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Nicholas Birns

Nicholas Birns

@nicholasbirns.bsky.social

1.4K followers 2K following 660 posts

Academic, literary critic etc. teaching at NYU. Books from Cambridge UP, Bloomsbury, Broadview, Palgrave, U of South Carolina P, Sydney UP, Routledge. He/him

Nicholas Birns is a scholar of literature, including fantasy and Australian literature. As a Tolkien scholar he has written on a variety of topics including "The Scouring of the Shire" and Tolkien's biblical sources. His analysis of the writings of Anthony Powell and Roberto Bolaño has been admired by scholars. .. more

Art 28%

Political science 22%

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Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 2d

I emailed with him once, when he correctly pointed out that Uruguayan writers should’ve been included in my coedited book The Contemporary Spanish-American Novel, he was gentlemanly about it www.jornada.com.mx/noticia/2026...

Falleció Jorge Ruffinelli, figura clave de la crítica literaria latinoamericana

Académico, periodista y promotor cultural uruguayo, impulsó desde Xalapa el estudio de la literatura latinoamericana y convirtió a la Universidad Veracruzana en un referente continental.

www.jornada.com.mx

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Jeremiah McCall (he/him) @gamingthepast.bsky.social · 2d

BTW amplification and confirmation from anyone on here who has found gamingthepast.net useful would be so very greatly appreciated! Let's get the word out!

Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 2d

Pappardelle bolognese at Triestina in Cranford NJ

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Sue Wilkes @suewilkesauthor.bsky.social · 2d

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #romans

Finding personal Roman items in Carlisle a 'real connection'

Items from the Carlisle Cricket Club dig, including a diploma, are on display for the first time.

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 3d

Spanish PM Sanchez: "Social media has become a failed state, and when democracies start to impose order, their owners get nervous. We will move forward despite their threats."

Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 3d

From the booklet from my February 26 talk at the Fraunces Tavern museum on finding Scotland in the US Declaration of Independence

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Forest Archaic Collective @forestcollectiv.bsky.social · 3d

its #RuinedPrioryFriday & there's this curious quartet of monastic sites in a crescent around Shrewsbury which deserves a bit of a thread

🧵👇

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Pamela Delupio @pameladelupio.bsky.social · 4d

This first of my most anticipated books of 2026 written by a Filipino author has arrived 😍

The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao

#currentlyreading #booksky

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Nicholas Birns, Gerald Friedman , and 4 more Richard S.J. Tol, Nicholas Birns, Gerald Friedman, Anne Norton, Ann Bartow, Nils Zurawski, David S. Tanenhaus

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 4d

I hope lawyers, secretaries of state, and state attorneys general are preparing for what’s coming.

Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 4d

Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.

Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 6d

I thought this said Jails at first and was about to take a Foucauldian interest.

Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 8d

The Delaware River in the snows

Reposted by Nicholas Birns, Stella M. Rouse

Brandy Jensen @brandyjensen.bsky.social · 10d

Catherine O’Hara didn’t steal scenes she just showed up and ownership automatically defaulted to her

Reposted by Nicholas Birns, Melinda Baldwin

Sean T. Collins @seantcollins.com · 10d

Catherine O'Hara is as much of a "good in absolutely everything, no matter how good the thing itself was" actor as Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Reposted by Nicholas Birns, W. Andy Knight

Ricky Davila @therickydavila.bsky.social · 10d

Kamala Harris warned everyone.

Hillary Clinton warned everyone.

I’ll never regret voting for them.

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Blue Wave @votebiue.bsky.social · 10d

A flock of starlings doing their thing around the World War II Lookout Tower in Cape May.

Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 10d

Very honored to have a chapter (on ecology and worldbuilding) in this anthology.

Prof. Dimitra Fimi @dimitrafimi.bsky.social · 10d

Submitted today! Following a few years of rigorous peer-review and working with my co-editor @lukebshelton.bsky.social and many Tolkienists!
- 44 chapters
- 46 Tolkien scholars globally
- over 280K words overall
Still tons of work to do as proofs arrive, but feels like a moment to celebrate. ☺️

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Prof. Dimitra Fimi @dimitrafimi.bsky.social · 10d

Submitted today! Following a few years of rigorous peer-review and working with my co-editor @lukebshelton.bsky.social and many Tolkienists!
- 44 chapters
- 46 Tolkien scholars globally
- over 280K words overall
Still tons of work to do as proofs arrive, but feels like a moment to celebrate. ☺️

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Rebecca Saltzman @rebeccaforec.bsky.social · 11d

I absolutely love living in and helping to lead El Cerrito…

AND I will always love Oakland. My 15 years living there were some of my most formative years, and I still work there and appreciate the amazing community.

Was reminded of that on my way back from @lateefahsimon.bsky.social party tonight:

Signs in the window of Bookmark bookstore, run by Friends of the Oakland Library:

We are sanctuary

ICE OUT

Expand the general strike

Reposted by Nicholas Birns, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Jason Lyall , and 1 more Nicholas Birns, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Jason Lyall, Christopher Blair

J. Kelly Nestruck @nestruck.bsky.social · 11d

Tonight I watched Prime Minister Mark Carney take the actual Heated Rivalry Canada fleece from Hudson Williams, slip it on and say: “This is true soft power.”

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 12d

I have long enjoyed writing to my literary heroes. No more so than as a romantic book-mad 20year-old, pre library employment. Muriel Spark was quick to recommend the library as a source for her further reading faves to save me 'dipping into my dole'. How I treasure this letter #libraries

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

David Preston @dave1957.bsky.social · 12d

Greylag goose (Anser anser)

#birds #photography

A Greylag goose (Anser anser) standing in shallow water.

Reposted by Joe R. Feagin, Nicholas Birns

Dee Chan @deechan17.bsky.social · 12d

Just think about what would be happening in the US right now if Kamala had been elected.

Reposted by Nicholas Birns, Mark Rice

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 15d

“The shooting of Porter, who leaves behind daughters aged 10 and 20, was not caught on camera”

How convenient for ICE

Family of man killed by off-duty ICE agent in LA demands charges: ‘The ache will never go away’

After Renee Good’s killing in Minneapolis, calls grow for accountability in the shooting of Keith Porter Jr on New Year’s Eve

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

A Study of Resistance @colourmefiji.bsky.social · 15d

Tragic, unsettling news. Papalii Sia Figiel was a complicated genius, a groundbreaking storyteller of Oceania.

samoaglobalnews.com/papalii-sia-...

Papalii Sia Figiel Found Dead in her Cell at Tanumalala Prison - Samoa Global News

Papalii Sia Figiel, renowned Pacific novelist, poet and painter has died at Tanumalala prison while awaiting the result of her murder trial. Sources at the correctional facility say Papali was found d...

samoaglobalnews.com

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Andrea @andreacarollee.bsky.social · 15d

a January Cormorant chilling on its perch over a pond in mid Hampshire, England

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

the corgi from cowboy bebop @realqrampage.fightins.online · 15d

reading Elizabeth Miki Brina’s memoir “Speak, Okinawa” while the snow falls today

I’m about halfway through and damn, she really captures so many of my feelings about identity and she really knows how to make me cry when I think about my ancestors’ strength through all they have endured

the cover of Brina’s memoir “Speak, Okinawa”

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 17d

Breaking NYT:

The FBI agent who sought to investigate the federal immigration officer who fatally shot Renee Good has resigned from the bureau, according to two people familiar with the matter, after leadership pressured her to discontinue a civil rights inquiry into the officer.

F.B.I. Agent Who Tried to Investigate ICE Officer in Shooting Resigns

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

Liz Phelps @lizphelps.bsky.social · 17d

❤️❤️❤️

‘Sinners’ DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw Makes Oscar History as First Woman of Color Nominated for Best Cinematography

"Sinners" cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw made Oscar history, becoming the first woman of color to be nominated in that category.