New Research! "An Equine Archive? Using Excavated Documents to Recover the Entangled Labor of Humans and Horses in China's Ancient Postal System" by Kelsey Granger (photo Gary Todd/Wikimedia Commons) online.ucpress.edu/ah/issue/2/2

The horses had names like Calm at the Carriage, Podgy and Lumpy, and Mr. Red Horse, and they delivered messages along Han Dynasty China’s “Pony Express,” a remote corridor in the far west of the empire. archaeology.org/issues/july-august-2026/digs-discoveries/ancient-chinas-pony-express/

Was great to share more about my research on China's Xuanquan Postal Station 懸泉置 in the latest issue of Archaeology Magazine @archaeologymag.bsky.social, including some of my favourite postal horse names from the edge of Han-dynasty China! 🐴✉️🛞 archaeology.org/issues/july-...

Han China’s Pony Express - Archaeology Magazine

Bamboo slip and infrared image As part of a push to expand their empire into […]

archaeology.org

Thrilled that my article on postal horses in ancient China has been published in the latest #AnimalHistory! 🐎 What do excavated administrative texts from 1st C. BCE-CE tell us about equine life and labour on the edge of empire? A lot, it turns out! (1/4) #Xuanquan #postalhorses ✉️🛞🐴

Celebrating the Year of the Horse 馬年 with the most auspicious ancient Chinese postal horse names: Wholly Fortunate 完幸, Laden with Jade 載玉, and Son of Dragons 龍子, who all worked at the Xuanquan 懸泉 Postal Station in the Han dynasty! 🐎🐎🐎 #yearofthehorse #chinesenewyear #馬年

Rounding out 2025 with an essay for T'oung Pao discussing recent publications on Chinese animals, including books on talking parrots, sacred oxen, marital camels, and bathing elephants! It's definitely been an exciting year in an exciting field of research 🐉🐘🐫🐃🦜 brill.com/view/journal...

Excited to say that my article on horse names in China's ancient postal system has been published with Early China! 🐎✉️🌿 Meet Skittish Fish, Calm at the Carriage, and, my personal fave, Cinnamon Stick, at the link below: #animalhistory

Recently did a guest article with @sahavoice.bsky.social about presenting your research in the media as an ECR 📻📺📖 Media engagement can be a great training ground to learn how to present your research to people way outside your field - a much-needed skill for job interviews and grant apps!

Putting Your Research in the Spotlight: Media Engagement for Early Career Researchers Dr. Kelsey Granger | 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

Was amazing to be part of BBC R4's In Our Time talking about all things Dragon 🐲 If you want to know more about the Chinese zodiac, rain dragons, and The Dragon Boat Festival, you can listen online! 🐉 #inourtime #herebedragons #BBCRadio4

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Dragons

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss this ubiquitous mythical creature.

bbc.co.uk

We were totally blown away by the interest in our first workshop, so thank you again to all applicants and participants! #casn2025 #casnmunster 🐯

Chinese Animal Studies Network@casntweets.bsky.social · last yr.

In May we hosted our first workshop on all things animal in East Asia which was a roaring success 🐯 We've posted a report on our website to celebrate, thank you again to all participants! #casn2025 #casnmunster chineseanimalstudiesnetwork.com/same-and-or-...

My book review of "Insect Histories of East Asia" has just been published in the latest issue of Animal History 🪰🪲🐞 It's a fantastic issue with articles on saints, street dogs, and serpents, all of which you can read here: online.ucpress.edu/ah/issue/1/2

Volume 1 Issue 2 | Animal History | University of California Press

online.ucpress.edu

Hi Bluesky 👋 I'm a historian of pre-1200 China and the wider Silk Roads, mostly looking at all things animal! 🐾 Currently working on papers related to postal horses, lapdogs, and pet parrots 🐎🐩🦜