Adam Smyth
adamwithbooks.bsky.social
Adam Smyth
@adamwithbooks.bsky.social
lit+material texts. balliol, oxford + london.
Rep'd RCW Literary Agency
THE BOOK-MAKERS (2024)
co-ed Inscription: The Journal of Material Text
president Oxford Bibliographical Society
micro-essays adamsmyth.substack.com
Reposted by Adam Smyth
Hooray to @thespectator1828.bsky.social and to Frances Wilson for nominating THE BOOK GAME, by elusive but deserving (and unrelated) Frances Wise, as a Book of the Year for 2025!

@4thestatebooks.bsky.social @chloehouston.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Hooray to @thespectator1828.bsky.social and to Frances Wilson for nominating THE BOOK GAME, by elusive but deserving (and unrelated) Frances Wise, as a Book of the Year for 2025!

@4thestatebooks.bsky.social @chloehouston.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by Adam Smyth
Somewhat astonishingly, here it is, a book, a thing in the world... More, including acknowledgements, soon❤️
October 31, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Adam Smyth
"Abandoned and failed projects, ca. 1998-2025: an incomplete, chronological list" -- worth your time, from Adam Smyth, who lists all the stuff he dropped or which didn't work adamsmyth.substack.com/p/abandoned-...
Abandoned and failed projects, ca. 1998-2025: an incomplete, chronological list
[This is an updated version of the original from 2021.]
adamsmyth.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Book-shop question!
What are the best 2nd-hand bookshops in the UK -- if by 'best' I mean shops that tend towards (1) interestingly curated stock (2) atmosphere (bit messy, bit tumbled down -- but a place you want to be in) (3) knowledgeable staff who add something (4) inspiring. Trying to make a list!
November 5, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Adam Smyth
What are the best 2nd-hand bookshops in the UK -- if by 'best' I mean shops that tend towards (1) interestingly curated stock (2) atmosphere (bit messy, bit tumbled down -- but a place you want to be in) (3) knowledgeable staff who add something (4) inspiring. Trying to make a list!
November 5, 2025 at 3:18 PM
What are the best 2nd-hand bookshops in the UK -- if by 'best' I mean shops that tend towards (1) interestingly curated stock (2) atmosphere (bit messy, bit tumbled down -- but a place you want to be in) (3) knowledgeable staff who add something (4) inspiring. Trying to make a list!
November 5, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Adam Smyth
So, the Book! is actually called the Art of the Book and is available in PDF form on Shepherd’s website, here.

And given that’s the case, and I’m not sharing anything that isn’t online already, I don’t see why I shouldn’t live post the process of following the instructions, and making a book.
November 2, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Adam Smyth
I love this. I kind of want to make my own list, but I am also afriad to do so.
November 3, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Reposted by Adam Smyth
Like my attempt at a historical costume neckpiece, w/2 pillowcases? For @adamwithbooks.bsky.social ‘s film project. He’s asking us to make short videos of ourselves saying lines from Rousseau’s Confessions while wearing a white Rousseauvian neckpiece. To join in email Adam: adam.smyth@ell.ox.ac.uk
October 17, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Reposted by Adam Smyth
Warwickshire friends, please come to Waterstones Leamington Spa next Thursday and hear me and @adamwithbooks.bsky.social talk about The Book Game - I’d love to see you! Tickets via the link below, or message me.

www.waterstones.com/events/in-co...
October 7, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Adam Smyth
Reposted by Adam Smyth
Looking forward to the "Bookmorphs" exhibition at The Hellenic Centre with work by @joedevlin.bsky.social @sarahbodman.bsky.social @inscriptionjournal.bsky.social SJ Fowler, Stephen Emmerson, David Blackmore, Michael Hampton, et al. PV, Tuesday 14th October.
helleniccentre.org/event/bookmo...
BOOKMORPHS: Artists' Books from Greece & the UK – Hellenic Centre
helleniccentre.org
October 2, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Reposted by Adam Smyth
Are there people writing online diaries today, about their daily experiences? Or has Instsgram, X etc scooped up this material? I'm looking to find compelling online diarists -- suggestions gratefully received.
September 30, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Are there people writing online diaries today, about their daily experiences? Or has Instsgram, X etc scooped up this material? I'm looking to find compelling online diarists -- suggestions gratefully received.
September 30, 2025 at 10:18 AM
🥳 🍾
Today is publication day for PAPER AND THE MAKING OF EARLY MODERN LITERATURE! Available in paper or digital form www.pennpress.org/978151282744... @pennpress.bsky.social
September 30, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Adam Smyth
🎥 📚

I'm making a short film composed of lots of 20-second clips of different people reading the same line of text: a series of brief instalments.

If you would like to be involved - it will be fun, and maybe interesting, and easy (you film on a phone) - please DM me (and/or repost).

Thank you!
September 29, 2025 at 7:24 PM
🎥 📚

I'm making a short film composed of lots of 20-second clips of different people reading the same line of text: a series of brief instalments.

If you would like to be involved - it will be fun, and maybe interesting, and easy (you film on a phone) - please DM me (and/or repost).

Thank you!
September 29, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Adam Smyth
On the Beatles and my dad: a micro essay.
A Day in the Life
[This, below, was my first ever post on TEXT!
open.substack.com
September 22, 2025 at 12:34 PM