Barbara Franchi
@barbarafranchi.bsky.social
Contemporary literature scholar, feminist, wannabe eco-criticist. Career Development Fellow in Postcolonial and World Literatures at Durham University. she/her
It’s Fog on the Tyne season, paired with misty Durham Cathedral in all its majesty. Gearing up for meetings with advisees, followed by tutorials on canonicity, the value of English studies, Terry Eagleton and Pride and Prejudice.
October 20, 2025 at 9:02 AM
It’s Fog on the Tyne season, paired with misty Durham Cathedral in all its majesty. Gearing up for meetings with advisees, followed by tutorials on canonicity, the value of English studies, Terry Eagleton and Pride and Prejudice.
We had a glorious, sunny, October day at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal @nationaltrust.org.uk. Made even more special by the colours of autumn: it will no doubt be memorable for both our boys and for us parents.
October 12, 2025 at 5:12 PM
We had a glorious, sunny, October day at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal @nationaltrust.org.uk. Made even more special by the colours of autumn: it will no doubt be memorable for both our boys and for us parents.
This year, in #NobelSoWhite (and white haired, and masculine). I don’t dispute the importance of their work for a second, but the optics are bad.
October 7, 2025 at 2:37 PM
This year, in #NobelSoWhite (and white haired, and masculine). I don’t dispute the importance of their work for a second, but the optics are bad.
The season is changing, but it’s not term-time yet, which means it’s legit to still be doing research, right? What a joy when research coincides with teaching preparation for my new module on environmentalism, postcolonialism, and the sea.
September 17, 2025 at 8:53 AM
The season is changing, but it’s not term-time yet, which means it’s legit to still be doing research, right? What a joy when research coincides with teaching preparation for my new module on environmentalism, postcolonialism, and the sea.
Back to school for the boys today, and back to the office (albeit for a shorter day in order to make the 3pm pick-up); had a great PG supervision and did some research reading while thinking of Northern watery landscapes. This cathedral and its river are always a boon and a cross-species mesh.
September 2, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Back to school for the boys today, and back to the office (albeit for a shorter day in order to make the 3pm pick-up); had a great PG supervision and did some research reading while thinking of Northern watery landscapes. This cathedral and its river are always a boon and a cross-species mesh.
A day of research and writing at the Lit and Phil.
July 28, 2025 at 10:16 AM
A day of research and writing at the Lit and Phil.
What a wonderful, visceral, and elemental book this is! A brutal and honest portrayal of early motherhood, trauma, mental health struggles, and renewal. I feel so honoured to be able to call Naomi my colleague, and this book is a real treat. Highly recommend!
July 21, 2025 at 10:01 AM
What a wonderful, visceral, and elemental book this is! A brutal and honest portrayal of early motherhood, trauma, mental health struggles, and renewal. I feel so honoured to be able to call Naomi my colleague, and this book is a real treat. Highly recommend!
About to give my paper on hospitality, material entanglements and pandemic fictions @thecwwa.bsky.social, while enjoying the beauties of the tropical Falmouth campus.
June 19, 2025 at 7:52 AM
About to give my paper on hospitality, material entanglements and pandemic fictions @thecwwa.bsky.social, while enjoying the beauties of the tropical Falmouth campus.
I seem to be embracing the Cornish spirit. Glorious Gyllynvase Beach in Falmouth.
June 17, 2025 at 7:15 PM
I seem to be embracing the Cornish spirit. Glorious Gyllynvase Beach in Falmouth.
And what a beautiful day it is to explore What Happens Now in literature, in such a gorgeous campus!
June 10, 2025 at 1:41 PM
And what a beautiful day it is to explore What Happens Now in literature, in such a gorgeous campus!
There is a whole dissertation to be written on the birth of nationalism, Romanticism, imperial nostalgia their commodification by the conservative press, and how the fine people of Gateshead can se through it all. Also, this goes on my Austen slides next year.
June 4, 2025 at 8:30 AM
There is a whole dissertation to be written on the birth of nationalism, Romanticism, imperial nostalgia their commodification by the conservative press, and how the fine people of Gateshead can se through it all. Also, this goes on my Austen slides next year.
Even on boomer-Facebook, Starmer is getting hammered for his cruel immigration plans and the language he’s using to convey them.
May 13, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Even on boomer-Facebook, Starmer is getting hammered for his cruel immigration plans and the language he’s using to convey them.
When a strike day coincides with your child recovering from a bug, the weather is glorious and cherry trees are blossoming at Saltwell Park.
April 29, 2025 at 1:48 PM
When a strike day coincides with your child recovering from a bug, the weather is glorious and cherry trees are blossoming at Saltwell Park.
When it’s Easter break for the schools and you are working in your favourite place in Newcastle, the Lit and Phil, where you can take your kids with you. Elio here is drawing Superworm while I start marking dissertations.
April 14, 2025 at 11:50 AM
When it’s Easter break for the schools and you are working in your favourite place in Newcastle, the Lit and Phil, where you can take your kids with you. Elio here is drawing Superworm while I start marking dissertations.
Spring in Saltwell Park. @gatesheadcouncil.bsky.social
April 4, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Spring in Saltwell Park. @gatesheadcouncil.bsky.social
Lunchtime read on the first day of spring break (and while looking up from my pile of to-mark Yr 1 essays), reminiscing the Venice of my uni days, while hoping to return very soon.
March 24, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Lunchtime read on the first day of spring break (and while looking up from my pile of to-mark Yr 1 essays), reminiscing the Venice of my uni days, while hoping to return very soon.
Managed to get a library day in the midst of a busy term, so I’m thinking of gardens, colonial romances and the politics of storytelling in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s novels.
February 11, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Managed to get a library day in the midst of a busy term, so I’m thinking of gardens, colonial romances and the politics of storytelling in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s novels.
The world is on fire, and so is British HE, but I just had two wonderfully enriching tutorials on Postcolonial historical fiction, and I found this beauty waiting for me in the office.
January 28, 2025 at 1:13 PM
The world is on fire, and so is British HE, but I just had two wonderfully enriching tutorials on Postcolonial historical fiction, and I found this beauty waiting for me in the office.
Teaching prep for this week and the next. Really excited to see what students make of pairing Gurnah with Evaristo, while thinking of the writing of history in/as(?) fiction.
January 27, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Teaching prep for this week and the next. Really excited to see what students make of pairing Gurnah with Evaristo, while thinking of the writing of history in/as(?) fiction.
For friends and colleagues based in the North East, with an interest in memorialisation, the history of East Africa, Italian colonialism and beyond: event co-organised by the Newcastle Postcolonial Research Group, Modern Languages at Durham and myself. Feel free to share widely.
January 13, 2025 at 1:47 PM
For friends and colleagues based in the North East, with an interest in memorialisation, the history of East Africa, Italian colonialism and beyond: event co-organised by the Newcastle Postcolonial Research Group, Modern Languages at Durham and myself. Feel free to share widely.
An achingly beautiful, elegiac poem by Mosab Abu Toha I just read with Elio (5). He asked me the difference between mint and peppermint, and what we use it/them for.
January 3, 2025 at 3:27 PM
An achingly beautiful, elegiac poem by Mosab Abu Toha I just read with Elio (5). He asked me the difference between mint and peppermint, and what we use it/them for.
Lunch break read today. Such a precious collection of raw, though vital and highly evocative poems.
December 2, 2024 at 1:09 PM
Lunch break read today. Such a precious collection of raw, though vital and highly evocative poems.
Durham Cathedral on a cold and frosty November morning. Off to meet some students, prep next week’s teaching, return/borrow some books in the library and place a Christmas order at Collected Books.
November 21, 2024 at 9:52 AM
Durham Cathedral on a cold and frosty November morning. Off to meet some students, prep next week’s teaching, return/borrow some books in the library and place a Christmas order at Collected Books.
Working from home when the little one is poorly… at least he’s eager to learn how a mouse and a laptop keyboard work!
November 18, 2024 at 11:01 AM
Working from home when the little one is poorly… at least he’s eager to learn how a mouse and a laptop keyboard work!
It’s a Fog on the Tyne kind of day
November 14, 2024 at 9:26 AM
It’s a Fog on the Tyne kind of day