Brycchan Carey
@brycchancarey.bsky.social
Professor of Literature, Culture, and History; scholar of slavery, empire, and natural history; Stalwart of BSECS, ASLEUKI, the Linnean Society, and Alnwick FoE. From Cornwall, now living in Alnwick, Northumberland. Website: https://www.brycchancarey.com
I’m teaching Oliver Goldsmith’s 1770 Deserted Village tomorrow. He says princes can be made and unmade and that the country is in trouble when the super rich accumulate wealth and farmers are put out of business. How on earth do I make any of that relevant to today’s students?
November 12, 2025 at 10:45 PM
I’m teaching Oliver Goldsmith’s 1770 Deserted Village tomorrow. He says princes can be made and unmade and that the country is in trouble when the super rich accumulate wealth and farmers are put out of business. How on earth do I make any of that relevant to today’s students?
Shocking to see Panorama’s dodgy editing of Donald Trump. Is this the kind of honest, responsible journalism that we’ve come to expect from the show that exposed the failure of the Swiss spaghetti harvest as far back as 1957?
November 9, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Shocking to see Panorama’s dodgy editing of Donald Trump. Is this the kind of honest, responsible journalism that we’ve come to expect from the show that exposed the failure of the Swiss spaghetti harvest as far back as 1957?
A date for your diary: Please join the ASLE-UKI Online Seminar on Eighteenth-Century Literature and Environment, 29 Jan 2026, 3-7 pm GMT. Convened by Brycchan Carey (Northumbria) and Tess Somervell (Oxford). Further details and registration information at: asle.org.uk/events/semin...
October 27, 2025 at 1:18 PM
A date for your diary: Please join the ASLE-UKI Online Seminar on Eighteenth-Century Literature and Environment, 29 Jan 2026, 3-7 pm GMT. Convened by Brycchan Carey (Northumbria) and Tess Somervell (Oxford). Further details and registration information at: asle.org.uk/events/semin...
I spotted this poster on the community noticeboard of my local supermarket. I’m glad to see the word is getting out and I hope to see vast crowds at the Whittingham Memorial Institute next Wednesday evening to hear my talk about William Turner, the Tudor botanist from Morpeth.
October 11, 2025 at 11:11 AM
I spotted this poster on the community noticeboard of my local supermarket. I’m glad to see the word is getting out and I hope to see vast crowds at the Whittingham Memorial Institute next Wednesday evening to hear my talk about William Turner, the Tudor botanist from Morpeth.
My travel plans for the week reveal one way British English is clearer than American English:
American: I'm going to Sheffield Wednesday!
British: I'm going to Sheffield on Wednesday.
American: I'm going to Sheffield Wednesday!
British: I'm going to Sheffield on Wednesday.
September 22, 2025 at 12:11 AM
My travel plans for the week reveal one way British English is clearer than American English:
American: I'm going to Sheffield Wednesday!
British: I'm going to Sheffield on Wednesday.
American: I'm going to Sheffield Wednesday!
British: I'm going to Sheffield on Wednesday.
Just had a grand day out in #Coldstream - first at the museum (sadly at risk of closure) with a fascinating exhibit on the Coldstream Guards, then the Guards Monument overlooking the Tweed, and finally tea and a walk round the lake at the Hirsel, home of the Douglas-Home family.
September 14, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Just had a grand day out in #Coldstream - first at the museum (sadly at risk of closure) with a fascinating exhibit on the Coldstream Guards, then the Guards Monument overlooking the Tweed, and finally tea and a walk round the lake at the Hirsel, home of the Douglas-Home family.
Here’s a lovely rainbow visible from my back garden in #Alnwick this evening, although as usual the crock of gold appears to have landed in the castle rather than the town centre.
September 13, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Here’s a lovely rainbow visible from my back garden in #Alnwick this evening, although as usual the crock of gold appears to have landed in the castle rather than the town centre.
I’ve been at High Hauxley on this rather grey day today where at 3pm sharp every birder, and every bird, was startled by the emergency phone alert test. But saw my first snipe, ruff, pochard, shoveler, and goosander of the year, and my first ever wood sandpiper. Success!
September 7, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I’ve been at High Hauxley on this rather grey day today where at 3pm sharp every birder, and every bird, was startled by the emergency phone alert test. But saw my first snipe, ruff, pochard, shoveler, and goosander of the year, and my first ever wood sandpiper. Success!
"Carey’s razor-sharp key insight is that C18th abolitionism engaged as much with emerging environmental and life sciences as with the moral philosophy with which it has long been associated" - Monique Allewaert reviews The Unnatural Trade in the William & Mary Quarterly: muse.jhu.edu/pub/275/arti...
August 27, 2025 at 10:23 AM
"Carey’s razor-sharp key insight is that C18th abolitionism engaged as much with emerging environmental and life sciences as with the moral philosophy with which it has long been associated" - Monique Allewaert reviews The Unnatural Trade in the William & Mary Quarterly: muse.jhu.edu/pub/275/arti...
I was at Kilkenny Castle today with @rosiepaice.bsky.social and Páraic Finnerty. It has many C17th and C18th portraits of the Butler family - Dukes of Ormande - their family, and English royals. If you’re after Stuart monarchs, come here, but if it’s Hanoverians you’re after, try elsewhere.
August 22, 2025 at 10:04 PM
I was at Kilkenny Castle today with @rosiepaice.bsky.social and Páraic Finnerty. It has many C17th and C18th portraits of the Butler family - Dukes of Ormande - their family, and English royals. If you’re after Stuart monarchs, come here, but if it’s Hanoverians you’re after, try elsewhere.
I visited the Hill of Tara, Co. Meath, today with @cobrunstrom.bsky.social and @rosiepaice.bsky.social This ancient site has prehistoric burial sites, ancient carvings, the Irish Stone of Destiny, and fabulous views over most of central Ireland. As recommended by generations of high kings!
August 20, 2025 at 10:20 PM
I visited the Hill of Tara, Co. Meath, today with @cobrunstrom.bsky.social and @rosiepaice.bsky.social This ancient site has prehistoric burial sites, ancient carvings, the Irish Stone of Destiny, and fabulous views over most of central Ireland. As recommended by generations of high kings!
Despite Seamus Heaney’s warning, I did park along the Flaggy Shore and try to capture the slate-grey lake full of swans, the glittering sea, somewhat less wild on an August evening, and the flagstones full of fossil corals like ghostly ferns pressed into the limestone.
August 17, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Despite Seamus Heaney’s warning, I did park along the Flaggy Shore and try to capture the slate-grey lake full of swans, the glittering sea, somewhat less wild on an August evening, and the flagstones full of fossil corals like ghostly ferns pressed into the limestone.
The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE-UKI) conference in Galway is concluding with novelist Lisa McInerney reading from her Cork novels and in conversation with Patrick Lonergan. A fabulous end to a fantastic conference! @asleuki.bsky.social
August 14, 2025 at 2:30 PM
The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE-UKI) conference in Galway is concluding with novelist Lisa McInerney reading from her Cork novels and in conversation with Patrick Lonergan. A fabulous end to a fantastic conference! @asleuki.bsky.social
In the cavernous lecture hall at the @asleuki conference in Galway, John Brannigan is giving his keynote talk “On the place of herons in archipelagic writing”.
August 13, 2025 at 12:09 PM
In the cavernous lecture hall at the @asleuki conference in Galway, John Brannigan is giving his keynote talk “On the place of herons in archipelagic writing”.
If you’re at the @asleuki.bsky.social conference in Galway, take a look at my book The Unnatural Trade on the book stall. I have copies for sale at the special conference price of €30 - ask me in the coffee/lunch breaks. If you’re not in Galway, find out more at brycchancarey.com/bookshop/ind...
August 13, 2025 at 10:02 AM
If you’re at the @asleuki.bsky.social conference in Galway, take a look at my book The Unnatural Trade on the book stall. I have copies for sale at the special conference price of €30 - ask me in the coffee/lunch breaks. If you’re not in Galway, find out more at brycchancarey.com/bookshop/ind...
I’m in Galway this week for the conference of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment UK and Ireland (@asleuki.bsky.social), which this year has the theme of “Erosion”. Conference organiser Ashley Cahillane is giving us a warm welcome!
August 12, 2025 at 8:19 AM
I’m in Galway this week for the conference of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment UK and Ireland (@asleuki.bsky.social), which this year has the theme of “Erosion”. Conference organiser Ashley Cahillane is giving us a warm welcome!
I took a drive around the Connemara coast this afternoon. Visibility was often poor but the stunning landscape invariably shone through.
August 10, 2025 at 7:05 PM
I took a drive around the Connemara coast this afternoon. Visibility was often poor but the stunning landscape invariably shone through.
"Among the many virtues of The Unnatural Trade... are its deep knowledge of abolitionist thought, its systematic approach to cultural and literary history, and its striking and persuasive turns of phrase" -- Timothy Erwin's review in Modern Philology. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
August 9, 2025 at 10:41 AM
"Among the many virtues of The Unnatural Trade... are its deep knowledge of abolitionist thought, its systematic approach to cultural and literary history, and its striking and persuasive turns of phrase" -- Timothy Erwin's review in Modern Philology. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
I paid my respects to W.B. Yeats today. I stopped at his grave in Drumcliff church, Co. Sligo, in the shadow of Ben Bulben. Yeats was the one who really turned me on to the power of poetry. Thank you.
August 8, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I paid my respects to W.B. Yeats today. I stopped at his grave in Drumcliff church, Co. Sligo, in the shadow of Ben Bulben. Yeats was the one who really turned me on to the power of poetry. Thank you.
I’ve been walking around Donegal today - including the Eske Estuary, the ruined abbey, and the once ruined but now partly restored castle. I saw my first kingfisher of the year in the river under the castle!
August 7, 2025 at 6:30 PM
I’ve been walking around Donegal today - including the Eske Estuary, the ruined abbey, and the once ruined but now partly restored castle. I saw my first kingfisher of the year in the river under the castle!
I’m staying in Stranraer tonight. The abandoned ferry terminal in front of the hotel sadly reminds me of what Daniel Defoe said of nearby Kirkcudbright: “Here is a harbour without ships, a port without trade, a fishery without nets, a people without business.”
August 5, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I’m staying in Stranraer tonight. The abandoned ferry terminal in front of the hotel sadly reminds me of what Daniel Defoe said of nearby Kirkcudbright: “Here is a harbour without ships, a port without trade, a fishery without nets, a people without business.”
I'm delighted to announce that my book The Unnatural Trade has been shortlisted for the @asleuki.bsky.social Book Prize! The full list is at asle.org.uk/2025-asle-uk.... You can find out more about the book and order at www.brycchancarey.com/bookshop/unn.... Many thanks to the ASLE-UKI judges!
August 3, 2025 at 11:46 AM
I'm delighted to announce that my book The Unnatural Trade has been shortlisted for the @asleuki.bsky.social Book Prize! The full list is at asle.org.uk/2025-asle-uk.... You can find out more about the book and order at www.brycchancarey.com/bookshop/unn.... Many thanks to the ASLE-UKI judges!
I've finished the eighteenth century! My clerical naturalists database now contains biographies and links for all individuals born before 1801, many of whose careers reach into the 1880s. You can find our more about the project and access the full list at www.brycchancarey.com/naturalists/
July 31, 2025 at 2:10 PM
I've finished the eighteenth century! My clerical naturalists database now contains biographies and links for all individuals born before 1801, many of whose careers reach into the 1880s. You can find our more about the project and access the full list at www.brycchancarey.com/naturalists/
I was just in Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire, admiring the ‘Leaves of Southwell’. These 13th-century stone carvings have astonishingly accurate representations of oak, hawthorn, and field maple alongside dogs, pigs, and dragons vying with priests, nuns, princes, and kings.
July 16, 2025 at 11:50 PM
I was just in Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire, admiring the ‘Leaves of Southwell’. These 13th-century stone carvings have astonishingly accurate representations of oak, hawthorn, and field maple alongside dogs, pigs, and dragons vying with priests, nuns, princes, and kings.
In preparation for taking some annual leave, I’ve done nothing but deal with email for the past six and half days. At last, I’ve reached this mythological symbol just half a day into my leave period. Now, please may I request everyone’s assistance in keeping it that way!
July 12, 2025 at 1:14 PM
In preparation for taking some annual leave, I’ve done nothing but deal with email for the past six and half days. At last, I’ve reached this mythological symbol just half a day into my leave period. Now, please may I request everyone’s assistance in keeping it that way!