Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Boze the Library Owl @sketchesbyboze.bsky.social · 6d

Chatbots and AI slop are going to ruin countless brains. Yours doesn't have to be one of them. Study history. Read poetry. Get acquainted with Bach, Shakespeare, George Eliot. In a time when people are rapidly getting dumber, we need communities devoted to the life of the mind.

4 87 310

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Wild Hunt Books @wildhuntbooks.bsky.social · 6d

*SUBMISSION WINDOW NOW OPEN 5 DAYS ONLY*

We're open to unagented subs from 6-12 Oct. For this submission period we are looking for novellas only (35K-50K). We're specifically looking for novellas that play w horror, mystery, weird & the unusual.

More info 🐐
www.wildhuntbooks.co.uk/blog/pop-up-...

26 48

Eva Dolan @evadolan.bsky.social · 8d

‘You want to use words like “mouthfeel.” And you want your mouth to feel bad.’

The memory of that 100% Lindt I tried still haunts me. Can almost taste it now just typing this.

McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 9d

"If you’re hoping for chocolate that’ll show up outside your bedroom window with Peter Gabriel on a boombox, go buy some Godiva from a Kohl’s. Pick up some matching CZ wedding rings while you’re there, you pathetic fucking romantic."

This Chocolate Will Kick Your Teeth In

Are you looking for sweet, melty chocolate that makes you feel comforted—or are you a fucking adult? Are you grown up enough to appreciate that eve...

buff.ly

1

Eva Dolan @evadolan.bsky.social · 8d

Very excited for this one as a lover of all things fighty!

(And if you haven’t seen A Thousand Blows yet do it now and be reminded just how brilliant period dramas about working class people can be. And why more working class people should be lifted up in the arts.)

Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 8d

Seconds out! Round one!

THE DEVIL'S DANCE FLOOR

This isn't an official announcement from Duckworth. It's a page from my agent's newsletter and book fair rights catalogue, which is public. So, a tiny-text soft launch? Details subject to change.

A lot of thank yous and less Disney, to come.

🐻🥊👊🏾👊🏻🦁🍺

Page from literary agency Curious Minds rights guide for Frankfurt Book Fair etc. Alongside a photo of me looking slightly drunk and a lot hostile, it says, in tiny font:

NEW DEALS
AGENT - Eli Keren
PUBLISHER - Duckworth
PUBLICATION - Spring 2027
STATUS - Manuscript due April 2026
LENGTH - 80,000 words
RIGHTS SOLD
World English (Duckworth)
The Devil’s Dance Floor
Late-Victorian London and the Last Bareknuckle Boys
SARAH ELIZABETH COX
An 1880s’ group biography of the last of Britain’s
bareknuckle boxers from the historical consultant behind
A Thousand Blows (Disney+/Hulu)
THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR is the first popular book from Sarah Elizabeth Cox,
the historical consultant behind Steven Knight’s television series A Thousand Blows
and author of the historical blog ‘Grappling with History’.
A group biography of Victorian boxers, THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR is a cultural
history that does far more than recount the true story behind the fictionalized
version now streaming. Taking a narrative approach, Cox charts the decline of
bareknuckle boxing over the 1880s, and, in doing so, explores subjects ranging
from policing and healthcare to the press and entertainment – all while offering a
personal-scale view of the melting point of Victorian London (think Hallie
Rubenhold’s The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper but
with a lot more getting punched in the face).
The subjects themselves hail from as far afield as London’s East End and the North
to the United States and the Caribbean. Each has a unique story to tell and reveals
something not only about our shared history but also about the world we live in
today.
Sarah Elizabeth Cox was a historical consultant on season one and two of Steven Knight's
1880s’ boxing and crime TV drama A Thousand Blows. She researches biographies of
Victorian and Edwardian boxers and wrestlers for her website ‘Grappling with History’ and
works as the British Science Association’…

1888 portrait of boxer Hezekiah Moscow, a slim Black or Black/East Asian mixed heritage man, taken by Harry Carpenter. He is shirtless, fists raised, wearing white tights and a chequered sash at the waist. There are painted palms on the studio backdrop.

1 2

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Raven Books @bloomsburyraven.bsky.social · 26d

From the world of The Silent Companions comes Laura Purcell’s most chilling tale yet.

Pre-order your signed Waterstones exclusive edition today: https://bit.ly/4jroIpE

@spookypurcell.bsky.social

2 6

Reposted by Eva Dolan

David Hewson @davidhewson.com · 28d

Bet there's never been a crime book festival in a place like this. The Ateneo Veneto. Home to Venice Noir in November. All events free. #Venice

3 5 30

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Curtis Brown Creative @cbcreative.bsky.social · Sep 10

We’re so excited that bestselling crime writer @mstamarcohen.bsky.social & Curtis Brown associate agent Flo Sandelson are guest speakers on our Writing Crime & Thrillers – Advanced course with @sarahhilary.bsky.social!

Applications close this weekend: www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/course/writi...

2 1

Eva Dolan @evadolan.bsky.social · Aug 31

This is a lovely piece of writing. Really looking forward to reading The Two Roberts.

Total catnip for anyone who spends way too much time thinking about how many great working class talents have faded from or been written out of history.

Damian Barr @damianbarr.bsky.social · Aug 31

"The world is burning. Fascism is rising. Countries are falling. And we’re on the brink of incredible technological change, which will either be the end of everything or a new beginning. So, who needs artists?"

I've written about what it takes to make art & live bravely.

tinyurl.com/bdfjszbu

‘They had everything, then nothing’: the prodigies the art world forgot

Robert Colquhoun and Bobby MacBryde were once the golden boys of London’s art scene – photographed in Vogue, filmed by Ken Russell and lauded by Francis Bacon. So why did they vanish into obscurity?

tinyurl.com

1 2

Reposted by Eva Dolan

VictorianLondon @victorianlondon.bsky.social · Aug 30

subtle clues that you might not be in the most respectable public house

2 6 29

Eva Dolan @evadolan.bsky.social · Aug 27

Can’t wait for this one!

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · Aug 27

Finished.

2

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Rachel Charlton-Dailey @rachelcdailey.bsky.social · Aug 27

This week I wrote about how millions of vulnerable and disabled people are no longer eligible for a covid booster.

Here's a petition you can sign to stop that happening petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

(and the article www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...)

Petition: Fund NHS COVID boosters for Clinically Vulnerable people – keep covid boosters

'Protect the NHS' and 'Save Lives' by continuing to fund NHS COVID boosters for Clinically Vulnerable people, including most previously shielded as CEV, rather than limiting them to over-75s, care home residents and those with severely weakened immune systems.

petition.parliament.uk

13 25

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Rob Tyers @thexclaim6.bsky.social · Aug 26

“Deserted Medieval Village” is about the only sign that can compete with “Ancient Monument”. Either way, you’re parking up in a layby before you know it

Although the reality might be disappointing - by definiton, an abandoned village is unlikely to have much there, right? So why visit?

A short 🧵

Sign for Wharram Percy - Deserted Medieval Village

2 21 66

Eva Dolan @evadolan.bsky.social · Aug 25

Late to the party but bloody hell ANDOR is cracking telly! Looks gorgeous & so expensive on screen. And amazing on the banality of authoritarianism.

If you’re not a Star Wars fan (I’m so not) still give it a go.

2

Eva Dolan @evadolan.bsky.social · Aug 25

Took my three tries to get into Wolf Hall, until I realised it was just the first few pages somehow stopping me. Skipped them on the third attempt then flew through the trilogy in a compulsive daze. So odd.

1

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Joanne Harris @joannechocolat.bsky.social · Aug 14

Unsolicited writing advice, no: 216: RESEARCH. If you're writing about a time, place, culture, historical figure, profession, etc., it pays to research it properly. That might mean: reading; travelling; going to libraries and museums; consulting archives; talking to people with lived experience.

13 110 610

Reposted by Eva Dolan

The Society of Antiquaries of London @antiquaries.bsky.social · Aug 14

What was the Charter of the Forest and why was it so important?

The Charter of the Forest restored rights of access for freemen to lands that had been used exclusively by the king and the nobility for almost 200 years.

1 19 64

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Raven Books @bloomsburyraven.bsky.social · Aug 13

This isle is full of noises...

A deliciously chilling collection of short stories by bestselling and award-winning authors, inspired by the monsters, demons and mythical creatures that have stalked Great Britain down the ages.

Don't look behind you...

2 4

Eva Dolan @evadolan.bsky.social · Aug 5

This is a weird one but I swear it works…if you’re temporarily stuck go and sit halfway up the stairs on stand in an open doorway.

Think it’s something to do with how your brain behaves in liminal spaces.

Sascha Stronach🏳️‍⚧️, The Sunforge out now @understatesmen.bsky.social · Aug 4

Alright, share your terrible writing tips that actually work.

Mine is: stop for the day in the middle of a paragraph, a sentence, even in the middle of a word. It feels SO wrong but it makes it 1000x easier to pick up the thread the next day.

1

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · Aug 5

Exquisite glass filled with roses in 1640, by Jacob van Hulsdonck. His day is today.

1 22 120

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · Aug 5

AI will never locate a new archive. It will never uncover a new source. It will never find a small, privately held collection of papers that can upend what we think we know about the past. It can never work with undigitized sources. It can never do real oral history or ethnography.

Joanna Kenty @jokenty.bsky.social · Aug 5

AI can only replace historians in the sense that it can spit out mediocre, plagiarized narrative that vaguely resembles history. It will never replace *good* historians. Unfortunately, many university presidents and CEOs don’t seem to care about the quality of work being done, only the quantity- 1/2

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · Aug 4

Just a reminder this list is drawn from a piece written by four researchers for MICROSOFT (data scientists, CS people, economists) who have never stepped foot in an archive/never taken an oral history/studied material culture, by their CVs.
Unlike them, I do my research, and don't talk out my ass.

6 110 340

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Sarah Hilary @sarahhilary.bsky.social · Jul 9

Great interview with @ruthwarewriter.bsky.social for Shotsblog in which she shares her favourite Gothic writers, books and films. Come and hear her talk on 'Fear and Anxiety in Gothic Fiction' at St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend.

wwwshotsmagcouk.blogspot.com/2025/07/in-s...

2 4 10

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Waterstones Argyle Street @waterstonesargyle.bsky.social · Jul 24

A scandalous affair, a glamorous Glasgow socialite, an inconclusive murder charge 🫗 It’s a beautifully evocative globetrotting story with an anti-heroine you can’t help being fascinated by!

2

Reposted by Eva Dolan

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · Jul 24

Just imagining Jesus in interviews being like “well my mum was an ordinary housewife and my stepdad is a carpenter so I’ve always identified as working class” and then someone checks his Wikipedia page

Alexander Williams @floatinginwaves.bsky.social · Jul 24

Christ was a nepo baby

27 360 2.3K

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Keegan 🎃sinski @keeganosinski.bsky.social · Jul 24

Saw someone call AI users “botlickers” and that is very funny

17 350 1.5K

Reposted by Eva Dolan

Kit de Waal @kitdewaal.com · Jul 24

The VS Pritchett Prize for an unpublished short story closes on 25th August. £1000 first prize and a great boost to your confidence. My lovely friend Lisa Blower won it last year and it was wonderful to behold.

Details in link.

Please share :)

V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize - Royal Society of Literature

A £1,000 Prize for the best unpublished short story of the year. We are grateful to ALCS for their support of the Prize.The 2026 Prize The RSL V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize seeks to find the best u...

rsliterature.org

12 14