Perry Zurn
@perryzurn.bsky.social
940 followers 1K following 61 posts
Prof @AmericanU. Interested in political theory, social movements, LGBT life, and fungi. Author @UMinnPress @mitpress @dukepress https://www.perryzurn.com/
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perryzurn.bsky.social
A giant cyclops puffball guttating this morning…
perryzurn.bsky.social
It’s drizzling and an older woman, with dyed red hair but deep grey roots, stands leaning against her weed wacker in a blue raincoat. She tenderly snips the tiniest edges of her sidewalk, while her bare feet turn slowly green with the cuttings. Her stance infinite.
perryzurn.bsky.social
.... but also what if I get buried alive by email?
perryzurn.bsky.social
In my experience, pedigree rarely corresponds to actual insightfulness. I think Lorde would agree.
perryzurn.bsky.social
Cannot wait for this!
dukepress.bsky.social
Among our new titles this month is poet Eli Clare's "Unfurl," a queer disabled love song to trees and beavers, tremors and dreams. buff.ly/Kn3Bk2m
Cover of Unfurl by Eli Clare. The cover features an abstract artwork by Jacks McNamara, Emerging. In this piece, various patterns and images are superimposed on and across a series of brightly colored concentric circles. A wood grain pattern shines through some of the less opaque rings. The designs atop the larger rings include a stream of bubble-like circles, a root network, flower-like patterns, and a series of droplets spread out in fan-like shapes.
perryzurn.bsky.social
Earthstars appearing nearby. I’m taking it as a good omen--in a world seemingly so short of such things …
a fresh earthstar mushroom amidst green grass
perryzurn.bsky.social
I’m waiting for a car repair. I see an older woman walking with a walker, smoking a cigarette, and blaring Phil Collins from her phone for all and sundry. And I think, the poetry of the everyday, even beneath the 8am sun, is astounding.
perryzurn.bsky.social
y'all I just saw this headline in Science and now I can't unsee it--both for its truth value and for its dad-joke quality.
perryzurn.bsky.social
A magical moth moment. Look at that tuft!
perryzurn.bsky.social
Thanks @apaphilosophy.bsky.social and Elisabeth Paquette for the opportunity!
perryzurn.bsky.social
How might we do philosophy *with* and *for* trans people, & *in* the places where trans people are? How might work with interviews, archives, & community phenomenologies be philosophical? Could trans philosophy open the way for a revolution in philosophical method? blog.apaonline.org/2025/08/06/h...
How we Make Each Other or, How is this Book Philosophy?
For years now, I have grappled with how to do philosophy as a trans person and how to do philosophy from the social position of trans. While the former simply negotiates my standing as gender-marginal...
blog.apaonline.org
perryzurn.bsky.social
Fungal romance #fungifriends #mushrooms
perryzurn.bsky.social
These grow in the same spot year to year. Delighted to see them back!
perryzurn.bsky.social
I've never used a library and archives as hard as I have those at Olin, here at Cornell, these past two years. How do I thank the whole team??? (1982 image below for effect) digital.library.illinois.edu/items/47a88c...
John M. Olin Library, Cornell Univeristy, Ithaca (N.Y.)
Caption on the back reads:
digital.library.illinois.edu
perryzurn.bsky.social
Years ago, I visited the Leslie Feinberg Library at @Ben Power's @Sexual Minorities Archives. I snapped a photo of the philosophy shelf. Plato, Socrates, Foucault, and @Shannon Winnubst. Such a leap there that for a long time had been unthinkable. And trans philosophy still off in the distance.
perryzurn.bsky.social
This full-length study of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is pretty fascinating. It answered a ton of my questions, and, as all good books should, left me with a lot of new ones. For the group's account of itself, see www.thesisters.org. nyupress.org/978147982036...
Queer Nuns
An engaging look into the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, queer activists devoted to social justice The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence make up an unlikely...
nyupress.org
perryzurn.bsky.social
Did y'all know that legal protection for sexual orientation was first considered in New York City in 1971 ... but that it did not become law until 1986? It took fifteen years... in NYC (of all places)! And it only went statewide in 2002 (thirty+ years later). *thinking about work that takes time*
perryzurn.bsky.social
From CHOICE reviews:

Zurn "is a wonderful stylist," "sections & subsections are organizational genius." Focused on "the poetics of the this-ness & here-ness of each other," Zurn has created "somehow both a beach read & serious academic literature." "Essential. Advanced undergrads through faculty."
perryzurn.bsky.social
Slug respite with rusulla!
perryzurn.bsky.social
1980 underhand term for assimilationist queers? WAX FRUIT. amazing.
perryzurn.bsky.social
Ever wonder how we started using "cis" to refer to nontrans ppl? In a new article, I briefly recount cis' origins, before tracking how it got mainstreamed. I pay special attention to the citational injustices & intersectional silences whereby cis became what it is now. ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/fp...