Ben Fletcher-Watson
@bfletcherwatson.bsky.social
Drama researcher in theatre for babies & relaxed performance. Deputy Director of IASH, University of Edinburgh. Trustee of Newcastle Theatre Royal. He/him
Very happy to say that Neurodiversity: A Very Short Introduction, written by @suereviews.bsky.social and myself, is out now! It was a lot of fun trying to condense neurodiversity theory, research, practice, and politics into a single, brief book. Available in all the usual places!
New MiniBlog, with thanks to Katherine Rundell: Why grown-ups should watch children’s theatre… www.imaginate.org.uk/news/blog-wh... via @edchildrensfest.bsky.social
Blog: Why grown-ups should watch children’s theatre… — Imaginate
News, vacancies and blogs by staff and artists connected with Imaginate and the Edinburgh International children's Festival
imaginate.org.uk
Was interviewed by the Traverse here. Fantastic to have an opportunity to talk about everything from fencing to biography and the connection between the Cromarty oil rigs and Livi skate park. www.traverse.co.uk/news/10-ques...
10 Questions with Jack MacGregor - Traverse x IASH Creative Fellow 2026
Back in November we announced Jack MacGregor as our 2026 Traverse/IASH creative fellow! Now that he's started his residency we sat down with him to find out more about his career thus far and what he ...
traverse.co.uk
Oh yes it is! A delightful early Christmas present in today’s post: my chapter on theatre for children and young people in the new Routledge Companion to 20th-century British Theatre & Performance. Huge thanks to the editors, especially the incomparable Trish Reid!
Really to happy to hear from the publisher today that our book on inclusive, neurodiversity-affirmative education is a "hot new release" in education, according to Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/new-relea... Flyer attached for a discount if you buy direct from the publisher - valid through January.
Applications are now open for 2026-27 Fellowships at IASH! Apply via the portal on our website: www.iash.ed.ac.uk/application-... This round (for visits between August 2026 and July 2027) closes on 27 Feb for mid-career/senior scholars, and on 24 Apr for postdoctoral/early-career researchers.
Application form | IASH
iash.ed.ac.uk
Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.
Looking for a Christmas gift for arts and culture lovers? You can get 25% off our stunning collection of feminist visual art and creative writing, "The Art of Being Dangerous", with code DECEMBER25 on the publisher's website: lup.be/book/the-art...
The Art of Being Dangerous | Leuven University Press
Browse a preview of the book > Unique and kaleidoscopic collection of feminist visual and literary art The idea that women are dangerous – individually or collectively – runs throughout history and ac...
lup.be
In conversation with Laurie Ogden, Flo O'Mahony, Artistic Director of Zoo Co and sister to Rachel O'Mahony, explains the journey of bringing Perfect Show for Rachel back for a UK tour: following Rachel's leadership while the show grows and changes, with those involved changing with it!
How my learning disabled sister made the perfect show
As she revisits Perfect Show for Rachel, Flo O'Mahony reflects on the assumptions made about the tastes and decision-making capacity of learning disabled people
exeuntmagazine.substack.com
Giveaway! 🎉 We're offering four copies of our new book, Women Who Dared, which spotlights powerful and defiant women who made their mark. Want to win a copy? Here's how to enter: 1. Like this post ❤️ 2. Repost 🔄 🕔 Entries close 5pm GMT on 31 Oct 🔗 Browse Women Who Dared:
Women Who Dared
Women Who Dared
edin.ac
A brand new essay collection, published by @edinburghup.bsky.social, edited by @bfletcherwatson.bsky.social & @joshaw.bsky.social foreword by @sarasheridan.bsky.social Join the book launch on Tue, 4 Nov 17:30 📍@iashedinburgh.bsky.social Free 🎟️(in person & online)👇womenwhodared.eventbrite.co.uk
Book Launch: "Women Who Dared: from the infamous to the forgotten"
Join us to mark the publication of our latest essay collection, exploring women's stories throughout history.
womenwhodared.eventbrite.co.uk
The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities@iashedinburgh.bsky.social · 10mo agoOut now! Our latest book, "Women Who Dared", is released today from Edinburgh University Press. You can purchase direct from @edinburghup.bsky.social via their website or at all good bookshops: edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-women-w...
Tue 4 Nov, 17:30 - "Women Who Dared: From the Infamous to the Forgotten" from @edinburghup.bsky.social. Edited by @bfletcherwatson.bsky.social & @joshaw.bsky.social with a foreword by @sarasheridan.bsky.social Free tickets: womenwhodared.eventbrite.co.uk (in person and online)
Book Launch: "Women Who Dared: from the infamous to the forgotten"
Join us to mark the publication of our latest essay collection, exploring women's stories throughout history.
womenwhodared.eventbrite.co.uk
Out now! Our latest book, "Women Who Dared", is released today from Edinburgh University Press. You can purchase direct from @edinburghup.bsky.social via their website or at all good bookshops: edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-women-w...
Women Who Dared
Women Who Dared
edinburghuniversitypress.com
Deadline approaching for our playwright-in-residence programme for 2026 with @traversetheatre.bsky.social! 🎭 Applications are due by 5pm UK time on Monday 29 Sept. Full details of the £12,000 commission: www.iash.ed.ac.uk/iashtraverse...
IASH/Traverse Creative Fellowship | IASH
iash.ed.ac.uk
Aye Write book festival I'm really excited to be featuring on a panel at the Aye Write Book festival, following the publication of Women Who Dared, From the Famous to the Forgotten, published by Edinburgh University Press. 'This is a vibrant, defiant and deeply human collection of stories about…
Aye Write book festival
I'm really excited to be featuring on a panel at the Aye Write Book festival, following the publication of Women Who Dared, From the Famous to the Forgotten, published by Edinburgh University Press. 'This is a vibrant, defiant and deeply human collection of stories about women who have made history - even if history hasn't always remembered them.' I've written an essay in the publication and I'll be speaking about my woman who dared alongside Jo Shaw, Dr Chisomo Kalinga and Dr loulia Kolovou at the Mitchell Library on Saturday 8th November at 7.45pm. Tickets to the event are available here and the book is available to purchase here.
margotmccuaig.com
A vital article, identifying a depressing trend that’s become a certainty in recent years. Yesterday I watched five pieces of new writing *in a row* that backed up Lyn’s eagle-eyed thesis.
The Stage@thestage.co.uk · 12mo ago“Starved of investment, British theatre has been cut to the bone. On the fringe, you can see the bones, and you can see them crumbling in front of your eyes.” Polished fringe shows from overseas shine an ugly light on UK arts funding, says Lyn Gardner 👇
Special Fringe Event: Monday 11 August at the Traverse Join some of Scotland’s best playwrights in conversation with @fergusmorgan.bsky.social from 4pm www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/eve...
Scottish Writers Community: Panel Discussion
Scotland's new writing theatre, the Traverse champions creative talent by placing powerful and contemporary theatre at the heart of cultural life.
traverse.co.uk
Two splendid Traverse shows - Lost Lear is a heartbreaking spin on the dementia play with lots of tricks up its sleeve; Rift combines super-tight performances with a killer script. Check them both out!
Two Fringe shows from today that are worth your money: Kanpur: 1857 at Pleasance Courtyard is a slow burn but tells an important story. Fab tabla accompaniment. DUSK/NIGHT/DAWN at Assembly Roxy really won me over by the end - doing something new and exciting with pole dance. Some gorgeous imagery.
This letter is already at over 1000 signatures, showing the level of support in UK academia for these students - and hopefully increasing pressure on the Home Office and FCDO. Still open to sign.
Alison Phipps አሊሰን@alisonphipps.bsky.social · last yr.An open letter has been launched today (27/7/25) for members of the UK academic community (academics and other university staff) to sign, to press the UK Home Office to facilitate safe passage out of Gaza for 40+ students with offers for UK universities. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Why use an AI-gen image that’s overtly sexist for a book calling for chapters on “Shakespeare and the politics of gender”? Why use an AI-gen image prompted by Venetian carnival/Commedia for a Shakespeare collection? Why use an AI-gen image at all? Pay. Artists. Properly.
Dr Ian McCormick@wokestudies.bsky.social · last yr.Calls for Chapters. Shakespeare: New Voices [BOOK] Deadline for submissions: June 30, 2025 call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2023/05/... Contributors are asked to provide an Abstract (300 words) and an Author bio (150 words) by 30 June 2025. Dr Ian McCormick
‘Stone suits the poetry. Or perhaps it’s the other way round. I think poetry suits stone, more than it suits paper, certainly more than it suits a screen. The poetry releases something latent in the stone.’ New: Kathleen Jamie visits the Canongate Wall in Edinburgh. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ju...
Kathleen Jamie | At the Canongate Wall
The Canongate Wall is a feature of the Scottish Parliament building in Holyrood, Edinburgh. Designed by Soraya Smithson...
lrb.co.uk
Unbound authors and former staff members who want to talk, including anonymously, get in touch at rachael.healy@observer.co.uk
Alex de Campi@alexdecampi.bsky.social · last yr.UNBOUND AUTHORS: We’ve prepared a letter you can send to administrators to demand things like expedited rights reversion, no AI use, return of electronic files (cover art, typesetting, etc) and the option to get any remaining copies of your books. DM me and I will send the template over
@dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social @matpringle.bsky.social Could either of you add me to the Unbound WhatsApp? I can DM my number if you follow me. My book is “Dangerous Women” from 2022. Thanks!
Excited to say that "Neurodiversity: A Very Short Introduction" written by myself and @suereviews.bsky.social is finally ready to preorder! Afaik the first general academic introduction covering the ND movement, ND studies, and applications of ND theory in practice. global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Tickets are still available for our conversation with playwright and screenwriter David Harrower on Friday 4 April at 11am at @edfuturesinstitute.bsky.social He'll talk about his new series "Lockerbie: A Search for Truth", starring Colin Firth. Join us! efi.ed.ac.uk/event/in-pur...
In Pursuit of Justice: Lockerbie - Edinburgh Futures Institute
A conversation with playwright David Harrower about creativity and the role of drama in the pursuit of justice. In collaboration with IASH.
efi.ed.ac.uk
2025 marks 55 years since the first Fellows arrived at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities ( @iashedinburgh.bsky.social) at the University of Edinburgh. To mark its 55th anniversary, the Institute is planning a series of events - all info, programme & tickets 👇
55 years of blue-sky thinking - Dr Ben Fletcher Watson | SAHA: The Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance
A joint initiative of Scottish Higher Education institutions, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities.
saha.scot
"Desert Future" A film screening and discussion exploring climate fiction, environmental humanities, history of science and Black/Africana studies. Part of the Edinburgh Science Festival, Friday 11 April at 7pm. www.edinburghscience.co.uk/event/desert...
