Dr Leah Phillips
@lephill.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer & Programme Lead at @marjonuni. MA Lit for Social and Environmental Justice launching in ‘25 (pending final approvals). Author of Female Heroes in YA Fantasy & Founder of @YAStudiesAssoc. Views my own. Also, I read banned books.📚
Pinned
Dr Leah Phillips
@lephill.bsky.social
· Nov 24
As I’m gearing up to get a new MA in Literature for Social and Environmental Justice through final approvals (for Sep 25 start!), this Right to Roam poster and poem was a delight to find. Esp as there’s a “Write to Roam” module on the new course!! #righttoroam @nickhayeslandback.bsky.social
Alex Wheatle, aka The Brixton Bard, was such a kind, caring, brilliant human being. The world is less rich without him in it.
It was an utter delight and privilege to record this interview with Alex for the project @drmrb.bsky.social and I ran on Adolescent Identities.
youtu.be/QKrE_CBkjxI?...
It was an utter delight and privilege to record this interview with Alex for the project @drmrb.bsky.social and I ran on Adolescent Identities.
youtu.be/QKrE_CBkjxI?...
YA Author Interview: Alex Wheatle
YouTube video by Adolescent Identities
youtu.be
March 20, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Alex Wheatle, aka The Brixton Bard, was such a kind, caring, brilliant human being. The world is less rich without him in it.
It was an utter delight and privilege to record this interview with Alex for the project @drmrb.bsky.social and I ran on Adolescent Identities.
youtu.be/QKrE_CBkjxI?...
It was an utter delight and privilege to record this interview with Alex for the project @drmrb.bsky.social and I ran on Adolescent Identities.
youtu.be/QKrE_CBkjxI?...
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
Delighted to reveal the hard-hitting paperback cover for my book, THE LIE OF THE LAND - an exposé of what the 'custodians of the countryside' have done to nature in Britain.
The paperback's out 8th May - order yours here: lnkfi.re/JhxHno
More upcoming talks here & details below: lnkfi.re/PkfOhd 🧵
The paperback's out 8th May - order yours here: lnkfi.re/JhxHno
More upcoming talks here & details below: lnkfi.re/PkfOhd 🧵
March 17, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Delighted to reveal the hard-hitting paperback cover for my book, THE LIE OF THE LAND - an exposé of what the 'custodians of the countryside' have done to nature in Britain.
The paperback's out 8th May - order yours here: lnkfi.re/JhxHno
More upcoming talks here & details below: lnkfi.re/PkfOhd 🧵
The paperback's out 8th May - order yours here: lnkfi.re/JhxHno
More upcoming talks here & details below: lnkfi.re/PkfOhd 🧵
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
‘Just Earth’ is published next week (13th). Various events will follow, at which I will explore the themes it covers, & explain why social inequality is the biggest environmental issue of all. Do come along & I will sign a copy for you.
March 5, 2025 at 6:47 AM
‘Just Earth’ is published next week (13th). Various events will follow, at which I will explore the themes it covers, & explain why social inequality is the biggest environmental issue of all. Do come along & I will sign a copy for you.
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
We’ve joined Bluesky! 🌳🐾🌊
Follow us for uplifting #rewilding news and inspiring stories of rewilding in action.
Let's create a wilder Britain that improves lives for people, nature and the climate.
#ThinkBigActWild #RewildingBritain
Follow us for uplifting #rewilding news and inspiring stories of rewilding in action.
Let's create a wilder Britain that improves lives for people, nature and the climate.
#ThinkBigActWild #RewildingBritain
January 13, 2025 at 10:30 AM
We’ve joined Bluesky! 🌳🐾🌊
Follow us for uplifting #rewilding news and inspiring stories of rewilding in action.
Let's create a wilder Britain that improves lives for people, nature and the climate.
#ThinkBigActWild #RewildingBritain
Follow us for uplifting #rewilding news and inspiring stories of rewilding in action.
Let's create a wilder Britain that improves lives for people, nature and the climate.
#ThinkBigActWild #RewildingBritain
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
It's time for Defra to act and enable licensed wild releases to restore our landscapes.
Read the blog: https://www.wcl.org.uk/the-case-for-reintroducing-beavers-into-the-wild-in-england.asp
(3/3)
Read the blog: https://www.wcl.org.uk/the-case-for-reintroducing-beavers-into-the-wild-in-england.asp
(3/3)
The case for reintroducing beavers into the wild in England: The need for an immediate legal pathway
A coalition of eNGO, farming, landowner and business leaders are calling for Defra to immediately progress a wild release licensing system and national reintroduction strategy for beavers across England.
www.wcl.org.uk
January 15, 2025 at 5:02 PM
It's time for Defra to act and enable licensed wild releases to restore our landscapes.
Read the blog: https://www.wcl.org.uk/the-case-for-reintroducing-beavers-into-the-wild-in-england.asp
(3/3)
Read the blog: https://www.wcl.org.uk/the-case-for-reintroducing-beavers-into-the-wild-in-england.asp
(3/3)
Today’s coffee with @owen-pr.co.uk was an utter TREAT but (sorry Patrick 😆) the genius half-formed “grab that hot water bottle” thought I had while putting the last few bits in my bag this morning was EPIC.
All in all — good day! #academicsky
All in all — good day! #academicsky
January 9, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Today’s coffee with @owen-pr.co.uk was an utter TREAT but (sorry Patrick 😆) the genius half-formed “grab that hot water bottle” thought I had while putting the last few bits in my bag this morning was EPIC.
All in all — good day! #academicsky
All in all — good day! #academicsky
Don’t get me wrong — I hate seeing cuts in HE — but this article about cutting STEM subjects to save money in The Tab has me cackling.
Read books; save money. #academicsky
thetab.com/2025/01/03/a...
Read books; save money. #academicsky
thetab.com/2025/01/03/a...
All the UK unis which are cutting back STEM subjects to save money
Even Russell Group unis are making science staff redundant
thetab.com
January 7, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Don’t get me wrong — I hate seeing cuts in HE — but this article about cutting STEM subjects to save money in The Tab has me cackling.
Read books; save money. #academicsky
thetab.com/2025/01/03/a...
Read books; save money. #academicsky
thetab.com/2025/01/03/a...
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
800 million people live in the southern hemisphere. Summer in the south is winter in the north. Plea to academics to stop using ‘spring’ etc as a universal timekeeper. Just say the actual month/date of the deadline. 🙏
December 26, 2024 at 11:51 PM
800 million people live in the southern hemisphere. Summer in the south is winter in the north. Plea to academics to stop using ‘spring’ etc as a universal timekeeper. Just say the actual month/date of the deadline. 🙏
Dipping back in to Raymond William’s “The Analysis of Culture” for when teaching resumes. Not sure the tortie cat approves.
#AcademicsWithCats #HE
#AcademicsWithCats #HE
December 31, 2024 at 4:25 PM
Dipping back in to Raymond William’s “The Analysis of Culture” for when teaching resumes. Not sure the tortie cat approves.
#AcademicsWithCats #HE
#AcademicsWithCats #HE
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
It also makes it harder for them to ban books.
December 22, 2024 at 11:58 PM
It also makes it harder for them to ban books.
Observations about recent YA fantasy sparked by Powerless.
1) I’m over “vicious” girl heroes who bewitch handsome princes with said viciousness.
2) One Hunger Games was enough.
3) BookTok has a lot to answer for (and could do better).
#YAfantasy #YA #ChristmasReading
1) I’m over “vicious” girl heroes who bewitch handsome princes with said viciousness.
2) One Hunger Games was enough.
3) BookTok has a lot to answer for (and could do better).
#YAfantasy #YA #ChristmasReading
December 22, 2024 at 11:16 AM
Observations about recent YA fantasy sparked by Powerless.
1) I’m over “vicious” girl heroes who bewitch handsome princes with said viciousness.
2) One Hunger Games was enough.
3) BookTok has a lot to answer for (and could do better).
#YAfantasy #YA #ChristmasReading
1) I’m over “vicious” girl heroes who bewitch handsome princes with said viciousness.
2) One Hunger Games was enough.
3) BookTok has a lot to answer for (and could do better).
#YAfantasy #YA #ChristmasReading
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
Some of the censorship trends we'll be seeing in 2025 include increases in wholesale book bans on ill-defined topics, an increase in legitimization of resources like Moms For Liberty's BookLooks that have played an integral role in book censorship, and more: bookriot.com/censorship-t...
Censorship Trends For 2025, Part I: Book Censorship News, December 6, 2024
These are some of the trends to expect when it comes to book censorship in 2025. That, plus this week's book censorship news.
bookriot.com
December 6, 2024 at 10:50 PM
Some of the censorship trends we'll be seeing in 2025 include increases in wholesale book bans on ill-defined topics, an increase in legitimization of resources like Moms For Liberty's BookLooks that have played an integral role in book censorship, and more: bookriot.com/censorship-t...
Abandoning the humanities in a race to the bottom line is abandoning the intellectual & moral frameworks that help us navigate the world’s complexities. Its disciplines make us better—not sentimentally, but substantively—able to face its challenges. #academicsky #HE
search.app/ePXtTdmtikF2...
search.app/ePXtTdmtikF2...
The Guardian view on humanities in universities: closing English Literature courses signals a crisis | Humanities | The Guardian
With degrees disappearing and reading rates plummeting, the arts face a critical moment in education and culture
search.app
December 7, 2024 at 11:58 AM
Abandoning the humanities in a race to the bottom line is abandoning the intellectual & moral frameworks that help us navigate the world’s complexities. Its disciplines make us better—not sentimentally, but substantively—able to face its challenges. #academicsky #HE
search.app/ePXtTdmtikF2...
search.app/ePXtTdmtikF2...
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
the three genders
December 6, 2024 at 9:04 PM
the three genders
December 6, 2024 at 2:59 PM
December 3, 2024 at 9:21 AM
Could someone please write *Elastic Sisters* (Little Women meets The Incredibles) for me and @hermioneclone.bsky.social? Please and thank you.
#LittleWomen #Adaptations #FanFic
#LittleWomen #Adaptations #FanFic
December 2, 2024 at 11:58 AM
Could someone please write *Elastic Sisters* (Little Women meets The Incredibles) for me and @hermioneclone.bsky.social? Please and thank you.
#LittleWomen #Adaptations #FanFic
#LittleWomen #Adaptations #FanFic
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
Invitations have gone out for the January launch of Beyond the Secret Garden.
This week @ksandsoconnor.bsky.social and I are recording a podcast with Sita Brahmachari & Writers Mosaic & heading to Glasgow to speak at a session organised by Dr Melanie Ramdarshan Bold. Looking forward to it!
This week @ksandsoconnor.bsky.social and I are recording a podcast with Sita Brahmachari & Writers Mosaic & heading to Glasgow to speak at a session organised by Dr Melanie Ramdarshan Bold. Looking forward to it!
December 1, 2024 at 1:17 PM
Invitations have gone out for the January launch of Beyond the Secret Garden.
This week @ksandsoconnor.bsky.social and I are recording a podcast with Sita Brahmachari & Writers Mosaic & heading to Glasgow to speak at a session organised by Dr Melanie Ramdarshan Bold. Looking forward to it!
This week @ksandsoconnor.bsky.social and I are recording a podcast with Sita Brahmachari & Writers Mosaic & heading to Glasgow to speak at a session organised by Dr Melanie Ramdarshan Bold. Looking forward to it!
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
I was deeply disappointed by the lack of nature/science/climate/enviro on many major end-of-year book lists—so I decided to make my own!
Introducing: ✨🎁📚 The 2024 Holiday Gift Guide to Nature & Science Books ✨🎁📚
Please share: Let's make this go viral in time for Black Friday / holiday shopping!
Introducing: ✨🎁📚 The 2024 Holiday Gift Guide to Nature & Science Books ✨🎁📚
Please share: Let's make this go viral in time for Black Friday / holiday shopping!
November 27, 2024 at 7:08 PM
I was deeply disappointed by the lack of nature/science/climate/enviro on many major end-of-year book lists—so I decided to make my own!
Introducing: ✨🎁📚 The 2024 Holiday Gift Guide to Nature & Science Books ✨🎁📚
Please share: Let's make this go viral in time for Black Friday / holiday shopping!
Introducing: ✨🎁📚 The 2024 Holiday Gift Guide to Nature & Science Books ✨🎁📚
Please share: Let's make this go viral in time for Black Friday / holiday shopping!
November 27, 2024 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
While doing your cooking prep, take a listen to The Beautiful & Banned podcast episode w/ @technolibrary.bsky.social #FReadom
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
S2, E12: Carolyn Foote from Texas FReadom Fighters
Podcast Episode · The Beautiful and Banned · 11/26/2024 · 1h
podcasts.apple.com
November 26, 2024 at 3:07 PM
While doing your cooking prep, take a listen to The Beautiful & Banned podcast episode w/ @technolibrary.bsky.social #FReadom
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
Assuming all fanfiction is written poorly really just shows you've never been caught in the chokehold of a 150k slowburn that changed the course of your life at 2:40am written by someone whose username has 4 Zs in it and they only wrote one fic and then vanished like an ethereal legend.
November 26, 2024 at 12:39 PM
18-year-olds aren’t reading for fun. Shocking.
Couldn’t have anything to do with how schools teach English, what’s on the curriculum, or how exams turn literature into a box-ticking exercise — or how politicians treat the humanities as ‘nice but not necessary’, could it?
#EduSky
Couldn’t have anything to do with how schools teach English, what’s on the curriculum, or how exams turn literature into a box-ticking exercise — or how politicians treat the humanities as ‘nice but not necessary’, could it?
#EduSky
A UK based study of 76,141 children aged 8-18 shows several interesting details about literacy trends among young people
www.theguardian.com/books/2024/n...
www.theguardian.com/books/2024/n...
Report finds ‘shocking and dispiriting’ fall in children reading for pleasure
National Literacy Trust finds only 35% of eight to 18-year-olds enjoy reading in their spare time, a sharp drop on last year to the lowest figure yet recorded
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2024 at 12:36 PM
18-year-olds aren’t reading for fun. Shocking.
Couldn’t have anything to do with how schools teach English, what’s on the curriculum, or how exams turn literature into a box-ticking exercise — or how politicians treat the humanities as ‘nice but not necessary’, could it?
#EduSky
Couldn’t have anything to do with how schools teach English, what’s on the curriculum, or how exams turn literature into a box-ticking exercise — or how politicians treat the humanities as ‘nice but not necessary’, could it?
#EduSky
Reposted by Dr Leah Phillips
Webinar: "Unruly Books: Translating hybrid picturebooks for teens and adults"
The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing of the University of Reading in partnership with Outside in World
4 December 2024, 5 p.m. UK time
Website: research.reading.ac.uk/centre-for-b...
The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing of the University of Reading in partnership with Outside in World
4 December 2024, 5 p.m. UK time
Website: research.reading.ac.uk/centre-for-b...
November 26, 2024 at 9:08 AM
Webinar: "Unruly Books: Translating hybrid picturebooks for teens and adults"
The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing of the University of Reading in partnership with Outside in World
4 December 2024, 5 p.m. UK time
Website: research.reading.ac.uk/centre-for-b...
The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing of the University of Reading in partnership with Outside in World
4 December 2024, 5 p.m. UK time
Website: research.reading.ac.uk/centre-for-b...