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Claire Cock-Starkey

@nonfictioness.bsky.social

1.6K followers 660 following 760 posts

Writer (Lore of the Wild, Hyphens & Hashtags &c). Big fan of books, libraries, folklore, history. Also studying for a PhD on the folklore of death and dying in 19th century England

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · Nov 12

As Bsky seems to be hotting up with tons of new people (hello everyone!) I thought I should reintroduce myself. I am a writer, most recently of children's books on folklore, and part-time PhD student on the folklore of death and dying in 19th c England. 1/5

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 4h

Good luck to you too!

Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

Helen Kingstone @helenkingstone.bsky.social · 8h

I'm really proud of this: the latest issue of #VictorianStudies has an article of mine in it!
It's on #ageing and #generations, & the insightful ways that Victorian novelist Margaret Oliphant approaches these issues, with takeaways for us now.
doi.org/10.2979/vic....

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Cover of Victorian Studies journal, with lithograph of fairies!

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 6h

It's that time of time when my 17yo texts and asks what's for dinner to see if it's worth coming home.

Tonight he is gracing us with his company because a) it's quesadilla and b) Traitors!

Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 7h

Thank you! Good tip on the sugary snack 🙌

Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 7h

I don't think I have any red ones...in fact I have nothing red as it clashes with my hair. Oh dear, clearly very unlucky!

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 7h

Had a pre-Viva meet with my supervisor this morning and I now have about 4 weeks to prep for the big day (eeeek!). He gave me tons of great advice but I am always up for more - so what is your best Viva prep tip? #PhDsky #academicsky

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Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 2d

Anyone remember Reform promising to go into their new councils with DOGE-style units to slash “waste” and stop taxes from rising? Yeah, it went exactly as you’d expect if you put people in charge who have no idea how anything works.

Reform poised to raise Kent council tax as Musk-inspired attack on costs falters
ANNA GROSS - KENT
Kent's local authority will probably raise council tax rates next year as Reform UK strugglesto find big savings under an Elon Musk-inspired cost-cutting drive.
Kent was one of 10 councils that Nigel Farage's rightwing populist party seized in a swath of local election victories in May. He vowed to save "a lot of money" by abolishing "wasteful" spending.
But Diane Morton, Reform's cabinet member for adult social care on Kent county council, told the Financial Times that services were already "down to the bare bones".
"We've got more demand than ever before and it's growing." she said, stressing she did not believe access to those services should be limited. "We just want more money." As with many local
authorities in England, the bulk of declined to say whether council tax Kent's budget went on adult and chil-
would be raised but other Reform coun-
dren's social care, as well as on children cillors said they wanted to avoid hitting
with special educational needs, which the full 5 percent.
together accounted for about 50 per
Reform's experience highlights some
cent of its £2.5bn annual expenditure.
of the obstacles it may face in national
All councils have a legal duty to bal-
government if it won the next general
ance their books and will set next year's
election and pursued its pledge to slash
budgets in February or March. Ahead of taxes and spending. "Everyone thought
that, most councils in England are we d come in and there were going to be
expected to increase council tax by 5 per
these huge costs we could cut away but
cent, the maximum allowed.
there just aren't," said a third senior
"I think it's going to be 5 per cent,"
Reform cabinet member in Kent.
Morton said of where Kent would land
Farage has set up a Reform Depart-
on tax rises, adding that every 1 per cent ment of Government Efficiency team -
increase equated to an extra E10mn.
modelled on Musk's "Doge" i…

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 2d

This is so cool! Hope Cambridgeshire pubs take note and offer a similar thing 😊

Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 2d

Ooooo great tip!

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 2d

Once again I am begging Word to stop constantly defaulting to fricking Aptos! I do not like this typeface and I will not be forced into using it! #fontwars #calibrirules

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Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

Davenant 📸 @marcdavenant.bsky.social · Jul 20

Peaceful protesters yesterday, writing the words on their placards which will convert them from ordinary citizens to terrorists in the eyes of the government and the law. Words which put them in the same legal group as Osama bin Laden. The rank absurdity of Cooper’s decision captured in one photo.

Protesters writing on blank placards during a protest

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 3d

Spotted this crayfish by the river. Much bigger than I imagined! They're invasive so I know they're not a good thing but quite fascinating to see the critter! Looks so freaking evil!

Large purple/black crayfish lying in the grass

Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 6d

🚨Call for Papers!
❓Sensation Fiction and the Health Humanities: A VPFA Study Day
🗺️Loughborough University
📅27 March 2026
💷 FREE
For full CfP: victorianpopularfiction.org/studyday/for...
Contact the organiser Anne-Marie Beller (@braddonite.bsky.social) at [email protected] for more information

Mentally ill patients dancing at a ball at Somerset County Asylum. Process
print after a lithograph by K. Drake, ca. 1850/1855.
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/xswz3swa

CFP: Sensation Fiction and the Health Humanities
A VPFA Study Day
Loughborough University, 27 March 2026

The Health Humanities and Victorian popular fiction intersect in revealing ways, offering insights into how 19th-century literature shaped and reflected contemporary understandings of health, illness, and the body. Popular narratives not only mirrored anxieties surrounding public health and medical progress but also contributed to shaping public perceptions of health and healing. Health Humanities approaches re-examine these texts to uncover how cultural narratives and literary representations influenced attitudes toward physical and mental well-being, gendered experiences of illness, and the ethics of care in an age of rapid scientific change.

Health Humanities is a particularly useful approach to sensation fiction because it illuminates the ways in which these emotionally charged, often morally ambiguous narratives explore and interrogate concepts of the body, illness, and mental health. Sensation fiction, with its focus on secrets, trauma, nervous disorders, and abnormal psychological states, frequently dramatizes the anxieties of Victorian society surrounding health, gender, and identity. By applying the lens of Health Humanities, scholars can uncover how these texts reflect and shape contemporary medical discourse. Interdisciplinary approaches also highlight how sensation fiction critiques institutional medicine, domestic care practices, and the pathologization of women’s experiences. Ultimately, Health Humanities allows us to see sensation fiction not just as entertainment, but as a culturally significant form that negotiates the meanings of illness, morality, and human vulnerability in a rapidly changing world.

20-minute papers are invited on any aspect of the health humanities and sensation fiction. Topics may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Madness, Hysteria, and the Sensation Heroine
• The Role of Doctors and Medical Authority in Se…

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Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 19d

A favourite of mine is a story from an ordinary 1930s semi near #Wolverhampton. Following glimpses of a ghostly woman, a blue eye was spotted peering up from a knot in the floorboards. Moving from side to side, it watched Mrs Nicholls and her son for about 10 minutes, then vanished.
#PhantomsFriday

Illustration by Angela Lewer, showing a small boy and his mother crouching down to observe an eye peering at them from a hole in the wooden floor. It, and the story, come from 'Ghosts Over Britain', by Peter Moss (1977).

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Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

Anna Cusack @annacusack.bsky.social · 5d

If anyone needs a freelance researcher in London (or across the UK), I'm your person!
I've reasonable rates, lots of archive experience & great recommendations from academics globally. I'm only teaching 1 module this term, as the job market is what it is. Therefore, I'm open to all work. DM me!

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Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

Chris Woodyard @chriswoodyard.bsky.social · 5d

#PhantomsFriday The story of the Bride at the Bridge: the ghost of Esther Hale, jilted on her wedding day. Beware when driving over the Beaver Creek bridge. If she touches you, she will become young and beautiful again--but you will die.
From Haunted Ohio II. Art by Jessica Wiesel
#ForteanFriday

Skeletal bride in a poufy white dress, wreath and veil, clawed hands

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Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

ianVisits @ianvisits.co.uk · 5d

In memoriam...

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 5d

Just looking at a presentation by my son's 6th form college on history coursework and it had no less than 6 slides on AI, essentially pleading with students not to use it. Sign of the times...

Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 5d

Went to see One Battle After Another last night. I was a bit worried about the long run time but it was so gripping the time flew by. Such a great film and incredible performances by Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro especially. Strong recommend! Very timely and ultimately hopeful.

Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 5d

#OtD 3 Oct 1937 almost a year after their defeat at Cable St, Mosley's Blackshirts attempted to march through Bermondsey, South London. Met with strong local opposition and barricades in the streets, the march never arrived at its intended destination workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e35-...

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Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

Dr Emily Vincent @dremilyvincent.bsky.social · 5d

Tis the #Halloween séance season 👻 and a great time to read the #TalesOfTheWeird @britishlibrary.bsky.social collections! Summoned to the Séance features 14 lesser-known stories from Arthur Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells, Florence Marryat, F. Scott Fitzgerald and more. Really enjoyed editing this! 👻

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Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

Rosie Holt @rosieisaholt.bsky.social · 6d

“Tony Blair will bring peace to Palestine” claims rep.

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Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 16d

I'm very pleased to announce that the call for proposed Special Issues of the Historical Journal is now live, with a deadline of 12th December. Please do spread widely among your networks — @saracaputo.bsky.social and I look forward to reading your submissions! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Historical Journal Call for Special Issues

Welcome to Cambridge Core

www.cambridge.org

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Reposted by Claire Cock-Starkey

Glenside Hospital Museum @glensidehospmuseum.bsky.social · 16d

Did Victorians believe heavy drinking caused spontaneous human combustion?

Dr Pam Lock @pamplemoussepam.bsky.social is going to enlighten us on this rather unusual subject, on Thursday 16th October at Glenside Hospital Museum, and we can't wait!

Tickets here: glensidemuseum.org.uk/introducing-...

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 7d

Congratulations Janette! You really are a marvel 🙌

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