Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
@debbieg.bsky.social
Retired English prof, continuing independent scholar of children's fantasy, particularly interested in intertextuality and the sublime. Photographer, dog lover, gardener, and nerdy nerd nerd. I review for Strange Horizons.
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen:
David Bowie
Leonard Cohen
Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie together
Julian Bream
Pinchas Zukerman
David Bowie
Leonard Cohen
Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie together
Julian Bream
Pinchas Zukerman
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen:
The Bangles (I was 14 & ECSTATIC!)
Yo-Yo Ma (twice, and the two best live performances I have EVER seen)
The Cleveland Orchestra (many times)
Peggy Seeger
Iron Maiden (surprisingly often, since I married @patricksamphire.bsky.social !)
The Bangles (I was 14 & ECSTATIC!)
Yo-Yo Ma (twice, and the two best live performances I have EVER seen)
The Cleveland Orchestra (many times)
Peggy Seeger
Iron Maiden (surprisingly often, since I married @patricksamphire.bsky.social !)
Introduce your self with five concerts you’ve seen
Polar Bear Club supporting Rise Against at Rock City
Polar Bear Club playing an acoustic set in my mate’s living room later that evening
The Silver Ginger 5 gig that set Rock City’s ceiling on fire
New Junk City
Pendulum
Polar Bear Club supporting Rise Against at Rock City
Polar Bear Club playing an acoustic set in my mate’s living room later that evening
The Silver Ginger 5 gig that set Rock City’s ceiling on fire
New Junk City
Pendulum
November 27, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen:
David Bowie
Leonard Cohen
Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie together
Julian Bream
Pinchas Zukerman
David Bowie
Leonard Cohen
Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie together
Julian Bream
Pinchas Zukerman
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
Hoping for aliens/pirate treasure/ancient magical balls
November 27, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Hoping for aliens/pirate treasure/ancient magical balls
A beautiful buck at Ross Bay cemetery this afternoon
October 28, 2025 at 12:52 AM
A beautiful buck at Ross Bay cemetery this afternoon
Who robbed the Louvre? Right answers only.
October 19, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Who robbed the Louvre? Right answers only.
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
The 5 Ursula K. Le Guin Books You Need to Read, According to Her Son | Portland Monthly buff.ly/lD44afJ
October 15, 2025 at 4:30 PM
The 5 Ursula K. Le Guin Books You Need to Read, According to Her Son | Portland Monthly buff.ly/lD44afJ
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
“Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved.” ~ Jane Goodall
Thank you, Ms. Goodall. Rest in peace.🤍🌎
Thank you, Ms. Goodall. Rest in peace.🤍🌎
October 2, 2025 at 1:10 AM
“Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved.” ~ Jane Goodall
Thank you, Ms. Goodall. Rest in peace.🤍🌎
Thank you, Ms. Goodall. Rest in peace.🤍🌎
Such sad news. Another light has gone out in this increasingly dark world.
The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada has learned this morning, Wednesday, October 1st, 2025, that Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, has passed away due to natural causes.
She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States.
She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States.
October 1, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Such sad news. Another light has gone out in this increasingly dark world.
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
Residential school denialism doesn't stand up to reality despite the disinformation that so often fills our feeds.
"Each of the 7,000 statements from residential school survivors is a gift...Deniers would prefer we forget them."
So let’s not forget them.
nctr.ca/uncategorize...
"Each of the 7,000 statements from residential school survivors is a gift...Deniers would prefer we forget them."
So let’s not forget them.
nctr.ca/uncategorize...
Residential-school denialism doesn’t stand up to reality
Authored by Raymond Frogner, head of archives for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Canada’s Supreme Court has acknowledged that Canadian governments and Christian organizations…
nctr.ca
September 30, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Residential school denialism doesn't stand up to reality despite the disinformation that so often fills our feeds.
"Each of the 7,000 statements from residential school survivors is a gift...Deniers would prefer we forget them."
So let’s not forget them.
nctr.ca/uncategorize...
"Each of the 7,000 statements from residential school survivors is a gift...Deniers would prefer we forget them."
So let’s not forget them.
nctr.ca/uncategorize...
A beautiful image for this day of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.
Every Child is a Universe
Christi Belcourt ~ Métis
2025
Christi Belcourt ~ Métis
2025
September 30, 2025 at 4:40 PM
A beautiful image for this day of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.
I've read some of this in an earlier form, and it's REALLY interesting. Especially if you like children's fantasy and have sensitivity to and curiosity about absorption and/or appropriation of indigenous myth and the way fantasy can give a "way in" to the Land (or Country).
I've posted on Substack about my PhD research. I'm writing about the way White children's writers have worked within the fantasy genre to explore a different relationship to Country than the realist "everything in Australia will kill you" mode allowed.
open.substack.com/pub/msmisrul...
open.substack.com/pub/msmisrul...
Australian children’s fantasy fiction and the Settler Colonial desire for a connection to Country.
An overview of research towards my PhD in Children's Literature through the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
open.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I've read some of this in an earlier form, and it's REALLY interesting. Especially if you like children's fantasy and have sensitivity to and curiosity about absorption and/or appropriation of indigenous myth and the way fantasy can give a "way in" to the Land (or Country).
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
Strange Horizons published our first issue 25 years ago this month! 🎉
Thank you to everyone who has ever read, shared, submitted, donated! We wouldn't be here without you and we hope you'll continue to support us into the future!
Thank you to everyone who has ever read, shared, submitted, donated! We wouldn't be here without you and we hope you'll continue to support us into the future!
September 16, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Strange Horizons published our first issue 25 years ago this month! 🎉
Thank you to everyone who has ever read, shared, submitted, donated! We wouldn't be here without you and we hope you'll continue to support us into the future!
Thank you to everyone who has ever read, shared, submitted, donated! We wouldn't be here without you and we hope you'll continue to support us into the future!
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
New episode up now. The Tombs of Atuan (1970) by Ursula K. Le Guin, the second part of Earthsea, with guest Frank Cottrell-Boyce in conversation with Una McCormack and Andy Miller. @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/0sc5...
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
open.spotify.com
September 2, 2025 at 6:07 AM
New episode up now. The Tombs of Atuan (1970) by Ursula K. Le Guin, the second part of Earthsea, with guest Frank Cottrell-Boyce in conversation with Una McCormack and Andy Miller. @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/0sc5...
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
Imagine the complicated and precious genius of the girl who made this embroidery sampler in 1811
The Solar System, sampler, unknown maker, 1811, England. Museum no. T.92-1939. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The Solar System, sampler, unknown maker, 1811, England. Museum no. T.92-1939. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
August 27, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Imagine the complicated and precious genius of the girl who made this embroidery sampler in 1811
The Solar System, sampler, unknown maker, 1811, England. Museum no. T.92-1939. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The Solar System, sampler, unknown maker, 1811, England. Museum no. T.92-1939. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
For #InternationalDogDay I felt I had to post this absolutely joyous shot of my Baggins, from a few years back. #Dogs #DogsOfBluesky 📷🐈
August 26, 2025 at 6:18 PM
For #InternationalDogDay I felt I had to post this absolutely joyous shot of my Baggins, from a few years back. #Dogs #DogsOfBluesky 📷🐈
Hive mind, especially SF peeps. A friend is asking what the origin is of the term "little green men" for aliens, and I confess I have no idea. Does any of you?
August 24, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Hive mind, especially SF peeps. A friend is asking what the origin is of the term "little green men" for aliens, and I confess I have no idea. Does any of you?
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
As Tove Jansson’s Moomins turn 80, new generations are discovering a world where “trolling” means weathering life’s many anxieties | The New Yorker
The Joys of Moomscrolling
As Tove Jansson’s lovable creatures turn eighty, new generations are discovering a world where “trolling” means weathering life’s many anxieties.
buff.ly
August 22, 2025 at 8:30 PM
As Tove Jansson’s Moomins turn 80, new generations are discovering a world where “trolling” means weathering life’s many anxieties | The New Yorker
This is such a good essay. Please read it. And - presenters - FFS learn how to pronounce the names you are reading! (My name is very seldom pronounced correctly, especially in N.A.)
Something very very weird happened during the Hugos award ceremony... It's been on my mind for days, and so I wrote this blog: "When People Giggle at Your Name, or the 2025 Hugo Awards Incident"
grigorylukin.com/2025/08/21/w...
#Worldcon
grigorylukin.com/2025/08/21/w...
#Worldcon
August 22, 2025 at 6:46 PM
This is such a good essay. Please read it. And - presenters - FFS learn how to pronounce the names you are reading! (My name is very seldom pronounced correctly, especially in N.A.)
What's your favourite Quentin Blake illustrated book? Mine is How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsman. I also very much love Michael Rosen's Sad Book, except that it always makes me cry.
Quentin Blake and Me at the Lowry: the magic touch of Britain’s best-loved children’s illustrator | The Conversation
Quentin Blake and Me at the Lowry: the magic touch of Britain’s best-loved children’s illustrator
A new exhibition reveals how Blake’s warm, funny and kinetic illustrations transport readers young and old.
buff.ly
August 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
What's your favourite Quentin Blake illustrated book? Mine is How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsman. I also very much love Michael Rosen's Sad Book, except that it always makes me cry.
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than one seeks.” - John Muir
#SolaceInNature #wildflowers
#SolaceInNature #wildflowers
August 15, 2025 at 8:30 AM
“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than one seeks.” - John Muir
#SolaceInNature #wildflowers
#SolaceInNature #wildflowers
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
Here’s @debbieg.bsky.social on gothic horror, Romanticism, and toxic lesbian vampires in VE Schwab’s latest. I especially appreciate how rounded this review is - lots to praise, but some queries of the text, too.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Schwab is known for her character-driven stories, and in that respect this novel does not disappoint.
www.strangehorizons.com
August 13, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Here’s @debbieg.bsky.social on gothic horror, Romanticism, and toxic lesbian vampires in VE Schwab’s latest. I especially appreciate how rounded this review is - lots to praise, but some queries of the text, too.
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
HANDS OFF MY MARRIAGE, YOU F*CKERS 🇺🇸
Obergefell v. Hodges made me believe in the whole "arc of history bends towards justice." In the 90s, I didn't think gay marriage would be legalized in my lifetime because homophobia was so deeply ingrained. We would have never gotten here without the decision and now it may be overturned.
August 11, 2025 at 8:50 PM
HANDS OFF MY MARRIAGE, YOU F*CKERS 🇺🇸
For #RoseWednesday Abraham Derby, not fully out but already looking lovely 🌱🌹📷
August 6, 2025 at 6:31 PM
For #RoseWednesday Abraham Derby, not fully out but already looking lovely 🌱🌹📷
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
All at #BfK are sad to learn of the dealth of Allan Ahlberg. With his wife Janet & with other leading illustrators, Allan Ahlberg created books loved by generations of readers. Everyone will have their favourite. Full obituary to come, meanwhile from our archives: booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/auth...
July 31, 2025 at 4:37 PM
All at #BfK are sad to learn of the dealth of Allan Ahlberg. With his wife Janet & with other leading illustrators, Allan Ahlberg created books loved by generations of readers. Everyone will have their favourite. Full obituary to come, meanwhile from our archives: booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/auth...
Reposted by Dr. Gascoyne 🇨🇦
Sad news: Allan Ahlberg, beloved children's author, has died at 87 | The Guardian
Allan Ahlberg, beloved children's author, dies aged 87
Working first with his wife Jane, and later with illustrators including Raymond Briggs and Bruce Ingman, he wrote more than 150 books
buff.ly
July 31, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Sad news: Allan Ahlberg, beloved children's author, has died at 87 | The Guardian
