Nicholas Birns
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nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns
@nicholasbirns.bsky.social
1.4K followers 2K following 640 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

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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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nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 17h
Biggest tree in town

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 2d
Thanks to New York University by the way for supporting its faculty in publishing open access.

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 2d
Full article: “But Hermengyld Loved Hire Right as Hir Lyf”: Conversion, Gender Transposition and History in The Man of Law’s Tale www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... my article on Chaucer, gender, and history, now published open access..
“But Hermengyld Loved Hire Right as Hir Lyf”: Conversion, Gender Transposition and History in The Man of Law’s Tale
This article explores the role the name “Hermengyld” plays in delineating the Mediterranean arena of Geoffrey Chaucer's
www.tandfonline.com

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 6d
@juanedecastro.bsky.social Polish Peruvian

Reposted by Nicholas Birns, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 6d
It’s fascinating.

The notion that your economic challenges are real, and should be addressed, but are not greater than economic challenges of various times in the past really bothers some people.

This has to be the worst economy ever. As if 20th century ads and sitcoms were the common experience.

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 7d
elizabethfoxwell.blogspot.com/2025/12/Birn.... Recording of our zoom at the end of this post
December 15 Zoom event on the work of Agatha Christie.
A blog focusing on the history of mystery/detective fiction.
elizabethfoxwell.blogspot.com

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

markharris.bsky.social
Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 7d
I met Barack Obama in 2007 at a small event when his run for president was just starting. He asked me what I was working on. I said, a book about the 5 1967 Best Picture nominees. He said, quickly, "So...Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, In the Heat of the Night..." >

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 7d
www.loa.org/news-and-vie...
“Language Intense and Clear as Diamonds”: Poet Samuel Menashe’s Centenary - Library of America
Inklings Inklings sans ink Cling to the dry Point of the pen Whose stem I mouth Not knowing when The truth will out From his three-bedroom cold-water 39-dollar-a-month apartment in New York City where...
www.loa.org

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

afrayn.bsky.social
Andrew Frayn @afrayn.bsky.social · 8d
Webpage now with cover art!

www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beyond-mo...

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 8d
Postcard from Joyce Carol Oates to Irving Malin, 1980

Reposted by Nicholas Birns, Gerald Friedman

thecolfax.bsky.social
TheColfaxxx 🐢 @thecolfax.bsky.social · 8d
We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.” ― James Baldwin

Pic of the day

#photography
A brown bear in Alaska forages for food on a hillside. Telephoto lens used.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Nicholas Birns, Laura McAtackney

mirandakeeling.com
Miranda Keeling @mirandakeeling.com · 9d
Man answering his phone on the train: Yes? Correct, I’m not at work (pause) I’m not going to answer that because I am not at work today. No, you’re going to have to ask someone who is. Goodbye.

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

dieworkwear.bsky.social
derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 9d
thinking of the introverted woman who said she's never felt FOMO. she's only felt ROMO (Relief Of Missing Out)

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

bar44.bsky.social
Brock’s Photographic Journey @bar44.bsky.social · 9d
I love all the eclectic architecture you come across while walking the streets of Porto. #Photography #Architecture #Porto #Portugal 📷

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 10d
The noted polar explorer doesn’t really feel like breaking camp today.

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

afrayn.bsky.social
Andrew Frayn @afrayn.bsky.social · 10d
Great essays from @profmhwhitworth.bsky.social, @nicholasbirns.bsky.social, Chris Hopkins, Jessica Gildersleeve, Tom Bromwell, @allanpero.bsky.social, Lauren Faro, @pollyhember.bsky.social, @rsazzad.bsky.social, Melissa Dinsman & Heather Robinson, Katie Jones, @nicdarwood.bsky.social, Susan Reid.

Reposted by Nicholas Birns, Michael H. Whitworth

afrayn.bsky.social
Andrew Frayn @afrayn.bsky.social · 10d
This volume, a long time in the works, now lives on the Bloomsbury website. Thanks to my co-editor Katie, associate editors Lauren Faro and Petar Penda, and to @bendoyle.bsky.social and the Bloomsbury team. Look out for the excellent cover, coming very soon...

www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beyond-mo...
Beyond Modernism
Underlining (and undermining) the notion of literary merit, this book focuses on noncanonical works and asks: what happens when we look away from modernism? See…
www.bloomsbury.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Richard Waite, Nicholas Birns , and 1 more

iucounu.bsky.social
iucounu @iucounu.bsky.social · 11d
—I’ve been asked to baptise the King of Spain’s daughter
—Infanta?
—No, holy water as usual. Weird thing to ask honestly

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Anupam Chander, John R. Hutchinson , and 8 more

richycraven.bsky.social
Richy Craven @richycraven.bsky.social · 11d
Rob Reiner: I'm going to make a coming of age drama, a fantasy adventure story, a romantic comedy, a psychological horror and then a courtroom drama.

Us: Across your entire career?

Reiner: In a 6 year period.

Us: That sounds-

Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
Extract from Rob Reiner's Wikipedia Filmography 1986 - Stand By zme 1987 - The Princess Bride 1989 - When Harry Met Sally 1990 - Misery 1992 - A Few Good Men

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

anita1956.bsky.social
Anita @anita1956.bsky.social · 11d
My beloved and I went to a light display tonight presently showing in the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Given the harshness of what today has held, being surrounded by light cutting through the darkness seemed a meaningful place to be.

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 12d
Cookies after snow shoveling

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 12d
Snowfall

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

elizfoxwell.bsky.social
Elizabeth Foxwell @elizfoxwell.bsky.social · 13d
Dec 15/4:30P ET: Zoom w/@nicholasbirns.bsky.social & Margaret Boe Birns (NYU) re their new _#AgathaChristie Under the Magnifying Glass: Close Readings of 12 Novels_. Spec guest @jcbernthal.com (_Agatha Christie: A Companion to the #Mystery Fiction_) elizabethfoxwell.blogspot.com/2025/12/Birn...
December 15 Zoom event on the work of Agatha Christie.
A blog focusing on the history of mystery/detective fiction.
elizabethfoxwell.blogspot.com

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 13d
Jane Austen exhibit at the Grolier Club

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 15d
My mom having pomegranate spritz

nicholasbirns.bsky.social
Nicholas Birns @nicholasbirns.bsky.social · 17d
kyivindependent.com/in-the-middl...
In the middle of war, Ukraine's top university reimagines Russian Studies
Eleven years into Russia’s war, a Ukrainian university is forging ahead with an unexpected academic pursuit: launching a Russian Studies program to study the country that had imposed itself on Ukraine...
kyivindependent.com

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

lanrickbennett.bsky.social
Lanrick Bennett @lanrickbennett.bsky.social · 20d
Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michele Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz

#December6 #EndVAW www.cbc.ca/montreal/fea...
École Polytechnique, Montréal: Remember the 14
On Dec. 6, 1989, the country was forever changed. Fourteen women died at Montreal’s École Polytechnique, killed simply because they were women.
www.cbc.ca

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

nytpitchbot.bsky.social
NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 20d
The January 6th pipe bomber has told investigators that he was motivated by conspiracy theories that Trump won the election. So why does it feel like he was motivated by DEI and abundance liberalism?

Reposted by Nicholas Birns

adambvary.bsky.social
Adam B. Vary @adambvary.bsky.social · 20d
The great axe of modern journalism has come for me: Today was my last day at Variety. Not my choice at all and I will miss my tremendous colleagues — and friends! — there enormously.

Just figuring out my next steps now. My DMs are open for any and all opportunities.
a drag queen is wearing a pink dress with dolls on it and gloves .
ALT: a drag queen is wearing a pink dress with dolls on it and gloves .
media.tenor.com