Matthew Levay
@matthewlevay.bsky.social
Professor of English at Idaho State University. Modernism, comics, popular forms. Author: The New Old Style (U Nebraska P, soon), Violent Minds (Cambridge UP). Co-Editor: Journal of Modern Periodical Studies. You can call me Matt.
matthewlevay.com
matthewlevay.com
Pinned
Absolutely thrilled with the cover @univnebpress.bsky.social has designed for my book, The New Old Style: Anachronism in Contemporary Comics (coming August ‘26)! And special thanks to the wonderful and generous Cole Closser for allowing me to use their art.
Reposted by Matthew Levay
MSA Members! Do you have any interest in helping out on the MSA Board? Do you want to take over this Bluesky account next fall? Run for a board position! More information is here: www.moderniststudies.org/about/board-...
The MSA needs you!
The MSA needs you!
Board Nominations
The Modernist Studies Association is devoted to the study of the arts in their social, political, cultural, and intellectual contexts from the later nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century. The o...
www.moderniststudies.org
January 8, 2026 at 7:16 PM
MSA Members! Do you have any interest in helping out on the MSA Board? Do you want to take over this Bluesky account next fall? Run for a board position! More information is here: www.moderniststudies.org/about/board-...
The MSA needs you!
The MSA needs you!
Clearly, I have to go to this next year.
The Utah Mammoth landed one of the marquee events of the NHL season, the team and league announced Wednesday afternoon at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The NHL’s outdoor Winter Classic game is coming to Utah. Here’s what you need to know.
The Utah Mammoth landed one of the marquee events of the NHL season, the team and league announced Wednesday afternoon at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
www.sltrib.com
January 8, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Clearly, I have to go to this next year.
Just learned that @univnebpress.bsky.social is publishing a history of the Seattle Mariners and now I know what my first author discount purchase is going to be.
You Gotta Love These Guys - Nebraska Press
www.nebraskapress.unl.edu
January 6, 2026 at 1:49 AM
Just learned that @univnebpress.bsky.social is publishing a history of the Seattle Mariners and now I know what my first author discount purchase is going to be.
It is no exaggeration to say that R.E.M’s video for “Losing My Religion” changed my life.
December 31, 2025 at 6:21 PM
It is no exaggeration to say that R.E.M’s video for “Losing My Religion” changed my life.
It’s mildly embarrassing, the amount of pleasure I get from filling some things in on next year’s planner.
one of my favorite parts of this weird week between xmas and new years is that its the perfect time to plan out your new year!!! i love planning a year!!
December 29, 2025 at 6:13 PM
It’s mildly embarrassing, the amount of pleasure I get from filling some things in on next year’s planner.
I don’t do end-of-year publication roundups, but I’m deeply proud of this essay cluster on “Modernism in Comics” that I edited for @mmodernity.bsky.social, and I encourage everyone to spend some time with the brilliant pieces in it.
"We are still finding modernism where we had least expected it," writes @matthewlevay.bsky.social in his introduction to the latest Modernism/modernity cluster, which looks at "one of the period’s most vibrant yet critically derided art forms—comics": modernismmodernity.org/forums/moder...
December 29, 2025 at 5:29 PM
I don’t do end-of-year publication roundups, but I’m deeply proud of this essay cluster on “Modernism in Comics” that I edited for @mmodernity.bsky.social, and I encourage everyone to spend some time with the brilliant pieces in it.
Reposted by Matthew Levay
The CFP deadline for BAMS/ MSA is TODAY!
The CPF deadline for BAMS/MSA Weird Modernisms is tomorrow (Mon 29 Dec)! Get your abstracts in before that window closes...
Important news: the deadline for the joint BAMS/MSA conference in Loughborough has been extended to December 29, 2025! You can review the CFP, and find links to the submission platform, here. www.moderniststudies.org/conference/M...
December 29, 2025 at 6:48 AM
The CFP deadline for BAMS/ MSA is TODAY!
I started running again this summer, on a whim, and it’s been invaluable for mental and physical health—forcing myself to do something I don’t naturally want to do, feeling accomplished every time I do it. Yesterday I ran four miles in the sleet, and truly, it felt great.
not gonna evangelize about it but tbh coming to understand the value of cardio is one of the biggest positive changes I've made of any kind to my adult life, for whatever that's worth
Fitness gurus are always knocking cardio. Well, the elliptical is super effectively for weight loss. It’s low impact so you can do it for long time periods, every day. I can burn 800-1000 calories in an hour. I can do it daily. I lost 100 lbs once doing nothing but that damned boring elliptical.
December 28, 2025 at 5:26 PM
I started running again this summer, on a whim, and it’s been invaluable for mental and physical health—forcing myself to do something I don’t naturally want to do, feeling accomplished every time I do it. Yesterday I ran four miles in the sleet, and truly, it felt great.
My Christmas gifts this year were a shaggy dog sweater, a tweed blazer, cognac, the new Zadie Smith, and a Superman comic, and I think it’s safe to say that my family has an astoundingly accurate sense of my personality.
December 28, 2025 at 12:14 AM
My Christmas gifts this year were a shaggy dog sweater, a tweed blazer, cognac, the new Zadie Smith, and a Superman comic, and I think it’s safe to say that my family has an astoundingly accurate sense of my personality.
The only best-of-the-year list I reliably pay attention to: @comicsjournal.bsky.social contributors and editors on the best comics of 2025.
The best comics of 2025, as chosen by our contributors - The Comics Journal
We asked our contributors what they thought were the best comics of 2025 were. Here's what they said.
www.tcj.com
December 23, 2025 at 5:17 PM
The only best-of-the-year list I reliably pay attention to: @comicsjournal.bsky.social contributors and editors on the best comics of 2025.
Reposted by Matthew Levay
The deadline to apply for BAMS/ MSA in Loughborough, July 1-4, 2026, is now exactly 1 week away!
Important news: the deadline for the joint BAMS/MSA conference in Loughborough has been extended to December 29, 2025! You can review the CFP, and find links to the submission platform, here. www.moderniststudies.org/conference/M...
The Modernist Studies Association is devoted to the study of the arts in their social, political, cultural, and intellectual contexts from the later nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century. The o...
www.moderniststudies.org
December 22, 2025 at 9:33 PM
The deadline to apply for BAMS/ MSA in Loughborough, July 1-4, 2026, is now exactly 1 week away!
Christmas came early.
December 20, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Christmas came early.
This is a great piece.
The Quiet Wit of Rea Irvin: Rediscovering The Smythes by Tammi Morton-Kelly www.tcj.com/the-quiet-wi...
December 16, 2025 at 5:20 PM
This is a great piece.
Reposted by Matthew Levay
Maybe it's an abstract for Weird Modernisms next summer in Loughborough when BAMS and MSA join forces?
Before we fully switch into Christmas holiday mode🎄, share with us what you're working on with the hashtag #ModWrite !
December 16, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Maybe it's an abstract for Weird Modernisms next summer in Loughborough when BAMS and MSA join forces?
When Harry Met Sally is my plane movie. I watch it any time I’m on a flight, as it’s a reliably sly, joyful companion. Thank you, Rob Reiner, for enriching the small but important moments of our lives.
When Harry Met Sally... (4/11) Movie CLIP - Harry's Divorce (1989) HD
YouTube video by Movieclips
m.youtube.com
December 15, 2025 at 11:03 PM
When Harry Met Sally is my plane movie. I watch it any time I’m on a flight, as it’s a reliably sly, joyful companion. Thank you, Rob Reiner, for enriching the small but important moments of our lives.
Just played in a parents vs jv girls’ middle school basketball game, and I highly recommend that anyone who’s able to do so participate in similar goofy competition if they’re looking to raise their spirits.
December 10, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Just played in a parents vs jv girls’ middle school basketball game, and I highly recommend that anyone who’s able to do so participate in similar goofy competition if they’re looking to raise their spirits.
December 8: forgot to take note of today’s word count, in part because I’ve always measured time instead (aiming for at least 30 minutes of writing per weekday). Even in just a few minutes, things can progress. #acadecawriteathon
December 5: 325 words, a few more than yesterday (which I forgot to record). Dogged progress.
#acadecawriteathon
#acadecawriteathon
December 3: chipping away, with 260 more words. Things are taking shape.
December 8, 2025 at 11:16 PM
December 8: forgot to take note of today’s word count, in part because I’ve always measured time instead (aiming for at least 30 minutes of writing per weekday). Even in just a few minutes, things can progress. #acadecawriteathon
And, in the isolation of the sky,
At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
Downward to darkness, on extended wings.
At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
Downward to darkness, on extended wings.
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 8, 2025 at 3:38 AM
And, in the isolation of the sky,
At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
Downward to darkness, on extended wings.
At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
Downward to darkness, on extended wings.
December 5: 325 words, a few more than yesterday (which I forgot to record). Dogged progress.
#acadecawriteathon
#acadecawriteathon
December 3: chipping away, with 260 more words. Things are taking shape.
December 2: in the midst of a major grading day (one of many this month), I set aside time to carve out 230 more words. Like all daily writing it feels like exercise—difficult, even harried, but infinitely better than nothing. #acadecawriteathon
December 6, 2025 at 4:17 AM
December 5: 325 words, a few more than yesterday (which I forgot to record). Dogged progress.
#acadecawriteathon
#acadecawriteathon
December 3: chipping away, with 260 more words. Things are taking shape.
December 2: in the midst of a major grading day (one of many this month), I set aside time to carve out 230 more words. Like all daily writing it feels like exercise—difficult, even harried, but infinitely better than nothing. #acadecawriteathon
December 1: a painful but good 253 words produced, as part of an essay that has been defeating me for far too long. Progress. #acadecawriteathon
December 3, 2025 at 9:59 PM
December 3: chipping away, with 260 more words. Things are taking shape.
December 2: in the midst of a major grading day (one of many this month), I set aside time to carve out 230 more words. Like all daily writing it feels like exercise—difficult, even harried, but infinitely better than nothing. #acadecawriteathon
December 1: a painful but good 253 words produced, as part of an essay that has been defeating me for far too long. Progress. #acadecawriteathon
starting Dec 1st! ie tomorrow!
for structure to eke out pages at a bonkers time of year (that is also a precious writing-est time):
you can do 250 words a day! books get written that way! if more, amazing! if not when grading or festive-ing, that's ok!
check in daily at #acadecawriteathon
for structure to eke out pages at a bonkers time of year (that is also a precious writing-est time):
you can do 250 words a day! books get written that way! if more, amazing! if not when grading or festive-ing, that's ok!
check in daily at #acadecawriteathon
December 2, 2025 at 10:57 PM
December 2: in the midst of a major grading day (one of many this month), I set aside time to carve out 230 more words. Like all daily writing it feels like exercise—difficult, even harried, but infinitely better than nothing. #acadecawriteathon
I’ve been told that people are (understandably) more interested in seeing the dog.
December 2, 2025 at 7:53 PM
I’ve been told that people are (understandably) more interested in seeing the dog.
Walking the dog as the first snowfall of the season finally arrives, listening to the Blue Note Monthly playlist, is my recommendation for how to start your day.
December 2, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Walking the dog as the first snowfall of the season finally arrives, listening to the Blue Note Monthly playlist, is my recommendation for how to start your day.
December 1: a painful but good 253 words produced, as part of an essay that has been defeating me for far too long. Progress. #acadecawriteathon
starting Dec 1st! ie tomorrow!
for structure to eke out pages at a bonkers time of year (that is also a precious writing-est time):
you can do 250 words a day! books get written that way! if more, amazing! if not when grading or festive-ing, that's ok!
check in daily at #acadecawriteathon
for structure to eke out pages at a bonkers time of year (that is also a precious writing-est time):
you can do 250 words a day! books get written that way! if more, amazing! if not when grading or festive-ing, that's ok!
check in daily at #acadecawriteathon
is there a NaNoWriMo but for December and academic/ nonfiction? Should we start it?
December 1, 2025 at 10:21 PM
December 1: a painful but good 253 words produced, as part of an essay that has been defeating me for far too long. Progress. #acadecawriteathon
How did I not know this was coming out from NYR Comics? Immediately going on the “to buy” list.
Tonight at 7pm EST on Zoom for the NY Comics Symposium—
Dash Shaw & R. Kikuo Johnson discuss Rea Irvin (1st art director at the New Yorker and creator of the Eustace Tilley cover) and his strip, The Smythes, now collected in a book.
Register here: nycomicssymposium.wordpress.com/r-kikuo-john...
Dash Shaw & R. Kikuo Johnson discuss Rea Irvin (1st art director at the New Yorker and creator of the Eustace Tilley cover) and his strip, The Smythes, now collected in a book.
Register here: nycomicssymposium.wordpress.com/r-kikuo-john...
R. Kikuo Johnson & Dash Shaw, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025 at 7pm EST.
The 438th meeting of the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium will be held on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025 at 7 pm EST. ONLINE PRESENTATION VIA ZOOM. Please email comicssymposium@gma…
nycomicssymposium.wordpress.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:14 PM
How did I not know this was coming out from NYR Comics? Immediately going on the “to buy” list.