Vicky MacKenzie
@vickymackenzie.bsky.social
Writer, cat lady, John Ruskin obsessive, wrote a novel about medieval mystics. Aspiring anchoress. https://victoriamackenzie.net/
Substack: https://victoriamackenzie.substack.com/
Substack: https://victoriamackenzie.substack.com/
Pinned
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain by Victoria MacKenzie review – a pocket epic
This electrifying debut compares the spiritual adventures of Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich
www.theguardian.com
And as always a thousand thank yous to @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social who wrote this astounding and thoughtful review of my book when it first came out, and sent it out into the world with a bang! 😍
www.theguardian.com/books/2023/j...
www.theguardian.com/books/2023/j...
My monthly Substack newsletter is now live, with a nod to @davidallengreen.bsky.social as it's Candlemas today, and together with with @tambourine.bsky.social we share a rather special Candlemas story!
open.substack.com/pub/victoria...
open.substack.com/pub/victoria...
Candlemas, Being a Writing Beast and a Birthday Haul
Things I'm writing, things I'm reading, things I'm teaching...
open.substack.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:04 PM
My monthly Substack newsletter is now live, with a nod to @davidallengreen.bsky.social as it's Candlemas today, and together with with @tambourine.bsky.social we share a rather special Candlemas story!
open.substack.com/pub/victoria...
open.substack.com/pub/victoria...
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Find out here! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... (it is very interesting)
This Cultural Life - Jonathan Pryce - BBC Sounds
Actor Jonathan Pryce talks to John Wilson about his cultural influences and career.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 1, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Find out here! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... (it is very interesting)
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Today is Candlemas
If you have not cleared all your Christmas decorations by today, a demon hiding behind them will cause dire mischief in your house for the rest of the year.
See my popular post on this: emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
If you have not cleared all your Christmas decorations by today, a demon hiding behind them will cause dire mischief in your house for the rest of the year.
See my popular post on this: emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
"Twelfth Night Till Candlemas"
The story of a forty-year book-quest and of its remarkable ending
emptycity.substack.com
February 2, 2026 at 7:41 AM
Today is Candlemas
If you have not cleared all your Christmas decorations by today, a demon hiding behind them will cause dire mischief in your house for the rest of the year.
See my popular post on this: emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
If you have not cleared all your Christmas decorations by today, a demon hiding behind them will cause dire mischief in your house for the rest of the year.
See my popular post on this: emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
This kept me sane today, inbetween the full eight hours of work I did. A humane, touching reminder that to live is to ultimately fail, so why not go a bit easier on yourself eh?
February 1, 2026 at 9:50 PM
This kept me sane today, inbetween the full eight hours of work I did. A humane, touching reminder that to live is to ultimately fail, so why not go a bit easier on yourself eh?
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
The CFP for the Gender & Medieval Studies conference 2026 is now LIVE! The theme is Gender & Creativity. The conf will be held in Oxford, 8-10 Sept, abstracts due to me by 13 April. Full details on the GMS website (artwork by @hellomizk.bsky.social) medievalgender.co.uk/2026-oxford/
January 25, 2026 at 10:22 AM
The CFP for the Gender & Medieval Studies conference 2026 is now LIVE! The theme is Gender & Creativity. The conf will be held in Oxford, 8-10 Sept, abstracts due to me by 13 April. Full details on the GMS website (artwork by @hellomizk.bsky.social) medievalgender.co.uk/2026-oxford/
Looking back on this and remembering my classes, my brilliant tutors, the sheer amount of time dedicated to reading and thinking and discussing, I think education is the greatest thing ever. Future generations will look back in horror at how we monetised, managerialised and AI-fucked the HE sector.
5 classes you took in uni:
1. Art & Letters 1900-1930 (best course EVER, changed my life)
2. Nineteenth century sexualities (Eng Lit, yes - obviously I went to Sussex 😂)
3. Ethics (Philosophy)
4. Kant (a whole semester on Kant! I used to be smarter 🤓)
5. Representations of the Body in Art
1. Art & Letters 1900-1930 (best course EVER, changed my life)
2. Nineteenth century sexualities (Eng Lit, yes - obviously I went to Sussex 😂)
3. Ethics (Philosophy)
4. Kant (a whole semester on Kant! I used to be smarter 🤓)
5. Representations of the Body in Art
5 classes you took in university:
1. Imperial Leather : GB Empire
2. Foundations of Mdn Historical Thought
3. 20th Cen Fascism
4. Special Subject: France 1848-1852
5. Dissertation on a comparative study between Walter Greenwood’s ‘Love on the Dole’ and Salford/Manchester/UK during the Depression
1. Imperial Leather : GB Empire
2. Foundations of Mdn Historical Thought
3. 20th Cen Fascism
4. Special Subject: France 1848-1852
5. Dissertation on a comparative study between Walter Greenwood’s ‘Love on the Dole’ and Salford/Manchester/UK during the Depression
February 1, 2026 at 9:24 AM
Looking back on this and remembering my classes, my brilliant tutors, the sheer amount of time dedicated to reading and thinking and discussing, I think education is the greatest thing ever. Future generations will look back in horror at how we monetised, managerialised and AI-fucked the HE sector.
5 classes you took in uni:
1. Art & Letters 1900-1930 (best course EVER, changed my life)
2. Nineteenth century sexualities (Eng Lit, yes - obviously I went to Sussex 😂)
3. Ethics (Philosophy)
4. Kant (a whole semester on Kant! I used to be smarter 🤓)
5. Representations of the Body in Art
1. Art & Letters 1900-1930 (best course EVER, changed my life)
2. Nineteenth century sexualities (Eng Lit, yes - obviously I went to Sussex 😂)
3. Ethics (Philosophy)
4. Kant (a whole semester on Kant! I used to be smarter 🤓)
5. Representations of the Body in Art
5 classes you took in university:
1. Imperial Leather : GB Empire
2. Foundations of Mdn Historical Thought
3. 20th Cen Fascism
4. Special Subject: France 1848-1852
5. Dissertation on a comparative study between Walter Greenwood’s ‘Love on the Dole’ and Salford/Manchester/UK during the Depression
1. Imperial Leather : GB Empire
2. Foundations of Mdn Historical Thought
3. 20th Cen Fascism
4. Special Subject: France 1848-1852
5. Dissertation on a comparative study between Walter Greenwood’s ‘Love on the Dole’ and Salford/Manchester/UK during the Depression
1. From Plato to Kant: intro to political philosophy
2. 19th century novels
3. Black women’s writing
4. Novels of the Holocaust
5. Nazi Germany
2. 19th century novels
3. Black women’s writing
4. Novels of the Holocaust
5. Nazi Germany
February 1, 2026 at 9:15 AM
5 classes you took in uni:
1. Art & Letters 1900-1930 (best course EVER, changed my life)
2. Nineteenth century sexualities (Eng Lit, yes - obviously I went to Sussex 😂)
3. Ethics (Philosophy)
4. Kant (a whole semester on Kant! I used to be smarter 🤓)
5. Representations of the Body in Art
1. Art & Letters 1900-1930 (best course EVER, changed my life)
2. Nineteenth century sexualities (Eng Lit, yes - obviously I went to Sussex 😂)
3. Ethics (Philosophy)
4. Kant (a whole semester on Kant! I used to be smarter 🤓)
5. Representations of the Body in Art
5 female fronted bands you've seen live...
The Delgados
Jane Weaver
I Break Horses
Molly Nilsson
Elastica
( I am surprised /appalled how hard I found this. And will regret not getting tix for Bikini Kill in Brighton in early 2000s until the day I die)
The Delgados
Jane Weaver
I Break Horses
Molly Nilsson
Elastica
( I am surprised /appalled how hard I found this. And will regret not getting tix for Bikini Kill in Brighton in early 2000s until the day I die)
This thread I like. Straight off the top of my head…
Lydia Lunch
Babes in Toyland
Venus Tropicaux
Žen
Maarja Nuut
Lydia Lunch
Babes in Toyland
Venus Tropicaux
Žen
Maarja Nuut
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen with WOMEN lead singers:
Throwing Muses
P.J.Harvey
Le Tigre
Stereolab
Heartworms
Throwing Muses
P.J.Harvey
Le Tigre
Stereolab
Heartworms
February 1, 2026 at 9:02 AM
5 female fronted bands you've seen live...
The Delgados
Jane Weaver
I Break Horses
Molly Nilsson
Elastica
( I am surprised /appalled how hard I found this. And will regret not getting tix for Bikini Kill in Brighton in early 2000s until the day I die)
The Delgados
Jane Weaver
I Break Horses
Molly Nilsson
Elastica
( I am surprised /appalled how hard I found this. And will regret not getting tix for Bikini Kill in Brighton in early 2000s until the day I die)
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
X is hiring a creative writing specialist at $40 an hour to make Grok better at writing and a true LOL at the qualifications
January 30, 2026 at 8:14 PM
X is hiring a creative writing specialist at $40 an hour to make Grok better at writing and a true LOL at the qualifications
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Oh. My heart. Catherine O’Hara, the icon, has passed.
January 30, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Oh. My heart. Catherine O’Hara, the icon, has passed.
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
less said the better,
John Ashbery
John Ashbery
January 30, 2026 at 4:27 PM
less said the better,
John Ashbery
John Ashbery
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Please join us and help make history at the Gorton and Denton by-election! 💚. We have a brilliant candidate, Hannah Spencer, we have momentum and we have a vital message - that the politics of hope *can* win over the politics of hate.
We can win this! @mcrgreenparty.bsky.social @greenparty.org.uk
We can win this! @mcrgreenparty.bsky.social @greenparty.org.uk
January 30, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Please join us and help make history at the Gorton and Denton by-election! 💚. We have a brilliant candidate, Hannah Spencer, we have momentum and we have a vital message - that the politics of hope *can* win over the politics of hate.
We can win this! @mcrgreenparty.bsky.social @greenparty.org.uk
We can win this! @mcrgreenparty.bsky.social @greenparty.org.uk
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Absolutely delighted with this review of my memoir, The Ghost Lake, in @yorkshirebylines.co.uk . Thanks to John Barron for taking the time with it.
Book review: - The Ghost Lake by Wendy Pratt | A story of belonging and connection through time that should speak to anyone who calls Yorkshire ‘home’ | John Barron
Book review: – The Ghost Lake by Wendy Pratt
A story of belonging and connection through time that should speak to anyone who calls Yorkshire ‘home’
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
January 30, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Absolutely delighted with this review of my memoir, The Ghost Lake, in @yorkshirebylines.co.uk . Thanks to John Barron for taking the time with it.
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
What we are seeing in their case, as Kidron says, is a “massive transfer of wealth from creators to corporations and from the UK to the US”.
www.thetimes.com/article/3c0c...
www.thetimes.com/article/3c0c...
All 2.4m of Britain’s creative workers are at risk — and we know why
A new report into the impact of AI on the creative sector makes for apocalyptic reading. The government must act now
www.thetimes.com
January 30, 2026 at 11:42 AM
What we are seeing in their case, as Kidron says, is a “massive transfer of wealth from creators to corporations and from the UK to the US”.
www.thetimes.com/article/3c0c...
www.thetimes.com/article/3c0c...
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Lightning book recommendation round! What was the last really good book you read? What was the vibe of it? Mine was Barbara Pym, An Unsuitable Attachment. Clergymen, spinsters, libraries, repressed sexuality, and a very sharp eye observing it all.
January 29, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Lightning book recommendation round! What was the last really good book you read? What was the vibe of it? Mine was Barbara Pym, An Unsuitable Attachment. Clergymen, spinsters, libraries, repressed sexuality, and a very sharp eye observing it all.
Good grief. Do people who don't go to uni not benefit from doctors, librarians, researchers, lawyers, architects, artists, writers, archivists, historians, designers, programmers, etc etc etc...? What is this weird unjoined up world she imagines?
Rachel Reeves: "It is not right that people who don't go to university bear the cost for others to." I don't use local leisure centres and I don't drive, so will I be made exempt for taxation that pays for all that stuff? Or is it only education we'll be going after
January 29, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Good grief. Do people who don't go to uni not benefit from doctors, librarians, researchers, lawyers, architects, artists, writers, archivists, historians, designers, programmers, etc etc etc...? What is this weird unjoined up world she imagines?
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Don't 'miss 'Storm-Cloud – The Look of the Sky' exhibition @ Millennium Gallery Sheffield; on until 29.11. 2026.
Inspired by Ruskin’s early thinking on climate & industrial pollution. Brings together historic artworks, young curators, contemporary film & climate research. #JohnRuskin #ClimateChange
Inspired by Ruskin’s early thinking on climate & industrial pollution. Brings together historic artworks, young curators, contemporary film & climate research. #JohnRuskin #ClimateChange
January 29, 2026 at 7:32 PM
Don't 'miss 'Storm-Cloud – The Look of the Sky' exhibition @ Millennium Gallery Sheffield; on until 29.11. 2026.
Inspired by Ruskin’s early thinking on climate & industrial pollution. Brings together historic artworks, young curators, contemporary film & climate research. #JohnRuskin #ClimateChange
Inspired by Ruskin’s early thinking on climate & industrial pollution. Brings together historic artworks, young curators, contemporary film & climate research. #JohnRuskin #ClimateChange
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
We urgently need a parliamentary debate on Palantir. Please sign this & share with your network. Via @the-citizens.bsky.social & @change.org.
www.change.org/p/hold-a-par...
www.change.org/p/hold-a-par...
January 29, 2026 at 3:42 PM
We urgently need a parliamentary debate on Palantir. Please sign this & share with your network. Via @the-citizens.bsky.social & @change.org.
www.change.org/p/hold-a-par...
www.change.org/p/hold-a-par...
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
New on the blog today, my thoughts on IN FARTHEST SEAS by Lalla Romano (tr. Brian Robert Moore).
I loved this profound, intimate and deeply moving elegy to Cenzo Monti, Romano’s husband of fifty years. Fans of Annie Ernaux might appreciate this. #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/29/i...
I loved this profound, intimate and deeply moving elegy to Cenzo Monti, Romano’s husband of fifty years. Fans of Annie Ernaux might appreciate this. #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/29/i...
In Farthest Seas by Lalla Romano (tr. Brian Robert Moore)
A couple of years ago, I read and thoroughly enjoyed A Silence Shared, a beautiful, enigmatic novel by the Italian writer, translator and artist Lalla Romano. First published in Italy in 1957, Tett…
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:19 AM
New on the blog today, my thoughts on IN FARTHEST SEAS by Lalla Romano (tr. Brian Robert Moore).
I loved this profound, intimate and deeply moving elegy to Cenzo Monti, Romano’s husband of fifty years. Fans of Annie Ernaux might appreciate this. #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/29/i...
I loved this profound, intimate and deeply moving elegy to Cenzo Monti, Romano’s husband of fifty years. Fans of Annie Ernaux might appreciate this. #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/29/i...
I'm in the wrong job. It's not entirely clear to my friends and family what I do either, but I definitely don't earn this much 😭
Chris Rokos has just paid himself £477m for one year’s work. Mr Rokos has not solved any of the world’s great problems. Indeed, it’s not entirely clear what he does do, writes Alan Rusbridger
One man paid himself £500m last year—in what world is that morally okay?
The obscene riches being accrued by hedge fund execs show a financial system in crisis
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 11:29 AM
I'm in the wrong job. It's not entirely clear to my friends and family what I do either, but I definitely don't earn this much 😭
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
'Mountains, Connemara,' shows Paul Henry at the height of his powers in the early-mid 1930s, a time when his domestic circumstances, which always reflected directly on his work, had become settled after the breakdown of his marriage; as his mood brightened, so did his work.
January 29, 2026 at 11:21 AM
'Mountains, Connemara,' shows Paul Henry at the height of his powers in the early-mid 1930s, a time when his domestic circumstances, which always reflected directly on his work, had become settled after the breakdown of his marriage; as his mood brightened, so did his work.
Christ almighty, that last line.
January 29, 2026 at 10:09 AM
Christ almighty, that last line.
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
🎉📘📣Out today: NIGHTFARING: IN SEARCH OF THE DISAPPEARING DARKNESS. Travel memoir, science & history, this book is my years-long deep dive into the night & darkness, journeying around the world, from England to Japan & the Himalaya.
📷: Bettymaya Foott www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Nightf...
📷: Bettymaya Foott www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Nightf...
January 29, 2026 at 9:49 AM
🎉📘📣Out today: NIGHTFARING: IN SEARCH OF THE DISAPPEARING DARKNESS. Travel memoir, science & history, this book is my years-long deep dive into the night & darkness, journeying around the world, from England to Japan & the Himalaya.
📷: Bettymaya Foott www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Nightf...
📷: Bettymaya Foott www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Nightf...
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
This painting by the artist Adriaen Coorte, made in 1699, shows a simple bunch of dramatically lit asparagus, on a stone shelf.
Still life paintings of food, often called Vanitas, were a common theme in Dutch art in the 17th century and alluded to moral themes such as the brevity of life.
Still life paintings of food, often called Vanitas, were a common theme in Dutch art in the 17th century and alluded to moral themes such as the brevity of life.
January 29, 2026 at 8:00 AM
This painting by the artist Adriaen Coorte, made in 1699, shows a simple bunch of dramatically lit asparagus, on a stone shelf.
Still life paintings of food, often called Vanitas, were a common theme in Dutch art in the 17th century and alluded to moral themes such as the brevity of life.
Still life paintings of food, often called Vanitas, were a common theme in Dutch art in the 17th century and alluded to moral themes such as the brevity of life.