Timothy C. Baker
@timothycbaker.bsky.social
Lectures on Scottish and contemporary literature, writes about animals, tries to be hopeful. He/they. Currently trying to open a cinema in Aberdeen.
Reposted by Timothy C. Baker
Queer Nostalgia & Island Time in JM Barrie & Compton Mackenzie
SCOTTISH LITERARY REVIEW 16/1 (2024)
@timothycbaker.bsky.social on Barrie’s MARY ROSE & Compton Mackenzie’s novels of queer life on Capri: VESTAL FIRE, & EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN
via @projectmuse.bsky.social
3/4
muse.jhu.edu/pub/243/arti...
SCOTTISH LITERARY REVIEW 16/1 (2024)
@timothycbaker.bsky.social on Barrie’s MARY ROSE & Compton Mackenzie’s novels of queer life on Capri: VESTAL FIRE, & EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN
via @projectmuse.bsky.social
3/4
muse.jhu.edu/pub/243/arti...
January 17, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Queer Nostalgia & Island Time in JM Barrie & Compton Mackenzie
SCOTTISH LITERARY REVIEW 16/1 (2024)
@timothycbaker.bsky.social on Barrie’s MARY ROSE & Compton Mackenzie’s novels of queer life on Capri: VESTAL FIRE, & EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN
via @projectmuse.bsky.social
3/4
muse.jhu.edu/pub/243/arti...
SCOTTISH LITERARY REVIEW 16/1 (2024)
@timothycbaker.bsky.social on Barrie’s MARY ROSE & Compton Mackenzie’s novels of queer life on Capri: VESTAL FIRE, & EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN
via @projectmuse.bsky.social
3/4
muse.jhu.edu/pub/243/arti...
Making the most of my time in Boston by devising a SMAAHT action plan (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Aspirational, Hypothetical, Tentative).
January 16, 2026 at 10:27 AM
Making the most of my time in Boston by devising a SMAAHT action plan (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Aspirational, Hypothetical, Tentative).
Reposted by Timothy C. Baker
The costs of sector/nations-wide mass redundancies.
'Of the 90 accounts made public thus far, the sector spent £303.3 million on compensation for loss of office. This was up from £177.9 million among the same institutions the year before, a 71 per cent increase and almost triple the £110.1 million in 2022-23.' 1/2
Pay-off spend up by two-thirds as universities shed 13,000 jobs
Analysis of UK sector accounts shows number of job losses well above predictions, with experts warning cuts are not over yet
www.timeshighereducation.com
January 15, 2026 at 8:01 AM
The costs of sector/nations-wide mass redundancies.
I can't stop think about about this article (thanks @elizabethelliott.bsky.social). I increasingly wonder how many senior managers in HE see the sector as thriving in thirty or fifty years, or if this is all a process of phasing out. www.hepi.ac.uk/2026/01/10/w...
WEEKEND READING: What if, in trying to ‘fix’ universities, we are quietly unmaking them? - HEPI
Join HEPI and Advance HE for a webinar onTuesday, 13 January 2026, from 11am to 12pm, exploring what higher education can learn from leadership approaches in other sectors. Sign up here to hear this a...
www.hepi.ac.uk
January 14, 2026 at 10:52 AM
I can't stop think about about this article (thanks @elizabethelliott.bsky.social). I increasingly wonder how many senior managers in HE see the sector as thriving in thirty or fifty years, or if this is all a process of phasing out. www.hepi.ac.uk/2026/01/10/w...
I read Charlotte's Shirley for the first time last summer, and it was the book that made me laugh hardest all year.
The Brontës’ novels have an apparently unshakeable reputation for grimness. I wish people spoke more of their vein of sardonic humour; the novels would be better understood and, dare I say it, better enjoyed.
January 12, 2026 at 2:43 PM
I read Charlotte's Shirley for the first time last summer, and it was the book that made me laugh hardest all year.
Starting the year as I mean to go on: reading Denise Levertov, cooking beans and rice, and watching The Sound of Music.
January 1, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Starting the year as I mean to go on: reading Denise Levertov, cooking beans and rice, and watching The Sound of Music.
This year's Christmas service on Radio Scotland was the University of Aberdeen's annual lessons and carols, so you can hear lots of people I know! (You can't hear me in the congregation, obviously, as I was standing next to the organ.) www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Christmas Service - 24/12/2025 - BBC Sounds
Carols and reflection from the University of Aberdeen’s Service in St Machar's Cathedral.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 25, 2025 at 10:03 AM
This year's Christmas service on Radio Scotland was the University of Aberdeen's annual lessons and carols, so you can hear lots of people I know! (You can't hear me in the congregation, obviously, as I was standing next to the organ.) www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
It's absolutely fine for academics to send e-mails on Christmas Eve when it's accepting a journal article that I submitted in May 2024.
December 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM
It's absolutely fine for academics to send e-mails on Christmas Eve when it's accepting a journal article that I submitted in May 2024.
Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths is a perfect movie to watch at Christmas if you’re me. Possibly not if you’re anyone else. But man, I love late-period Leigh.
December 23, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths is a perfect movie to watch at Christmas if you’re me. Possibly not if you’re anyone else. But man, I love late-period Leigh.
Reposted by Timothy C. Baker
“…desperately amusing and sad at once […] It’s a story I return to every year because it renders cynicism and sentiment equally ridiculous”
—Dr @timothycbaker.bsky.social on Muriel Spark’s “The Leaf-Sweeper”
#Christmas 💙📚
2/2
apersonalanthology.com/2020/12/21/t...
—Dr @timothycbaker.bsky.social on Muriel Spark’s “The Leaf-Sweeper”
#Christmas 💙📚
2/2
apersonalanthology.com/2020/12/21/t...
‘The Leaf-Sweeper’ by Muriel Spark
The Arab Strap B-side ‘Johnny Shrapnel Buys Christmas’ tells the story of a man who wants to buy not Christmas cards or decorations, but Christmas itself, to the increasing frustration of a retail …
apersonalanthology.com
December 20, 2025 at 3:05 PM
“…desperately amusing and sad at once […] It’s a story I return to every year because it renders cynicism and sentiment equally ridiculous”
—Dr @timothycbaker.bsky.social on Muriel Spark’s “The Leaf-Sweeper”
#Christmas 💙📚
2/2
apersonalanthology.com/2020/12/21/t...
—Dr @timothycbaker.bsky.social on Muriel Spark’s “The Leaf-Sweeper”
#Christmas 💙📚
2/2
apersonalanthology.com/2020/12/21/t...
Not contrarian, just right: the best Christmas films are Lynne Ramsay’s Gasman (14 perfect minutes), Bill Forsyth’s Comfort and Joy, and Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan. (Also Todd Haynes’s Carol, but that’s for every day.)
December 19, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Not contrarian, just right: the best Christmas films are Lynne Ramsay’s Gasman (14 perfect minutes), Bill Forsyth’s Comfort and Joy, and Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan. (Also Todd Haynes’s Carol, but that’s for every day.)
Reposted by Timothy C. Baker
14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.
Post-doc positions:
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."
uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."
uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...
Call for Applications: Early Career Rescue Fellowship – Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies
uni-freiburg.de
December 19, 2025 at 5:19 PM
14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.
In the end credits for Barry Jenkins’s Medicine for Melancholy, the credit for each song on the soundtrack is illustrated with a still of the scene where it played. I love this passionately and think everyone should do it.
December 19, 2025 at 12:39 AM
In the end credits for Barry Jenkins’s Medicine for Melancholy, the credit for each song on the soundtrack is illustrated with a still of the scene where it played. I love this passionately and think everyone should do it.
How can I be so young and hip and with-it and also buying-yourself-a-dehumidifier-for-Christmas years old?!
December 16, 2025 at 11:21 AM
How can I be so young and hip and with-it and also buying-yourself-a-dehumidifier-for-Christmas years old?!
I know people have reservations about the religious accuracy of Wake Up, Dead Man, but let me tell you, if you grew up in a charismatic Catholic community, it REALLY tracks.
December 13, 2025 at 10:37 PM
I know people have reservations about the religious accuracy of Wake Up, Dead Man, but let me tell you, if you grew up in a charismatic Catholic community, it REALLY tracks.
My favourite albums of 2025 are Alan Sparhawk and Trampled by Turtles' (almost) self-titled and Emma Pollock's Begging the Night to Take Hold - both artists I've been listening to for 25 years in slightly new guises, taking new challenges, and having some really funky song structures.
December 12, 2025 at 10:44 AM
My favourite albums of 2025 are Alan Sparhawk and Trampled by Turtles' (almost) self-titled and Emma Pollock's Begging the Night to Take Hold - both artists I've been listening to for 25 years in slightly new guises, taking new challenges, and having some really funky song structures.
REALLY pleased that, as I hoped/predicted, the gig's been moved to Barrowland.
Already feeling emotional about this (and still desperately hoping that Glasgow demand is such that the gig is moved to any venue that's not SWG3), but also excited.
Saint Etienne Final UK/Ireland Tour
Tickets Officially On Sale Friday. Check out the Saint Etienne Disco news section (Dec 5) of the website for helpful Links/Details
Tickets Officially On Sale Friday. Check out the Saint Etienne Disco news section (Dec 5) of the website for helpful Links/Details
December 10, 2025 at 5:04 PM
REALLY pleased that, as I hoped/predicted, the gig's been moved to Barrowland.
Faith (From Kevin Young's Night Watch)
How do the small birds
in the street know
how not to die -
that whatever
they gather,
hunger for, is never
enough to keep them
in the road
when our wheels bear down
upon them? They feast on
what I cannot see
then fly away
& sing.
How do the small birds
in the street know
how not to die -
that whatever
they gather,
hunger for, is never
enough to keep them
in the road
when our wheels bear down
upon them? They feast on
what I cannot see
then fly away
& sing.
December 8, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Faith (From Kevin Young's Night Watch)
How do the small birds
in the street know
how not to die -
that whatever
they gather,
hunger for, is never
enough to keep them
in the road
when our wheels bear down
upon them? They feast on
what I cannot see
then fly away
& sing.
How do the small birds
in the street know
how not to die -
that whatever
they gather,
hunger for, is never
enough to keep them
in the road
when our wheels bear down
upon them? They feast on
what I cannot see
then fly away
& sing.
Already feeling emotional about this (and still desperately hoping that Glasgow demand is such that the gig is moved to any venue that's not SWG3), but also excited.
Saint Etienne Final UK/Ireland Tour
Tickets Officially On Sale Friday. Check out the Saint Etienne Disco news section (Dec 5) of the website for helpful Links/Details
Tickets Officially On Sale Friday. Check out the Saint Etienne Disco news section (Dec 5) of the website for helpful Links/Details
December 5, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Already feeling emotional about this (and still desperately hoping that Glasgow demand is such that the gig is moved to any venue that's not SWG3), but also excited.
Reposted by Timothy C. Baker
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, because my book is out now, fresh off the press!
Happy book birthday to “Literary Autobiography: Contemporary Novelists and their Self-Representations” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025) 📕🎉! doi.org/10.1007/978-... @hss.springernature.com
Happy book birthday to “Literary Autobiography: Contemporary Novelists and their Self-Representations” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025) 📕🎉! doi.org/10.1007/978-... @hss.springernature.com
November 29, 2025 at 11:22 PM
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, because my book is out now, fresh off the press!
Happy book birthday to “Literary Autobiography: Contemporary Novelists and their Self-Representations” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025) 📕🎉! doi.org/10.1007/978-... @hss.springernature.com
Happy book birthday to “Literary Autobiography: Contemporary Novelists and their Self-Representations” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025) 📕🎉! doi.org/10.1007/978-... @hss.springernature.com
The Bonne Maman advent calendar is truly one of the great joys of winter. (Today, apricot with honey!) It is truly frivolous, but makes getting out of bed so much more appealing.
December 1, 2025 at 9:08 AM
The Bonne Maman advent calendar is truly one of the great joys of winter. (Today, apricot with honey!) It is truly frivolous, but makes getting out of bed so much more appealing.
Greater bravery hath no man than to watch an episode of All Creatures Great and Small and only cry six times.
November 28, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Greater bravery hath no man than to watch an episode of All Creatures Great and Small and only cry six times.
Fondly remembering 25 years ago, when I went to see The Delgados (with pre-album opener Interpol) in New York and had to my way back to the train station on Thanksgiving morning through the Macy's parade.
November 27, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Fondly remembering 25 years ago, when I went to see The Delgados (with pre-album opener Interpol) in New York and had to my way back to the train station on Thanksgiving morning through the Macy's parade.
Superchunk's No Hope popped up on my MP3 player just as I set foot on campus this morning, and honestly, it's put me in a very good mood. www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9-C...
Superchunk - No Hope (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Merge Records on YouTube
www.youtube.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Superchunk's No Hope popped up on my MP3 player just as I set foot on campus this morning, and honestly, it's put me in a very good mood. www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9-C...
This is going to be pretty useful for all of you and your students! Available for pre-order now! www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...
The Cambridge Companion to British Utopian Literature and Culture since 1945 | Cambridge University Press & Assessment
www.cambridge.org
November 26, 2025 at 1:32 PM
This is going to be pretty useful for all of you and your students! Available for pre-order now! www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...