Matthew Taunton
@matthewtaunton.bsky.social
Professor of Modern Literature and Director of Research in the School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing at UEA. Co-editor “The British Novel of Ideas” (CUP) out now. Writing “The Collective Voice” for Stanford UP. Literature & Politics.
Pinned
Humanities Theory
Abstract. Humanities Theory offers a new framework for understanding the place of the humanities in the culture at large and as a transdisciplinary project
academic.oup.com
"Humanities Theory" by Amanda Anderson & Simon During, is now available as an ebook (bit.ly/4m6XGUU) and out in hardback and paperback on 7th Oct (UK) / 7th Jan (US).This is the first book in a new OUP series, Literature & Politics, ed by Janice Ho, Benjamin Kohlmann, and me: bit.ly/4ntmW9c.
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
Experience: I was stabbed in the back with a real knife while performing Julius Caesar
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Experience: I was stabbed in the back with a real knife while performing Julius Caesar
Our student theatre group had the bright idea of using actual knives on stage for authenticity. The blade missed my aorta by about a centimetre
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Experience: I was stabbed in the back with a real knife while performing Julius Caesar
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
The Artists' International Association first meets in Seven Dials, where Pearl Binder, Peggy & James Fitton, James Boswell, & Clifford Rowe gather in Misha Black's rough and ready studio at 29 Little St Andrew Street.
I’m excited to have my review of Andy Friend‘s “Comrades in Art: Artists Against Fascism, 1933-43” in the December issue of Apollo Magazine. It’s a great book about the Artists’ International Association, a key popular front cultural organisation. I don’t think I’ve ever been so glossily published!
November 26, 2025 at 10:54 AM
The Artists' International Association first meets in Seven Dials, where Pearl Binder, Peggy & James Fitton, James Boswell, & Clifford Rowe gather in Misha Black's rough and ready studio at 29 Little St Andrew Street.
I’m excited to have my review of Andy Friend‘s “Comrades in Art: Artists Against Fascism, 1933-43” in the December issue of Apollo Magazine. It’s a great book about the Artists’ International Association, a key popular front cultural organisation. I don’t think I’ve ever been so glossily published!
November 26, 2025 at 9:52 AM
I’m excited to have my review of Andy Friend‘s “Comrades in Art: Artists Against Fascism, 1933-43” in the December issue of Apollo Magazine. It’s a great book about the Artists’ International Association, a key popular front cultural organisation. I don’t think I’ve ever been so glossily published!
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
Latest update from @britishlibrary.bsky.social says they are launching a new version of their main catalogue on Monday 8 December and around that time also launch an interim version of their Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue. Hooray!
www.bl.uk/stories/news...
www.bl.uk/stories/news...
Restoring our services – November 2025 update
In the coming weeks and months we will be restoring a number of key functions.
www.bl.uk
November 22, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Latest update from @britishlibrary.bsky.social says they are launching a new version of their main catalogue on Monday 8 December and around that time also launch an interim version of their Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue. Hooray!
www.bl.uk/stories/news...
www.bl.uk/stories/news...
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:27 AM
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
Important, deeply researched piece by @trillingual.bsky.social in @equatormag.bsky.social, on the BBC's handling of Gaza. www.equator.org/articles/ins...
Inside the BBC’s Gaza Fiasco • EQUATOR
How the world’s most trusted media organisation fell apart
www.equator.org
November 14, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Important, deeply researched piece by @trillingual.bsky.social in @equatormag.bsky.social, on the BBC's handling of Gaza. www.equator.org/articles/ins...
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
My annual post about how the Morning Star reported the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
November 9, 2025 at 9:02 AM
My annual post about how the Morning Star reported the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
My commute ❤️
November 6, 2025 at 11:06 PM
My commute ❤️
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
ONLY migrants though, no one else is to study English because it's a rip off and a waste of time, am I getting this right.
October 14, 2025 at 2:16 PM
ONLY migrants though, no one else is to study English because it's a rip off and a waste of time, am I getting this right.
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
NOTHING will prepare you for this 45-second story arc. From "I'm just doing this because I love the flag, it's totally grassroots, and I'm not part of anything political"... to who actually gave him the flags the night before.
Anyone who believes it is an innocent movement needs to see this.
Anyone who believes it is an innocent movement needs to see this.
September 10, 2025 at 11:08 AM
NOTHING will prepare you for this 45-second story arc. From "I'm just doing this because I love the flag, it's totally grassroots, and I'm not part of anything political"... to who actually gave him the flags the night before.
Anyone who believes it is an innocent movement needs to see this.
Anyone who believes it is an innocent movement needs to see this.
"Humanities Theory" by Amanda Anderson & Simon During, is now available as an ebook (bit.ly/4m6XGUU) and out in hardback and paperback on 7th Oct (UK) / 7th Jan (US).This is the first book in a new OUP series, Literature & Politics, ed by Janice Ho, Benjamin Kohlmann, and me: bit.ly/4ntmW9c.
Humanities Theory
Abstract. Humanities Theory offers a new framework for understanding the place of the humanities in the culture at large and as a transdisciplinary project
academic.oup.com
September 10, 2025 at 9:56 AM
"Humanities Theory" by Amanda Anderson & Simon During, is now available as an ebook (bit.ly/4m6XGUU) and out in hardback and paperback on 7th Oct (UK) / 7th Jan (US).This is the first book in a new OUP series, Literature & Politics, ed by Janice Ho, Benjamin Kohlmann, and me: bit.ly/4ntmW9c.
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
"The message to ministers is to pay attention to such connections. Economic growth and higher education policies need to be joined up."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"Attempts to make the UK a less welcoming destination are part of an alarming rightward lurch on immigration..."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"Attempts to make the UK a less welcoming destination are part of an alarming rightward lurch on immigration..."
The Guardian view on university finances: stop chipping away at a crumbling system | Editorial
Editorial: Economic and academic activity are bound up together. Charging international students more for less will not fix deep-seated problems
www.theguardian.com
September 9, 2025 at 7:01 AM
"The message to ministers is to pay attention to such connections. Economic growth and higher education policies need to be joined up."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"Attempts to make the UK a less welcoming destination are part of an alarming rightward lurch on immigration..."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"Attempts to make the UK a less welcoming destination are part of an alarming rightward lurch on immigration..."
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
I've not seen this image of H G Wells before: an unpublished sketch by David Low from 1924.
September 6, 2025 at 12:22 PM
I've not seen this image of H G Wells before: an unpublished sketch by David Low from 1924.
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
A huge moment -- Melvyn Bragg steps down from In Our Time after over a quarter of a century. What a programme and what a legacy! Just a model for how to make great, clever, engaging radio, and a twenty-seven-year experiment that proves there's a huge global audience for smart, scholarly programming.
Melvyn Bragg decides to step down from presenting In Our Time
After 26 years on the programme, the legendary presenter bids farewell to the series
www.bbc.co.uk
September 3, 2025 at 10:48 AM
A huge moment -- Melvyn Bragg steps down from In Our Time after over a quarter of a century. What a programme and what a legacy! Just a model for how to make great, clever, engaging radio, and a twenty-seven-year experiment that proves there's a huge global audience for smart, scholarly programming.
Great piece, this.
‘David Graeber upends the familiar history of the species in which primitive societies were egalitarian and the agricultural revolution brought a new order of class and domination. He wanted to show that life wasn’t really like that.’
@leninology.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@leninology.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Richard Seymour · Baseline Communism: David Graeber’s Innovations
Graeber seems to have had most fun as an outsider, a movement anthropologist wending his way among anticapitalist...
www.lrb.co.uk
August 31, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Great piece, this.
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
A campus for all seasons 💙
It's A-Level Results Day and we're open from 8am-8pm to answer your queries about Clearing: 01603 294952
Here's everything you need to know👇
#ALevelResults
It's A-Level Results Day and we're open from 8am-8pm to answer your queries about Clearing: 01603 294952
Here's everything you need to know👇
#ALevelResults
August 14, 2025 at 8:05 AM
A campus for all seasons 💙
It's A-Level Results Day and we're open from 8am-8pm to answer your queries about Clearing: 01603 294952
Here's everything you need to know👇
#ALevelResults
It's A-Level Results Day and we're open from 8am-8pm to answer your queries about Clearing: 01603 294952
Here's everything you need to know👇
#ALevelResults
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
Another great one! 👇 I know Benjamin and he's a stellar scholar!
Cover reveal! “The People in British Literature: Belonging, Exclusion, Democracy”, ed. by Benjamin Kohlmann and me, out this December from CUP.
August 13, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Another great one! 👇 I know Benjamin and he's a stellar scholar!
Cover reveal! “The People in British Literature: Belonging, Exclusion, Democracy”, ed. by Benjamin Kohlmann and me, out this December from CUP.
August 13, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Cover reveal! “The People in British Literature: Belonging, Exclusion, Democracy”, ed. by Benjamin Kohlmann and me, out this December from CUP.
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
Further to this @thetls.bsky.social essay about Una Marson's early work as a publisher, the full run of Marson's 1920s/1930s magazine, The Cosmopolitan, is now freely available on the Digital Library of the Caribbean (@dlocaribbean.bsky.social): www.dloc.com/AA00114844/0...
August 12, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Further to this @thetls.bsky.social essay about Una Marson's early work as a publisher, the full run of Marson's 1920s/1930s magazine, The Cosmopolitan, is now freely available on the Digital Library of the Caribbean (@dlocaribbean.bsky.social): www.dloc.com/AA00114844/0...
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
Excited for this new OUP series on Literature & Politics! Paired authors tackling vital terms and topics of the day, starting with Amanda Anderson and @simoncd.bsky.social on *Humanities Theory*. Next up Doug Mao and @duncanbell.bsky.social on *Utopia*.
global.oup.com/academic/con...
global.oup.com/academic/con...
global.oup.com
August 11, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Excited for this new OUP series on Literature & Politics! Paired authors tackling vital terms and topics of the day, starting with Amanda Anderson and @simoncd.bsky.social on *Humanities Theory*. Next up Doug Mao and @duncanbell.bsky.social on *Utopia*.
global.oup.com/academic/con...
global.oup.com/academic/con...
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
Declamations! is a short documentary that developed out of my @britishacademy.bsky.social mid-career fellowship on the politics of choral speaking. It documents a series of performances in Norwich, written by UEA students, inspired by Jack Lindsay's 1930s Mass Declamations. youtu.be/IY085tFQ7SM?...
Declamations!
YouTube video by Jarman Lab
youtu.be
July 31, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Declamations! is a short documentary that developed out of my @britishacademy.bsky.social mid-career fellowship on the politics of choral speaking. It documents a series of performances in Norwich, written by UEA students, inspired by Jack Lindsay's 1930s Mass Declamations. youtu.be/IY085tFQ7SM?...
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
syllabus time, teaming up for the herculean efforts of reinventing writing assignments. here, some prompts for required weekly low stakes 250-500 word reflections/ process pieces that have proven relatively conducive to real writing in lit class. please share any similar suggestions in thread.
July 21, 2025 at 12:14 PM
syllabus time, teaming up for the herculean efforts of reinventing writing assignments. here, some prompts for required weekly low stakes 250-500 word reflections/ process pieces that have proven relatively conducive to real writing in lit class. please share any similar suggestions in thread.
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
In 2026, the MSA Conference will look a bit different-- weird, even! That's because we're having a joint conference with BAMS @modernistudies.bsky.social in Loughborough, UK from July 1- 4, 2026. The CFP will be out soon! But in the meantime, please save the date.
August 7, 2025 at 12:45 PM
In 2026, the MSA Conference will look a bit different-- weird, even! That's because we're having a joint conference with BAMS @modernistudies.bsky.social in Loughborough, UK from July 1- 4, 2026. The CFP will be out soon! But in the meantime, please save the date.
Reposted by Matthew Taunton
Did you publish your first book in Victorian studies in 2024? If so, submit it for consideration for the Rudikoff Prize. More information here: nvsa.org/rudikoff-pri...
Rudikoff Prize
The Sonya Rudikoff Award for the best first book in Victorian Studies was established by the Robert Gutman family in honor of Mr. Gutman’s late wife. Sonya Rudikoff was an active member of th…
nvsa.org
August 6, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Did you publish your first book in Victorian studies in 2024? If so, submit it for consideration for the Rudikoff Prize. More information here: nvsa.org/rudikoff-pri...