Cathy Waters
@catherinefaver.bsky.social
Professor Emerita of Victorian Literature and Print Culture, Dickensian and long-distance walker.
A lithographer at work, from the title page of Charles Hullmandell's The Art of Drawing on Stone: Giving a Full Explanation of the Various Styles, of the Different Methods to be Employed to Ensure Success, and of the Modes of Correcting, as Well as of the Several Causes of Failure (1824).
Not for the faint-hearted, but excellent as ever
Simon Nixon@nixonsimon.bsky.social · 3d agoHow Europe lost the Battle of Ceuta; the four horsemen of the summer apocalypse; why Europe faces a climate sovereign doom loop; and why the Clacton by-election is not a joke - latest edition of Wealth of Nations just published open.substack.com/pub/nixons/p...
All fiction titles from the English Catalogue, Volume 4 have now been added! That means 1862–1889 are complete. Next up: the 1890s... • 27,471 title entries • 6,770 author entries (most with bios) Big thank you to my students from last semester who assisted me to this milestone.
“Trump presumably assumed the BBC, like other entities he has brought suits against, would simply fold. But the BBC said no,” writes The Empty City
How the BBC turned the litigation table on Trump
The president now faces a dilemma about revealing his business records
prospectmagazine.co.uk
If I were Nigel Farage, I’d dip into that £5 million crypto gift just to fund a video that can compete with this! 🤣 HILARIOUS ⬇️
British Library's EThOS platform for its online database of 650,000 doctoral theses back online. Hooray!
EThOS records restored
We are pleased to share that EThOS (E-Theses Online Service) is now available again following restoration work after the cyber-attack.
bl.uk
Welcomed by the Town Crier of Bluetown on the Isle of Sheppey, members of @dickensfellowhq.bsky.social and the Pickwick Club today enjoyed a gripping performance of Great Expectations by Gerald Dickens, great great grandson of the Inimitable, at The Criterion.
Reupping this as we hit the last two weeks before the cfp deadline. Dickens Day is an inclusive conference aimed at academic and enthusiast alike: we welcome proposals from postgraduates, professors and independent researchers on “Dickens and family”. Further details at www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Pete Orford@peteorford.bsky.social · 4mo agoThe CFP for Dickens Day 2026 is live! We warmly invite proposals linked to this year’s theme of “Dickens and family” (both in his life and work). The deadline is 15 June, and the day itsef will be on Saturday 10 October at Senate House, London. All are welcome! www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
'Only a human being can effectively be accountable for the accuracy, integrity and originality of research. Thus, only human beings should write papers. Some journals...make this accountability requirement abundantly clear.' But quite a lot do not.
Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · 2mo agoOpinion: Human oversight. Alan Finkel explains how to navigate the risks of AI use in research. Free to read. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
Another lovely celebration of the life of Michael Slater last night, organised by @ies-sas.bsky.social and the Charles #Dickens Museum.
I saw these beauties at Maggs Bros in Bedford Square this evening and thought of you @andrewkingc19.bsky.social
www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/people/... This year’s Long Distance Walkers Association annual 100 mile challenge is marking the centenary of the publication of Winnie the Pooh!
Hundreds of walkers prepare for trek through Ashdown Forest area, including Crowborough, Nutley and Horsted Keynes, over Bank Holiday weekend
Around 500 people are preparing to hike 100 miles on a route that will take them through the Ashdown Forest area during the next Bank Holiday weekend.
sussexexpress.co.uk
As ever, excellent analysis of where we are now.
Chris Grey@chrisgrey.bsky.social · 3mo agoBritain’s post-Brexit ungovernability. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog discussing last week’s elections, the Labour leadership crisis which has followed, and what both tell us about post-Brexit politics: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/05/brit...
A brilliant performance of the Bardell v Pickwick trial at this afternoon’s Celebration of the Life of Michael Slater, from Miriam Margolyes, Malcolm Andrews and two members of the #Dickens family, Gerald and Mark Dickens. A wonderful tribute to a great and much-missed Dickensian.
A reminder that abstracts for the @dickenssociety.bsky.social Dickens on Screen online event are due in 7 days! 👇✍️🎦
Chris Louttit@drchrislouttit.bsky.social · 4mo agoSome exciting news: I'm organising an online event on the topic of Dickens on Screen for @dickenssociety.bsky.social! More info on the Society's website 👇. Abstracts of 100-200 words & short bio due by May 11th. The event itself will be on June 6th in the afternoon (East-coast US time).
Nineteenth-century cos-play on display in the Samurai exhibition at the British Museum. Hilarious! Also some lovely Hokusai prints.
That's a model for a 'patriotic curriculum'. It's Shakespeare and Austen and Zephaniah; it's slavery, abolition and post-emancipation apprenticeship; it's Anglo-Saxons, Picts and Ugandan Asians; it's pride and anger and an insistent demand for scrutiny. It's not binary: it's historical. 6/6
This is good. Read it, especially but not only if you are a government minister. It comes from a reflective place of praxis. Unlike much of what has been said on this topic, this is not slop.
Dr Matt Barnard@matthewbarnard.phd · 4mo agoFree speech is being demanded of universities. I think there’s a misunderstanding of education at the heart of these concerns, and focus on academic freedom would be more helpful. Blog post: #highereducation matthewbarnard.phd/posts/2026-0...
The CFP for Dickens Day 2026 is live! We warmly invite proposals linked to this year’s theme of “Dickens and family” (both in his life and work). The deadline is 15 June, and the day itsef will be on Saturday 10 October at Senate House, London. All are welcome! www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Dickens Day 2026 - ‘Dickens and Family’
sas.ac.uk
'AI boosters...think that when people write they are directly transferring...ideas that exist pristinely in their heads directly into language. They see the effort of writing as something that gets in the way of this pure process. They see writing as a transparent process of transference'. 1/2
Patrick Freyne@patrickfreyne.bsky.social · 4mo agoI wrote about why we should keep reading and writing www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...
Today's #MastheadMonday is The Standard of Freedom (1848-51). It was published by John Cassell as a family newspaper aimed at those with a reformist mindset, advocating 'Political, Commercial & Religious Freedom'. Digitised by the BL & free-to-view: www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/stand...
I’m in Dorset for an LDWA challenge event tomorrow. Very disappointed to find that the Macready-Dickens screen is not currently on display in The Sherborne! But happy to spot this mural nearby. For info on the screen research.kent.ac.uk/macready/ @dickensfellowhq.bsky.social
What a wonderful day at the V&A / National Art Library talking about Dickens's Compostional Process and ways of engaging wide audiences with his material archive. @dickensnotes.bsky.social is on Bluesky now too 😀
Cathy Waters@catherinefaver.bsky.social · 5mo agoA slide of imperative verbs (addressed to himself? Or to the narrative?) gleaned from Dickens’s memoranda and notes as part of www.dickensnotes.com project and a session with the manuscripts themselves in the V&A National Art Library. Thanks to Anna Gibson and Adam Grener for a great workshop!
Exhibit one: why so little attention to the travails of our national library? 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
cityam.com
A slide of imperative verbs (addressed to himself? Or to the narrative?) gleaned from Dickens’s memoranda and notes as part of www.dickensnotes.com project and a session with the manuscripts themselves in the V&A National Art Library. Thanks to Anna Gibson and Adam Grener for a great workshop!
Let the Dickens House Party begin! At the Royal Hotel Ventnor with ‘The Dickens Boys’, Ian and Gerald, as inimitable hosts @dickensfellowhq.bsky.social
Canadian Mountie: "Mr. Ness, I do not approve of your methods!" Elliott Ness: "Yeah? Well, you're not from Chicago."
CBS News Chicago@cbschicago.bsky.social · 6mo agoIt appears someone hacked into a Chicago Department of Transportation traffic sign in the Loop to display vulgar messages about President Trump and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Just opened at the Charles Dickens Museum in London 🎉👏
Obviously zero reflection in any of this on how operating the largest empire in human history may have turned us into a multicultural nation. We are here because you were there. #Empireland www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
PM asks Sir Jim Ratcliffe to apologise for saying UK 'colonised by immigrants'
Sir Keir Starmer says comments by the businessman and Manchester United co-owner are
bbc.co.uk
