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edelsemple.bsky.social
@edelsemple.bsky.social
500 followers 250 following 270 posts
Senior Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies @ UCC, Ireland • Shakespeare on screen • Women in early modern drama • Shakespearean biofiction • Cat-owner, cake-lover, books, plants • she/her
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edelsemple.bsky.social
Day or night @ucc.ie Quad is pretty!
#Cork #photography
January 28, 2026 at 11:44 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
If you’re heading to see #Hamnet in the cinema, nominated for 8 #Oscars, check out my @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social article about the film, its origins, and the growing trend of #Shakespeare biofiction! #SpeirGorm #SpeirGhorm
A screenshot of the film Hamnet, with the character Agnes in a red dress, laughing, and her husband William, in a blue shirt, sits smiling behind her. The text at the top reads “8 Academy Award nominations” including Best Picture. In the bottom right, there is a tagline quote from the film: “Keep your heart open”. On the bottom left is “FOCUS FEATURES”.
January 25, 2026 at 11:05 AM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Saw this rook elegantly picking at some damp moss in #Cork city today #corvid #IrishBirds #photography
A rook, his feathers various shades of black, faces the camera while standing proudly on a moss-covered stone wall. Behind the bird is a brown river in full flood, some city buildings, and a pale grey sky. A rook stands on a stone wall pecking, open-beaked, at the bright green moss and mud. Behind the bird is a brown river in full flood, some city buildings, and a pale grey sky.
January 24, 2026 at 3:41 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Passed a pigeon-fest in #Cork city today - lovely to see so many #pigeons happily pigeoning on a chilly morning.
A large flock of (feral) pigeons eat seed spread on a lawn.
January 15, 2026 at 3:44 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Read Elena Ferrante’s “My Brilliant Friend” for work (supervising a thesis) and by the end I would describe myself as being reluctantly intrigued. Now in the middle of and enjoying much more “The Story Of A New Name” 💙📚 #Booksky #reading
The cover of “The story of a new name” shows a black-and-white photo of a woman on a beach in a 1950s bathing suit. She is raising a scarf over her head which is blowing in the wind. This book is book 2 of the Neapolitan novels trilogy.
January 12, 2026 at 10:58 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
#Reading Once Was Willem by M. R. Carey - took me a while to get into the world (medieval fantasy) but story has me hooked now. #BookSky 📚 💙
The cover for ONCE WAS WILLEM is red and black. It is ornate and medieval in style, and includes images of swords, a skull, a pentacle, leaves, a snake, a man’s silhouette etc.
January 5, 2026 at 4:00 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Following a strongly-worded recommendation (😆) I am just starting to read Tokarczuk’s “Drive your plough over the bones of the dead” 📚 💙 #BookSky #reading
The striking cover of Tokarczuk’s “Drive your plough over the bones of the dead” shows a greyhound coloured red and opposite one greyhound coloured blue, posed around a sun. At the top of the cover, there is a statement “winner of the Nobel prize in literature 2018”.
December 29, 2025 at 12:54 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
It may be #caturday, but Anita is still busy working as my study buddy. #cats
A tabby cat is curled up asleep on a yellow blanket, her nose tucked in by tail and her paws.
December 20, 2025 at 5:27 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Just finished The Queen Who Came In From The Cold (a detective-spy tale) and starting The Secrets of the First School (the latest in the Edinburgh Nights series). 📚 #BookSky #reading
The cover of the book, “The Queen who came in from the cold” by SJ Bennett. The background is pale blue and to the right, is a whimsical illustration of Queen Elizabeth II as a young woman, in a dark blue dress, with two corgis at her feet. The cover to the book “The secrets of the first school”, by T.L. Huchu. It is purple and shows bits of a map of Scotland and an old Gothic-style building. In the centre of the book cover is an icon of an occult star.
December 8, 2025 at 2:27 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Reading “The First Actress” by @cwgortner.bsky.social - and learning that Sarah Bernhardt was a heck of a woman! #BookSky #reading 📚
Cover for the book “The first actress“ which shows the actress Sarah Bernhardt in a portrait by Georges Clairin from 1876. Bernhardt is lounging in a fabulous white dress, gazing directly at the viewer.
December 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Today the University of Galway is hosting the Irish Renaissance Seminar. The theme of this meeting is #earlymodern books 📚 #IrishRenSeminar #renaissance
A schedule for the Irish Renaissance Seminar in the University of Galway, November 2025.
November 22, 2025 at 2:07 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Just finished @naomikelsey.bsky.social The Darkening Globe and liked it very much. Lots to engage the imagination; a sort of Renaissance gothic tale, centred on two women, seafaring, intrigue, and even a Frost Fair on the frozen Thames.
Cover of the novel “The Darkening Globe” showing a globe in the centre, a lit candlestick on either side, and in the four corners are a ship, mermaid, cockatrice, and bear rampant.
November 17, 2025 at 11:25 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Just finished reading @csittenfeld.bsky.social American Wife (which I enjoyed, but also had to shout at - the husband character mainly) The novel “Rodham” is still my favourite by this author.
Cover of the book American Wife, showing a woman on a bicycle, looking back over her shoulder. A house and field are in the background.
November 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
The Dragon of Shandon #Halloween parade in Cork city, #Ireland was great fun! Well done to all the makers and performers!
#Cork #CorkCity #Halloween2025
Large skeletons in a Halloween parade in Cork city. A Halloween float of an ornate giant demonic head, with brains popping out of the top. A Halloween parade float of large and s white skeletons in twisted poses. The skeletal head of the Dragon of Shandon, lit up internally, the centrepiece of this Halloween parade in Cork city.
November 1, 2025 at 7:47 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Finished The Death of Shame @ambroseparry.bsky.social (& recommend the series if Edinburgh gothic-y detective sounds appealing!) and starting The Last Word @ellygriffiths.bsky.social (another series I can’t get enough of!)
The cover of “The death of shame” showing a snake wrapped around an apple. The colours of the cover are silver, gold, and dark purple. The text also states that this is the final Raven and Fisher mystery. The cover for the book “The last word” shows an isolated cottage against a beautiful golden sunset. There is an open gate leading to an old laneway, surrounded by heathers, scrub, and a few trees. The tagline says: words can be dangerous sometimes they kill.
October 27, 2025 at 11:07 AM
edelsemple.bsky.social
After seeing it everywhere and waiting months to borrow it from the library, I’m starting to read Fourth Wing by @rebeccayarros.bsky.social 📚 💙
The cover of the audiobook for Yarros’ FOURTH WING. The tagline reads “Fly… or die” The golden cover includes line drawings of clouds and dragons.
October 20, 2025 at 9:54 AM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Saw a Dalek in Bradford and after years of watching #DoctorWho meant that it was cool but also properly creepy!
A red and black Dalek in a hallway
October 15, 2025 at 10:26 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Thanks for the shoutout @emer.bsky.social - I know you and I would love to write about #Hamnet #Shakespeare #biofiction
Poster for the film Hamnet
October 13, 2025 at 11:08 AM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Reading last in a mystery series for a bit of cosy crime - Murder in Bloom by Rosie Sandler
#BookSky #AmReading📚 💙
Cover of audiobook for MURDER IN BLOOM, part of The Gardener Mysteries series, by Rosie Sandler. The cover seems to be lined by grass, and in the centre is the book title and a cartoonish red lily in a broken pot, with blood along the pot’s crack.
October 13, 2025 at 6:57 AM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Anita looks like she’s about to deliver the #Caturday main evening news. #cats
A one-eyed tabby cat sits at the door of a cat-tree box, with her white paws on the threshold.
October 4, 2025 at 7:31 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
The Postscript Murders, part of the DS Harbinder Kaur series, which came recommended - by detective fiction expert @mary1010.bsky.social - and I’ve the next book lined up already!
#Booksky 📚 💙 #crimefiction
The audiobook cover of the book The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths, which is read by Nina Wadia. The tagline, in small font, says “Inventing crime stories can get you killed”. The cover image shows Brighton Pier shrouded in fog, under a moody grey sky, and a beach chair sat on a stony shore.
September 29, 2025 at 8:14 AM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Post one of the most haunting shots in movie history from a film made before the year 2000
The three witches from Orson Welles 1948 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
September 29, 2025 at 8:07 AM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Just finished Human Rites by @junodawson.bsky.social and started Katabasis by R.F. Kuang. And look at the very cool book covers! 📚 💙
The lilac cover to Juno Dawson’s book Human Rites, with the tagline “There’ll be the devil to pay”. The black, white, and gold cover to R F Kuang’s book Katabasis. The tagline reads “To hell with love”.
September 22, 2025 at 10:09 AM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Speeding through the third book in @junodawson.bsky.social superb series “Her Majesty’s Coven” - so good I can’t get enough of it &don’t want it to end! #BookSky 📚 💙 Bonus - audiobook is read by @nicolacoughlanbr.bsky.social!
September 15, 2025 at 9:50 PM
edelsemple.bsky.social
Today’s movie viewing was “Shakes versus Shav”, an Irish-made short film where #Shakespeare & #GBShaw, in puppet-form, square up to one another to debate the quality of their art and their legacies! #biofiction
A leaflet for the 2025 Meath Film Festival, in Ireland, in an auditorium before a screen. Marionettes of William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw stand on a stage beside the title of the film “SHAKES versus SHAV”. The puppets are voiced by Colm Meaney and Derek Jacobi.
September 13, 2025 at 9:04 PM