Sarah Pyke
@sarahpyke.bsky.social
teaching children's and YA literature at the University of Münster
london.ac.uk/seized-books | #QueerBibliography
researching and writing various things
close reading forever
london.ac.uk/seized-books | #QueerBibliography
researching and writing various things
close reading forever
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
Academics *literally have nowhere else to go*, and UK employment law and standard employer expectations do not account for that. You'd need to take 20 years' pay to make it worth quitting. Unless, ofc, they coincidentally also make your job unbearable and undoable. Oh I see
'If they choose to take up the Voluntary Severance Scheme, open to all academic staff in the School of Humanities and the School of Modern Languages, staff essentially make themselves redundant in return for a good pay-out.'
9 months' pay; 3 weeks to decide. 1/3
9 months' pay; 3 weeks to decide. 1/3
University of Bristol asks Humanities and Languages academic staff to voluntarily quit
Certain departments are being run into a ‘managed decline’, says Bristol UCU's co-President, as a new Voluntary Severance Scheme is announced.
epigram.org.uk
February 18, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Academics *literally have nowhere else to go*, and UK employment law and standard employer expectations do not account for that. You'd need to take 20 years' pay to make it worth quitting. Unless, ofc, they coincidentally also make your job unbearable and undoable. Oh I see
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
Imagine all the stories we’re not hearing
I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
I’m constantly astounded at the sheer level of artistic production coming out of Iceland. Novels, movies, music. Amazing.
February 18, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Imagine all the stories we’re not hearing
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
Safety matches (brought to you by unions), analogue cameras (up the Grunwick strikers), carabiner clips (the lesbian Internationale), tote bags, photocopiers, helmets, riso printers, lead-free pipes, tattoo guns, autoclaves, thermos flasks, swimming goggles, N95 masks, reusable sandwich bags.
February 18, 2026 at 10:29 AM
Safety matches (brought to you by unions), analogue cameras (up the Grunwick strikers), carabiner clips (the lesbian Internationale), tote bags, photocopiers, helmets, riso printers, lead-free pipes, tattoo guns, autoclaves, thermos flasks, swimming goggles, N95 masks, reusable sandwich bags.
Not dunking on the person who wrote this review or on Pearson’s book, which I haven’t read, but this kind of conjecture drives me up the wall. There is no evidence for this! What if progressively fewer notes means increased readerly absorption and attention? sharpweb.org/sharpnews/20...
February 18, 2026 at 10:37 AM
Not dunking on the person who wrote this review or on Pearson’s book, which I haven’t read, but this kind of conjecture drives me up the wall. There is no evidence for this! What if progressively fewer notes means increased readerly absorption and attention? sharpweb.org/sharpnews/20...
incredibly bleak. 9 months‘ pay would only be an incentive for those who’ve already decided to retrain in another field entirely. The chances of walking back into a permanent academic post elsewhere are vanishingly small
'If they choose to take up the Voluntary Severance Scheme, open to all academic staff in the School of Humanities and the School of Modern Languages, staff essentially make themselves redundant in return for a good pay-out.'
9 months' pay; 3 weeks to decide. 1/3
9 months' pay; 3 weeks to decide. 1/3
University of Bristol asks Humanities and Languages academic staff to voluntarily quit
Certain departments are being run into a ‘managed decline’, says Bristol UCU's co-President, as a new Voluntary Severance Scheme is announced.
epigram.org.uk
February 18, 2026 at 9:23 AM
incredibly bleak. 9 months‘ pay would only be an incentive for those who’ve already decided to retrain in another field entirely. The chances of walking back into a permanent academic post elsewhere are vanishingly small
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
Frank O´Hara reads "Having a coke with you"
YouTube video by Modo de Usar
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
Call for papers!
INSCRIPTION 7 (out 2027) will be all about BLANKS. It will be (as ever) a BEAUTIFUL and MAXIMAL object.
Send us your ideas!
Historical / theoretical / creative / creative-critical -- or some strange blend.
First step: 400-word proposal + brief CV by 1 April 2026.
CFP attached.
INSCRIPTION 7 (out 2027) will be all about BLANKS. It will be (as ever) a BEAUTIFUL and MAXIMAL object.
Send us your ideas!
Historical / theoretical / creative / creative-critical -- or some strange blend.
First step: 400-word proposal + brief CV by 1 April 2026.
CFP attached.
February 14, 2026 at 9:27 AM
Call for papers!
INSCRIPTION 7 (out 2027) will be all about BLANKS. It will be (as ever) a BEAUTIFUL and MAXIMAL object.
Send us your ideas!
Historical / theoretical / creative / creative-critical -- or some strange blend.
First step: 400-word proposal + brief CV by 1 April 2026.
CFP attached.
INSCRIPTION 7 (out 2027) will be all about BLANKS. It will be (as ever) a BEAUTIFUL and MAXIMAL object.
Send us your ideas!
Historical / theoretical / creative / creative-critical -- or some strange blend.
First step: 400-word proposal + brief CV by 1 April 2026.
CFP attached.
Happy Valentine’s ♥️
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘭𝘶𝘨𝘦. The Cluge is a paranormal superconductive flux state that gets activated by especially passionate kissing. As Farah North's 2024 article shows:
February 14, 2026 at 6:36 AM
Happy Valentine’s ♥️
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
reread this morning to prepare for class & teared up at “harm / will not fall, his perfect hand”
February 12, 2026 at 8:46 PM
reread this morning to prepare for class & teared up at “harm / will not fall, his perfect hand”
closes TONIGHT
anyway the consultation shuts tomorrow, one minute to midnight UK time: www.gov.uk/government/c... Amnesty have some good guidance here. Go on: media.amnesty.org.uk/documents/Am...
media.amnesty.org.uk
February 12, 2026 at 8:05 AM
closes TONIGHT
really wasn‘t expecting this to get attention — a tiny bit of my faith in humanity has been restored. Consultation closes at 11.59pm UK time tonight, so THERE IS STILL TIME to respond and/or share
the whole thing is of course completely revolting. 20 YEARS to settlement for refugees? no settlement if you’ve ever had a criminal conviction or a tax debt? 10 YEARS added if you’ve ever received benefits? partners and children on their own routes to settlement? What are you even TALKING about
February 12, 2026 at 8:05 AM
really wasn‘t expecting this to get attention — a tiny bit of my faith in humanity has been restored. Consultation closes at 11.59pm UK time tonight, so THERE IS STILL TIME to respond and/or share
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
A reminder that next week I'll be speaking alongside @heggledepeg.bsky.social at @keelrowbooks.bsky.social. There will be wine and hand-press era books in ample supply.
RSVP: www.tixtree.com/e/seminar-in...
RSVP: www.tixtree.com/e/seminar-in...
February 11, 2026 at 8:24 AM
A reminder that next week I'll be speaking alongside @heggledepeg.bsky.social at @keelrowbooks.bsky.social. There will be wine and hand-press era books in ample supply.
RSVP: www.tixtree.com/e/seminar-in...
RSVP: www.tixtree.com/e/seminar-in...
filled out the horrible settlement consultation and I’m sorry, the question that is framed as a negative so that you have to ‘strongly disagree’ with something not happening?? This has enraged me
February 11, 2026 at 8:15 AM
filled out the horrible settlement consultation and I’m sorry, the question that is framed as a negative so that you have to ‘strongly disagree’ with something not happening?? This has enraged me
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
Please take the time to read what the children detained in Dilley wrote me in their own words: www.propublica.org/article/ice-... 10/
“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility
Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...
www.propublica.org
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Please take the time to read what the children detained in Dilley wrote me in their own words: www.propublica.org/article/ice-... 10/
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
CALL FOR PITCHES
@dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and I are at work on a new version of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century aimed at a more general audience.
We’re looking for new contributions: your model close readings of texts, canonical and not, from literary studies and not.
Details below!
@dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and I are at work on a new version of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century aimed at a more general audience.
We’re looking for new contributions: your model close readings of texts, canonical and not, from literary studies and not.
Details below!
February 9, 2026 at 1:56 PM
CALL FOR PITCHES
@dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and I are at work on a new version of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century aimed at a more general audience.
We’re looking for new contributions: your model close readings of texts, canonical and not, from literary studies and not.
Details below!
@dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and I are at work on a new version of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century aimed at a more general audience.
We’re looking for new contributions: your model close readings of texts, canonical and not, from literary studies and not.
Details below!
last day of our winter semester and I'm thinking about this again: here's to rest, space, sleep, care and hot dinners for all
Last week I posted that the image on the left was one of the single greatest pages in twentieth century literature, and I stand by that! But look what I noticed for the very first time: Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are closes with an almost-identical page layout, to wildly different ends
February 6, 2026 at 4:26 PM
last day of our winter semester and I'm thinking about this again: here's to rest, space, sleep, care and hot dinners for all
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
Childhood forever, childhood for all ✊
Childhood was a political project, centuries of activism carving out time and space for young people to grow and learn. It's an unfinished project, and the right wing wants it ended when it's barely even begun.
The Right has spent years trying to push a return to child labor and attacking age of consent laws. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they’re exposing us to mountains of the most horrendous stuff imaginable while also normalizing it.
So much of what’s happening is the destruction of childhood.
So much of what’s happening is the destruction of childhood.
February 5, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Childhood forever, childhood for all ✊
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
Photograph of Mên-an-Tol, formation of standing stones, in Cornwall by John Piper
February 5, 2026 at 6:34 AM
Photograph of Mên-an-Tol, formation of standing stones, in Cornwall by John Piper
been thinking so much recently of Muriel Rukeyser’s Ballad of Orange and Grape
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57158/...
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57158/...
February 4, 2026 at 7:17 PM
been thinking so much recently of Muriel Rukeyser’s Ballad of Orange and Grape
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57158/...
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57158/...
how can you organise if you don’t mourn?
February 4, 2026 at 6:55 PM
how can you organise if you don’t mourn?
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
“If I am killed doing this, throw my body at the White House, martyr the shit out of me & raise hell. Do not be sad. Do not think I would do anything differently. I would do it over & over again — this is too important to sit down & shut up and not do anything.” www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Pursued by federal agents, suburban ICE observers remain resolved
After a frightening pursuit by federal agents, suburban ICE observers say fear hasn’t stopped them from protecting their communities.
www.mprnews.org
February 4, 2026 at 3:45 PM
“If I am killed doing this, throw my body at the White House, martyr the shit out of me & raise hell. Do not be sad. Do not think I would do anything differently. I would do it over & over again — this is too important to sit down & shut up and not do anything.” www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
a student told me yesterday that she liked my office 'because there are so many books in it" 🥹
February 4, 2026 at 11:17 AM
a student told me yesterday that she liked my office 'because there are so many books in it" 🥹
Reposted by Sarah Pyke
This is how enjambment can work in a poem. Bridge 77 on the Macclesfield Canal allows a horse to cross the canal without having to untie it from the canal boat.
January 7, 2026 at 8:11 AM
This is how enjambment can work in a poem. Bridge 77 on the Macclesfield Canal allows a horse to cross the canal without having to untie it from the canal boat.