Joe Shute
@joeshute.bsky.social
Writer and journalist. Daily Telegraph weather columnist. PhD researcher MMU. Author (Bloomsbury): Stowaway (2024) Forecast (2021) A Shadow Above (2018)
I'm part of a sound installation conjuring the waterscapes of the River Irk at Islington Mill next week - come along! www.eventbrite.com/e/two-worlds...
TWO WORLDS ~ Audio Visual Installation and Live Performance
In performance, Brehony, Knighton and drummer Johnny Hunter present the work as a live installation, with poetry from Joe Shute.
eventbrite.com
A new book for the new academic year: my monograph, ‘Reading Place Writing: Geography, Form, Immersion, 2010-2020’ has been published by @livunipress.bsky.social as part of the @englishassociation.bsky.social ‘English at the Interface’ series www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
Reading Place Writing | Home
David Cooper is Senior Lecturer in English at Manchester Metropolitan University where he is the founding co-director of the Centre for Place Writing.
liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk
Would you eat a fish from the Thames? Or indeed any English river.... Piece I wrote for Telegraph Saturday Magazine featuring pike dumplings and deep-fried gudgeon www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07...
telegraph.co.uk
Last night & available on iplayer www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... BBC Radio 4 @lydiaunsworth.bsky.social & @joeshute.bsky.social featured in the latest episode of The Verb - a house of multipoet occupancy Ian McMillan discusses underloved buildings with Lydia Unsworth, & the River Irk with Joe Shute.
BBC Radio 4 - The Verb, The Verb - a house of multipoet occupancy
Daniel Mendelsohn, Lydia Unsworth, Joe Shute and Khadijah Ibrahiim join Ian McMillan.
bbc.co.uk
Such an honour to make my first appearance on The Verb as a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker. On 24 mins in talking river poems with @imcmillan.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The Verb - The Verb - a house of multipoet occupancy - BBC Sounds
Daniel Mendelsohn, Lydia Unsworth, Joe Shute and Khadijah Ibrahiim join Ian McMillan.
bbc.co.uk
New Research Associate position with Dr Francesca Mackenney, Centre for Place Writing - new Leverhulme funded project - The Making of Natural History, 1797 - present: #AcademicSky #NatureWriting PleaseShare! manmetjobs.mmu.ac.uk/jobs/vacancy...
Research Associate: 'The Making of Natural History, 1797 - Present' - (9221) | Manchester Metropolitan University Careers
All about Manchester Metropolitan - an exciting, modern university in the heart of one of the UK's great student cities.
manmetjobs.mmu.ac.uk
When I started a PhD writing the story of the River Irk 3.5 yrs ago it was a pipe dream to one day be awarded a place on this amazing scheme. So am hugely delighted to be one of the 5 BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinkers for 2026, working on The Verb and Front Row www.bbc.com/mediacentre/...
BBC and AHRC select New Generation Thinkers 2026
Five of the UK’s most promising early-career academics have been selected by BBC Radio 4 and the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
bbc.com
Simon Mardel has spent more time working on ebola wards than almost anyone else. I interviewed him for @the-independent.com on the latest DRC outbreak and fears of where it might spread www.independent.co.uk/world/ebola-...
I’m an Ebola expert – a nightmare scenario is increasingly likely
Dr Simon Mardel is an emergency medicine practitioner who has witnessed the devastation the disease has wrought during some of the worst outbreaks in history. Here, he tells Joe Shute why this latest ...
independent.co.uk
In light of the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak I’ve written about why rats don’t ‘always’ deserve their bad rep www.independent.co.uk/voices/rats-...
Rats don’t deserve to be public enemy number one – they can be as playful as puppies
Thanks to a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, rodents are getting a bad rap – and that’s nothing new, says Joe Shute, who is a staunch admirer of these furry pariahs
independent.co.uk
Happy World Rat Day to those who celebrate (which should be everyone obviously) 🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀 www.bloomsbury.com/uk/stowaway-...
Stowaway
A NEW SCIENTIST NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARA cultural and social history of the rat, examining how one creature achieved total world domination and has inspire…
bloomsbury.com
Any Manchester-based followers please come along to the below. All welcome!
Centre for Place Writing@centreplacewriting.bsky.social · 8mo ago'Conversations with the Irk: a sound and creative writing workshop. A new event from @joeshute.bsky.social next week at Manchester's Central Library. Writing/sound workshop on Tuesday 10th March, 1pm-2.30pm. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/conversati...
'Conversations with the Irk: a sound and creative writing workshop. A new event from @joeshute.bsky.social next week at Manchester's Central Library. Writing/sound workshop on Tuesday 10th March, 1pm-2.30pm. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/conversati...
‘Conversations with the Irk’: A Sound and Creative Writing Workshop
Join Fiona Brehony and Joe Shute for a creative writing workshop inspired by sounds recorded along the River Irk.
eventbrite.co.uk
A guest post I've written for @barnesandnoble.com on the inspiration behind my book Stowaway www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/joe-shu... @chiffchat.bsky.social
Stowaway: A Guest Post by Joe Shute - B&N Reads
Separating truth from fiction, Joe Shute dives into the mysteries of one of the world’s most misunderstood animals. Fascinating and enlightening, this book explores rats and the surprising ways our li...
barnesandnoble.com
Delighted to be chatting rats on new @alandaviescomic.bsky.social Radio 4 series ‘A Life Without…’ listen here 👇https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002rf05 @chiffchat.bsky.social
BBC Radio 4 - Life Without, Life Without Rats
Surely a world without the rodents we look to exterminate anyway would be fine?
bbc.co.uk
Life Without Rats - hosted by Alan Davies, @joeshute.bsky.social & Steven Belmain will be discussing all things rat on Friday, 20th February on Radio 4. Joe Shute's book Stowaway: The Disreputable Exploits of the Rat is now available in paperback. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Life Without, Life Without Rats
Surely a world without the rodents we look to exterminate anyway would be fine?
bbc.co.uk
"How one creature achieved total world domination." Today's book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @joeshute.bsky.social & @chiffchat.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
Looking back at 2025 - Centre for Place Writing books published this year. Including The Roads to Rome @cathfletcher.bsky.social Stowaway @joeshute.bsky.social A Shorter Ulysses @anthonyburgess.bsky.social & Moving Mountains @louisekenward.bsky.social #BookSky
Applications are invited for three fully-funded Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Doctoral Landscape Awards (DLA). Deadline is 9th February 2026. Proposed projects must be arts & humanities-led #PhD @findaphd.bsky.social @dcahf-met.bsky.social More details: #PhD www.mmu.ac.uk/study/postgr...
Doctoral Landscape Awards
Applications are invited for three fully-funded Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Doctoral Landscape Awards (DLA).
mmu.ac.uk
Talk about an in-flight meal. For the first time, researchers have captured rats hunting bats by grabbing them from the sky. Learn more: https://scim.ag/3Jqldmn
Rats have a terrible reputation, but they are intelligent adept survivors, and their history is inextricably entangled with our own. @joeshute.bsky.social's Stowaway explores this history and unpicks the myths surrounding this fascinating tiny mammal 🐀 💙 📚 Now in paperback: buff.ly/1Ek82nL #Rats
🐀🐀🐀 My book Stowaway: The Disreputable Exploits of the Rat, is now available in paperback. Featuring an incredible new Rat-Zilla cover. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/stowaway-... 🐀🐀🐀
Stowaway
'Shows us that, ultimately, the history of rats is a history of ourselves.' THE SUNDAY TIMES'An intelligent and enlightening book' MICHAEL MORPURGO'Wonderful' T…
bloomsbury.com
Wrote about de-extinction for @telegraphnews.bsky.social comment and addressing the current biodiversity crisis rather than bringing lost species back to life www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09...
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telegraph.co.uk
Wrote about rats as big as cats for @telegraphnews.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08...
Rats as big as cats: The great rodent crisis of 2025
Experts say there could be up to 300 million of the critters gorging on our overflowing bins – and as our waistlines grow, so do theirs
telegraph.co.uk
Waterstones are running a pre-order offer on the new paperback of Stowaway - 25 per cent off til the end of the week 🐀🐀https://www.waterstones.com/book/stowaway/joe-shute/9781399402514
Stowaway by Joe Shute | Waterstones
Buy Stowaway by Joe Shute from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
waterstones.com
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04... Wrote about the need for proper legal protections for Britain’ ancient trees
Is it time to give our ancient trees the same protection as Stonehenge?
As Toby Carvery admits to chopping down a 400-year-old oak, experts tell The Telegraph that new environmental safeguards are needed
telegraph.co.uk
Interviewed the 'Human Swan' Sacha Dench about flying again and her new project attempting to reverse the catastrophic collapse in vulture populations across the world. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04...
The ‘Human Swan’ is taking flight again – this time with vultures
Conservationist Sacha Dench is airborne once more and on a mission to change the public perception of a much-maligned scavenger
telegraph.co.uk
Happy #WorldRatDay to rodent enthusiasts everywhere! This lovely drawing dates to 1798 and came to us with a paper by Capt. Thomas Hardwicke, "a brief description of a large species of rat", which was read at a meeting of the Linnean Society in 1804. You can read it here: academic.oup.com/tra...
