Simon Kővesi
@kovesi.bsky.social
Professor of English & Scottish Literature, Head of the School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Research working-class literature & Romantic-period cultures.
Editor, John Clare Society Journal.
Seems important to add, son of a political refugee.
Research working-class literature & Romantic-period cultures.
Editor, John Clare Society Journal.
Seems important to add, son of a political refugee.
Reposted by Simon Kővesi
When people talk about the idea that some universities must go under, there’s a certain tendency to behave as if these smaller local campuses are negligible- regrettable casualties perhaps but not ‘real’ universities. This report does a great job of illustrating why that’s wrong.
Everything in this report reflects on what we value, for communities, for peripheral places, for young people, for education, for the future - and it looks like we’ve got it all wrong.
‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university?
When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...
www.theguardian.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:07 AM
When people talk about the idea that some universities must go under, there’s a certain tendency to behave as if these smaller local campuses are negligible- regrettable casualties perhaps but not ‘real’ universities. This report does a great job of illustrating why that’s wrong.
Reposted by Simon Kővesi
2026 marks 100 years since the birth of Agnes Owens. A year-long centenary programme will celebrate her life, writing, and legacy through archives, exhibitions, reissues, and public events. Full details via link in bio.
February 2, 2026 at 7:42 AM
2026 marks 100 years since the birth of Agnes Owens. A year-long centenary programme will celebrate her life, writing, and legacy through archives, exhibitions, reissues, and public events. Full details via link in bio.
Finished an essay.
Sent it to the editor very late.
Debilitating regrets about almost all of it.
And repeat.
Sent it to the editor very late.
Debilitating regrets about almost all of it.
And repeat.
a woman is talking to a man and says `` it 's like my life is buffering '' .
ALT: a woman is talking to a man and says `` it 's like my life is buffering '' .
media.tenor.com
February 1, 2026 at 9:57 PM
Finished an essay.
Sent it to the editor very late.
Debilitating regrets about almost all of it.
And repeat.
Sent it to the editor very late.
Debilitating regrets about almost all of it.
And repeat.
Doing this to Cuba, is like taking a cardboard bed away from a homeless person living in the street. It's cowardly, foul and unforgivable.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Cuba on the brink as Trump turns up the pressure: ‘There is going to be a real blockade’
Country is already suffering acute fuel shortage; experts say complete cutoff will be ‘catastrophic’ to its infrastructure
www.theguardian.com
February 1, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Doing this to Cuba, is like taking a cardboard bed away from a homeless person living in the street. It's cowardly, foul and unforgivable.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
"Her student years are no longer an object of nostalgic desire. She sees them as a time of intellectual gentrification, of breaking with her origins. Her memory goes from romantic to critical."
Annie Ernaux, The Years
Annie Ernaux, The Years
January 31, 2026 at 4:18 PM
"Her student years are no longer an object of nostalgic desire. She sees them as a time of intellectual gentrification, of breaking with her origins. Her memory goes from romantic to critical."
Annie Ernaux, The Years
Annie Ernaux, The Years
Reposted by Simon Kővesi
While rare things happen once 'in a blue moon' in English, in Czech they occur once 'in a Hungarian year' ('jednou za uherský rok').
It's been suggested that this is a legacy of the Ottoman wars in Central Europe, when military service in Hungary could stretch on indefinitely.
It's been suggested that this is a legacy of the Ottoman wars in Central Europe, when military service in Hungary could stretch on indefinitely.
January 31, 2026 at 3:16 PM
While rare things happen once 'in a blue moon' in English, in Czech they occur once 'in a Hungarian year' ('jednou za uherský rok').
It's been suggested that this is a legacy of the Ottoman wars in Central Europe, when military service in Hungary could stretch on indefinitely.
It's been suggested that this is a legacy of the Ottoman wars in Central Europe, when military service in Hungary could stretch on indefinitely.
Reposted by Simon Kővesi
New in PN: Trump blames Canada
"It isn’t just Trump that Canada can’t trust. It’s us, the American people. Trump may have low approval now, but his numbers were even worse after J6 and we still returned him to power. At this point, no one can have faith that everything will go back to normal."
"It isn’t just Trump that Canada can’t trust. It’s us, the American people. Trump may have low approval now, but his numbers were even worse after J6 and we still returned him to power. At this point, no one can have faith that everything will go back to normal."
Trump blames Canada
And tears our closest international relationship apart.
www.publicnotice.co
January 31, 2026 at 3:04 PM
New in PN: Trump blames Canada
"It isn’t just Trump that Canada can’t trust. It’s us, the American people. Trump may have low approval now, but his numbers were even worse after J6 and we still returned him to power. At this point, no one can have faith that everything will go back to normal."
"It isn’t just Trump that Canada can’t trust. It’s us, the American people. Trump may have low approval now, but his numbers were even worse after J6 and we still returned him to power. At this point, no one can have faith that everything will go back to normal."
In this idealised 1820s illustration of Clare's cottage there might be a river (rut?) running in the middle of his street, ducks/coots having a paddle
There never was a river. Maybe it's a mixture of puddles & an open sewer? If so, Clare - for all his loco-descriptive precision - never mentioned it.
There never was a river. Maybe it's a mixture of puddles & an open sewer? If so, Clare - for all his loco-descriptive precision - never mentioned it.
One of my favourite John Clare-associated images. John Clare’s cottage, by William Cowen (1791–1864), engraving, frontispiece to the second issue of The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems (1823).
January 29, 2026 at 11:53 PM
In this idealised 1820s illustration of Clare's cottage there might be a river (rut?) running in the middle of his street, ducks/coots having a paddle
There never was a river. Maybe it's a mixture of puddles & an open sewer? If so, Clare - for all his loco-descriptive precision - never mentioned it.
There never was a river. Maybe it's a mixture of puddles & an open sewer? If so, Clare - for all his loco-descriptive precision - never mentioned it.
One of my favourite John Clare-associated images. John Clare’s cottage, by William Cowen (1791–1864), engraving, frontispiece to the second issue of The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems (1823).
January 28, 2026 at 11:55 PM
One of my favourite John Clare-associated images. John Clare’s cottage, by William Cowen (1791–1864), engraving, frontispiece to the second issue of The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems (1823).
Reposted by Simon Kővesi
I’m editing a special issue of Key Words on cultural materialism, fascism and the far right for publication next year. Call for contributions and full details here: raymondwilliams.co.uk/2026/01/28/c...
Call for Papers: Cultural Materialism, Fascism and the Far Right, A Special Issue of Key Words: A Journal of Cultural Materialism
Speaking in 1980 amid the New Right upsurge, Raymond Williams noted that ‘cultural struggle is absolutely crucial, because this is the terrain on which the interpretation of the crisis had to be es…
raymondwilliams.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 6:06 PM
I’m editing a special issue of Key Words on cultural materialism, fascism and the far right for publication next year. Call for contributions and full details here: raymondwilliams.co.uk/2026/01/28/c...
Wait till the Telegraph finds out the creature is a Vegan who reads Milton.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
Frankenstein given ‘servitude’ trigger warning
Literature students at the University of Glasgow are being given modern ‘content advice’ on Mary Shelley’s masterpiece from 1818
www.telegraph.co.uk
January 27, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Wait till the Telegraph finds out the creature is a Vegan who reads Milton.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
History is only ever about the ideology and prejudices of the present, and all the more so if your intention is total erasure.
"Slavery was real"
Tiny sign at the base of a brick wall that, until yesterday, held panels about the people enslaved by George Washington.
Presidents House, Philadelphia.
Tiny sign at the base of a brick wall that, until yesterday, held panels about the people enslaved by George Washington.
Presidents House, Philadelphia.
January 24, 2026 at 10:44 AM
History is only ever about the ideology and prejudices of the present, and all the more so if your intention is total erasure.
All museums should have their Spitfires hanging above their elephants. Kelvingrove Museum makes no sense but it rocks.
January 18, 2026 at 9:11 PM
All museums should have their Spitfires hanging above their elephants. Kelvingrove Museum makes no sense but it rocks.
Marx, 1852
Men make their own history but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given & transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.
Men make their own history but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given & transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.
January 18, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Marx, 1852
Men make their own history but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given & transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.
Men make their own history but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given & transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.
Reposted by Simon Kővesi
Knut Hamsun, Norwegian Nobel laureate in literature, sided with the Nazis so much he presented Goebbels with his Nobel medal in 1943 (which wasn't widely known until later).
Norwegians responded by mailing so many of Hamsun's books back to him that his local post office had to hire extra staff.
Norwegians responded by mailing so many of Hamsun's books back to him that his local post office had to hire extra staff.
January 17, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Knut Hamsun, Norwegian Nobel laureate in literature, sided with the Nazis so much he presented Goebbels with his Nobel medal in 1943 (which wasn't widely known until later).
Norwegians responded by mailing so many of Hamsun's books back to him that his local post office had to hire extra staff.
Norwegians responded by mailing so many of Hamsun's books back to him that his local post office had to hire extra staff.
Reposted by Simon Kővesi
I'll share with you a secret from a long career: institutions are more complicated than people, and people are plenty complicated. Anyone who thinks something should be cheap or easy is just inexperienced, unserious, or has an unstated goal.
This is a post about UTAX, but phew broadly applicable.
This is a post about UTAX, but phew broadly applicable.
January 17, 2026 at 12:47 PM
I'll share with you a secret from a long career: institutions are more complicated than people, and people are plenty complicated. Anyone who thinks something should be cheap or easy is just inexperienced, unserious, or has an unstated goal.
This is a post about UTAX, but phew broadly applicable.
This is a post about UTAX, but phew broadly applicable.
Nearly 44 years since English studies started its state of total & constant crisis. Tom Paulin calls it in @lrb.co.uk in 1982:
"Many academic teachers of English are at the moment united in the dismayed recognition that their subject is in a state of acute crisis."
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v0...
"Many academic teachers of English are at the moment united in the dismayed recognition that their subject is in a state of acute crisis."
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v0...
Tom Paulin · Faculty at War
www.lrb.co.uk
January 16, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Nearly 44 years since English studies started its state of total & constant crisis. Tom Paulin calls it in @lrb.co.uk in 1982:
"Many academic teachers of English are at the moment united in the dismayed recognition that their subject is in a state of acute crisis."
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v0...
"Many academic teachers of English are at the moment united in the dismayed recognition that their subject is in a state of acute crisis."
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v0...
Reposted by Simon Kővesi
We're looking forward to welcoming you *this Saturday* @uofgarc.bsky.social!
Join us for a discussion of the Burns Supper as Intangible Cultural Heritage from @paulinemackay.bsky.social (CRBS Director) and Christopher Waddell (@n-t-s.bsky.social) & much more! #BurnsSupper225
Join us for a discussion of the Burns Supper as Intangible Cultural Heritage from @paulinemackay.bsky.social (CRBS Director) and Christopher Waddell (@n-t-s.bsky.social) & much more! #BurnsSupper225
Centre for Robert Burns Studies Conference
A conference exploring the life, work, and legacy of Robert Burns, this year celebrating the 225th anniversary of the Burns Supper
www.eventbrite.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 8:01 AM
We're looking forward to welcoming you *this Saturday* @uofgarc.bsky.social!
Join us for a discussion of the Burns Supper as Intangible Cultural Heritage from @paulinemackay.bsky.social (CRBS Director) and Christopher Waddell (@n-t-s.bsky.social) & much more! #BurnsSupper225
Join us for a discussion of the Burns Supper as Intangible Cultural Heritage from @paulinemackay.bsky.social (CRBS Director) and Christopher Waddell (@n-t-s.bsky.social) & much more! #BurnsSupper225
Reasons to love Glasgow, #4,813: Refuweegee.
www.refuweegee.co.uk/about
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.refuweegee.co.uk/about
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
‘The response is a beautiful thing’: how Glasgow is squaring up to Reform
In the face of Nigel Farage, flag-waving and a longstanding housing crisis, some Glaswegians are taking on anti-immigration rhetoric
www.theguardian.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Reasons to love Glasgow, #4,813: Refuweegee.
www.refuweegee.co.uk/about
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.refuweegee.co.uk/about
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Annie Ernaux's account in "The Years" of how ideology maintains itself through social conformity, the young crushed by this realisation, could not be bettered:
"To have the right to be heard, one first had to prove one's ability to blend in with the dominant social model".
Astonishing writer.
"To have the right to be heard, one first had to prove one's ability to blend in with the dominant social model".
Astonishing writer.
January 12, 2026 at 12:45 AM
Annie Ernaux's account in "The Years" of how ideology maintains itself through social conformity, the young crushed by this realisation, could not be bettered:
"To have the right to be heard, one first had to prove one's ability to blend in with the dominant social model".
Astonishing writer.
"To have the right to be heard, one first had to prove one's ability to blend in with the dominant social model".
Astonishing writer.
Reposted by Simon Kővesi
1825: Began to fetch maiden earth from molehills for my flower beds - heard the Mavis thrush sing for the first time this winter it often sings earlier & has been heard on Christmas day when the weather has been open
January 11, 2026 at 6:30 AM
1825: Began to fetch maiden earth from molehills for my flower beds - heard the Mavis thrush sing for the first time this winter it often sings earlier & has been heard on Christmas day when the weather has been open
Cat keeps close vigilance on the neighbour's rooftop for enemy cat incursions. She will do this for hours.
January 9, 2026 at 9:23 AM
Cat keeps close vigilance on the neighbour's rooftop for enemy cat incursions. She will do this for hours.
Reposted by Simon Kővesi
Are Tests Biased Against Students Who Don't Give A Shit
December 27, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Are Tests Biased Against Students Who Don't Give A Shit