Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · 7d

I'm looking forward to catching up with friends old and new at this WSG seminar this Saturday, at the Foundling Museum in London. Come along and say hi?

Women's Studies Group 1558-1837 @wsguk.bsky.social · 7d

It's this weekend! Our seminar series begins this Saturday afternoon, 4 October, in London. Come and join us - you'll receive a warm welcome and enjoy 3 great papers from Julia Hamilton, @pilarbotias.bsky.social and @georgianfun.bsky.social
1/

1

Reposted by Louise Duckling

Claire Langhamer @clairelanghamer.bsky.social · 16d

Very much this. The IHR really is open to everyone and this includes our common room and our library as well as our wonderful seminars. All free, all welcome!

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 17d

History curious? You don't need to be in London (or the UK) to attend many Institute of Historical Research seminars, although if you're in Bloomsbury you'll enjoy doing so. Most are hybrid (online/in person). They're free, usually fortnightly and open to the public.

Starting this week:

Events

Stay up to date with the upcoming events organised or hosted by the Institute of Historical Research

www.history.ac.uk

45 88

Reposted by Louise Duckling

Paul Cohen @paulecohen.bsky.social · Sep 3

I gave my first lecture in my first-year undergraduate course tonight

I talked at some length about AI, giving my rationale for my categorical no-AI policy, encouraging them to think about what its (non)use implies for their own educational experience, and closing with Joseph Fasano's poem

text of Joseph Fasano's poem "For a Student Who used AI to Write a Paper"

Now I let it fall back
in the grasses.
I hear you. I know
this life is hard now.
I know your days are precious
on this earth.
But what are you trying
to be free of?
The living? The miraculous
task of it?
Love is for the ones who love the work.

2 10 42

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · Sep 4

How amazing is this? Every bookshelf should have one!

Women Writers Network @womenwritersnet.bsky.social · Sep 4

On a visit to a stately home near Boston, I was infatuated with this article of furniture in the library: a stepladder that folds into an armchair. What would be in your dream #library? #BookSky #WritingCommunity

1 4

Reposted by Louise Duckling

Allison Van Deventer @allisonvandev.bsky.social · Sep 2

Academic authors: are you thinking of joining a writing group or workshop this fall? @kyrafreestar.bsky.social and I have compiled an up-to-date list of options for you!

You'll find free coworking groups, self-paced courses, multi-week Zoom workshops, and more. Check it out!

A call to academic writing practice — September 2025 edition | Bridge Creek Editing

bridgecreekediting.com

1 10 16

Reposted by Louise Duckling

Valeria Vescina @valeriavescina.bsky.social · Sep 2

Come and join us for our first @womenwritersnet.bsky.social chat here on Bluesky! It’ll be on 18 September at 6 pm BST. Save the date! #writing #writers #writinglife

5 8

Reposted by Louise Duckling

Lund Humphries @lhartbooks.bsky.social · Sep 1

TWO NEW BOOKS from the Illuminating Women Artists series are officially published today!!

⭐️ Maria Sibylla Merian by Catherine Powell-Warren
⭐️ Josefa de Óbidos by Carmen Ripollés
www.lundhumphries.com/collections/...

Co-published in North America with @gettymuseum.bsky.social

2 8 15

Reposted by Louise Duckling

Jesse "Pecke in the Crowne" Locker @jessemlocker.bsky.social · Aug 2

Art and Conversation: Artemisia Gentileschi at the Portland Art Museum, Sept. 4

Art and Conversation: Artemisia Gentileschi - Portland Art Museum

Join us for a special Art and Conversation with Jesse Locker, Ph.D., Professor of Italian Renaissance & Baroque Art at Portland State University, and Lloyd DeWitt, Ph.D., The Richard and […]

portlandartmuseum.org

4 8 60

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · Sep 1

😍 Wow, yes - you must be very proud!

1

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · Sep 1

It's a stunning book!

1 2

Reposted by Louise Duckling

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · Aug 31

Beautiful 1860s Victorian butterfly, which was used to store small packets of sewing needles on the underside of the wings. This was a collaboration between a London-based drapers company and a sewing needle manufacturer. On exhibit at Tatter Blue, a Brooklyn textile museum.

IG tatterbluelibrary

The underside of the butterfly, which has little pockets to store sewing needle packets. The underside of the wings are decorated with two plates. One carries an inscription of the drapers company: "Copestake, Moore, Crampton & Co. - London." The other has a gilded head of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, art, trade, and war.

The butterfly can be folded up, like how a butterfly flaps its wings.

91 1.5K 8.8K

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · Aug 30

I love being a reviews editor. It brings you into contact with the most exquisite books. I sent these beauties to a lucky reviewer today.

"Clara Peeters" by Alejandro Vergara-Sharp
"Maria Sibylla Merian" by Catherine Powell-Warren
Published by @lhartbooks.bsky.social
#womensart #review #newbooks

Book front cover showing a still life artwork by Clara Peeters, featuring a vase of flowers adjacent to a bowl of nuts and dates.

Book front cover showing artwork by Maria Sibylla Merian, featuring a botanical drawing in pale blues and greens, with butterflies.

1 3 15

Reposted by Louise Duckling

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · Aug 27

I think I'm a pretty good copy editor, and I'd say that an appropriate rate of response to copyediting should be 85 to 90 percent flat-out yes, 5 percent absolutely not, what are you thinking?, and the rest is Oh, interesting, let me do some improvements of my own.

3 10 130

Reposted by Louise Duckling

Jennie Batchelor @jenniebatchelor.bsky.social · Aug 27

Tomorrow is the Netflix premiere of a film by Richard Osman and ‘How do you like my trimming: Accessories, Making and Jane Austen’s Novels' by me. Shot in the Drawing Room at Jane Austen’s House, the talk examines Austen's needlework: www.youtube.com/user/janeaus... 1/

Jane Austen's House

Jane Austen's House is the most treasured Austen site in the world. From this picturesque cottage, deep in the Hampshire countryside, Jane revised, wrote and published her six extraordinary novels, wh...

www.youtube.com

2 9 48

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · Aug 25

Another great offer - you can also get 30% off this new(ish) book edited by the wonderful @juliepeakman.bsky.social. I have a chapter in this collection titled 'Touring Switzerland with Helen Maria Williams'.
@penandswordbooks.bsky.social

www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Travellers-i... 2/2

Travellers in Eighteenth Century Europe

Travellers in Eighteenth-Century Europe is an edited collection with contributions by leading scholars brought together by a prolific author with expertise in eighteenth-century culture. The…

www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

3

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · Aug 25

Interested in women's history? I had the pleasure of editing this book with @saralread.bsky.social, Carolyn Williams & Felicity Roberts for the 30th anniversary of @wsguk.bsky.social. It's currently 30% off with @penandswordbooks.bsky.social

See: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Exploring-th... 1/2

Exploring the Lives of Women, 1558–1837

'Exploring the Lives of Women, 1558-1837' is an engaging and lively collection of original, thought-provoking essays. Its route from Lady Jane Grey’s nine-day reign to…

www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

1 1 9

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · Aug 15

A really interesting and thoughtful thread on LLMs.

Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · Aug 14

To mark the launch of GPT-5, and the fresh wave of people talking about this technology as if it's capable of thinking like human and even if it's not, it will be soon and it's inevitable and it's not actually stealing people's work, it's just learning like a human.

Here's why it's none of that.

Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · Feb 26

One of the most common arguments you hear from fans of generative ‘AI’ is that it’s not plagiarizing people’s work, it’s just learning like a human learns. So I’m going to break down why that’s just not true, and why it can never be true, with the existing systems. 1/

3

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · Aug 15

Interested in creative writing? This new Substack is for #skystorians and comes to you from the novelist and academic @saralread.bsky.social - definitely worth a subscribe!

Sara Read @saralread.bsky.social · Jun 18

Starting Storytelling for Family Historians
open.substack.com/pub/saralrea...

Starting Storytelling for Family Historians

Writing with empathy and purpose

open.substack.com

2

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · Aug 15

This looks great, Sara!

Reposted by Louise Duckling

DrBree Robertson-Kirkland @breerob-kirk.bsky.social · Aug 10

So excited to see our book is now available for pre-order from Bloomsbury - www.bloomsbury.com/uk/women-and...
A must read for anyone interested in gender studies, music, art, philosophy, writing, and history! With @louiseduckling.bsky.social

Women and Transnational Cultural Exchange

Focusing on the international circulation of culture and ideas by women in the early modern period through the long eighteenth century, this book amplifies thei…

www.bloomsbury.com

1 5

Reposted by Louise Duckling

Dr Rachel Bynoth @rachelbynoth.bsky.social · Aug 8

Delighted @breerob-kirk.bsky.social and @louiseduckling.bsky.social volume Women and Transnational Cultural Exchange is available for pre-order! I contributed a mini piece on Mary Anne Canning’s 188 page letter-memoir shaping 18thc. motherhood identity www.bloomsbury.com/uk/women-and... #skystorians

Women and Transnational Cultural Exchange

Focusing on the international circulation of culture and ideas by women in the early modern period through the long eighteenth century, this book amplifies thei…

www.bloomsbury.com

2 8 15

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · Aug 9

Thank you, Rachel, we're so fortunate to have been able to work with you and all the other wonderful contributors!

1

Reposted by Louise Duckling

Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · Aug 2

A necessary article. Publishing has changed out of all recognition in the 25+ years since my debut novel. A big problem is the public's perception, and far too much creative writing biz advice, believes the defunct business model where making a modest living was possible, still applies. It doesn't.

@gavreads @gavreads.co.uk · Aug 2

Publishing is not an industry, I’d say, that has any sort of aftercare. If your debut flops or soars, if you go from frontlist to mid-list, if you are on prize lists or not. It’s a crapshoot. And part of the issue is supply and demand. There are 80+ books to choose from below. No one can keep up.

‘Richard Osman made £10m, but I got £250 last year’: How much money novelists really make

The big hitters of the literary world draw headlines for their book deals. But the reality of writing fiction for a living is an altogether less lucrative existence

inews.co.uk

9 65 160

Reposted by Louise Duckling

Katrina Navickas @katrinanavickas.bsky.social · Jul 30

Someone on here compared AI produced material as "digital asbestos " which in a few decades' time we will have to work out how to eradicate from the fabric of research.

Ned Richardson-Little @historyned.bsky.social · Jul 30

From my own academic research, even pre LLMs there was a huge danger of zombie factoids that begin in a respectable publication by mistake and then get reprinted for decades because no one is backtracing to the original source. Once bad info gets into the system it can take years to clear it out.

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · Jul 29

I've seen numerous examples of this in recent days - we're at a point where some reporters are using LLMs as a source and not even remotely properly factchecking, but also where LLM generated material is making its way into other material and being unknowingly reproduced by others.

43 1.4K 3.8K

Louise Duckling @louiseduckling.bsky.social · Jul 28

We had a perfectly balanced weekend of fun and rest, as demonstrated here by Benji the collie (having a lovely nap after a long play with his favourite ball).

So we're recharged and making headway on this week's projects: a business website copyedit and an academic book index. #stetpet #amediting

6