Haha sorry it took so long!

Sylvia Plath in Yorkshire YouTube video by Dr Gabriel Schenk

New on my Youtube channel: following in the footsteps of Sylvia Plath in Yorkshire youtu.be/4JoPmS4r-DY?...

Congratulations, Dr Morgan!

J.R.R. Tolkien at the BBC YouTube video by Oxford Tolkien Network

P.H. Newby... and I don't know. I doubt he had a big impact, I just think it's cool! I spoke more about the connection in this talk: youtu.be/K6vvW-_QqBs?...

Hah that's funny... And random fact, but my grandfather was one of the people who advised Tolkien on what to cut from the appendices!

Cartoon. Doctor: You appendix was successfully removed sir. Tolkien: But that's where I explained the Hobbits' names in the main book are not their real names

Haha I've yet to find that side (not that it's necessarily a bad thing!) And yeah, it's a much harder dilemma for people with large followings but I look at the engagement those accounts are getting now and it's either not that high (e.g. just a few likes per post) or full of abuse / trolling.

It's an odd attitude to take for a Lovecraft scholar. I like Joshi but I strongly disagree with some of his reactions and approaches.

I looked at a few X accounts today and was shocked how abusive Politics Twitter has become. I mean, it was always... spirited... but it's become *so* angry, mean and shoutey. I looked on an academic's profile and his content and comments weren't much better.

Thanks, Joe! Would be great to have you join us if you can make it.

I'll be teaching a new month-long course on C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces in February through Signum University (@signumuniversity.bsky.social).

More details in the video and on this website, where you can also enroll in the class: blackberry.signumuniversity.org/space/module...

Text of poem - PATTERNS. The old men ask for more time, while the young waste it. And the philosopher smiles, knowing there is none there. But the hero stands sword drawn at the looking-glass of his mind, aiming at that anonymous face over his shoulder.

‘Patterns’ - #RSThomas
(Between Here and Now, Macmillan)
#Patrymau #Patterns
#Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd
#Poet #Poetry #Poem

Dear Mr Farage Welcome to Oxfordshire. You came here to talk about “mass deportations” but made no effort to understand the people or challenges of this community. Your proposals offer no costed plan. Daily flights, new detention centres and vast surveillance systems would cost billions. Empty slogans are not a substitute for serious policy. It did not go unnoticed that you spoke just minutes from Campsfield House, where a detention centre is being rebuilt despite local opposition and past scandals. Yet you chose not to meet residents living with those consequences. You often invoke Winston Churchill, born here in Oxfordshire. He spent his career grappling with difficult truths and forging alliances in our national interest. Instead of sowing division, we should build on that legacy. Our immigration system is broken after years of Government failure. It needs urgent, practical reform: fair, managed migration to meet workforce shortages, a faster asylum system and support for those fleeing war and persecution. That requires cooperation and honesty, not division. If you return, I would be glad to show you Oxfordshire’s real story: businesses thriving thanks to home and overseas talent, health and care services desperate for staff and residents supporting refugees with compassion. You would see a community interested in solving problems, not fuelling conflict. Yours sincerely Calum Miller MP

I have written to Nigel Farage in response to his visit to my constituency of Bicester and Woodstock today.

Myth & Meaning Through the Wardrobe YouTube video by Dr. Sørina Higgins

Remember that poll I posted asking which Pevensie kid you'd like to be? Lucy won (surprise, surprise). Well, I have an invitation for you: Come with Lucy through the Wardrobe! youtu.be/Pvx1dElzeRU
#Narnia #books #reading #fantasy #CSLewis #literature

Lots of important research is being done by people with PhDs in fantasy literature!

Myth & Meaning Through the Wardrobe YouTube video by Dr. Sørina Higgins

“My Dear Lucy,” wrote C.S. Lewis: “some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” Are YOU old enough to read fairy tales again? Yes? Then let's read one together!
youtu.be/Pvx1dElzeRU?...
#Narnia #CSLewis #Inklings #books #reading #classes #literature

I think they might have to!

Thanks! Hope you like it!

Philip Pullman in Oxford YouTube video by Dr Gabriel Schenk

My tour of Oxford locations in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust is now up on Youtube. Share and enjoy!

#PhilipPullman #BookofDust #HisDarkMaterials #Fantasy

youtu.be/oVuZ2TvsQaY?...

From December 1 – 24 I exclusively listen to Christmas music and I have so much choice I never need to repeat a song, but in August the only song I can listen to is "August" by Taylor Swift. We need more "August" songs!

It's pretty good quality, I think. Definitely don't judge it by the recording of my talk as Tolkien was played through a speaker in the room which was then picked up on the laptop microphone and compressed massively!

Yes, I've heard those recordings before but I didn't have time to talk about them in my paper. But it is really useful to have a recording of a young Tolkien to compare to the older Tolkien. His delivery does sound better in the 20s than it does in the 50s.

J.R.R. Tolkien at the BBC YouTube video by Oxford Tolkien Network

My talk, about J.R.R. Tolkien at the BBC, is now on Youtube: youtu.be/K6vvW-_QqBs?...

I think Max Wilkinson did well to get Matthew Pennycook to agree to working with him to achieve the goals of the bill... but yes, it does feel a bit like they just stole the idea so they could take credit! Politics.

Reform UK moving 'at speed' to ban rainbow flags in council buildings However, Union Jack and St George's flags will be allowed to fly atop council buildings, as per the new rules

It doesn't end with trans people; it never did. www.attitude.co.uk/news/reform-...

Mayday, mayday … there’s nothing quite like May Day in Oxford!

Philip Pullman announces The Rose Field, the final part of Lyra’s story The acclaimed writer of His Dark Materials says the third volume in The Book of Dust series will portray a ‘dangerous, breathtaking quest’

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

Sylvia awoke on her twenty-eighth birthday to German coffee cake, complete with flaming candle, and gifts wrapped in brown paper. They celebrated at home with a Fortnum & Mason chicken pie, German chocolate, Brie, Stilton and cheddar, pink champagne, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sylvia declared it her best birthday yet and told Aurelia with her usual hyperbole that she was “happier living in London than anywhere else in the world.”

Fun fact: Sylvia Plath was a Tolkien fan and celebrated her birthday in 1960 by reading The Lord of the Rings with her husband Ted Hughes.

It was my first time, which isn't too bad for about 20 years of having this email account!