Verna Kale
@vernakale.bsky.social
Associate Editor, the Hemingway Letters Project (Cambridge); editor, The Sun Also Rises (Norton Library); author, Ernest Hemingway (Reaktion). UNC ‘99; Fulbright, Germany ‘00-01; Penn State ‘05, ‘10. Llama. J!.
Pinned
Verna Kale
@vernakale.bsky.social
· Mar 12
Don't Try This At Home: Hemingway's First Major Novel (The Sun Also Rises, Part 1) - The Norton Library Podcast
In Part 1 of our discussion on Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, we welcome editor Verna Kale to discuss a young Hemingway's life experience leading up to writing the novel, his captivation with ...
tinyurl.com
It was fun as always to sit down with podcast host Mark Cirino to talk about Hemingway. This episode of the @nortonlibrary.bsky.social podcast is a spoiler-free intro to the novel that you can share with your students. tinyurl.com/4td8k6fw
Penn State's head coach search reminds me of filling a TT role in an academic dept.
WHO O WHO CAN FILL THIS ROLE?
How about the highly qualified and experienced adjunct who has been here forever whom everyone already likes and who wants the job?
AGAIN, WHO O WHO CAN IT BEEEE? *dramatic flailing*
WHO O WHO CAN FILL THIS ROLE?
How about the highly qualified and experienced adjunct who has been here forever whom everyone already likes and who wants the job?
AGAIN, WHO O WHO CAN IT BEEEE? *dramatic flailing*
December 3, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Penn State's head coach search reminds me of filling a TT role in an academic dept.
WHO O WHO CAN FILL THIS ROLE?
How about the highly qualified and experienced adjunct who has been here forever whom everyone already likes and who wants the job?
AGAIN, WHO O WHO CAN IT BEEEE? *dramatic flailing*
WHO O WHO CAN FILL THIS ROLE?
How about the highly qualified and experienced adjunct who has been here forever whom everyone already likes and who wants the job?
AGAIN, WHO O WHO CAN IT BEEEE? *dramatic flailing*
The only medication that has ever helped my migraines was discontinued in 2017 because it was so old it pre-dated FDA efficacy tests. I ASSURE YOU IT WAS EFFECTIVE. Anyway, I've been in pain for three days but seem to be coming out of it now.
a cartoon cat with a green leaf on its head is in the rain
Alt: Ghibli cartoon character Totoro with a green leaf on its head is in the rain
media.tenor.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:26 AM
The only medication that has ever helped my migraines was discontinued in 2017 because it was so old it pre-dated FDA efficacy tests. I ASSURE YOU IT WAS EFFECTIVE. Anyway, I've been in pain for three days but seem to be coming out of it now.
When the kids go sledding wifout you. (Even stealing a glove did not prevent this sad turn of events).
December 2, 2025 at 8:14 PM
When the kids go sledding wifout you. (Even stealing a glove did not prevent this sad turn of events).
Pippin stole and chewed the pompom off this Santa fascinator and his punishment is having to wear it while being publicly shamed.
November 30, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Pippin stole and chewed the pompom off this Santa fascinator and his punishment is having to wear it while being publicly shamed.
Someone in a Reddit thread made a reference to “purse-flavored gum” and suddenly I’m 8 years old again. Just like in that Proust fella’s long book.
November 29, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Someone in a Reddit thread made a reference to “purse-flavored gum” and suddenly I’m 8 years old again. Just like in that Proust fella’s long book.
In a 1959 piano book I flipped through tonight. Headphones were just about to become a thing too. Family togetherness is cooked.
November 29, 2025 at 1:52 AM
In a 1959 piano book I flipped through tonight. Headphones were just about to become a thing too. Family togetherness is cooked.
Saw Wicked: For Good seated beside a lesbian couple, one half audibly sobbing, the other kept holding up her arms to show her date (and me?) her actual goosebumps and did a good job not noticing when I almost drank her drink instead of mine.
November 23, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Saw Wicked: For Good seated beside a lesbian couple, one half audibly sobbing, the other kept holding up her arms to show her date (and me?) her actual goosebumps and did a good job not noticing when I almost drank her drink instead of mine.
Losing streak + students already gone for break = dirt cheap seats. Ended up being a big win with the crowd chanting “Terry! Terry!” #pennstate
November 23, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Losing streak + students already gone for break = dirt cheap seats. Ended up being a big win with the crowd chanting “Terry! Terry!” #pennstate
Hot Ones is my guilty pleasure. As a person who can't even eat a jalapeno w/o crying, I love to watch celebs run that gauntlet. The new one w/ Winona Ryder is wonderful as an interview too though. I didn't know she was a book collector. My 8th grade delusion that we could be BFFs has been revived.
November 21, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Hot Ones is my guilty pleasure. As a person who can't even eat a jalapeno w/o crying, I love to watch celebs run that gauntlet. The new one w/ Winona Ryder is wonderful as an interview too though. I didn't know she was a book collector. My 8th grade delusion that we could be BFFs has been revived.
Join me in Toronto next summer for the International Biennial Hemingway Conference. Proposals accepted through 30 November. Share widely--especially with grad students. Student travel funding and discount student housing available: hemingwaytoronto2026.com
Hemingway Society Conference
hemingwaytoronto2026.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Join me in Toronto next summer for the International Biennial Hemingway Conference. Proposals accepted through 30 November. Share widely--especially with grad students. Student travel funding and discount student housing available: hemingwaytoronto2026.com
10 months ago I braved the cold to eat some bagels at the grand opening of a new campus building that went kablooey yesterday--gossip consensus is steam in a pipe exploded. The building cracked & shifted & thankfully no one was hurt, but the $125 mil building is unusable for the foreseeable future.
The only thing standing between me and free bagels right now is a 5 minute walk in 17 degree weather. hm.
November 13, 2025 at 4:40 PM
10 months ago I braved the cold to eat some bagels at the grand opening of a new campus building that went kablooey yesterday--gossip consensus is steam in a pipe exploded. The building cracked & shifted & thankfully no one was hurt, but the $125 mil building is unusable for the foreseeable future.
Mostly cloudy in Centre County but I got a small peek of the aurora through the clouds. #aurora #northernlights
November 12, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Mostly cloudy in Centre County but I got a small peek of the aurora through the clouds. #aurora #northernlights
Get to know your Mutuals, list 10 random things you like:
When bees sleep on my flowers
The quiet when it’s snowing
Cherry pie
Poodles
Catching a fish
Steve Martin
Small town festivals
Bass clarinet solos
David Mitchell’s character Marinus
Yard sales
When bees sleep on my flowers
The quiet when it’s snowing
Cherry pie
Poodles
Catching a fish
Steve Martin
Small town festivals
Bass clarinet solos
David Mitchell’s character Marinus
Yard sales
November 12, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Get to know your Mutuals, list 10 random things you like:
When bees sleep on my flowers
The quiet when it’s snowing
Cherry pie
Poodles
Catching a fish
Steve Martin
Small town festivals
Bass clarinet solos
David Mitchell’s character Marinus
Yard sales
When bees sleep on my flowers
The quiet when it’s snowing
Cherry pie
Poodles
Catching a fish
Steve Martin
Small town festivals
Bass clarinet solos
David Mitchell’s character Marinus
Yard sales
First snow of the season. Button bush has pretty spring flowers, but I like it best for its long-lasting fall foliage. #pollinators #bloomscrolling #snowday #nativeplants #pennsylvania
November 11, 2025 at 1:07 PM
First snow of the season. Button bush has pretty spring flowers, but I like it best for its long-lasting fall foliage. #pollinators #bloomscrolling #snowday #nativeplants #pennsylvania
Facebot just rolled out a new AI feature in the group I admin that I promptly switched off. This one is a "Quiz" bot posting the world's easiest trivia. The thing is, this happened in the LearnedLeague group. GTFO. Thanks to the member who reported the post. Have now turned that feature off too.
November 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Facebot just rolled out a new AI feature in the group I admin that I promptly switched off. This one is a "Quiz" bot posting the world's easiest trivia. The thing is, this happened in the LearnedLeague group. GTFO. Thanks to the member who reported the post. Have now turned that feature off too.
Among the other good news, in my local school board race the woman who homeschooled her own kids and who supports private armed guards in schools and the dude who has no idea how public schools work except that he kind of recently attended one both got trounced by qualified candidates.
November 5, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Among the other good news, in my local school board race the woman who homeschooled her own kids and who supports private armed guards in schools and the dude who has no idea how public schools work except that he kind of recently attended one both got trounced by qualified candidates.
Reposted by Verna Kale
If I was a Republican member of Congress watching the results tonight, I’d ask myself if I really wanted my legacy to be: Guy who helped an aging pedophile suspend the constitution so he could enrich himself and his friends.
November 5, 2025 at 1:47 AM
If I was a Republican member of Congress watching the results tonight, I’d ask myself if I really wanted my legacy to be: Guy who helped an aging pedophile suspend the constitution so he could enrich himself and his friends.
W/o any spoilers, can someone tell me if Orbital gets around to having a plot? So far we've circled the earth 3x, someone did a workout & we've named various countries the sun has shone on or not shone on. If there is a plot I will keep reading but if this is it I'll use my own orbits differently.
November 5, 2025 at 1:51 AM
W/o any spoilers, can someone tell me if Orbital gets around to having a plot? So far we've circled the earth 3x, someone did a workout & we've named various countries the sun has shone on or not shone on. If there is a plot I will keep reading but if this is it I'll use my own orbits differently.
OK which one of y’all was it?
I’m watching a very old Jeopardy episode with a contestant who, when she was in high school, mailed her fingernails to a lady in California who would use them as false nails for celebrities. And like… I don’t think that lady was real?
November 2, 2025 at 3:34 AM
OK which one of y’all was it?
Pretty sure this cartoon imprinted on me as a child and that’s why I became a modernist.
October 31, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Pretty sure this cartoon imprinted on me as a child and that’s why I became a modernist.
It’s like when my h.s. basketball team went all the way to state and fought a good fight against Ray Allen. Still the hardest I’ve ever taken a sports loss.
Hello and welcome back to baseball, the sport where 9 men on one team must attempt to defeat Shohei Ohtani.
October 29, 2025 at 1:48 AM
It’s like when my h.s. basketball team went all the way to state and fought a good fight against Ray Allen. Still the hardest I’ve ever taken a sports loss.
One very strong but low-stakes opinion of mine is that Halloween costumes should work WITHOUT a carried prop. You need arms free for eating, drinking, carrying a tired kid, holding a dog leash, etc. At a party, parade, etc you’re going to put down your prop, so your costume still needs to work.
October 27, 2025 at 1:27 PM
One very strong but low-stakes opinion of mine is that Halloween costumes should work WITHOUT a carried prop. You need arms free for eating, drinking, carrying a tired kid, holding a dog leash, etc. At a party, parade, etc you’re going to put down your prop, so your costume still needs to work.
It's giving Robert Frost. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood... but nothing gold can stay 😅. (And yes, Zelda is too fat for her blaze orange vest, so she wears it as a collar).
October 26, 2025 at 6:37 PM
It's giving Robert Frost. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood... but nothing gold can stay 😅. (And yes, Zelda is too fat for her blaze orange vest, so she wears it as a collar).
Sure, replace the curriculum with AI. (fwiw, I was trying to find any extant correspondence between EH and Cushing on the auction market).
October 17, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Sure, replace the curriculum with AI. (fwiw, I was trying to find any extant correspondence between EH and Cushing on the auction market).
Anyone else have a big dog but also an even bigger dog so you think about your big dog as a little dog?
October 15, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Anyone else have a big dog but also an even bigger dog so you think about your big dog as a little dog?