I guess litcrit is defining our timeline now
April 7, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I guess litcrit is defining our timeline now
I studied Dickens at Oxford including tutorials with John Carey. I've read maybe 30 books of superb litcrit on him. I don't think I've ever heard a more insightful observation than Miriam Margolyes tonight: "Dickens never got over X. Well, he never got over anything."
August 22, 2025 at 6:30 PM
I studied Dickens at Oxford including tutorials with John Carey. I've read maybe 30 books of superb litcrit on him. I don't think I've ever heard a more insightful observation than Miriam Margolyes tonight: "Dickens never got over X. Well, he never got over anything."
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Choose from:
🚀 Space trans lesbians
🧛♀️ Monster trans lesbians
🧙🏼♀️ Magic trans lesbians
☣️ Toxic trans lesbians
🫖 British trans lesbians
Or all of the above!
(Can you spot the subtle theme?)
itch.io/s/152023/unp...
April 26, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Get a boatload of emotionally charged trans smut—and a fantastically biting contemporary litcrit novel—for practically nothing!
The litcrit version of "chunky Reese Witherspoon"
September 22, 2026 at 9:48 PM
The litcrit version of "chunky Reese Witherspoon"
Making a principled antifascist stance is a scary thing to do, but I'm leaving Substack for the new waters of @buttondown.email, and I'm scared as hell! If already subscribed you're good. If you want to upgrade or sub to politics, sandwiches & litcrit - click here! buttondown.email/theswordandt...
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buttondown.email
January 1, 2024 at 10:48 PM
Making a principled antifascist stance is a scary thing to do, but I'm leaving Substack for the new waters of @buttondown.email, and I'm scared as hell! If already subscribed you're good. If you want to upgrade or sub to politics, sandwiches & litcrit - click here! buttondown.email/theswordandt...
Great LitCrit thread here.
A lesser-known power of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' is where it comes in its collection.
Spoilers, but I suspect you know how 'The Lottery' ends. It's famous for a reason.
But this is important: Jackson arranged the collection it was named after, and she chose the arrangement. 1/
Spoilers, but I suspect you know how 'The Lottery' ends. It's famous for a reason.
But this is important: Jackson arranged the collection it was named after, and she chose the arrangement. 1/
March 2, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Great LitCrit thread here.
Pls note, #litcrit Bsky, the bolded statement here from Frances Ferguson: "I have increasingly come to think that Clarissa is the single most important literary work in the history of British literature—& that it keeps holding its own". This is gospel truth, guys. Why aren't you already reading it?
I got to do a lightning round about my devotion to Clarissa with @sinsleyh.bsky.social, and she has honored me beyond measure by pairing it with one by Frances Ferguson. Swoon!
open.substack.com/pub/clarissa...
open.substack.com/pub/clarissa...
Toward an Oral History of Clarissa
contributed by Stephanie Hershinow
open.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Pls note, #litcrit Bsky, the bolded statement here from Frances Ferguson: "I have increasingly come to think that Clarissa is the single most important literary work in the history of British literature—& that it keeps holding its own". This is gospel truth, guys. Why aren't you already reading it?
People have fully embraced postmodern litcrit when it comes fo law. What the author of a law says it means is irrelevant; they don’t understand their own writing.
March 29, 2026 at 11:42 AM
People have fully embraced postmodern litcrit when it comes fo law. What the author of a law says it means is irrelevant; they don’t understand their own writing.
Oh pog there's a whole section of this video doing LitCrit about The City in the Middle of the Night @charliejane.bsky.social
July 26, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Oh pog there's a whole section of this video doing LitCrit about The City in the Middle of the Night @charliejane.bsky.social
Litcrit for the Litcrit God! Better reading for everyone! I think we argue that stories are impoverished far too often, and don't pay attention to the ways in which our reading of those stories is impoverished.
September 26, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Litcrit for the Litcrit God! Better reading for everyone! I think we argue that stories are impoverished far too often, and don't pay attention to the ways in which our reading of those stories is impoverished.
Btw GO is written by a writer with litcrit and etymology training, a writer with classics training, and a writer with extensive academic experience. We have all read the literary canon, yes, extensively, and not just the stuff they make you read in middle school.
August 13, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Btw GO is written by a writer with litcrit and etymology training, a writer with classics training, and a writer with extensive academic experience. We have all read the literary canon, yes, extensively, and not just the stuff they make you read in middle school.
I alluded to this in the article, but one thing I'm thinking of doing is creating a regular litcrit guest column for Trans of Color critics to write about self-published books by TWOC.
Ideally would shoot to commission for ~$100 per column, preferring to pub critics without mainstream recognition.
Ideally would shoot to commission for ~$100 per column, preferring to pub critics without mainstream recognition.
Happy #BlackHistoryMonth!
What began as a simple reading list of forthcoming Black transfemme novels blossomed into a full critique of White supremacist publishing, Black literary erasure, and the supplementarity of the Black transfemme body as text 🖤
What began as a simple reading list of forthcoming Black transfemme novels blossomed into a full critique of White supremacist publishing, Black literary erasure, and the supplementarity of the Black transfemme body as text 🖤
Black Transfemme Literary Springtime
2025 is the best year for Black transfeminine fiction ever. So why is nobody talking about it?
thetransfemininereview.com
February 16, 2025 at 11:39 PM
I alluded to this in the article, but one thing I'm thinking of doing is creating a regular litcrit guest column for Trans of Color critics to write about self-published books by TWOC.
Ideally would shoot to commission for ~$100 per column, preferring to pub critics without mainstream recognition.
Ideally would shoot to commission for ~$100 per column, preferring to pub critics without mainstream recognition.
Oh, he's perfectly aware of them, his dad was a litcrit guy
July 17, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Oh, he's perfectly aware of them, his dad was a litcrit guy
I know this is the most sophomoric LitCrit observation ever, but I'm partway through a Deadwood rewatch and I'm floored by the similarities with Jane Austen. No, really. The nonstop cursing is designed to make everyone *seem* direct, but it's actually a carnival of evasion and circumlocution.
May 22, 2026 at 6:40 AM
I know this is the most sophomoric LitCrit observation ever, but I'm partway through a Deadwood rewatch and I'm floored by the similarities with Jane Austen. No, really. The nonstop cursing is designed to make everyone *seem* direct, but it's actually a carnival of evasion and circumlocution.
Edward Said was born 90 years ago in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine so there is a birthday to celebrate in all its contradictions, come on people who read, sometimes act, mourn, still look forwards. I just read Culture and Imperialism, 1993 - 'contrapuntal reading' has a future. #EdwardSaid #litcrit
November 1, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Edward Said was born 90 years ago in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine so there is a birthday to celebrate in all its contradictions, come on people who read, sometimes act, mourn, still look forwards. I just read Culture and Imperialism, 1993 - 'contrapuntal reading' has a future. #EdwardSaid #litcrit
damn deus ex really did predict the future
August 4, 2026 at 8:54 PM
damn deus ex really did predict the future
I recognize not everyone actually studied literary criticism formally, that I'm a tiny minority here, but oh my god I would prefer no one ever reference litcrit theory again rather than wildly misusing it on a daily basis.
March 9, 2026 at 7:36 PM
I recognize not everyone actually studied literary criticism formally, that I'm a tiny minority here, but oh my god I would prefer no one ever reference litcrit theory again rather than wildly misusing it on a daily basis.
Friends of mine in high school wrote honors theses on:
- economics of StarCraft
- litcrit of Strongbad emails
- social dynamics of Something Awful flame wars
We were toast long ago.
- economics of StarCraft
- litcrit of Strongbad emails
- social dynamics of Something Awful flame wars
We were toast long ago.
May 16, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Friends of mine in high school wrote honors theses on:
- economics of StarCraft
- litcrit of Strongbad emails
- social dynamics of Something Awful flame wars
We were toast long ago.
- economics of StarCraft
- litcrit of Strongbad emails
- social dynamics of Something Awful flame wars
We were toast long ago.
I'm reminded of the administrator who made me throw away all our litcrit series because they were "redundant" with our online databases (they weren't, but she didn't understand litcrit) ... And then canceled the litcrit databases a couple years later because "they can just Google it now"
*laughs in archivist* It always amuses me at how little historical material is actually not only digitized but also made available online compared to what lay people think.
May 10, 2026 at 8:09 PM
I'm reminded of the administrator who made me throw away all our litcrit series because they were "redundant" with our online databases (they weren't, but she didn't understand litcrit) ... And then canceled the litcrit databases a couple years later because "they can just Google it now"
When the history of this era of LitCrit is written (podcasted?), let it be remembered that I made @annakornbluh.bsky.social a star (i.e. Google search tab).
November 21, 2023 at 11:45 PM
When the history of this era of LitCrit is written (podcasted?), let it be remembered that I made @annakornbluh.bsky.social a star (i.e. Google search tab).
Perhaps all of #litcrit Bluesky already knew about this, but working my way through Walter Benjamin's Arcades Project today, I've been surprised by how many long passages Benjamin transcribed from G K Chesterton's 1927 book on Dickens.
The project made some strange bedfellows!
The project made some strange bedfellows!
June 4, 2024 at 12:26 AM
Perhaps all of #litcrit Bluesky already knew about this, but working my way through Walter Benjamin's Arcades Project today, I've been surprised by how many long passages Benjamin transcribed from G K Chesterton's 1927 book on Dickens.
The project made some strange bedfellows!
The project made some strange bedfellows!
Should you be feeling a bit blue about your writing, litcrit pals, find a reason why it needs to engage Jane Austen's juvenilia.😂
From "Memoirs of Mr. Clifford, an unfinished tale";
"He travelled in his Coach and Four, for he was a very rich young Man, and kept a great many Carriages of which
From "Memoirs of Mr. Clifford, an unfinished tale";
"He travelled in his Coach and Four, for he was a very rich young Man, and kept a great many Carriages of which
July 5, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Should you be feeling a bit blue about your writing, litcrit pals, find a reason why it needs to engage Jane Austen's juvenilia.😂
From "Memoirs of Mr. Clifford, an unfinished tale";
"He travelled in his Coach and Four, for he was a very rich young Man, and kept a great many Carriages of which
From "Memoirs of Mr. Clifford, an unfinished tale";
"He travelled in his Coach and Four, for he was a very rich young Man, and kept a great many Carriages of which
#litcrit pals, a really interesting question about the history of discipline from a graduate student here, a question that has me totally stumped:
"which journal in literary criticism was the first to implement modern peer review?" (I think he might mean blind review)
Thank you for your suggestions!
"which journal in literary criticism was the first to implement modern peer review?" (I think he might mean blind review)
Thank you for your suggestions!
October 7, 2025 at 3:20 AM
#litcrit pals, a really interesting question about the history of discipline from a graduate student here, a question that has me totally stumped:
"which journal in literary criticism was the first to implement modern peer review?" (I think he might mean blind review)
Thank you for your suggestions!
"which journal in literary criticism was the first to implement modern peer review?" (I think he might mean blind review)
Thank you for your suggestions!