natalie
@scaredofcustard.bsky.social
English Lit PhD student @ UoLiverpool: contemporary trauma literature and theory, online reading communities and affects 💫 amateur internet archaeologist 🔎 writer: Refinery29, VICE, i Paper, Dazed
Pinned
natalie
@scaredofcustard.bsky.social
· Jan 12
what does horror smell like
exploring how perfumes create fear
open.substack.com
dusted off my substack for the new year and started a series on perfume open.substack.com/pub/nataliej...
now I’m back at my parents’ for christmas I can pick up the sheep skull my mam found in the basement of the northumberland county council building in the summer and brought home for me
hopefully this wasn’t the thing holding the council together
hopefully this wasn’t the thing holding the council together
December 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
now I’m back at my parents’ for christmas I can pick up the sheep skull my mam found in the basement of the northumberland county council building in the summer and brought home for me
hopefully this wasn’t the thing holding the council together
hopefully this wasn’t the thing holding the council together
yesterday I passed my PhD viva with minor corrections! thank you so much to my examiners @keeblearin.bsky.social and @davidhering.bsky.social for such a great experience! 💫
December 16, 2025 at 6:32 PM
yesterday I passed my PhD viva with minor corrections! thank you so much to my examiners @keeblearin.bsky.social and @davidhering.bsky.social for such a great experience! 💫
yesterday I submitted my PhD thesis ✨
October 1, 2025 at 12:06 PM
yesterday I submitted my PhD thesis ✨
institutions cannot afford... unpaid research? until that 'low quality' research becomes lucrative or impactful and then universities will gladly take credit for if it...
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’.
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
This article is now free to access.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
This article is now free to access.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ - Research Professional News
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
September 20, 2025 at 11:53 AM
institutions cannot afford... unpaid research? until that 'low quality' research becomes lucrative or impactful and then universities will gladly take credit for if it...
I had a great time speaking to some wonderful undergrads about their work decolonising the curriculum, their enthusiasm makes for some great start of term listening ✨
New episode alert! 🚨 Host Natalie spoke to the English Department's 'Decolonising the Curriculum' group about what it means to decolonise a curriculum and the process of decolonising some of the department modules.
@livunienglish.bsky.social @sotauol.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/2ZLU...
@livunienglish.bsky.social @sotauol.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/2ZLU...
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
September 19, 2025 at 8:36 AM
I had a great time speaking to some wonderful undergrads about their work decolonising the curriculum, their enthusiasm makes for some great start of term listening ✨
computer, play Tempest by Ethel Cain, loud enough to kill small mammals
August 11, 2025 at 9:25 AM
computer, play Tempest by Ethel Cain, loud enough to kill small mammals
I loved recording this with @writedavidwrite.bsky.social, talking about my research and theorising about whether Jane Eyre would be classed as trauma fiction if it were published today.
Continuing to post our back catalogue of episodes here for any new listeners!
David chatted with fellow host Natalie Wall @scaredofcustard.bsky.social about her PhD research - trauma fiction, online reading culture, and what the hell is going on on BookTok...
open.spotify.com/episode/0eko...
David chatted with fellow host Natalie Wall @scaredofcustard.bsky.social about her PhD research - trauma fiction, online reading culture, and what the hell is going on on BookTok...
open.spotify.com/episode/0eko...
Reading Trauma and Reading Readers
The Bibliography · Episode
open.spotify.com
August 1, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I loved recording this with @writedavidwrite.bsky.social, talking about my research and theorising about whether Jane Eyre would be classed as trauma fiction if it were published today.
there's a spider that lives in a hole in my study that comes out when i play ethel cain
July 3, 2025 at 8:20 AM
there's a spider that lives in a hole in my study that comes out when i play ethel cain
I had the pleasure of interviewing @paddy-brennan.bsky.social for this episode - a really fascinating dive into food consumption and self-starvation in Irish fiction from Edna O'Brien to Sally Rooney.
As part of our transition to Bluesky from the other place we will be posting our back catalogue of episodes for any new followers!
The first is 'Food, Fasting and Irish Fiction,' with the brilliant @paddy-brennan.bsky.social from @irishinstitute.bsky.social!
open.spotify.com/episode/39KN...
The first is 'Food, Fasting and Irish Fiction,' with the brilliant @paddy-brennan.bsky.social from @irishinstitute.bsky.social!
open.spotify.com/episode/39KN...
Food, Fasting and Irish Fiction
The Bibliography · Episode
open.spotify.com
June 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
I had the pleasure of interviewing @paddy-brennan.bsky.social for this episode - a really fascinating dive into food consumption and self-starvation in Irish fiction from Edna O'Brien to Sally Rooney.
i still think about the perfect pen i had when i was seven years old, it was a scented gel pen and its deep blood red ink smelled like cinnamon
June 9, 2025 at 11:28 AM
i still think about the perfect pen i had when i was seven years old, it was a scented gel pen and its deep blood red ink smelled like cinnamon
you search for vintage bloomers one time a year ago and ads will follow you for the rest of time
June 8, 2025 at 10:19 AM
you search for vintage bloomers one time a year ago and ads will follow you for the rest of time
what doesn't get talked about enough in the student using AI conversation is that most of them don't really know what it is despite using it, you explain the issues with plagiarism, copyright, the environment, the way it will make your brain atrophy, etc and they are often really shocked
May 15, 2025 at 9:47 AM
what doesn't get talked about enough in the student using AI conversation is that most of them don't really know what it is despite using it, you explain the issues with plagiarism, copyright, the environment, the way it will make your brain atrophy, etc and they are often really shocked
My review of Briony Hannell's brilliant book 'Feminist Fandom: Media Fandom, Digital Feminisms, and Tumblr' is now available in Feminist Media Studies ✨ @femmediastudies.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Feminist fandom: media fandom, digital feminisms, and tumblr
Published in Feminist Media Studies (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
May 12, 2025 at 9:02 AM
My review of Briony Hannell's brilliant book 'Feminist Fandom: Media Fandom, Digital Feminisms, and Tumblr' is now available in Feminist Media Studies ✨ @femmediastudies.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
i wrote about slop
nataliejwall.substack.com/p/a-theory-o...
nataliejwall.substack.com/p/a-theory-o...
a theory of slop
‘Slop’ has become the go-to word to describe certain kinds of AI content.
nataliejwall.substack.com
May 10, 2025 at 4:10 PM
i wrote about slop
nataliejwall.substack.com/p/a-theory-o...
nataliejwall.substack.com/p/a-theory-o...
Can't wait to present my paper exploring online reading communities and emotion-based literary critique at this conference!
May 7, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Can't wait to present my paper exploring online reading communities and emotion-based literary critique at this conference!
I'm sad I couldn't join in person but super excited to give my paper at @officialbaas.bsky.social today!
April 25, 2025 at 9:37 AM
I'm sad I couldn't join in person but super excited to give my paper at @officialbaas.bsky.social today!
i guess keir starmer’s dad really was a tool maker and his son was his biggest project
April 23, 2025 at 9:35 AM
i guess keir starmer’s dad really was a tool maker and his son was his biggest project
the supreme court ruling actually makes me ill transphobes are absolute freaks and a danger to women, to hell with you
April 17, 2025 at 10:47 AM
the supreme court ruling actually makes me ill transphobes are absolute freaks and a danger to women, to hell with you
noooo babe I love your freakishly big and square sheep, the normal ones scare me
April 11, 2025 at 3:00 PM
noooo babe I love your freakishly big and square sheep, the normal ones scare me
Reposted by natalie
For the Poems for Peace Project, a collection of poems were written by various writers, each thinking about different facets of peace and conflict. In our latest episode, staff members from @livunienglish.bsky.social interview the writers on their work open.spotify.com/episode/07Vd...
Poems Promoting Peace and Addressing Conflict
The Bibliography · Episode
open.spotify.com
April 11, 2025 at 11:54 AM
For the Poems for Peace Project, a collection of poems were written by various writers, each thinking about different facets of peace and conflict. In our latest episode, staff members from @livunienglish.bsky.social interview the writers on their work open.spotify.com/episode/07Vd...
Reposted by natalie
Natalie Wall, from @livunienglish.bsky.social, takes a look at the enduring appeal of 'trauma porn' novel 'A Little Life' in today's @uk.theconversation.com theconversation.com/ten-years-of... #BookSky
Ten years of A Little Life – what’s behind the enduring popularity of Hanya Yanagihara’s ‘trauma porn’ novel?
The trauma plot, and its exploration of the depths of victimhood and suffering, has been the novel’s passport to notoriety.
theconversation.com
March 26, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Natalie Wall, from @livunienglish.bsky.social, takes a look at the enduring appeal of 'trauma porn' novel 'A Little Life' in today's @uk.theconversation.com theconversation.com/ten-years-of... #BookSky
for @uk.theconversation.com i explored why A Little Life is seemingly more popular than ever even a decade after it’s release
The trauma plot, and its exploration of the depths of victimhood and suffering, has been the novel’s passport to notoriety.
Ten years of A Little Life – what’s behind the enduring popularity of Hanya Yanagihara’s ‘trauma porn’ novel?
The trauma plot, and its exploration of the depths of victimhood and suffering, has been the novel’s passport to notoriety.
tcnv.link
March 26, 2025 at 7:30 AM
for @uk.theconversation.com i explored why A Little Life is seemingly more popular than ever even a decade after it’s release
I’m fascinated by the secondhand trophy economy on eBay. Who is selling old trophies? More to the point, who is buying a trophy someone else won in their under-12s football tournament? Who is the person with a shelf of other peoples trophies? Need to chat.
March 23, 2025 at 8:44 PM
I’m fascinated by the secondhand trophy economy on eBay. Who is selling old trophies? More to the point, who is buying a trophy someone else won in their under-12s football tournament? Who is the person with a shelf of other peoples trophies? Need to chat.
it’s been over a year but i still regularly think about those nasty wet splatty fireworks on the Harkonnen planet in Dune 2
February 28, 2025 at 11:18 AM
it’s been over a year but i still regularly think about those nasty wet splatty fireworks on the Harkonnen planet in Dune 2