Catherine Quirk, PhD
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catherinequirk.bsky.social
Catherine Quirk, PhD
@catherinequirk.bsky.social
1.2K followers 310 following 140 posts
Dog mum. Senior Lecturer in Drama. Coffee lover, writer, actor, director, (digital) theatre historian, Victorianist. Language learner. Likes &c my own. she/her. 🌈
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catherinequirk.bsky.social
Catherine Quirk, PhD @catherinequirk.bsky.social · Aug 10
Today an actor told me that they’d felt safe as a queer person in my rehearsal room when they hadn’t been used to feeling that way. And honestly that’s the biggest win I’ll ever have in my entire career.

Thank you to all who came to our Frankenstein: I hope you felt just as safe with us!
A group of actors on a stage, enthusiastically cheersing
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
ehunineteen.bsky.social
Our brilliant PhD students have organised a conference - Placing the Nineteenth Century - and you’re all invited! Friday 26th June

CFP deadline: Friday 1st May

We’re all excited for our keynote speaker, @drclaireocall.bsky.social 🤩

Please share - and send us an abstract!
Placing the Nineteenth Century: A PGR/ECR conference Friday 26th June 2026 Image of Blackpool Edge Hill Nineteen research centre is excited to invite you to 'Placing the Nineteenth Century', a PGR/ECR conference focused on the North (West) of England in nineteenth-century literature and history. London and the South have often been the heart of discussion about the nineteenth century. However, development in industry during the period brought popularity to cities such as Liverpool and Manchester, which led to a boom of industrial growth in the north of England. In the nineteenth century, the north of England developed like never before, both within cities and in more rural areas. Following a recent EHU19 research symposium, PhD students from literature and history came together to discuss their emerging research and found a common theme - place. More specifically, the North (and North West) of England was a uniting thread, and so the idea for such a conference was born. We invite proposals that engage with 'place' in the long nineteenth century, with particular attention to the North (West), broadly conceived. Papers may approach place as material, imagined, represented, contested, remembered, or speculative. We welcome MA/MRes students, PhD students, and Early Career Researchers whose research interests focus on the North (West) of England in nineteenth-century literary studies, history, art history and related disciplines, with suggested (but not limited to) topics such as: • Fictional/fantastical representations of the North (West) • The legacy of space in the North (West) • Transnational and postcolonial links to the North (West): colonial, imperial, and transatlantic contexts (e.g, Liverpool as a global port) • Museums, archives, and collections: regional museums and the afterlives of nineteenth-century places • Gendered, racialised, and marginalised spaces: who belongs, who is excluded, and how space is policed • Landscape across disciplines: historical, literary, artistic, and creative engagements with the natural and industrial landscapes of the North (West) in the long nineteenth century • The North (West) in popular culture, periodicals, visual culture, and performance • Queer histories and queer readings of place, including non-normative identities & relationships Please send abstracts of approximately 250 words (including title) for 10-15 minute papers, along with a short biography to ehu 19place@outlook.com by 1st May 2026, including name, preferred pronouns, and academic institution. We are excited to have Dr Claire O'Callaghan giving a keynote address on Top Withens, Wuthering Heights and the impact of literary scholarship. As Dr O'Callagham is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Brontë Studies journal, she has kindly agreed to also run a workshop on publishing in an academic journal. Given the conference's emphasis on 'place', we are excited to offer an in-person conference gathering in the North West and warmly welcome participants to join us here. However, we are also committed to accessibility needs and widening participation, so please indicate if you would prefer to present online in your application. Please also do let us know about any other access needs or adjustments that can make your experience easier.
February 6, 2026 at 7:20 AM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
mogster.bsky.social
I think about it all the time too. It’s wild how everything just….got ignored (though not surprising). Wrote about it a bit on today’s substack open.substack.com/pub/morganll...
An Honest Day In the Life Of A Writer...
Pausing normal programming...
open.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
bars.bsky.social
Call for Contributions: 'To Be Forever Known: The Brontës and Poetry', a special issue of Brontë Studies, edited by @drbeard79.bsky.social

500-word abstracts due by 1st April. More details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6317
Screenshot of a website. The text reads: Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group Submit a Manuscript to the Journal Brontë Studies For a Special Issue on To Be Forever Known: The Brontës and Poetry Abstract deadline 01 April 2026 Manuscript deadline 15 December 2026
February 8, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
emilymfg.bsky.social
Very pleased to share details of a new permanent academic job opportunity in Creative & Cultural Industries at University College Dublin. We are seeking candidates with a PhD whose work engages with the commercial creative industries. Deadline: 6 March 2026 universityvacancies.com/university-c....
February 5, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
davidandress.bsky.social
We should not shy away from understanding the underlying message of all this, & so much else in the media: that it ought to be socially acceptable to be able to pick a marginalised group and hate them, to make yourself feel good.

No. It ought not.
February 3, 2026 at 8:42 AM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
leekenny.bsky.social
If you need AI to do these things, I do not believe you are qualified to be a lecturer.

This could have been an interesting article on the importance of honing aspects of our craft such as storytelling and performing, but instead is just another call to abandon our human creativity for efficiency.
January 27, 2026 at 10:29 AM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
papatangotc.bsky.social
We see there's a new playwriting prize seeking to "counteract overtly political theatre".

Just to be clear: We welcome woke plays. And viciously satirical plays. And plays about lettuces becoming political icons. We welcome all plays, and all plays are political.

More soon 👀
January 21, 2026 at 11:28 AM
catherinequirk.bsky.social
“Who wrote this, Ibsen? Stop talking!” and other things I shout at the TV when I’ve clearly been spending too much time with work…
January 19, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
anna-aslanyan.bsky.social
British Library staff asked for a decent pay. Instead they got ‘a few money-saving present ideas’, such as ‘consider not giving presents this holiday season’. They are on strike this week. I wrote about it for @lrb.co.uk. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...
Anna Aslanyan | On the Picket Line
On Monday morning, more than a hundred people formed a picket line outside one of the entrances to the British Library...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 10, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
laurenicullen.bsky.social
Still a few days left to send in an abstract for what promises to be another brilliant BAVS conference! 👩‍💻
December 10, 2025 at 7:37 PM
catherinequirk.bsky.social
I’m so tired. Must be all the taking I’ve done.

Image: a Home Office X post saying “Britain welcomes migrants who contribute to our economy and society. High earners, entrepreneurs and skilled frontline workers like NHS staff will be fast-tracked to settlement - rewarding those who give, not take”
jonkingh.bsky.social Jonathan Kingham @jonkingh.bsky.social · Dec 6
This is so disgusting.
December 7, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
victorerikray.bsky.social
The first school to market itself as AI free is going to corner the market on people interested in actually learning. And I would not be surprised if rich families and the children of people creating this tech were the first movers.
jeffsharlet.bsky.social Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · Dec 4
My employer, Dartmouth College, today boasts it's 1st Ivy "to launch AI at an institutional scale." It is doing this by partnering--"more than a collaboration"--with Anthropic, a company that stole the books of many faculty, me included, which many of us are suing.
December 5, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
ehunineteen.bsky.social
For our next seminar, the wonderful @digivictorian.bsky.social is hosting our just as wondrous PhD researchers, Liam Pope, Laura Grande Mateu, Emily Hayes, & Emma Butler, for our #19thCFlashTalks.

Join us for a pre-Christmas treat on Wednesday 10th December from 6 pm. Free, online, all welcome!
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: EHU Nineteen Flash Talks from Postgraduate Researchers. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
Join us for a Christmassy treat for the latest research from EHU Nineteen's postgraduate researchers!
us06web.zoom.us
December 1, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
ehunineteen.bsky.social
Dickens is going to Denmark! Will you go too?

CFP deadline: 4 January
Conference: 13-16 July in Aarhus on ‘Thinking Dickens’

dickenssociety.org/home
Symposium – The Dickens Society
dickenssociety.org
December 2, 2025 at 12:38 PM
catherinequirk.bsky.social
Thread of all HE threads 👇

Super depressing, but sort of nice in the midst of it all to know that you’re not alone in this experience…
jesbattis.bsky.social Jes Battis @jesbattis.bsky.social · Nov 28
An issue we're seeing at all levels of university is that many students are simply refusing to do *anything*. They aren't reading the syllabus, aren't following assignment guidelines, aren't engaging with material, ignoring deadlines. And this might seem like old news, but it truly has ramped up.
November 30, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
ehunineteen.bsky.social
TOMORROW - join us!!!
ehunineteen.bsky.social EHUNineteen @ehunineteen.bsky.social · Oct 17
Our second seminar is:

27/11/25: David Coates, ‘Amateur Theatricals: in Fiction and in Fact’, 6-7 pm

us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

#EHU19SeminarSeries
A print called ‘A Private Theatrical of Jane Shore’ with a seated woman performing with book for variously involved seated guests, a cat and dog fighting in the middle of them
November 26, 2025 at 6:12 AM
catherinequirk.bsky.social
Never thought I’d be boycotting a work Christmas Carol concert, and yet here we are. UK HE really needs to sort out its priorities 🙄
November 25, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
rcolesworthy.bsky.social
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
ehunineteen.bsky.social
THIS WEEK - join us on Thursday for some amateur theatricals and at least semi-professional zooming 😉
ehunineteen.bsky.social EHUNineteen @ehunineteen.bsky.social · Oct 17
Our second seminar is:

27/11/25: David Coates, ‘Amateur Theatricals: in Fiction and in Fact’, 6-7 pm

us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

#EHU19SeminarSeries
A print called ‘A Private Theatrical of Jane Shore’ with a seated woman performing with book for variously involved seated guests, a cat and dog fighting in the middle of them
November 24, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
ehunineteen.bsky.social
NEXT WEEK - join us!
ehunineteen.bsky.social EHUNineteen @ehunineteen.bsky.social · Oct 17
Our second seminar is:

27/11/25: David Coates, ‘Amateur Theatricals: in Fiction and in Fact’, 6-7 pm

us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

#EHU19SeminarSeries
A print called ‘A Private Theatrical of Jane Shore’ with a seated woman performing with book for variously involved seated guests, a cat and dog fighting in the middle of them
November 17, 2025 at 7:11 AM
catherinequirk.bsky.social
And once you’re nicely beveraged, join the Theatre Caucus at 8 in the Hampton Ballroom for Lady Audley’s Secret!!! @navsa2025.bsky.social
dbenjw.bsky.social Daniel Williams @dbenjw.bsky.social · Nov 15
If you’re at @navsa2025.bsky.social please join us for the 🍃VCOLOGIES HAPPY HOUR🍃from 7-8 this evening!!!

We’ll be in the Marquee Bar and Lounge: complimentary beer/wine for grad students, first come, first served!
November 15, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
drbeard79.bsky.social
Call for paper for a special issue on the Brontës and poetry - on their work as poets - on poetry in the novels - on poetic influences and legacies - hoping for creative responses too!

Abstracts due April 26
Articles due December 26

#Romanticism #Victorian #Gothic

Please share!
To Be Forever Known: The Brontës and Poetry
Seeking original, high-quality analysis of Brontë poems, especially those with little to no critical attention
think.taylorandfrancis.com
November 15, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
amandarosevphd.bsky.social
Preorder for The Theatre Artist's Guide to Consent-Based Pedagogy begins in ten days!

I am so grateful to my dear friend and collaborator Kim Shively for researching, writing, and revising with me along the way to this resource for theatre educators!

#theatre #education #theatresky
On an orange background, text reads: "Save 20% Use Code 25ESA4 at Routledge.com valid 1 October 2025 - 31 March 2026" and features a small thumbnail of a book cover for "The Theatre Artist's Guide to Consent-Based Pedagogy," which is an orange cover, illustrated with neurons in the background and illustrated figures of various sorts performing, writing, and taking costume measurements.
November 12, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
donmoyn.bsky.social
Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
Early Career Rescue Fellowship
www.uni-konstanz.de
November 11, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
ehunineteen.bsky.social
Join us at the end of the month for David Coates’ paper on Amateur Theatricals 🖤🖤🖤

Hosted by @catherinequirk.bsky.social

Free, online, all welcome!
ehunineteen.bsky.social EHUNineteen @ehunineteen.bsky.social · Oct 17
Our second seminar is:

27/11/25: David Coates, ‘Amateur Theatricals: in Fiction and in Fact’, 6-7 pm

us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

#EHU19SeminarSeries
A print called ‘A Private Theatrical of Jane Shore’ with a seated woman performing with book for variously involved seated guests, a cat and dog fighting in the middle of them
November 3, 2025 at 9:00 AM