Gillian Russell
@gearuss.bsky.social
Professor Emerita at the University of York, UK, living in Canberra, Australia. Author of The Ephemeral Eighteenth Century: Print, Sociability and the Cultures of Collecting (2020). Born and educated in Northern Ireland.
Reposted by Gillian Russell
🚨 Help our State Library!
Executives are trying to cut 11 permanent librarian positions, meaning 10 frontline librarians would remain to run Australia's busiest library.
They are proposing to outsource the library's critical information technology team.
www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/ha...
Executives are trying to cut 11 permanent librarian positions, meaning 10 frontline librarians would remain to run Australia's busiest library.
They are proposing to outsource the library's critical information technology team.
www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/ha...
Hands off our State Library!
Library workers deliver essential services to 2.8 million people in our community each year. They run information services, connect people online, hold free workshops, develop community connections an...
www.megaphone.org.au
December 1, 2025 at 4:01 AM
🚨 Help our State Library!
Executives are trying to cut 11 permanent librarian positions, meaning 10 frontline librarians would remain to run Australia's busiest library.
They are proposing to outsource the library's critical information technology team.
www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/ha...
Executives are trying to cut 11 permanent librarian positions, meaning 10 frontline librarians would remain to run Australia's busiest library.
They are proposing to outsource the library's critical information technology team.
www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/ha...
Reposted by Gillian Russell
Interesting article on the Royal Literary Fund, drawing on archival materials I catalogued at the British Library (as well as later papers still held at the Fund's offices): www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n....
From Dylan Thomas’ shopping list to a note from Sylvia Plath’s doctor: newly uncovered case files reveal the hidden lives of famous writers
Exclusive: Hardship grant applications to the Royal Literary Fund, including unseen letters by Doris Lessing and a note from James Joyce saying that he ‘gets nothing in the way of royalties’, show aut...
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Interesting article on the Royal Literary Fund, drawing on archival materials I catalogued at the British Library (as well as later papers still held at the Fund's offices): www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n....
Congratulations Nikki for a wonderful conference!
Very grateful for the lovely gifts from my RSAA colleagues after we finished up our conference in Wellington. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing group of Romanticists around me in our region.
Looking forward to our next conference in Canberra in 2027!
Looking forward to our next conference in Canberra in 2027!
November 29, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Congratulations Nikki for a wonderful conference!
Reposted by Gillian Russell
New, and very interesting, #OpenAccess article on Early English Books Online:
Opening the black box of EEBO
academic.oup.com/dsh/advance-...
#History 🗃️
Opening the black box of EEBO
academic.oup.com/dsh/advance-...
#History 🗃️
Opening the black box of EEBO
Abstract. Digital archives that cover extended historical periods can create a misleading impression of comprehensiveness while in truth providing access t
academic.oup.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:16 AM
New, and very interesting, #OpenAccess article on Early English Books Online:
Opening the black box of EEBO
academic.oup.com/dsh/advance-...
#History 🗃️
Opening the black box of EEBO
academic.oup.com/dsh/advance-...
#History 🗃️
Reposted by Gillian Russell
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:27 AM
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
Reposted by Gillian Russell
I'm told this will be out in early to mid December. Please forgive coming episodes of shameless self-promotion and make a note of launch dates in your diaries!
UCC 19 February
Boston College 11 March
NYU Glucksman House 12 March
Royal Irish Academy 25 March
www.cambridge.org/ie/universit...
UCC 19 February
Boston College 11 March
NYU Glucksman House 12 March
Royal Irish Academy 25 March
www.cambridge.org/ie/universit...
Irish Romanticism | Cambridge University Press & Assessment
www.cambridge.org
November 12, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I'm told this will be out in early to mid December. Please forgive coming episodes of shameless self-promotion and make a note of launch dates in your diaries!
UCC 19 February
Boston College 11 March
NYU Glucksman House 12 March
Royal Irish Academy 25 March
www.cambridge.org/ie/universit...
UCC 19 February
Boston College 11 March
NYU Glucksman House 12 March
Royal Irish Academy 25 March
www.cambridge.org/ie/universit...
Reposted by Gillian Russell
Come visit our excellent Archives & Special Collections! Especially strong in eighteenth-century and Romantic-period books due to the copyright privilege. Awards cover costs up to £2500.
📣Our UofG Library Visiting Research Fellowships are now open for applications!
We’re delighted to invite scholars from across the globe to apply to work with our internationally significant collections.
Apply at: www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/li...
📆Closing date: 5 January 2026
#UofGLibraryFellows
We’re delighted to invite scholars from across the globe to apply to work with our internationally significant collections.
Apply at: www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/li...
📆Closing date: 5 January 2026
#UofGLibraryFellows
November 13, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Come visit our excellent Archives & Special Collections! Especially strong in eighteenth-century and Romantic-period books due to the copyright privilege. Awards cover costs up to £2500.
Looking forward to this Nikki -- thanks for going through organising hell for us!
I find conference organising super stressful, but it is a chance to imagine the field in ways that interest you.
I'm very proud of the programme we have for our joint Romantic Studies Association of Australasia / David Nichol Smith seminar - you can see it here www.wgtn.ac.nz/fhss/about/e...
I'm very proud of the programme we have for our joint Romantic Studies Association of Australasia / David Nichol Smith seminar - you can see it here www.wgtn.ac.nz/fhss/about/e...
November 9, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Looking forward to this Nikki -- thanks for going through organising hell for us!
Reposted by Gillian Russell
This is quite brilliantly written. A far better piece of journalism than anything you will find in the NYT
I havent read such a banger of an essay in a very long time. This is so well-written!
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:44 PM
This is quite brilliantly written. A far better piece of journalism than anything you will find in the NYT
Many congratulations Nikki!
This essay began its life a long time ago, in conversation with an @elccprogramme.bsky.social Summer Scholar, Tuioleloto Laura Toailoa. It’s taken years to bring some of that early thinking to fruition.
Thank you so much to the Defoe Society for this award
Thank you so much to the Defoe Society for this award
Congratulations to Nikki Hessell, whose essay "Robinson Crusoe as a Transpacific Novel: Hospitality, Recognition, Translation," has been selected as the winner of this year's Maximillian E. Novak Essay Prize. Abstract below:
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
#defoe #danieldefoe #transpacific #novel
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
#defoe #danieldefoe #transpacific #novel
October 30, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Many congratulations Nikki!
Reposted by Gillian Russell
Thanks to @reaktionbooks.bsky.social for making my history of protest in England's public spaces into a beautiful, well produced book with a fab cover.
Buy it here reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/contest...
Buy it here reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/contest...
October 25, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Thanks to @reaktionbooks.bsky.social for making my history of protest in England's public spaces into a beautiful, well produced book with a fab cover.
Buy it here reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/contest...
Buy it here reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/contest...
Reposted by Gillian Russell
The ANU says it's in crisis. Does this look like a financial crisis to you?
October 2, 2025 at 12:51 AM
The ANU says it's in crisis. Does this look like a financial crisis to you?
Reposted by Gillian Russell
Superb news showcasing the wonder of medical science.
Huntingdon's is a brutal terminal disease.
This new gene therapy slows the disease's advance by 75%.
One medically retired patient has now returned to work.
Others, expected to need wheelchairs, are walking.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Huntingdon's is a brutal terminal disease.
This new gene therapy slows the disease's advance by 75%.
One medically retired patient has now returned to work.
Others, expected to need wheelchairs, are walking.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time
One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 24, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Superb news showcasing the wonder of medical science.
Huntingdon's is a brutal terminal disease.
This new gene therapy slows the disease's advance by 75%.
One medically retired patient has now returned to work.
Others, expected to need wheelchairs, are walking.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Huntingdon's is a brutal terminal disease.
This new gene therapy slows the disease's advance by 75%.
One medically retired patient has now returned to work.
Others, expected to need wheelchairs, are walking.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Gillian Russell
1/At Macquarie Uni we are losing 50% of our units in my faculty. This is on top of cuts in 2020. We estimate by next year my faculty will be teaching 80% fewer subjects than pre Covid. Disciplines being cut do not have declining enrolments. @jennaprice.bsky.social @michaelwestbiz.bsky.social
September 20, 2025 at 1:10 AM
1/At Macquarie Uni we are losing 50% of our units in my faculty. This is on top of cuts in 2020. We estimate by next year my faculty will be teaching 80% fewer subjects than pre Covid. Disciplines being cut do not have declining enrolments. @jennaprice.bsky.social @michaelwestbiz.bsky.social
Reposted by Gillian Russell
If you’re on academia dot edu, let me suggest that you strongly consider deleting your account.
September 17, 2025 at 7:09 PM
If you’re on academia dot edu, let me suggest that you strongly consider deleting your account.
Reposted by Gillian Russell
You'll be hearing a lot, justifiably, about Redford's classic films today, but don't sleep on his incredible wordless performance in the gripping All Is Lost
All is Lost Official Trailer
YouTube video by Universal Pictures UK
www.youtube.com
September 16, 2025 at 1:58 PM
You'll be hearing a lot, justifiably, about Redford's classic films today, but don't sleep on his incredible wordless performance in the gripping All Is Lost
Reposted by Gillian Russell
"Readers will no doubt see the irony in a cash-strapped organisation paying an independent consultant for three months to provide strategies for financial viability, only to ignore the findings on the grounds of financial viability."
Who killed Meanjin?
And why won’t Melbourne University Publishing engage with efforts to save it?
www.crikey.com.au
September 16, 2025 at 8:43 AM
"Readers will no doubt see the irony in a cash-strapped organisation paying an independent consultant for three months to provide strategies for financial viability, only to ignore the findings on the grounds of financial viability."
Reposted by Gillian Russell
I think about this poem by Ian Duhig — about Jo Cox, the Labour MP assassinated by a man shouting ‘Britain first’ — every day at the moment. No other contemporary poet has looked so clearly at the political reality of the far right as a minority who must always be appeased
September 13, 2025 at 8:39 PM
I think about this poem by Ian Duhig — about Jo Cox, the Labour MP assassinated by a man shouting ‘Britain first’ — every day at the moment. No other contemporary poet has looked so clearly at the political reality of the far right as a minority who must always be appeased
Reposted by Gillian Russell
It's "great" to see my employer releasing names and information about *alleged* behavior to the Trump admin, without even telling the people who've been accused what it is that they're accused of. Utterly reprehensible.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
UC Berkeley shares 160 names with Trump administration in ‘McCarthy era’ move
Prominent professor Judith Butler among students and faculty investigated for ‘alleged antisemitic incidents’
www.theguardian.com
September 12, 2025 at 9:23 PM
It's "great" to see my employer releasing names and information about *alleged* behavior to the Trump admin, without even telling the people who've been accused what it is that they're accused of. Utterly reprehensible.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Gillian Russell
Every external conversation about #ANU shouldn't start with "What on Earth is happening at...?"
The ANU community deserves better.
@nteunion.bsky.social members want to see new leadership, as a precursor to broader reforms and scrapping job cuts.
The ANU community deserves better.
@nteunion.bsky.social members want to see new leadership, as a precursor to broader reforms and scrapping job cuts.
Pressure mounts for ANU to 'come clean' amid speculation about Vice-Chancellor's position | Region Canberra
The latest news as it happens from Canberra and the surrounding region.
region.com.au
September 8, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Reposted by Gillian Russell
BREAKING: Reverend Sue Parfitt, 83, was just arrested under the Terrorism Act again, for a sign which said "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action"
Early this week she said: "Palestine Action are not a terrorist organisation. They damaged weapons used on Palestinians."
Early this week she said: "Palestine Action are not a terrorist organisation. They damaged weapons used on Palestinians."
September 6, 2025 at 8:14 PM
BREAKING: Reverend Sue Parfitt, 83, was just arrested under the Terrorism Act again, for a sign which said "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action"
Early this week she said: "Palestine Action are not a terrorist organisation. They damaged weapons used on Palestinians."
Early this week she said: "Palestine Action are not a terrorist organisation. They damaged weapons used on Palestinians."
Reposted by Gillian Russell
The little Meanjin collection that I helped bring into the world as editor. Just a fragment of its 85-year catalogue. What an act of bone-stupid arrogance to kill it.
September 4, 2025 at 11:01 PM
The little Meanjin collection that I helped bring into the world as editor. Just a fragment of its 85-year catalogue. What an act of bone-stupid arrogance to kill it.
Reposted by Gillian Russell
What a historic win! SafeWork NSW has stepped in to force UTS management to pause job cuts.
This would not be possible without NTEU members at UTS standing together to voice and expose the serious and damaging psychosocial impacts on staff wellbeing.
Article 👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
This would not be possible without NTEU members at UTS standing together to voice and expose the serious and damaging psychosocial impacts on staff wellbeing.
Article 👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
September 3, 2025 at 7:30 AM
What a historic win! SafeWork NSW has stepped in to force UTS management to pause job cuts.
This would not be possible without NTEU members at UTS standing together to voice and expose the serious and damaging psychosocial impacts on staff wellbeing.
Article 👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
This would not be possible without NTEU members at UTS standing together to voice and expose the serious and damaging psychosocial impacts on staff wellbeing.
Article 👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Gillian Russell
NEW: Australia's Future Fund increased its holdings in Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems by 469% in 2024, deepening Australia's financial ties with companies profiting from the Gaza genocide.
www.deepcutnews.com/p/exclusive-...
www.deepcutnews.com/p/exclusive-...
Exclusive – Future Fund’s investment in Israeli arms firm skyrockets
Calls grow for Australia's sovereign wealth fund to divest from companies linked to Israeli atrocities
www.deepcutnews.com
August 31, 2025 at 11:19 PM
NEW: Australia's Future Fund increased its holdings in Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems by 469% in 2024, deepening Australia's financial ties with companies profiting from the Gaza genocide.
www.deepcutnews.com/p/exclusive-...
www.deepcutnews.com/p/exclusive-...