Simon Kövesi
@kovesi.bsky.social
Professor of English & Scottish Literature, Head of the School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Research working-class literature & Romantic-period cultures.
Editor, John Clare Society Journal.
Seems important to add, son of a political refugee.
Research working-class literature & Romantic-period cultures.
Editor, John Clare Society Journal.
Seems important to add, son of a political refugee.
Pinned
Simon Kövesi
@kovesi.bsky.social
· Sep 20
Frogs, nightingales, moonlight, Tokaji - a perfect evening.
From H. Ellen Browning, "A Girl's Wanderings in Hungary" (1896):
From H. Ellen Browning, "A Girl's Wanderings in Hungary" (1896):
What a fabulous few weeks for Hungarian literature. First László Krasznahorkai wins the Nobel, now David Szalay wins the Booker. Gratulálok.
November 10, 2025 at 10:14 PM
What a fabulous few weeks for Hungarian literature. First László Krasznahorkai wins the Nobel, now David Szalay wins the Booker. Gratulálok.
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
1824: Read 'Macbeth' what a soul-thrilling power hovers about this tradegy I have read it over about 20 times & it chains my feelings still to its persual like a new thing it is Shakespears masterpiece the thrilling feelings created by the description of Lady Macbeths terror-haunted walkings in...
November 10, 2025 at 6:30 AM
1824: Read 'Macbeth' what a soul-thrilling power hovers about this tradegy I have read it over about 20 times & it chains my feelings still to its persual like a new thing it is Shakespears masterpiece the thrilling feelings created by the description of Lady Macbeths terror-haunted walkings in...
The problem was never that Boris Johnson studied classics...
Perennial favourite reader's letter from 2021.
Perennial favourite reader's letter from 2021.
November 8, 2025 at 7:52 PM
The problem was never that Boris Johnson studied classics...
Perennial favourite reader's letter from 2021.
Perennial favourite reader's letter from 2021.
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
THE FLOWERSHOUT
internationaltimes.it/the-flowersh...
On Andrew Kötting’s BLABBERMIND and Iain Sinclair’s Annie Oake’s Orchids
(Badbloodandsibyl/Swedenborg House Press 2025)
David Erdos
internationaltimes.it/the-flowersh...
On Andrew Kötting’s BLABBERMIND and Iain Sinclair’s Annie Oake’s Orchids
(Badbloodandsibyl/Swedenborg House Press 2025)
David Erdos
November 8, 2025 at 7:19 AM
THE FLOWERSHOUT
internationaltimes.it/the-flowersh...
On Andrew Kötting’s BLABBERMIND and Iain Sinclair’s Annie Oake’s Orchids
(Badbloodandsibyl/Swedenborg House Press 2025)
David Erdos
internationaltimes.it/the-flowersh...
On Andrew Kötting’s BLABBERMIND and Iain Sinclair’s Annie Oake’s Orchids
(Badbloodandsibyl/Swedenborg House Press 2025)
David Erdos
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
News | Tributes paid following death of Scotland’s ‘powerhouse’ curator Elspeth King – social historian remembered for her work to expand working-class collections at People’s Palace in Glasgow
Tributes paid following death of Scotland's ‘powerhouse’ curator Elspeth King - Museums Association
Social historian remembered for her work to expand working-class collections at People’s Palace in Glasgow
www.museumsassociation.org
November 4, 2025 at 5:50 PM
News | Tributes paid following death of Scotland’s ‘powerhouse’ curator Elspeth King – social historian remembered for her work to expand working-class collections at People’s Palace in Glasgow
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗞 𝗧𝗩 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮? 𝗪𝗲’𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. We’re making a short film with Candour Productions as part of the @ukri.org -funded project 'What’s On? Rethinking Class in the UK Television Industry'
📍 Filming in Leeds w/c 5 January 2026 (expenses covered)
📅 Deadline: 21 November 2025
📍 Filming in Leeds w/c 5 January 2026 (expenses covered)
📅 Deadline: 21 November 2025
October 20, 2025 at 4:27 PM
𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗞 𝗧𝗩 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮? 𝗪𝗲’𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. We’re making a short film with Candour Productions as part of the @ukri.org -funded project 'What’s On? Rethinking Class in the UK Television Industry'
📍 Filming in Leeds w/c 5 January 2026 (expenses covered)
📅 Deadline: 21 November 2025
📍 Filming in Leeds w/c 5 January 2026 (expenses covered)
📅 Deadline: 21 November 2025
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
But The Kitchen Sink episode 3 on University of Glasgow's Subcity radio, the DJ is a relation, so am boringly proud:
www.subcity.org/show/butthek...
www.subcity.org/show/butthek...
Subcity Radio
Subcity Radio is a non-profit, volunteer-run freeform radio station, arts collective, and events promoter based in Glasgow.
www.subcity.org
October 26, 2025 at 3:28 PM
But The Kitchen Sink episode 3 on University of Glasgow's Subcity radio, the DJ is a relation, so am boringly proud:
www.subcity.org/show/butthek...
www.subcity.org/show/butthek...
Excited to read this new book, by @kristiedegaris.bsky.social, before hosting the author for a reading @uofgartshums.bsky.social soon.
October 31, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Excited to read this new book, by @kristiedegaris.bsky.social, before hosting the author for a reading @uofgartshums.bsky.social soon.
The gentlest, firmest, weapon for us to use in the culture wars, from Goethe:
"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."
"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."
October 31, 2025 at 6:13 PM
The gentlest, firmest, weapon for us to use in the culture wars, from Goethe:
"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."
"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."
Surprise surprise. Students can be raging xenophobics too.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
October 31, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Surprise surprise. Students can be raging xenophobics too.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
Reminder: CfP closes for BARS 2026 'Romantic Retrospection' at the University of Birmingham, UK, and online on 30 November.
Details below:
www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/arts-...
Details below:
www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/arts-...
October 31, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reminder: CfP closes for BARS 2026 'Romantic Retrospection' at the University of Birmingham, UK, and online on 30 November.
Details below:
www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/arts-...
Details below:
www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/arts-...
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
Excited about the return of Aye Write Book Festival to Glasgow & delighted to be taking part in Who Will Be Remembered Here - Queer Spaces in Scotland: Mae Diansangu, Louise Welsh, Lewis Hetherington with Carrie Marshall - Glasgow Life share.google/lBEUQpOp8y1Q...
Who Will Be Remembered Here - Queer Spaces in Scotland: Mae Diansangu, Louise Welsh, Lewis Hetherington with Carrie Marshall - Glasgow Life
Aye Write 2025 presents Women Who Dared - From the Infamous to the Forgotten: Jo Shaw, Dr Chisomo Kalinga, Dr Ioulia Kolovou, Margot McCuaig
share.google
October 31, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Excited about the return of Aye Write Book Festival to Glasgow & delighted to be taking part in Who Will Be Remembered Here - Queer Spaces in Scotland: Mae Diansangu, Louise Welsh, Lewis Hetherington with Carrie Marshall - Glasgow Life share.google/lBEUQpOp8y1Q...
Imagine being so weak minded & illiberal & brittle & averse to criticism, that you think banning Wole Soyinka is the right thing to do? Good grief.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Nobel laureate and Trump critic, says US visa revoked
Soyinka, 91, who recently compared US president to Idi Amin, says ‘I have no visa – I am banned’
www.theguardian.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Imagine being so weak minded & illiberal & brittle & averse to criticism, that you think banning Wole Soyinka is the right thing to do? Good grief.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
The racist words were not a racism, say the racists.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reform MP's comments 'ugly' but intention was not racist, Farage says
Sarah Pochin apologised after complaining about adverts being
www.bbc.co.uk
October 27, 2025 at 10:16 PM
The racist words were not a racism, say the racists.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
🪧A date for your diaries if you'd be interested in our training session, 'Revising your PhD Thesis for Publication', led by @drjoeford.bsky.social from @ilcs.bsky.social and our Publisher @emmagallon.bsky.social.
📅 Monday 8 December, 14:00–15:30
👉 www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
#AcademicPublishing
📅 Monday 8 December, 14:00–15:30
👉 www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
#AcademicPublishing
Revising Your PhD Thesis for Publication
www.sas.ac.uk
October 27, 2025 at 4:34 PM
🪧A date for your diaries if you'd be interested in our training session, 'Revising your PhD Thesis for Publication', led by @drjoeford.bsky.social from @ilcs.bsky.social and our Publisher @emmagallon.bsky.social.
📅 Monday 8 December, 14:00–15:30
👉 www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
#AcademicPublishing
📅 Monday 8 December, 14:00–15:30
👉 www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
#AcademicPublishing
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
Harebells still flowering in King’s Forest, near Bury St Edmunds. #WildflowerHour
October 26, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Harebells still flowering in King’s Forest, near Bury St Edmunds. #WildflowerHour
But The Kitchen Sink episode 3 on University of Glasgow's Subcity radio, the DJ is a relation, so am boringly proud:
www.subcity.org/show/butthek...
www.subcity.org/show/butthek...
Subcity Radio
Subcity Radio is a non-profit, volunteer-run freeform radio station, arts collective, and events promoter based in Glasgow.
www.subcity.org
October 26, 2025 at 3:28 PM
But The Kitchen Sink episode 3 on University of Glasgow's Subcity radio, the DJ is a relation, so am boringly proud:
www.subcity.org/show/butthek...
www.subcity.org/show/butthek...
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
The “diversity” I bring to my work is less about being brown than it is about having grown up poor. Which had a much bigger negative impact on me.
So much of my work as a writer is informed by my experiences growing up poor and from a household which was not of the type that usually produces writers. Some people have recognised this about my work (e.g., British Science Assoc) but the publishing industry doesn’t seem to give a fuck.
Reading was central to my happiness as a kid. Didn’t grow up in a household with books but had an amazing local library with wonderful librarians, a safe place where I also did arts and crafts and other things I didn’t at home. Libraries should be at heart of any campaign to get more kids reading
October 26, 2025 at 7:31 AM
The “diversity” I bring to my work is less about being brown than it is about having grown up poor. Which had a much bigger negative impact on me.
The end of Orbán.
substack.com/@reallyameri...
substack.com/@reallyameri...
Really American (@reallyamerican)
BREAKING: Hungary explodes with MASSIVE protests against Russian-backed Orban government. Peter Magyar is demolishing Orban in the polls and if there’s a free election, Putin loses his puppet. Protest...
substack.com
October 26, 2025 at 10:41 AM
The end of Orbán.
substack.com/@reallyameri...
substack.com/@reallyameri...
It's like he's not sure everyone has noticed the impact he's having, so he's decided to destroy his own building, so he can stand in actual wreckage and say, you see my power now? I did that.
Round the decay / Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare / The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Round the decay / Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare / The lone and level sands stretch far away.
October 24, 2025 at 4:27 PM
It's like he's not sure everyone has noticed the impact he's having, so he's decided to destroy his own building, so he can stand in actual wreckage and say, you see my power now? I did that.
Round the decay / Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare / The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Round the decay / Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare / The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor. So good, & glad I waited till I was ready for it.
October 22, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor. So good, & glad I waited till I was ready for it.
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
Very excited for BAVS to come to Liverpool next year, and very pleased to see our CfP out! No specific theme, we are open to any exploration of the multifaceted nature of 'the Victorian' - have a look at the call here: victorianist.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/c...
CFP: BAVS 2026 Conference Liverpool
BAVS Liverpool 202627 – 29 July 2026 Keynote Speakers: Dr Alison Chapman (University of Victoria, BC), others to be confirmed. The Centre for Modern and Contemporary History (CMCH) at Liverpool Joh…
victorianist.wordpress.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Very excited for BAVS to come to Liverpool next year, and very pleased to see our CfP out! No specific theme, we are open to any exploration of the multifaceted nature of 'the Victorian' - have a look at the call here: victorianist.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/c...
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
A reminder that pg researchers and ECRs working in Romantic Studies in the UK are invited to apply for a Stephen Copley Research Award (valued up to £500)
The late Stephen Copley supervised my PhD and I appreciate seeing his name live on like this
#Romanticism
www.bars.ac.uk/main/index.p...
The late Stephen Copley supervised my PhD and I appreciate seeing his name live on like this
#Romanticism
www.bars.ac.uk/main/index.p...
Stephen Copley Research Awards – British Association for Romantic Studies
www.bars.ac.uk
October 17, 2025 at 8:52 AM
A reminder that pg researchers and ECRs working in Romantic Studies in the UK are invited to apply for a Stephen Copley Research Award (valued up to £500)
The late Stephen Copley supervised my PhD and I appreciate seeing his name live on like this
#Romanticism
www.bars.ac.uk/main/index.p...
The late Stephen Copley supervised my PhD and I appreciate seeing his name live on like this
#Romanticism
www.bars.ac.uk/main/index.p...
Reposted by Simon Kövesi
1824: Workd in the garden at making a shed for my Auriculas the Michaelmas daisey is in full flower both the lilac-blue & the white thick-set with its little clustering stars of flowers I love them for their visits in such a melancholy season as the end of autumn - the Horse chestnut tree is...
October 20, 2025 at 5:30 AM
1824: Workd in the garden at making a shed for my Auriculas the Michaelmas daisey is in full flower both the lilac-blue & the white thick-set with its little clustering stars of flowers I love them for their visits in such a melancholy season as the end of autumn - the Horse chestnut tree is...