Claude Willan
@claudewillan.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture in English Studies at Durham.
Opinions are mine alone but probably should also be those of my employer.
There's something crass, even 'affably vulgar' (per LT), about Lolita Lempicka Masculin, but that is what makes it so charming to me. The licorice accord from LL minus rose and lipstick, plus woods and woody-amber, but it works.
February 14, 2026 at 1:14 PM
There's something crass, even 'affably vulgar' (per LT), about Lolita Lempicka Masculin, but that is what makes it so charming to me. The licorice accord from LL minus rose and lipstick, plus woods and woody-amber, but it works.
February 13, 2026 at 10:13 AM
Anthropic's model would never tell you this if that's what you're doing with them, but they really, really, hate being used for template generation.
February 10, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Anthropic's model would never tell you this if that's what you're doing with them, but they really, really, hate being used for template generation.
Flomping around the house in cardigan and slippers, saying things to my kid like no darling because we have to think of your diet. I'm so in my forties it's sobering.
February 3, 2026 at 8:51 PM
Flomping around the house in cardigan and slippers, saying things to my kid like no darling because we have to think of your diet. I'm so in my forties it's sobering.
Knocked a large, full cup of coffee directly into my lap, woolly cardigan and trousers drenched.
I smell like a newsroom would smell if there were any left.
I smell like a newsroom would smell if there were any left.
February 3, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Knocked a large, full cup of coffee directly into my lap, woolly cardigan and trousers drenched.
I smell like a newsroom would smell if there were any left.
I smell like a newsroom would smell if there were any left.
I did it! I made grownup food for lunch!
January 31, 2026 at 12:53 PM
I did it! I made grownup food for lunch!
Kids appear to be playing Credit Default Swap; i hear the older yelling "LET'S SELL OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY!"
January 31, 2026 at 11:44 AM
Kids appear to be playing Credit Default Swap; i hear the older yelling "LET'S SELL OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY!"
As much as I despise everything Suella Braverman has done, and as much as I wish she had gotten an innocuous job doing almost anything else, that Tory statement questioning her "mental health" was purest misogyny.
Actually such a vile statement I bet she felt nostalgic.
Actually such a vile statement I bet she felt nostalgic.
January 26, 2026 at 7:01 PM
As much as I despise everything Suella Braverman has done, and as much as I wish she had gotten an innocuous job doing almost anything else, that Tory statement questioning her "mental health" was purest misogyny.
Actually such a vile statement I bet she felt nostalgic.
Actually such a vile statement I bet she felt nostalgic.
Well Sir, 'tis granted, I said Dryden's Rhimes
Were stol'n, unequal, nay dull many Times.
[...]
But that his Plays, embroider'd up and down
With Wit and Learning, justly pleas'd the Town,
In the same Paper I as freely own
So -- which play(s) of Dryden's did Rochester like? All for Love?
Were stol'n, unequal, nay dull many Times.
[...]
But that his Plays, embroider'd up and down
With Wit and Learning, justly pleas'd the Town,
In the same Paper I as freely own
So -- which play(s) of Dryden's did Rochester like? All for Love?
January 23, 2026 at 10:07 AM
Well Sir, 'tis granted, I said Dryden's Rhimes
Were stol'n, unequal, nay dull many Times.
[...]
But that his Plays, embroider'd up and down
With Wit and Learning, justly pleas'd the Town,
In the same Paper I as freely own
So -- which play(s) of Dryden's did Rochester like? All for Love?
Were stol'n, unequal, nay dull many Times.
[...]
But that his Plays, embroider'd up and down
With Wit and Learning, justly pleas'd the Town,
In the same Paper I as freely own
So -- which play(s) of Dryden's did Rochester like? All for Love?
Adeel Akhtar just gave an absolutely lovely Desert Island discs. With back to back bangers to boot.
January 23, 2026 at 9:55 AM
Adeel Akhtar just gave an absolutely lovely Desert Island discs. With back to back bangers to boot.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man, working from home at 2pm, and in want of a snack, will somehow end up on his knees scraping ice out of the freezer.
January 19, 2026 at 2:18 PM
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man, working from home at 2pm, and in want of a snack, will somehow end up on his knees scraping ice out of the freezer.
The curse of ambition is its fulfillment, I say, being ironical. They stare at me. What do you do, they repeat.
Parties, man
Parties, man
January 18, 2026 at 11:12 AM
The curse of ambition is its fulfillment, I say, being ironical. They stare at me. What do you do, they repeat.
Parties, man
Parties, man
Part of the magic of Burial's Untrue is that you can't tell if it evokes the sublimity of multistory carparks or of radial housing estates, of Nissan Sentras or Honda Accords, of KFC or Chicken Cottage, of metropolis or suburb.
January 17, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Part of the magic of Burial's Untrue is that you can't tell if it evokes the sublimity of multistory carparks or of radial housing estates, of Nissan Sentras or Honda Accords, of KFC or Chicken Cottage, of metropolis or suburb.
"Murderous purge reveals differing interpretations of free speech, equality"
January 17, 2026 at 2:01 PM
"Murderous purge reveals differing interpretations of free speech, equality"
Reposted by Claude Willan
It is time to eradicate AI from all educational environments. Find another way. Maybe teach kids about AI like when we learned about drugs in middle school.
“The risks of AI outweigh the benefits” - new report about AI in elementary schools.
“The risks of AI outweigh the benefits” - new report about AI in elementary schools.
The risks of AI in schools outweigh the benefits, report says
A new report warns that AI poses a serious threat to children's cognitive development and emotional well-being.
www.npr.org
January 14, 2026 at 1:58 PM
It is time to eradicate AI from all educational environments. Find another way. Maybe teach kids about AI like when we learned about drugs in middle school.
“The risks of AI outweigh the benefits” - new report about AI in elementary schools.
“The risks of AI outweigh the benefits” - new report about AI in elementary schools.
My Tom Gauld Myriorama arrived last week from @shandyhall.bsky.social -- I could not recommend Shandy Hall more. I can't think of a place honouring and exploring a writer's legacy with more wit and ingenuity.
January 13, 2026 at 9:10 AM
My Tom Gauld Myriorama arrived last week from @shandyhall.bsky.social -- I could not recommend Shandy Hall more. I can't think of a place honouring and exploring a writer's legacy with more wit and ingenuity.
Since moving to the UK, my children have started incorporating CCTV cameras into their imaginative play. Albeit at a technologically-shallow level, I think that's a pretty infallible indicator of a surveillance society.
January 13, 2026 at 7:51 AM
Since moving to the UK, my children have started incorporating CCTV cameras into their imaginative play. Albeit at a technologically-shallow level, I think that's a pretty infallible indicator of a surveillance society.
You can still pick up my book, Literary Authority, and scores of other much better books, with a nice discount!
We loved seeing you at #MLA26!
You can still enjoy our virtual exhibit and receive a 30% discount on the books listed using the discount code S26MLA, good until 2/11/26
@modernlanguage.bsky.social
You can still enjoy our virtual exhibit and receive a 30% discount on the books listed using the discount code S26MLA, good until 2/11/26
@modernlanguage.bsky.social
Modern Language Association: A Virtual Exhibit | Stanford University Press
Please enjoy this Virtual Book Exhibit and receive a 30% discount on the books listed below using the discount code S26MLA, good until 2/11/26 .
www.sup.org
January 12, 2026 at 9:42 PM
You can still pick up my book, Literary Authority, and scores of other much better books, with a nice discount!
I ended my intro undergrad lecture on the Couplet with this one by Maggie Millner today (thanks to @kasiaiskasia.bsky.social for the recommendation!), meaning I talked 300 undergrads through this couplet right after spending ten minutes on one by Pope. It was wonderful.
January 12, 2026 at 12:40 PM
I ended my intro undergrad lecture on the Couplet with this one by Maggie Millner today (thanks to @kasiaiskasia.bsky.social for the recommendation!), meaning I talked 300 undergrads through this couplet right after spending ten minutes on one by Pope. It was wonderful.
When I listen to music sometimes I imagine a composer, a young Sibelius, say, hearing Prelude à l'apres-midi d'un Faun, and being just absolutely beside himself, in joy, in horror or sublimity. This is fucking life itself, he must have thought. And it is.
January 9, 2026 at 12:03 AM
When I listen to music sometimes I imagine a composer, a young Sibelius, say, hearing Prelude à l'apres-midi d'un Faun, and being just absolutely beside himself, in joy, in horror or sublimity. This is fucking life itself, he must have thought. And it is.
Thanks for this generous advert! Do come to our panel on life writing at 4.40! #bsecs
Willan explores, through writing imaginative literature, an author can accrue significant and lasting economic and cultural power.
Available online at buff.ly/UrGCd8j
@bsecs.bsky.social
@claudewillan.bsky.social
@stanfordpress.bsky.social
#BSECS2026
#18c
Available online at buff.ly/UrGCd8j
@bsecs.bsky.social
@claudewillan.bsky.social
@stanfordpress.bsky.social
#BSECS2026
#18c
January 8, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Thanks for this generous advert! Do come to our panel on life writing at 4.40! #bsecs
Reposted by Claude Willan
Willan explores, through writing imaginative literature, an author can accrue significant and lasting economic and cultural power.
Available online at buff.ly/UrGCd8j
@bsecs.bsky.social
@claudewillan.bsky.social
@stanfordpress.bsky.social
#BSECS2026
#18c
Available online at buff.ly/UrGCd8j
@bsecs.bsky.social
@claudewillan.bsky.social
@stanfordpress.bsky.social
#BSECS2026
#18c
January 8, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Willan explores, through writing imaginative literature, an author can accrue significant and lasting economic and cultural power.
Available online at buff.ly/UrGCd8j
@bsecs.bsky.social
@claudewillan.bsky.social
@stanfordpress.bsky.social
#BSECS2026
#18c
Available online at buff.ly/UrGCd8j
@bsecs.bsky.social
@claudewillan.bsky.social
@stanfordpress.bsky.social
#BSECS2026
#18c
One joy of visiting the place you went to university is seeing other middle aged people grumbling about how their favourite places are no longer there
January 7, 2026 at 5:30 PM
One joy of visiting the place you went to university is seeing other middle aged people grumbling about how their favourite places are no longer there
I think it's important to affirm fundamental truths sometimes.
So in that spirit I say, fuck Birmingham New Street
So in that spirit I say, fuck Birmingham New Street
January 7, 2026 at 2:38 PM
I think it's important to affirm fundamental truths sometimes.
So in that spirit I say, fuck Birmingham New Street
So in that spirit I say, fuck Birmingham New Street
It has been heartbreaking in a new way to love England's cricket team this #Ashes bc the dysfunction of the team's culture mirrors national tendencies at their worst.
We deserved to get a thrashing, and we did.
We deserved to get a thrashing, and we did.
January 7, 2026 at 10:57 AM
It has been heartbreaking in a new way to love England's cricket team this #Ashes bc the dysfunction of the team's culture mirrors national tendencies at their worst.
We deserved to get a thrashing, and we did.
We deserved to get a thrashing, and we did.