Catherine Clarke
@cathamclarke.bsky.social
Writer, historian, professor. Director @chppc.bsky.social and @vch-home.bsky.social. #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems (Penguin Allen Lane, 2025): a Book of the Year in The Times, FT & BBC History Extra. Find me in my beach hut. https://www.catherineclarke.info/
A wonderful day at the Purbeck International Chamber Music Festival. My 15yo daughter played in a masterclass with cellist and Festival Artistic Director Natalie Clein. Now we're here in Wareham for this evening's concert of world-class chamber music. And all in golden September light...
80 years ago, in 1946, a group of babies were born who have changed medical science – and my Dad is one of them. They’ve been followed throughout their lives by the National Survey of Health and Development. And yesterday they gathered in London to celebrate 80 years of this amazing study! 1/3
Et maintenant... en français! theconversation.com/avant-detre-...
Avant d’être ennemis, ils étaient amis… La bromance méconnue de Guillaume le Conquérant et Harold
Avant de s’affronter à Hastings en 1066, Guillaume de Normandie et Harold Godwinson furent alliés et compagnons d’armes. La tapisserie de Bayeux raconte aussi cette étonnante histoire d’amitié.
theconversation.com
Happy official #paperback publication day to A History of England in 25 Poems! It's been a hectic morning here, with my son's first day at secondary school and more Bayeux Tapestry interviews... Lovely to escape briefly for a celebratory lunch with my favourite girl and raise a glass. Cheers!
As promised (threatened), here is a brief Norman history reading list for those who want to know more. It's not comprehensive becuase i haven't got all day, but it is a starting point normanlandscapes.wordpress.com/2026/09/03/l... #Normans #medievalsky #skystorians #BayeuxTapestry.
Leonie’s Norman History reading list!
The blog has been quiet for a while [gestures at UK HE problems], but given BBC Radio 4 is having a Normans day to mark the opening of the Bayeux Tapestry, it seemed sensible to put up some sensibl…
normanlandscapes.wordpress.com
Given it is apparently 'Norman day', here's the piece I wrote when the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry was announced by Macron in 2018 to everyone's surprise. So much still pertains! normanlandscapes.wordpress.com/2018/01/18/p... #BayeuxTapestry #Normans #medievalsky #skytorians.
Politically and historically conflicted: thoughts on the Macron, May, and the Bayeux Tapestry
As everyone knows by now President Macron has agreed to loan the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK, possibly in 2022 and definitely subject to conservation decisions.* Since the announcement, I’ve be…
normanlandscapes.wordpress.com
Amid all this #BayeuxTapestry excitement, have you spotted that the hardback of #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems has a tiny detail of it on the back cover? In both hardback & paperback, turn to Chapter 3 for the English version of the story: guerrilla, resistance poetry, holding the Conqueror to account.
#Paperback meet-cute! I haven't had my author copies yet, so this was my first encounter, in Foyles Waterloo this evening. I love them! Signed copies in store now - and thanks to lovely Zishi for buying the first one 🧡
Any discussion opening with Benjamin Zephaniah in his own words is going to be riveting. And @cathamclarke.bsky.social is clearly having a blast here, sounding both scholarly and scatalogical. A lot of good stuff is packed into this all too brief convo; brilliant👌🏻🙏🏻 #humanities #poetry #literature
Catherine Clarke@cathamclarke.bsky.social · last wk.Catch me at 1 hour 49 mins (28/08/26), talking about the politics of #poetry, what it means to have a PM with an English Literature degree, and how the #humanities inform and enrich our public life. @ihr.bsky.social @sas-news.bsky.social @ies-sas.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The final countdown to the paperback of A History of England in 25 Poems, out this Thursday 3 September! I'm especially excited that it actually has the little Penguin on the front cover - and the classic orange spine 🧡🐧. I'd be so grateful for any last pre-orders 🙏 www.penguin.co.uk/books/461263...
That time when we stayed at a holiday park near Battle, East Sussex, and ate our fry-up breakfast under the #BayeuxTapestry (sort of)...
V important Saturday listening re the brilliant @cathamclarke.bsky.social.
Catherine Clarke@cathamclarke.bsky.social · last wk.Catch me at 1 hour 49 mins (28/08/26), talking about the politics of #poetry, what it means to have a PM with an English Literature degree, and how the #humanities inform and enrich our public life. @ihr.bsky.social @sas-news.bsky.social @ies-sas.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Catch me at 1 hour 49 mins (28/08/26), talking about the politics of #poetry, what it means to have a PM with an English Literature degree, and how the #humanities inform and enrich our public life. @ihr.bsky.social @sas-news.bsky.social @ies-sas.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Matt Chorley - with Nick Watt - BBC Sounds
Nick Watt sits in with political guests, news, and your views.
bbc.co.uk
My new article in The Conversation today. The #BayeuxTapestry, 'bromance' and quicksand - what more could you want? Drawing on my barefoot adventures in the Bay of the Mont Saint-Michel this summer... theconversation.com/the-bayeux-t...
The Bayeux tapestry’s lesser-known tale of bromance: William and Harold were friends before they were enemies
In the tapestry’s early scenes depicting what happened before 1066, William of Normandy and Harold Godwinson helped each other.
theconversation.com
My son and I enjoyed watching Spiderman: Brand New Day - me, seeing Senate House in a starring role as Damage Control HQ, Manhattan, and him seeing the old Dorchester prison, where he had a sleepover with Cubs a couple of years ago! Photos from: www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ar...
In a new article for @theconversation.com, Professor @cathamclarke.bsky.social from the @ihr.bsky.social discusses the poetic vision of England as a "green and pleasant land" and asks what the climate crisis could mean "for the stories we tell about ourselves". theconversation.com/climate-chan...
What could climate crisis mean for our self-image as a nation, and for the stories we tell about ourselves? My new article in The Conversation today, as part of their Climate Storytelling series. theconversation.com/climate-chan...
Climate change is rewriting England’s ‘green and pleasant’ story
A country defined by verdancy and mildness is neither of those things as climate change makes England hotter.
theconversation.com
Indy Historians in the Midlands - we want to meet you! Come along to our meet up on Weds 16th September! It's just by New St so very easy to get to, and it's a drop-by-whenever-you-can format. DM or sign up here: forms.gle/4svnEKhdTDRL...
Loads of upcoming events from this autumn, and I'm adding to this list all the time. Take a look at my website for details: www.catherineclarke.info #Dorchester #London #FrintonOnSea #StAlbans #Oxford #Salisbury #Basingstoke (Someone please invite me up north soon! 🙏)
I'll be at Blackwells, Oxford, on Tuesday 1 December - perfect timing for me to show you how to use A History of England in 25 Poems as a Time Travel Advent Calendar... I'll also share stories from the book, using poems as time machines into history... www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/catherine-...
This has been my summer of the #hares! So this beautiful print by Jo Cox (mum of @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social) is very special. And great to have 2 of Tom's brilliant books (I've only had Everything Will Swallow You on my Kindle till now). Tom tells me I'll find more hares in Ring the Hill. Thank you
This is going to be so much fun! Come and join us for history, smells and poems and lots of surprising time travel...
Will Tullett@willtullett.bsky.social · 3w agoLondoners! 12th October at Waterstones Gower Street @cathamclarke.bsky.social and myself will chatting about my book Sniff, Catherine's excellent and soon-to-be-in-paperback History of England in 25 poems, and how smell and poetry offer us new routes into the past www.waterstones.com/events/new-w...
Referring you to my (open access) article in the journal Historical Research, which explains exactly why #AI can't do #history. Spoiler: it's about empathy, conscience and ethics (and more). AI tools can help us in our work, especially with big data, but... NO. academic.oup.com/histres/issu...
Volume 99 Issue 285 | Historical Research | Oxford Academic
Historical Research is a generalist history journal covering a broad geographical and temporal span. It encourages the submission of articles from a broad variety of appr...
academic.oup.com
Jim Clifford@jimclifford.bsky.social · 3w agoAre we ready for machine written history? When given access to a well structured large historical dataset, Claude’s Fable 5 can identify a topic, complete the research and write a strong and original draft research paper. This has the potential to break peer review, graduate school, & job searches.
We watched the #eclipse from the top of Mont-Dol, Brittany - and were then treated to a stunning sunset...
All set for an afternoon of writing... I usually have a low success rate working outside, but it's so peaceful here with the family away on a trip, I'm trusting myself 🤞🙏 . The main thing is not to open that bottle of cider in the fridge... Will report back later!
On the trail of the #BayeuxTapestry in #Brittany, following key scenes and locations! Such a rollicking story as William of Normandy (and Harold Godwinson) ride to war against Duke Conan. Near disaster in the quicksands, a daredevil escape, and an audacious surrender... 1/4
This week I saw the Mont Saint-Michel from a new perspective, on a barefoot walk around the bay. From the mud to the treacherous quicksand and the tug of powerful tides, this was a wonderful journey into nature and history. #pilgrim #pilgrimage #history #mud #walking 1/2
