Nikki Hessell
@nikkihessell.bsky.social
1.9K followers 980 following 600 posts
Prof in 18th Century & Romantic Literature at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington, she/her, Pākehā/settler scholar, #toitūtetiriti, 🏀 Books on Romanticism + settler colonialism + Indigenous studies https://people.wgtn.ac.nz/nikki.hessell
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
nikkihessell.bsky.social
I've woken up in Aotearoa NZ to a lot of new followers, so hi!👋
My new Marsden-funded project is "The Poetics of Treaties: Settler Treaty-Making and 18C Poetry," which looks at treaties as literature & the influence of poetic modes (elegy, georgic, prospect etc) on treaty writing in the colonies
Image of a treaty signed between settler officials and Indigenous leaders, including red wax seals
Reposted by Nikki Hessell
keithwdickinson.bsky.social
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
nikkihessell.bsky.social
These are the sorts of things you can do if you're serious about art, creativity, and growing an economy
mikeachim.bsky.social
Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...
Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."
Reposted by Nikki Hessell
thwupbooks.bsky.social
'I’ve got two teenagers at home. Life is busy. I’ve been drawn to books that offer the intensity of an encounter with a whole world over just a few sittings.' Here's what Ingrid Horrocks has been reading:
www.thepress.co.nz/culture/3608...
Reposted by Nikki Hessell
etangata.bsky.social
“In this 50th anniversary year, the Tribunal and Te Tiriti are under a sustained attack from perhaps the most anti-Tiriti government that we’ve seen since the Tribunal was established.” — Carwyn Jones.
Fifty years of the Waitangi Tribunal | E-Tangata
“In this 50th anniversary year, the Tribunal and Te Tiriti are under a sustained attack from perhaps the most anti-Tiriti government that we’ve seen since the Tribunal was established.” — Carwyn Jones...
e-tangata.co.nz
Reposted by Nikki Hessell
nathankhensley.bsky.social
Want to attend NAVSA 2025: Aftermaths but can't make it to DC? Want MORE brilliant Victorianist scholarship than you can get at the in-person event? The NAVSA 2025 DIGITAL PRESESSION is free and open to all —registration required for security

(thread of papers below)
Reposted by Nikki Hessell
elccprogramme.bsky.social
We seem to be awash in book launches here at ELCC! Please join us on 24 October for "Te Whāriki," edited by Dougal McNeill, Anna Jackson, and Robert Sullivan
Invitation to book launch at Unity Books, Fri 24 October, 6pm
nikkihessell.bsky.social
I genuinely love that is banner news
A news banner, in the breaking news style, that says “Negotiations between Netball NZ and Dane Noeline continue “
nikkihessell.bsky.social
"AI is the asbestos we are shovelling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations" 👏
jbau.bsky.social
This whole section really.
Finally: AI cannot do your job, but an AI salesman can 100% convince your boss to fire you and replace you with an AI that can't do your job, and when the bubble bursts, the money-hemorrhaging "foundation models" will be shut off and we'll lose the AI that can't do your job, and you will be long gone, retrained or retired or "discouraged" and out of the labor market, and no one will do your job.
AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations:
Reposted by Nikki Hessell
elccprogramme.bsky.social
Daylight saving is here, it feels like spring, maybe you should grab a copy of the Sunday Star Times and catch up on what the ELCC programme's poet and lecturer Anna Jackson has been reading? www.thepost.co.nz/culture/3608...
What I’m Reading: Anna Jackson
As we get into spring, look back at poet Anna Jackson’s winter reading list.
www.thepost.co.nz
Reposted by Nikki Hessell
openpolicy.bsky.social
If you’re in Wellington / Poneke there is a protest against the genocide in Gaza and our government’s shameful
complicity at 1 pm in Cuba Street, by the bucket fountain.

#nzpol
Reposted by Nikki Hessell
awaterevalley.bsky.social
The coalition is out of step with the people of Aotearoa New Zealand and out of step with the world. Shame on all of them.

NZ not yet recognising Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announces
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
NZ not yet recognising Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announces
The government has decided against recognising Palestinian statehood, retaining its "when, not if" position.
www.rnz.co.nz
nikkihessell.bsky.social
Shameful 🇵🇸
mountaintui.bsky.social
Our close allies - Australia, Canada, UK - all said recognising Palestine is essential for maintaining a two state solution. NZ is a small outlier but stays with the US and Israeli arguments #nzpol
nikkihessell.bsky.social
We've taken our @marsdenfund.bsky.social "Poetics of Treaties" project on the road! Spending time today at the Agowiidiwinan Centre & at the Museum of Human Rights thinking about treaties in those contexts, then speaking tomorrow at UW.

Thank you to @kerrysinanan.bsky.social for hosting us there
kerrysinanan.bsky.social
Very excited that I will finally meet @nikkihessell.bsky.social in person tomorrow and cannot wait to hear her talk with Carwyn Jones on how we can center Treaties in our work and on comparing different treaty experiences and knowledges in 'Canada' and Aotearoa

The BIPOC Network and the Department of English Special Programs present this
talk which will look at issues around treaties in a comparative and interdisciplinary way.  
Carwyn Jones will talk about the example of Aotearoa New Zealand and the Waitangi Tribunal as an accountability mechanism, including the importance of understanding treaties as Indigenous law instruments. Nikki Hessell will talk about how historical settler ideas about treaty-making can be understood using Indigenous concepts that take in creative expression, including poetry, as part of the textual world of treaties.
Reposted by Nikki Hessell
find-bronwyn.bsky.social
Rawe! 50 years of Maori language week today:
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa... ""We've gone from a time when te reo Māori was barely heard in public, to a time when it's sung in stadiums, spoken in workplaces and celebrated in our homes."
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori celebrates 50 years
Māori Language Week has kicked off, with a parade, webinar series and a time capsule planned.
www.rnz.co.nz
nikkihessell.bsky.social
Genuinely, I think that's a big part of it. Being in a space where I'm not an expert & have limited experience, & so a different part of my brain kicks into gear - not analytical, more just like wonder & basic meaning-making.

Presumably the fact that I'm walking & moving is also part of it
nikkihessell.bsky.social
100% I've had so many thinking breakthroughs just wandering in art galleries that I now deliberately go there if I'm stuck or need to shift my thinking in new directions. It works like magic. I have theories about why, but I'm so pleased to know I'm not the only person who's experienced this!
Reposted by Nikki Hessell
rustyroj.bsky.social
#HowToDad doing the mahi that nz news won’t #blackferns
Reposted by Nikki Hessell
elccprogramme.bsky.social
Congratulations to our very own Charles Ferrall on his new book! It's being launched at Unity Books on Thurs 18 Sept - hope to see you there
thwupbooks.bsky.social
Happy publication day to Charles Ferrall! South by South: New Zealand and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration is out today.
teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/sou...