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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)

@aliciaandrz.bsky.social
15K followers 6.6K following 4.1K posts

associate prof. of Shakespeare | book: “queer pregnancy in Shakespeare’s plays” | proud CUNY alum | bylines: Chronicle, Boston Globe, LA Review of Books, Electric Lit, Catapult, American Theatre, LitHub, Huffington Post, etc aliciaandrzejewskiphd.com

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
one of my colleagues is Native American & his dad is a traditional Kiowa healer. we were talking & I asked him how he’d treat my depression & he said smudging & the sweat lodge ceremony but that he finds these ceremonies helpful “because I fully believe in them.”
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
the last time I had a drink was late Feb. I’ve had some moments since I almost slipped but didn’t. I can forget how drinking used to control my life but I’ve come a long way in the past years. when it comes to addiction and depression, there’s always something I need to fix. but I’ll take this win.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I know the baby stage of parenting is rough but what’s good is you still have time to fix your personality. all my daughter cared about was boobs for a long time—I was God to her & had to do nothing to earn it. now I actually have to make an effort to be a fun, agreeable person.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
addiction is a great equalizer. if you’ve been in recovery rooms you know it doesn’t discriminate. it’s humbling to see it wreck people who have everything we’re promised will make us happy: money, fame, power, education—even family. it’s a human struggle that connects us, even as it devastates us.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
living in NYC made me immune to celebrity encounters. that’s when I felt most like a true New Yorker: walking by celebrities totally unphased. I worked in the same building as Andy Cohen & one day he avoided eye contact with me in the hall like I might bother him & I wanted to say, “honey, I had a conversation with Ian McKellen at a talk back yesterday. calm down. I work here, too.”
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I was lecturing my cats about how they’re called “pets” because they’re supposed to let me pet & cuddle them when I want to, & my husband interjected to say actually pet as a verb comes later & it just means they’re tame & spoiled animals. I told him the connotation is still there & to go away.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
new side hustle idea: we’re coming up on MacArthur genius grant announcements & for a fee I will call your nemesis to tell them they won one. DM me if interested.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I am reading, researching, and writing again. what a gift.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
throughout my life, strength training has really helped me come back from rough times & dark places. yesterday I finally made it to the “burn boot camp” in town & did my best (which wasn’t much). now the key will be returning today—wish me luck!
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
hello friends. I want to share my review for the doctor & clinic that did my ketamine infusions. I will be talking & writing about this more in the coming years, I’m sure, but here’s how I feel today: share.google/SszNOMgnTWna...
share.google
Google Maps
Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
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Reposted by Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)
Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
hello—I decided to finally be the expert I am & write something on the Lindsay Clancy trial so if you’re an editor looking for pieces, let me know! here’s my working pitch:
In an email to her psychiatrist on January 11, 2023, Lindsay Clancy asked her doctor’s opinion on ketamine therapy: “This has been going on for months now and I’m getting desperate for something that would work quickly to get me out of this depressed state,” she wrote. Her psychiatrist responded that ketamine might be a good option down the road, but that they weren’t there yet. Just two weeks later, Clancy strangled her three children to death and attempted to kill herself.

I think about Lindsay Clancy all the time these days, but I thought of this exchange in particular as I approached the doors of the ketamine clinic in Williamsburg, VA last week, struck by the words “pain management” plastered across them. When my primary care physician recommended ketamine infusions a couple of weeks prior, I was already wholly disillusioned with American psychiatry. I had paid a lot of money for TMS late last year—Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, a treatment for depression—and it sent me into a spiral that almost culminated in hospitalization for suicidal ideation and resulted in a relapse after two years of sobriety for alcoholism. I had been barely functioning since then, wanting to die to varying degrees most of the time. But I posted about my doctor’s recommendation online and many people reached out to me to say ketamine had helped their depression, so I decided to give it a shot.

I’m a recently tenured professor at William & Mary whose expertise is in literary representations of pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood. My first book came out earlier this year, on queer pregnancy in Shakespeare’s plays, and my second book is on his "mad" women. I designed and teach a course on “bad mothers” in literature, and many—from Medea in Euripides’ Medea to Sethe in Toni Morrison’s Beloved—do the unthinkable like Clancy and kill their children. It felt like I should have something smart to say about the trial, given how all my areas of study convalesce in it, but I felt too close…
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
hello—I decided to finally be the expert I am & write something on the Lindsay Clancy trial so if you’re an editor looking for pieces, let me know! here’s my working pitch:
In an email to her psychiatrist on January 11, 2023, Lindsay Clancy asked her doctor’s opinion on ketamine therapy: “This has been going on for months now and I’m getting desperate for something that would work quickly to get me out of this depressed state,” she wrote. Her psychiatrist responded that ketamine might be a good option down the road, but that they weren’t there yet. Just two weeks later, Clancy strangled her three children to death and attempted to kill herself.

I think about Lindsay Clancy all the time these days, but I thought of this exchange in particular as I approached the doors of the ketamine clinic in Williamsburg, VA last week, struck by the words “pain management” plastered across them. When my primary care physician recommended ketamine infusions a couple of weeks prior, I was already wholly disillusioned with American psychiatry. I had paid a lot of money for TMS late last year—Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, a treatment for depression—and it sent me into a spiral that almost culminated in hospitalization for suicidal ideation and resulted in a relapse after two years of sobriety for alcoholism. I had been barely functioning since then, wanting to die to varying degrees most of the time. But I posted about my doctor’s recommendation online and many people reached out to me to say ketamine had helped their depression, so I decided to give it a shot.

I’m a recently tenured professor at William & Mary whose expertise is in literary representations of pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood. My first book came out earlier this year, on queer pregnancy in Shakespeare’s plays, and my second book is on his "mad" women. I designed and teach a course on “bad mothers” in literature, and many—from Medea in Euripides’ Medea to Sethe in Toni Morrison’s Beloved—do the unthinkable like Clancy and kill their children. It felt like I should have something smart to say about the trial, given how all my areas of study convalesce in it, but I felt too close…
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
four ketamine infusions down in a last ditch effort to find some relief from depression. this is the last stop on the train of Western psychiatry for me. I can’t shake the dystopian feel of paying so much money for a drug to help me function in late-stage capitalism—but at least I haven’t given up.
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Reposted by Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)
Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
no pressure at all to donate but here are my Cash Apps. thank you for all the love & support ❤️
Venmo: Alicia-Andrzejewski-2Cash App: $aliciaandrzPayPal: @aliciaandrz
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Reposted by Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)
Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
an update:
hello friends.

I hope you’re all doing well. I’m hanging in there but things are tough. I really can’t seem to shake the depression. my doctor has recommended ketamine infusions but I’m very disillusioned from my experience with TMS still. I’m on leave now for a semester so hopefully I can figure out how to recover my health. I’m still sober going on 5 months now.

one thing I’ve decided to do is sell my jewelry collection in order to address my dental issues and improve my financial health. my collection means a lot to me but I can’t justify keeping it anymore, especially when I’m in need of medical care. I have set up on shop on Depop—if any of you are jewelry lovers, coveted any of my pieces in selfies, or just want to help out, the link is below.

I’m not going to be on social media much moving forward and have been reflecting a lot on my time on Twitter and other platforms. be on the lookout for the article I’m writing about it.

you all have supported me an incredible amount over the years and I genuinely appreciate all of you. I am available by email and welcome you reaching out. I hope the next time you hear about or from me I’m in a much better place.

depop.app.link/CZFPrchyo5b
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
an update:
hello friends.

I hope you’re all doing well. I’m hanging in there but things are tough. I really can’t seem to shake the depression. my doctor has recommended ketamine infusions but I’m very disillusioned from my experience with TMS still. I’m on leave now for a semester so hopefully I can figure out how to recover my health. I’m still sober going on 5 months now.

one thing I’ve decided to do is sell my jewelry collection in order to address my dental issues and improve my financial health. my collection means a lot to me but I can’t justify keeping it anymore, especially when I’m in need of medical care. I have set up on shop on Depop—if any of you are jewelry lovers, coveted any of my pieces in selfies, or just want to help out, the link is below.

I’m not going to be on social media much moving forward and have been reflecting a lot on my time on Twitter and other platforms. be on the lookout for the article I’m writing about it.

you all have supported me an incredible amount over the years and I genuinely appreciate all of you. I am available by email and welcome you reaching out. I hope the next time you hear about or from me I’m in a much better place.

depop.app.link/CZFPrchyo5b
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
one of the essays that changed my life was Adrienne Rich on compulsory heterosexuality & the lesbian continuum. when she starts listing off all the characteristics of male power I literally stood up out of my chair. those moments your eyes are opened—that’s what academia is all about.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
for me, Toni Morrison put an end to the debate on aesthetics v. politics in literary studies. it's tiresome to see it continually hashed out, esp because the false dichotomy hurts marginalized authors & scholars who don't have the luxury of being apolitical by virtue of their very existence.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
I carry this poem in my wallet & heart as a spiritual guide. I don’t know that I can articulate clearly & entirely why it moves me so much, only that it seems to be a testament to faith—the incredible need to believe in something, to love, despite it all.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
a list of the most important literature of my life, as an English literature professor:
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
the hardest & most rewarding job in the world: being a mom.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I was emotional in class discussing Othello today & I shared with my students how much my pedagogy centers on feeling. I shared this quote from Audre Lorde with them. I realized when talking, though, that we were discussing a play that outlines the danger of being overcome by emotion & acting on it.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
messages about the power of love seem cliche but remember some of our most radical minds—hooks, Baldwin, Laymon—are love theorists who write about exactly this: the power of love to heal, mobilize action, & create change. the more reminders we get to focus on love, the better.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
over the years I’ve had my fair share of critiques of my presence & posts on social media, some fair some not. but I hold on to comments like these when I feel ashamed of myself or how open I’ve been. it’s nice to know for every person who thinks I’m cringe there’s probably one I’ve helped.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
yes, I relapsed after 2 years sober. I was actively suicidal so I didn’t think it mattered any more. but I’m still here & I’d rather be honest. & honestly people online have been shocking me lately with how they talk about & treat me. so much for kindness & grace & the benefit of the doubt.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
proof of life. still here & I can’t complain: I’ve been sober for coming up on 4 months. I’m securely employed. I own two cats & lots of pens. I have a kid who wants to spend time with me. my husband cooks & cleans & lets me tweet about him. I could go on. it’s a shame I’m so sad all the time.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
if asked my stance on the Shakespeare authorship controversy with a gun to my head I’d say I believe he wrote his plays, but I recognize my emotional attachment to the idea of him—his singular genius. at the end of the day, the question doesn’t matter to my work because…
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
very happy to be talking about Terence in class today, an enslaved then freed North African playwright whose work heavily influenced Shakespeare, who studied him as a school boy. he once wrote, “I am human, & nothing human is alien to me.”
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
everyone has been saying getting a PhD doesn’t make you smart & that’s fair. but if I was looking for information on Shakespeare, for example, & someone had a PhD in Shakespeare studies, published a book on Shakespeare, & was tenured at an R1 as a Shakespeare prof—that would mean something to me.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
had a great first summer class of “Black playwrights” today. we watched Kimberlé Crenshaw's TedTalk on on intersectionality & discussed this short piece on how to read a play, thinking about how the frames we understand our worlds through can be expanded: web.mit.edu/jscheib/Publ...
web.mit.edu
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
I appreciate all my publications but it was a huge dream to write for @electricliterature.com, the first major literary publication to be helmed by a Black, openly trans woman—Denne Michele Norris, an amazing editor who took my writing to the next level: electricliterature.com/el-author/al...
electricliterature.com
Alicia Andrzejewski - Electric Literature
Alicia Andrzejewski is an assistant professor in William & Mary’s English department. Her work has appeared in publications such as Shakespeare Studies, Literary Hub, American Theater, The Boston Glob...
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
studying the institution of motherhood has radicalized me to the point where I saw a post about how women who do cocaine shouldn’t become mothers & my knee jerk reaction was to leap to the defense of cocaine-doing mothers. I don’t know why. I just know that…
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
I tell students on the first day of “Black Playwrights” that I read, & learn, & teach about race because I have a race. I’m white. & I see it as my responsibility to be accountable for what that means. ideally everyone would think about how racial difference informs their area of study & their lives
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
me on reading Lorraine Hansberry on a bus in NYC & the power of reading plays & the theatre: www.americantheatre.org/2021/11/16/c...
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
it was always a dream of mine to write for American Theatre & I’m still so proud of this piece on what it means to love the theatre when you can’t regularly go to shows: www.americantheatre.org/2021/11/16/c...
americantheatre.org
Contemporary Plays, Teaching From the Page as Well as the Stage
The work of writers like Jackie Sibblies Drury, Annie Baker, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is riveting in the theatre, but the rewards of close reading shouldn't be ignored.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
I sat on the admissions committee one year during my PhD program & one applicant had a recommendation from a very famous literary critic & author, who told us she was “drop dead gorgeous, a total babe.” I gasped when I read it. now I can’t read this reviewer’s work without thinking about it.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
I was explaining to my daughter that I have a PhD & that means I’m one of the smartest people in the world & tell me why my husband burst out laughing? let’s see you get one Mr. Andrzejewski.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
I start teaching my summer class tomorrow after doing basically nothing for two weeks & I’m panicked. I’m pretty sure I’ve forgotten how to teach. what do you mean I have to keep adults busy & learning & engaged for 2 hours a day? feels impossible—how did I ever do this?
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
this is actually making me tear up & want to start writing again. thank you, @chronicle.com
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Reposted by Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)
Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 25/06/2026
From the Archives: Opinion | Student harassment of professors is relatively uncommon — but when it happens, it can be terrifying. chroni.cl/4xTHdL8
chroni.cl
Opinion | When Students Harass Professors
Women and people of color are most at risk. Colleges must do more to protect them.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
the Chronicle has pulled my article on when students harass professors out of the archive. here it is not behind a paywall: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
here’s a version of the piece I published for the Boston Globe & LA Review of Books not behind a paywall. a memoir of my life-long fascination with serpents & all they’ve taught me: aliciaandrzejewskiphd.com/memoir
aliciaandrzejewskiphd.com
the monk, the cobra, and me — Alicia Andrzejewski
We must all bow to what we are scared of. It is the only way it will let us pass.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
the summer before I went on the academic job market, I got serious about working on my materials. so here are the documents that got me a tenure-track job in English literature at William & Mary in 2019, from CV to job talk. it’s still a dire market, a lottery, but: www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxln6...
dropbox.com
Dropbox
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
nine years ago today. I can’t believe I just had a baby in NYC during my PhD with no maternity leave or promise of full-time employment. the most irrational & wonderful thing I’ve ever done.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
I was in undergrad when a male student asked our female professor how much it would cost for her to give him an A. she said, “everyone has their price but you can’t afford me.” I thought it was the coolest shit I ever heard. I think about it to this day.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
found my dissertation advisor’s first response to my proposal of a project on “queer pregnancy in early modern drama” back in 2014. our cheerleaders are so important.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
last night I joked with my husband that I feel bad for his second wife because I’m so pretty & accomplished. he said, “what if my second wife is Taylor Swift?” I thought about this & realized there’s a not nothing chance Taylor Swift fantasizes about being a Shakespeare professor, so I stay correct.
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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
“the final belief is to believe in a fiction, which you know to be a fiction, there being nothing else. the exquisite truth is to know that it is a fiction and that you believe in it willingly.”—Wallace Stevens
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