ve reached this mythological symbol just half a day into my leave period. Now, please may I request everyone’s assistance in keeping it that way!

brycchancarey.bsky.social
You know you’re in Northumberland when there are sheep on the beach, castles on the horizon, and a vehicle that’s not going to pass its MoT.