For yesterday's book launch of Esther Keeps the Score, by @alexianafry.bsky.social, I wrote a piece of fiction that embodied her book’s brilliant insights about Queen Esther as a character shaped by cPTSD and the “fawn” trauma response.
Check out the story here: archiveofourown.org/works/82743236
At the top in burgundy text it says "book launch party." Underneath, next to a calendar emoji, it says "Tuesday, April 7, 6PM CET" - with the SCM press logo next to this. With a location emoji, it says "online register for the link." There is an image of the book, Esther Keeps the score, below it, next to text that says "Join us in celebrating the release of Esther Keeps the Score! Our time includes a reading from the book, commentary from biblical scholars who specialize in Esther, time for Q&A, and a special book discount for attendees!" Below this, it says "special guest speakers include: Esther Brownsmith, Sarah Emanuel, Katherine Gwyther." There is a QR Code below this, and the background is a mustard yellow with a light forest green abstract shape.
Just a teeny-tiny reminder that my book launch party is TOMORROW (with @brownsmith.bsky.social, Sarah Emanuel, and Katherine Gwyther)! See you there?
www.eventbrite.com/e/esther-kee...
Part of what excites me about this is that Christians too often treat the Hebrew Bible as something that needs to be read through the lens of the New Testament. Whereas I’m going to be reading Paul through the lens of Genesis—and arguing that it helps make his theology more expansive/inclusive.
As an undergrad, Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling was the single most (trans)formative book I read. This year, the last Sunday of Pride Month has the Binding of Isaac as its lectionary reading. Guess who is going to be giving a sermon about Kierkegaard and the sacredness of queer love?
Some of the biblical prophets do something similar, portraying prophecy as giving birth—most evident in Isaiah 21:3 (“Therefore I am filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.”) but also there in the Hebrew of Jeremiah 4:19.
I know I keep circling back to this, but I don't think k a lot of well-meaning people realise how much it rankles when the response to Harry Potter funding trans genocide is a focus on "what to read instead to be a Good Person" rather than, I dunno, more directly helping combat the trans genocide.
Man wearing a fedora, brown coat, and very long multicolored scarf. Next to him is the following text: NO KNITTING REQUIRED! • Twelve feet of scarfy warfy • For being Tom Baker (or every day) • Knitters will thank you for not asking them
NO KNITTING REQUIRED! When a Whovian discovers a friend is a knitter, it is very, very tempting to ask them to make you a Doctor Who scarf. On behalf of most knitters out there, we say, please don't. We love Doctor Who as much as you and you might notice that we don't even have a Doctor Who scarf for ourselves. There's a reason: it takes forever and it's all knit stitches, so it's pretty boring. In fact, when made in worsted weight yarn, a 12 foot long Tom Baker scarf contains 56,448 knit stitches. That means someone is cursing you 56,448 times while holding pointy sticks. Catch our drift? Embrace laziness and keep your knitter friends by picking up the Doctor Who Deluxe 12' Scarf. Use it to complete your Tom Baker costume for convention season or wear it as your regular scarf in chilly weather. It's long enough to wrap at least twice around the average neck, with plenty of dangle to spare. Just don't get it caught in the TARDIS door, okay? Product Specifications • Tom Baker scarf for fans of Doctor Who • 12 feet loooooooooonnnng • Officially licensed Doctor Who collectible • Materials: 100% polyester • Love your scarf: Hand wash, please.
Inspired by @bethrevis.bsky.social’s post on Threads looking for pre-assembled Doctor Who scarf kits, I present screenshots from the late, lamented ThinkGeek’s product page for their Tom Baker scarf. The person that wrote this either was a knitter, lived with one, or loved one very dearly.
You should come to this, because:
1) I’ve read the book, and it’s WONDERFUL, and
2) Alexiana invited us to do something more creative than the usual standard book launch response, and I will be taking her up on that challenge. *mysterious smile*
a mustard yellow background with dark purple/maroon text at the top that says "book launch party." The book cover for "Esther Keeps the Score: Trauma, Body and Politics in the Hebrew Bible" by Alexiana Fry is in the center - the cover has myrtle leaves, a chrysanthemum, a crown, a mirror, and grapes on it in a lovely collage style. At the bottom of the image, there is a calendar image with the words "Tuesday, April 7 6PM CET" - next to that is the SCM Press logo - and next to that is a location icon that says "online register for the link"
With a mustard yellow background and maroon/purple text it says "book launch party" underneath that, it says "join us in celebrating the release of Esther Keeps the Score! Our time includes a reading from the book, commentary from biblical scholars who specialize in Esther, time for Q&A, and a special book discount for attendees!" Under this, there are four names and four pictures - Alexiana Fry is first, then Esther Brownsmith, Sarah Emanuel, and Katherine Gwyther.
With a mustard background and maroon/purple text it says "book launch party" - there is a cream colored cloud in the middle with a QR code in the middle of that cloud in mustard and purple. All over the image are a bunch of random sized and positioned book covers.
You are invited! Join me and these lovely biblical scholars - Sarah Emanuel, @brownsmith.bsky.social, and Katherine Gwyther - on Tuesday, April 7th, to celebrate my forthcoming book.
www.eventbrite.com/e/esther-kee...
Image of Women in the Bible collection webpage, including articles on Thecla, Berenice, the Levite's concubine, Phoebe, Salome, Oholah and Ohlibah, the strange woman of Proverbs, Lydia, the woman of Endor, Junia, RIzpah, and Anna.
Named and unnamed women appear throughout the Bible, yet they are often understudied or easily missed by casual readers. Bible Odyssey has a new collection of articles that explore the fascinating and complex roles women play in the Bible. buff.ly/IiA3bep #WomensHistorySBL26
I don’t know your email, so could you drop me one?
I’d be incredibly grateful!! Esther.Brownsmith on Gmail.
Who do I know who could beta/edit a short story about Queen Esther and cPTSD? @rikibeth.bsky.social says I should ask @crewgrrl.bsky.social, whom I don’t know but seems awesome.
Yup, I avoid it too. “Foundational” is often an alternative.
“Hysteria” has long been a term that associates femaleness with disorder, and specifically emotional disorder. (Nor are these gendered associations limited to the past; consider the difference between a “seminal scholar” and a “hysterical scholar.”)
It's so fun when I'm reviewing proofs, come across a line that I wrote, and have a moment of "damn, I love that."
This is a large part of why I learned nålbinding.
A crocheted blue beanie hat with white bunny ears, eyes, mouth, and two dangling paws/pompoms. It is a replica of the hat worn by Liam Ramos, a five-year-old taken by ICE.
A wise man recently told me that hope is not an optimistic prediction that the future will be better; it is the fierce, flaring determination that things MUST change for the better.
So anyway, I made a hat this weekend, and I put the pattern online here: www.ravelry.com/patterns/lib...
Fuck ICE.
This script is baffling me. Definitely not Neo-Assyrian, Old Persian, or Ugaritic, and I'm not able to pin it down to any other cuneiform system that I can identify. (For instance, the second sign on the second line is just not one that gets used.) Any ideas, Assyriologists?
ACADEMIC JOB ALERT: UD is hiring a tenure-track position in "transitional justice and human rights". They are looking for expertise in "human rights/global peacebuilding with an openness or knowledge about Christian social traditions." Come be my colleague! employment.udayton.edu/en-us/job/50...
Eek, I never announced my new book over here! Well, friends, I am very happy to share that “Sacred Unhappiness: Reading the Bible with Feminist Killjoys” is coming out with @eerdmansbooks.bsky.social. It’ll be an accessible volume that you can share with undergrads, book clubs, and congregations.
A white woman with curly hair in a gray blazer holds up a pink book titled Unruly Books.
I’m at #sblaar25, and so is our book!! Ping me if you want to meet up.
Photo of my book Fan Fiction and Early Christian Writings
Very much looking forward to the book review panel of my book at 4pm today! It’s S22-336 if anyone’s interested. With superstars @drmjcwarren.bsky.social @brownsmith.bsky.social and Acacia Chan. #aarsbl25 #sblaar25
I am beyond excited to share that I am receiving this year’s Brooten Award from the Society of Biblical Literature for my paper, “The Monster at the End of This Essay: Incestuous Whores, Trans Monstrosity, and Genesis 38.” www.sbl-site.org/news/announc...
While I studied reconstruction of Akkadian pronunciation in grad school, I’m not an expert in it myself. I can connect OP with Assyriologists who are, if need be.
If you think antifascists are bad, it just might be because you’re a fascist
So go out and do some damage, friends. Empathize radically and deeply. Love your neighbor as yourself. Sow wildflowers in the dung of his legacy. Water them with your tears, whether of sorrow or relief. Tend the rainbow blossoms as they grow.
A man who ruled an empire of hate died today. He once said that empathy was “a made-up, New Age term” that “does a lot of damage.” (1/2)
Aww, thank you so much! That means a lot.
The new issue of Religious Studies Review is live, featuring responses to Lee Edelman and the Queer Study of Religion that include my own essay, "'She Laughs at the Future' (Prov. 31:24b): Reading Sarah's Queer Jouissance." It's available open access here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A 1955 writer casually dropping a “Germans tended to go along with Nazis just like your all-American wife goes along with segregation” is both the answer and the question for “how we got here”