Liz Bourke
@hawkwinglb.bsky.social
Ph.D Classics. Reviews @ Reactor Magazine (ex. Tor.com) and Locus Magazine.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hawkwing_lb
Wordpress: https://lizbourke.wordpress.com
Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@hawkwing_lb
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hawkwing_lb
Wordpress: https://lizbourke.wordpress.com
Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@hawkwing_lb
Pinned
Liz Bourke
@hawkwinglb.bsky.social
· Nov 9
κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries
Liz Bourke: books, history, writing, and culture.
lizbourke.wordpress.com
Hello, new followers! I write reviews of science fiction and fantasy novels for @locusmag.bsky.social and for @reactorsff.bsky.social. On my blog lizbourke.wordpress.com/news-and-upd..., I write about the nonfiction I've been reading lately, and the occasional deeper dive on some aspect of SFF.
Latest blog post.
136. Catherine M. Cameron’s Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief.
Today, captives and thieves, with Catherine M. Cameron's Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner's modern classic The Thief. The vast majority of my writing…
Today, captives and thieves, with Catherine M. Cameron's Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner's modern classic The Thief. The vast majority of my writing…
136. Catherine M. Cameron’s Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief.
Today, captives and thieves, with Catherine M. Cameron's Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner's modern classic The Thief. The vast majority of my writing here is free to read and will remain so, but if you enjoy these sorts of posts, your support on Patreon or as a paying subscriber through WordPress is what subsidises me to write more of them.
lizbourke.wordpress.com
February 13, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Latest blog post.
136. Catherine M. Cameron’s Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief.
Today, captives and thieves, with Catherine M. Cameron's Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner's modern classic The Thief. The vast majority of my writing…
Today, captives and thieves, with Catherine M. Cameron's Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner's modern classic The Thief. The vast majority of my writing…
136. Catherine M. Cameron’s Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief.
Today, captives and thieves, with Catherine M. Cameron's Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner's modern classic The Thief. The vast majority of my writing here is free to read and will remain so, but if you enjoy these sorts of posts, your support on Patreon or as a paying subscriber through WordPress is what subsidises me to write more of them.
lizbourke.wordpress.com
February 13, 2026 at 12:02 PM
136. Catherine M. Cameron’s Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief.
Today, captives and thieves, with Catherine M. Cameron's Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner's modern classic The Thief. The vast majority of my writing…
Today, captives and thieves, with Catherine M. Cameron's Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World and Megan Whalen Turner's modern classic The Thief. The vast majority of my writing…
Reposted by Liz Bourke
What is effective about this Burnham statement is it reads like something that he is personally invested in and is not worried about criticism for. More of this please.
February 12, 2026 at 11:00 AM
What is effective about this Burnham statement is it reads like something that he is personally invested in and is not worried about criticism for. More of this please.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Vacancy Watch: While neighbours sounded the alarm, a 19th-century villa in Sandymount slid into dereliction. “I think it's so sad that a beautiful little house was destroyed,” says Rosita Sweetman. “It seems we are incredibly bad at managing our housing stock.”
Vacancy Watch: While neighbours sounded the alarm, a 19th-century villa in Sandymount slid into dereliction
“I think it's so sad that a beautiful little house was destroyed,” says Rosita Sweetman. “It seems we are incredibly bad at managing our housing stock.”
www.dublininquirer.com
February 13, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Vacancy Watch: While neighbours sounded the alarm, a 19th-century villa in Sandymount slid into dereliction. “I think it's so sad that a beautiful little house was destroyed,” says Rosita Sweetman. “It seems we are incredibly bad at managing our housing stock.”
Day five. Rest morning, on purpose this time.
Day four. I overslept, so I get an extra morning exercise rest day. Better luck next week I guess.
Day three. Tomorrow is a morning exercise rest day, and I'm already looking forward to it.
February 13, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Day five. Rest morning, on purpose this time.
There's that. But I want to note that the Basic Income for the Arts is essentially a lottery for 2000 eligible people, amounting to a grant of €16,900 per year, and it is available for three years. It is less yearly funding than the Govt of Ireland scholarship for postgraduate researchers.
This is wonderful.
Thinking it wouldn’t be necessary if artists could still profit commercially from the success of our work.
But multi billion dollar corporations decided they’d like it all for free, thanks, to offer to the public for almost nothing.
Irish taxpayers will now subsidise that.
Thinking it wouldn’t be necessary if artists could still profit commercially from the success of our work.
But multi billion dollar corporations decided they’d like it all for free, thanks, to offer to the public for almost nothing.
Irish taxpayers will now subsidise that.
Ireland: a proper country.
February 12, 2026 at 11:18 AM
There's that. But I want to note that the Basic Income for the Arts is essentially a lottery for 2000 eligible people, amounting to a grant of €16,900 per year, and it is available for three years. It is less yearly funding than the Govt of Ireland scholarship for postgraduate researchers.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
I am firmly Team UBI For Everyone, so I am delighted to see the Irish scheme made permanent.
BUT the points in this short thread resonate strongly with me.
UBI for the workers holding up a hugely profitable industry proves that extractive capitalism is rotten to its core
BUT the points in this short thread resonate strongly with me.
UBI for the workers holding up a hugely profitable industry proves that extractive capitalism is rotten to its core
This is wonderful.
Thinking it wouldn’t be necessary if artists could still profit commercially from the success of our work.
But multi billion dollar corporations decided they’d like it all for free, thanks, to offer to the public for almost nothing.
Irish taxpayers will now subsidise that.
Thinking it wouldn’t be necessary if artists could still profit commercially from the success of our work.
But multi billion dollar corporations decided they’d like it all for free, thanks, to offer to the public for almost nothing.
Irish taxpayers will now subsidise that.
Ireland: a proper country.
February 12, 2026 at 9:28 AM
I am firmly Team UBI For Everyone, so I am delighted to see the Irish scheme made permanent.
BUT the points in this short thread resonate strongly with me.
UBI for the workers holding up a hugely profitable industry proves that extractive capitalism is rotten to its core
BUT the points in this short thread resonate strongly with me.
UBI for the workers holding up a hugely profitable industry proves that extractive capitalism is rotten to its core
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Oh my god yes. If I see one more grifter or lackey crying about how it's so mean that all they did was steal our work, laugh about taking our jobs, and destroy our environment, and now we're not NIIICE to them and it's not FAAAAIIIIIR.
Man I'm so goddamn sick of ai. "Wahhh you can't have a reasonable conversation about ai on here," yeah maybe be mad about the two year parade of scam artists and financial charlatans and environmental ruiners who have radicalized everyone against the spell check that agrees with you
February 12, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Oh my god yes. If I see one more grifter or lackey crying about how it's so mean that all they did was steal our work, laugh about taking our jobs, and destroy our environment, and now we're not NIIICE to them and it's not FAAAAIIIIIR.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
February 11, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Good morning Europe!
FRANKFURT!! GUESS WHAT?
@drkarenlord.bsky.social @annaleen.bsky.social & I will be doing an event for WE WILL RISE AGAIN, our anthology of speculative fiction, essays, & interviews about activism, on 11 April at the VielSeitig & Buchergilde! THIS WILL BE AWESOME!
(will also do 1 in AMS, info soon!)
@drkarenlord.bsky.social @annaleen.bsky.social & I will be doing an event for WE WILL RISE AGAIN, our anthology of speculative fiction, essays, & interviews about activism, on 11 April at the VielSeitig & Buchergilde! THIS WILL BE AWESOME!
(will also do 1 in AMS, info soon!)
Lesungen
Frankfurt Lesung Kultur Veranstaltungen Buch Literatur Literaturveranstaltung Kulturveranstaltung Kulturkalender Innenstadt
buechergilde-frankfurt.buchhandlung.de
February 12, 2026 at 10:21 AM
Good morning Europe!
Reposted by Liz Bourke
'The fantasy elements are terrific ... but Rudden is also excellent at peeling back layers of history to excavate the human cost of colonisation'
How about this Irish Times rave for #SisterWake!
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
How about this Irish Times rave for #SisterWake!
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Scifi/fantasy: Dave Rudden’s Sister Wake a politically charged epic that draws on Irish history
Plus Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R Weaver, The Killing Time by Elly Griffiths, and more
www.irishtimes.com
February 12, 2026 at 10:47 AM
'The fantasy elements are terrific ... but Rudden is also excellent at peeling back layers of history to excavate the human cost of colonisation'
How about this Irish Times rave for #SisterWake!
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
How about this Irish Times rave for #SisterWake!
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Reposted by Liz Bourke
The Taoiseach is meeting EU leaders today to 'highlight the need to streamline & simplify our regulatory framework'.
However, this push for 'simplification' is weakening EU environmental laws, including the EU's water law. 🌊🦦
Sign our petition to say #HandsOffNature ✋
f.mtr.cool/idwqdgltoj
However, this push for 'simplification' is weakening EU environmental laws, including the EU's water law. 🌊🦦
Sign our petition to say #HandsOffNature ✋
f.mtr.cool/idwqdgltoj
February 12, 2026 at 10:59 AM
The Taoiseach is meeting EU leaders today to 'highlight the need to streamline & simplify our regulatory framework'.
However, this push for 'simplification' is weakening EU environmental laws, including the EU's water law. 🌊🦦
Sign our petition to say #HandsOffNature ✋
f.mtr.cool/idwqdgltoj
However, this push for 'simplification' is weakening EU environmental laws, including the EU's water law. 🌊🦦
Sign our petition to say #HandsOffNature ✋
f.mtr.cool/idwqdgltoj
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Not easy to ignore what Trump is doing to the US right now in terms of attacking climate polices and climate science.
But this below is the biggest and most consequential climate story in the world right now.
Period.
But this below is the biggest and most consequential climate story in the world right now.
Period.
NEW ANALYSIS: China's CO2 has now been 'flat or falling' for 21 months
* Down in 2025
* Still below Mar 2024
* Clean energy wave a key factor
If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so far…
www.carbonbrief.org/...
* Down in 2025
* Still below Mar 2024
* Clean energy wave a key factor
If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so far…
www.carbonbrief.org/...
February 12, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Not easy to ignore what Trump is doing to the US right now in terms of attacking climate polices and climate science.
But this below is the biggest and most consequential climate story in the world right now.
Period.
But this below is the biggest and most consequential climate story in the world right now.
Period.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Potholes are a climate problem as well as an austerity problem. Cost of living is not cost of climate measures but cost of climate crisis.
People are becoming aware that extreme weather of various sorts relates to climate change. But climate change also has a major impact on maintenance regimes, which are also impacted by cuts to public services. www.wales247.co.uk/nearly-1800-...
Nearly 1,800 potholes reported in Cardiff in just one month
Cardiff’s roads have taken a real hit after one of the wettest Januarys on record in the UK, combined with freezing temperatures that have caused surfaces to crack and deteriorate. According to Cardif...
www.wales247.co.uk
February 12, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Potholes are a climate problem as well as an austerity problem. Cost of living is not cost of climate measures but cost of climate crisis.
Day four. I overslept, so I get an extra morning exercise rest day. Better luck next week I guess.
Day three. Tomorrow is a morning exercise rest day, and I'm already looking forward to it.
Day two! Yesterday was successful with 15 minutes of cycling in the morning and 60 minutes in the evening (plus some bodyweight exercises and stretching.) Today 20 minutes in the morning and we'll see what evening brings.
February 12, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Day four. I overslept, so I get an extra morning exercise rest day. Better luck next week I guess.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Since I heard Penn State launched a course called "One Book Slowly" this year (Eric Hayot is teaching Madame Bovary) I can't stop thinking about it
I think the greatest gift college professors in the humanities can give to students right now is a seminar room where, for 80 minutes twice a week, nothing that happens to them is a sales pitch for an AI product.
February 11, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Since I heard Penn State launched a course called "One Book Slowly" this year (Eric Hayot is teaching Madame Bovary) I can't stop thinking about it
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Not sure which is worse: the Government curtailing debate on all the (69) amendments to the Residential Tenancies Bill to five hours…
…or the fact that opposition TDs insist on speaking at such length, they’re now 2.5 hours in and they haven’t yet progressed to a vote on the very first one.
…or the fact that opposition TDs insist on speaking at such length, they’re now 2.5 hours in and they haven’t yet progressed to a vote on the very first one.
February 11, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Not sure which is worse: the Government curtailing debate on all the (69) amendments to the Residential Tenancies Bill to five hours…
…or the fact that opposition TDs insist on speaking at such length, they’re now 2.5 hours in and they haven’t yet progressed to a vote on the very first one.
…or the fact that opposition TDs insist on speaking at such length, they’re now 2.5 hours in and they haven’t yet progressed to a vote on the very first one.
What he said.
I'm not as negative on this opinion as some people, because yes, black swans are out in the world. But the "It's the new Industrial Revolution {British} on steroids!" comparisons are limited by, as usual, collision in the real world.
I'm not even saying that's the most *likely* possibility, but it's just very clear that the likelihood of that outcome as increased and even if there's, like, a 1 in 10 change that "AI replaces most to all white collar jobs in 10 years" that's an *enormous* risk to the social order!
February 11, 2026 at 8:06 PM
What he said.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
The Association of Archaeologists in Greece, representing all the archaeologists with permanent contracts in the state sector, is withdrawing its participation in the organizing of the @archaeologyeaa.bsky.social conference in Athens..Open letter, in English, below.
archaeol.gr/anoichti-epi...
archaeol.gr/anoichti-epi...
Ανοιχτή επιστολή σχετικά με τις εξελίξεις στην European Association of Archaeologists - Σύλλογος Ελλήνων Αρχαιολόγων
Ανοιχτή επιστολή σχετικά με τις εξελίξεις στην European Association of Archaeologists Κατόπιν της ομόφωνης απόφασης των μελών του…
archaeol.gr
February 10, 2026 at 1:48 PM
The Association of Archaeologists in Greece, representing all the archaeologists with permanent contracts in the state sector, is withdrawing its participation in the organizing of the @archaeologyeaa.bsky.social conference in Athens..Open letter, in English, below.
archaeol.gr/anoichti-epi...
archaeol.gr/anoichti-epi...
Reposted by Liz Bourke
It's noted that he was wearing high-vis even though the driver was making an illegal turn and even with high-vis and all it's only counted as careless driving and not dangerous driving: www.thejournal.ie/courts-cycli...
Cyclist crushed twice by SUV in Dublin city centre recalls ‘the worst day of my life’ in court
Andrew Brett told the court that he was ‘convinced he was going to die’ during the incident.
www.thejournal.ie
February 11, 2026 at 7:57 PM
It's noted that he was wearing high-vis even though the driver was making an illegal turn and even with high-vis and all it's only counted as careless driving and not dangerous driving: www.thejournal.ie/courts-cycli...
Reposted by Liz Bourke
"Fight against being ass" is a message that more people need to receive, tbh
February 11, 2026 at 12:36 PM
"Fight against being ass" is a message that more people need to receive, tbh
Reposted by Liz Bourke
I desperately want the AI bubble to burst already for so many reasons and among them is that I’m tired of feeling exasperated over people I otherwise respect and think are generally pretty sharp getting suckered into thinking the hype might be real
February 11, 2026 at 7:57 PM
I desperately want the AI bubble to burst already for so many reasons and among them is that I’m tired of feeling exasperated over people I otherwise respect and think are generally pretty sharp getting suckered into thinking the hype might be real
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Call for (post-PhD) historians and cultural scholars for the pod! We have a specific wishlist of scholarship we’re looking to add to the lineup:
- ancient & medieval history
and/or
- histories of anywhere other than the US and UK, preferably outside Europe
Pitches to: [email protected]
🤗🤗🤗
- ancient & medieval history
and/or
- histories of anywhere other than the US and UK, preferably outside Europe
Pitches to: [email protected]
🤗🤗🤗
November 3, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Call for (post-PhD) historians and cultural scholars for the pod! We have a specific wishlist of scholarship we’re looking to add to the lineup:
- ancient & medieval history
and/or
- histories of anywhere other than the US and UK, preferably outside Europe
Pitches to: [email protected]
🤗🤗🤗
- ancient & medieval history
and/or
- histories of anywhere other than the US and UK, preferably outside Europe
Pitches to: [email protected]
🤗🤗🤗
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Another week, another romance class!
This week we were reading The Sheik by E M Hull, a deservedly unpopular read but opening up some good (if difficult) discussions about Orientalism, fetishisation, rape in romance, consent, forced versions of a 'normative' femininity, horse care and more!
This week we were reading The Sheik by E M Hull, a deservedly unpopular read but opening up some good (if difficult) discussions about Orientalism, fetishisation, rape in romance, consent, forced versions of a 'normative' femininity, horse care and more!
February 11, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Another week, another romance class!
This week we were reading The Sheik by E M Hull, a deservedly unpopular read but opening up some good (if difficult) discussions about Orientalism, fetishisation, rape in romance, consent, forced versions of a 'normative' femininity, horse care and more!
This week we were reading The Sheik by E M Hull, a deservedly unpopular read but opening up some good (if difficult) discussions about Orientalism, fetishisation, rape in romance, consent, forced versions of a 'normative' femininity, horse care and more!