Meghan Flaherty
@msmeghanbean.bsky.social
TANGO LESSONS (Mariner)
I write prose. I like sheep. I’m much better on instagram.
Lecturer in Creative Writing University of Glasgow
mbflaherty.com
msmeghanbean.substack.com
she/her
I write prose. I like sheep. I’m much better on instagram.
Lecturer in Creative Writing University of Glasgow
mbflaherty.com
msmeghanbean.substack.com
she/her
Come through!
Delighted I'm returning to @bozzybookfest.bsky.social next weekend. Chairing several events @sarasheridan.bsky.social Juano Diaz & Charlie English, I'm also discussing my book Joshua in the Sky with @msmeghanbean.bsky.social ↘️↘️↘️. Whose life gets to be remembered, when we record real lives? And how?
The traditional biography details a full life of achievements.
Joshua in the Sky from @rodgeglass.bsky.social instead memorialises the author's nephew, Joshua, who lived for just 3 hours.
This is is a journey through loss and an exploration of the nature of biography itself. bit.ly/Bozzfest
Joshua in the Sky from @rodgeglass.bsky.social instead memorialises the author's nephew, Joshua, who lived for just 3 hours.
This is is a journey through loss and an exploration of the nature of biography itself. bit.ly/Bozzfest
April 30, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Come through!
"I wonder if there might not be another idea of human order than repression, another notion of human virtue than self-control, another kind of human self than one based on dissociation of inside and outside. Or indeed, another human essence than self."
Anne Carson, "The Gender of Sound"
Anne Carson, "The Gender of Sound"
April 28, 2025 at 12:02 PM
"I wonder if there might not be another idea of human order than repression, another notion of human virtue than self-control, another kind of human self than one based on dissociation of inside and outside. Or indeed, another human essence than self."
Anne Carson, "The Gender of Sound"
Anne Carson, "The Gender of Sound"
Had the enormous honour of being a part of this series, in some incredible company.
Day 76 of 100 Days of Creative Resistance: Meghan Flaherty on Uncertainty
mailchi.mp/585ac3e60764...
@writingco-lab.bsky.social
mailchi.mp/585ac3e60764...
@writingco-lab.bsky.social
April 7, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Had the enormous honour of being a part of this series, in some incredible company.
Reposted by Meghan Flaherty
WORLD-FIRST: Ground-breaking research published today in the Ornithologist Journal has, for the first time, translated common UK bird vocalisations into equivalent phrases in the human language.
The results tell us a lot!
Extracts below... 🧵
The results tell us a lot!
Extracts below... 🧵
April 1, 2025 at 9:40 AM
WORLD-FIRST: Ground-breaking research published today in the Ornithologist Journal has, for the first time, translated common UK bird vocalisations into equivalent phrases in the human language.
The results tell us a lot!
Extracts below... 🧵
The results tell us a lot!
Extracts below... 🧵
Ten degrees in Glasgow and the kids are *sunbathing*
March 18, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Ten degrees in Glasgow and the kids are *sunbathing*
I’ve lived several lifetimes this week and it’s only Tuesday.
February 25, 2025 at 8:54 AM
I’ve lived several lifetimes this week and it’s only Tuesday.
Pisces season, dreams: teeth popping out, anthropomorphic holly branches, waters breaking, and, in a meta twist, not being able to sleep.
February 18, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Pisces season, dreams: teeth popping out, anthropomorphic holly branches, waters breaking, and, in a meta twist, not being able to sleep.
Reposted by Meghan Flaherty
A "potential" 0.43% increase in GDP *by 2050* - in return for torching the UK's climate leadership and adding vast amounts of carbon to the atmosphere - is simply not worth it.
No third runway. Grow the green economy, not airports.
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
No third runway. Grow the green economy, not airports.
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
Rachel Reeves confirms backing for third runway at Heathrow – UK politics live
The chancellor says she wants plan for runway brought forward by summer and criticises Conservatives for not acting to build runway
www.theguardian.com
January 29, 2025 at 11:00 AM
A "potential" 0.43% increase in GDP *by 2050* - in return for torching the UK's climate leadership and adding vast amounts of carbon to the atmosphere - is simply not worth it.
No third runway. Grow the green economy, not airports.
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
No third runway. Grow the green economy, not airports.
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
Today I returned my children's woefully overdue library books. Naturally, I thought of Grace Paley and @rodgeglass.bsky.social. (hashtag: sycamores)
January 29, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Today I returned my children's woefully overdue library books. Naturally, I thought of Grace Paley and @rodgeglass.bsky.social. (hashtag: sycamores)
This is such an important point.
“It might be true that all human cultures tell inventive stories, but that isn’t enough to claim that there is a single definition of ‘fiction’ that can be applied transculturally.”
“It might be true that all human cultures tell inventive stories, but that isn’t enough to claim that there is a single definition of ‘fiction’ that can be applied transculturally.”
If you need a distraction today-- check out my new piece for Aeon!
I say there's no universal definition of fiction b/c how "fiction" is understood depends on a culture's metaphysics. Philosophy of fiction has been taking Greek metaphysics for granted. I say we branch out.
aeon.co/essays/befor...
I say there's no universal definition of fiction b/c how "fiction" is understood depends on a culture's metaphysics. Philosophy of fiction has been taking Greek metaphysics for granted. I say we branch out.
aeon.co/essays/befor...
January 21, 2025 at 8:39 AM
This is such an important point.
“It might be true that all human cultures tell inventive stories, but that isn’t enough to claim that there is a single definition of ‘fiction’ that can be applied transculturally.”
“It might be true that all human cultures tell inventive stories, but that isn’t enough to claim that there is a single definition of ‘fiction’ that can be applied transculturally.”
Meanwhile, this weird miracle of winter light.
January 8, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Meanwhile, this weird miracle of winter light.
For me, it was the drum corps guy (choir director’s son) and the “knee pit erogenous zone.”
Just remembered that when I was 13 my most sexually experienced friend swore that there was a “pressure point” on your ring finger knuckle that, if rubbed, made you “instantly horny”
We all told her it was bullshit, but I remember being careful not to rub my knuckles after that, just in case
We all told her it was bullshit, but I remember being careful not to rub my knuckles after that, just in case
December 28, 2024 at 9:07 AM
For me, it was the drum corps guy (choir director’s son) and the “knee pit erogenous zone.”
Turns out, my kids think the words are “tender and wild” and that just about tracks.
December 23, 2024 at 10:31 PM
Turns out, my kids think the words are “tender and wild” and that just about tracks.
Back on my bullshit, in the bleak midwinter. Merry happy all the things, my dears.
open.substack.com/pub/msmeghan...
open.substack.com/pub/msmeghan...
a certain Slant of light
"Heavenly Hurt, it gives us – / We can find no scar, / But internal difference – / Where the Meanings, are – "
open.substack.com
December 21, 2024 at 2:16 PM
Back on my bullshit, in the bleak midwinter. Merry happy all the things, my dears.
open.substack.com/pub/msmeghan...
open.substack.com/pub/msmeghan...
Do we think Santa can do book deals for Christmas?
December 20, 2024 at 11:06 AM
Do we think Santa can do book deals for Christmas?
Theatre baby, on the roof: Smith College, Albright House. Loved a carabiner back then.
December 17, 2024 at 3:52 PM
Theatre baby, on the roof: Smith College, Albright House. Loved a carabiner back then.
My kid took it upon himself to decorate this tree. Yes, that is a garden glove (found on the pavement somewhere), and all his lil magpie treasures.
December 12, 2024 at 7:59 AM
My kid took it upon himself to decorate this tree. Yes, that is a garden glove (found on the pavement somewhere), and all his lil magpie treasures.
Reposted by Meghan Flaherty
“Young person worry: what if nothing I do matters?
Old person worry: what if everything I do does?”
—Weather, by Jenny Offill
Old person worry: what if everything I do does?”
—Weather, by Jenny Offill
December 9, 2024 at 6:41 AM
“Young person worry: what if nothing I do matters?
Old person worry: what if everything I do does?”
—Weather, by Jenny Offill
Old person worry: what if everything I do does?”
—Weather, by Jenny Offill
Reposted by Meghan Flaherty
“No, you do not understand,” Andrea said to me last month, describing her response. “This is intimately linked to the work my mother does.”
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/m...
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/m...
What Alice Munro Knew
The Nobel-winning author’s husband was a pedophile who targeted her daughter and other children. Why did she stay silent?
www.nytimes.com
December 9, 2024 at 1:26 PM
“No, you do not understand,” Andrea said to me last month, describing her response. “This is intimately linked to the work my mother does.”
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/m...
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/m...
The helpful husband has hidden his own stocking stuffers in my closet.
December 8, 2024 at 10:46 PM
The helpful husband has hidden his own stocking stuffers in my closet.
My mother used to call me her 'plain brown wren' (which... see my unpublished works), but I like to think she saw me as a lil walnut, or a Druid bird.
The meanings of the word for a wren, from eight different languages...
8. Little walnut (Bulgarian)
7. Little bird in the ditch (Japanese)
6. Thumbling (Finnish)
5. Fence-skedaddler (Danish)
4. Fence-master (Hebrew)
3. Druid bird (Irish)
2. Mouse-brother (Faroese)
1. Little king of winter (Dutch)
8. Little walnut (Bulgarian)
7. Little bird in the ditch (Japanese)
6. Thumbling (Finnish)
5. Fence-skedaddler (Danish)
4. Fence-master (Hebrew)
3. Druid bird (Irish)
2. Mouse-brother (Faroese)
1. Little king of winter (Dutch)
December 6, 2024 at 10:34 AM
My mother used to call me her 'plain brown wren' (which... see my unpublished works), but I like to think she saw me as a lil walnut, or a Druid bird.
Reposted by Meghan Flaherty
New academic job: come join us in the School of Critical Studies @uofglasgow.bsky.social as Senior Lecturer in Communications, a new, exciting subject area for us.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DKY766/s...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DKY766/s...
Senior Lecturer in Communications at University of Glasgow
Recruiting now: Senior Lecturer in Communications on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board
www.jobs.ac.uk
December 5, 2024 at 1:34 PM
New academic job: come join us in the School of Critical Studies @uofglasgow.bsky.social as Senior Lecturer in Communications, a new, exciting subject area for us.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DKY766/s...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DKY766/s...
Mon, the wild oat wresters! lithub.com/rebecca-soln... @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social
Rebecca Solnit: When the Hero is the Problem
For an embodiment of the word singlehanded you might turn to the heroine of the recent movie Woman at War. It’s about an Icelandic eco-saboteur who blows up rural power lines and hides in scenic sp…
lithub.com
December 1, 2024 at 8:09 AM
Mon, the wild oat wresters! lithub.com/rebecca-soln... @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social
Reposted by Meghan Flaherty
The Discoveries writing development programme and prize for unpublished women writers in the UK accepts novels in any genre of adult fiction, with entrants invited to submit the first 10,000 words of their novel and a synopsis
Discoveries 2025
Calling all unpublished women writers! The Women’s Prize Trust, Audible, the Curtis Brown literary agency and Curtis Brown Creative have partnered to run the Discoveries novel-writing development prog...
www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk
November 23, 2024 at 8:53 AM
The Discoveries writing development programme and prize for unpublished women writers in the UK accepts novels in any genre of adult fiction, with entrants invited to submit the first 10,000 words of their novel and a synopsis