iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Maya Evan MacGregor / Eamhair MacGriogair @maigheach.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

It’s Non-binary Day, so hello from your friendly neighbourhood agender void who writes fantasy books full of folk like me We’ve got YA Gaelic fantasy romance! We’ve got urban fantasy! We’ve got epic fantasy! We’ve got spicy epic fantasy romance! We’ve got gothic why-choose dystopian fantasy!

02214

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

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

archiveofourown.org

Fawn - mostlydeadlanguages - Multifandom [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

051

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Alexiana Fry @alexianafry.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

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...

0103

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

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?

150

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Lawrence Harding (she/her) 🏳️‍⚧️ @lhardingwrites.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

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.

8313106

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

T Ash @crewgrrl.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

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.

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.

132

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

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*

020

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Alexiana Fry @alexianafry.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

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...

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.

0135

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

SBL Press @sblpress.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

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

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.

045

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

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.

101

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

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."

“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.”)

181

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

This is a large part of why I learned nålbinding.

020

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

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.

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.

0115

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

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?

110

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

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...

employment.udayton.edu

Employment Opportunities : University of Dayton, Ohio

000

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

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.

1101

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

I’m at #sblaar25, and so is our book!! Ping me if you want to meet up.

A white woman with curly hair in a gray blazer holds up a pink book titled Unruly Books.

0131

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Dr Tom de Bruin @tdbiii.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

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

Photo of my book Fan Fiction and Early Christian Writings

13112

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

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...

3327

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

If you think antifascists are bad, it just might be because you’re a fascist

17213

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

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)

122

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

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/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

“She Laughs at the Future” (Prov. 31:24b): Reading Sarah's Queer Jouissance

Click on the article title to read more.

1104

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 27/08/2025

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”

2435101145

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Kevin Solez @kevinsolez.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Cool stuff!

012

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

On the one hand: I do not need to be writing a new article. Also, am not Assyriologist. On the other hand: I found an Akkadian passage that offers a fascinating new possibility for the Sotah laws of Numbers 5. Ugh, decisions.

1101

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

This stanza from a 1937 Polish poem really spoke to me in these times.

Transcription:

How dare you have written about roses,
When history burned like woods in summer heat?
In today’s libraries the custodian dusts history volumes,
And outside the window – returning with spring,
Sappho sings a nightingale,
How her heart dictates.

Róże dla Safony (Roses for Sappho),
By Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska,
Trans. Aleksandra Gajowy

071

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

So honored that the inimitable @qgpennyworth.com used a poem that I wrote as part of a mini-zine/pop card! Check it out and share it if you like.

A 19th-century drawing of a woman sitting in an armchair and reading. Accompanying it is a poem by Esther Brownsmith:

"What was it like to live in those times?", they will ask.

Well, I will say,
there was a lot of compulsively refreshing social media,
a lot of bracing myself every time I pulled up the news,
a lot of telling my friends that I loved them,
because I couldn't tell them that things would be okay.

And once,
my therapist told me to take a spa day.
So I sat in the hot water,
and I tried not to think about Gaza or Ukraine or Roe or ICE or—
and the water jets timed out.

I looked down at my own body;
I saw a diaphanous blanket of pinprick bubbles,
each one clinging to a hair so faint and fine
I'd forgotten they existed.

A cocoon of air,
stubbornly refusing to float from my skin.

(The bubbles are not a metaphor
for grace, or resilience, or hope.
They simply startled me
into seeing my flesh anew.)

That is what it is like.

0112

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Is the Bible fan fiction? A thread. 📜

A "Fleabag" screencap that depicts a white brunette woman in the bathtub, reading a Bible. She looks aghast at the camera with a hand over her mouth.

46013

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Hadassah Brandeis Institute HBI @hadassahbrandeis.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Congratulations to Esther Brownsmith @brownsmith.bsky.social, Ph.D., 2020 HBI Scholar in Residence & @universityofdayton.bsky.social Asst. Prof., on the publication of GENDERED VIOLENCE IN BIBLICAL NARRATIVE, THE DEVOURING METAPHOR, now available in Open Access. 1/ www.routledge.com/Gendered-Vio...

Book cover with text Gendered Violence in Biblical Narrative, The Devouring Metaphor, Esther Brownsmith

162

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

I know that celebrating anything these days seems tone deaf. I know. But: if you've been waiting to read my book, I am so pleased to share that it is now officially available free to read in Open Access. So check it out and share widely! bit.ly/thedevouringmetaphor

2144

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Check out the Trans Biblical Podcast for a new episode where I talk about my work on Mordecai as a non-binary character, and why this kind of biblical work is so necessary these days. Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7qU3... Youtube: youtu.be/SA9k-T-LvOA

An advertising banner for "The Trans Biblical Podcast Episode 2," featuring "Nonbinary Characters in the Bible: Mordecai" with Dr. Esther Brownsmith. The images include a picture of the book and of Dr. Brownsmith

052

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Check out the new Bible & Critical Theory! In addition to several exciting articles, there is a generous book review of my monograph by @alexianafry.bsky.social and my review of @tdbiii.bsky.social's wonderful book on fanfic and early Christianity. bibleandcriticaltheory.com/issues/volum...

bibleandcriticaltheory.com

VOLUME 20, NO. 2 (2024)

054

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

General Strike US @generalstrikeus.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

We’re partnering w/ a number of groups participating in an #economicblackout THIS Friday, 2/28. Do not spend, if possible. No Starbucks on your way to work. No drinks w/ the coworkers after work. No dining out. No Walmart run. No quick McDonald’s drive-thru hit. Hurt their wallets!

Poster highlighting the economic blackout (no spend day) on Friday, February 28th.

23359422464

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Unfuck Your Habitat @teamufyh.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Panic and despair without an outlet can be self-destructive. Interrupt the doom spiral: -Do 1 self-indulgent thing that makes you feel happy or content. -Do 1 thing to make your home environment more calm or comfortable. -Do 1 thing to help your community and people in it. Repeat as needed.

5348192

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Prof. Anthea Butler @antheabutler.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Folks, if you don't have a plan, now is the time to get one.

953598487

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Our article about reading scripture as an interfaith group is out in Crosscultural Studies of Religion and Theology! Check out the whole issue to get a glimpse of what our Jewish-Christian Young Scholars Network has been doing. eplus.uni-salzburg.at/csrt/periodi...

An excerpt of text reading, Neither interfaith dialogue nor biblical exegesis can succeed when entered into from a perspective of single-minded and unshakeable superiority. Only through the process of engaging with other people and other ideas, in a context where they feel safe to express those ideas, can new insights emerge. This process, which requires patience and humility in abundance, is neither straightforward nor predictable, but it recognizes a deep truth reflected in the etymology of “philology”: that love, a profound connection between multiple entities, lies at the heart of the philological pursuit.

031

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Today marks the publication of Unruly Books: Rethinking Ancient and Academic Imaginations of Religious Texts, edited by myself, Liv Ingeborg Lied, and Marianne Bjelland Kartzow! We delve into "unruly books" of antiquity and what they tell us about how people have understood books—then and now.

The book cover, front and back, for "Unruly Books: Rethinking Ancient and Academic Imaginations of Religious Texts," edited by Esther Brownsmith, Liv Ingeborg Lied, and Marianne Bjelland Kartzow

44720

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Bishop Budde's sermon is SO GOOD that it nearly brought me to tears. If you've only been encountering it in sound bites, I encourage you to listen through all fifteen minutes of it. This is true prophecy. Listen/watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwwa... Read: www.wral.com/story/bishop...

051

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

In my writing group today, I realized that there isn't a good antonym for "gaslighting." So I created one: "incandescing." We incandesce any time that we mutually affirm our reality, giving voice to our personal experiences, even and especially when they're uncomfortable, unhappy, or unpopular. 1/2

3297

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

AUTHORITARIAN KRYPTONITE IS NONCOMPLIANCE the only thing they have is people choosing to go along with the ruse. The minute alllllll the people busy propping up the evil say: Nah, not today, they are out of business. Decide how you’re gonna help gum up the works of harm.

131324423

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Today I am thinking about kintsugi—the art of mending broken pottery with precious metals. Things are broken right now. A lot of people are suffering, and a lot more will suffer in the days to come. I am especially holding space in my heart for trans and immigrant friends today. (1/2)

A shiny brown ceramic bowl mended with gold.

1141

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

“[Resistance] will come through our insistent and urgent love for each other. We have the collective memory and mapmaking to guide us. That does not mean it won’t be scary. It will. It just means we will turn our fear towards care not chaos. … I put my faith in us.” — @chasestrangio.bsky.social

140

Esther Brownsmith, PhD @brownsmith.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Hot off the press: Julie Faith Parker's wonderful new book, Eve Isn't Evil, reviewed for RBL. While it's not an academic book per se, it's an excellent model of how to speak to the public about liberatory biblical readings from an academically grounded perspective. www.sblcentral.org/home/bookDet...

sblcentral.org

SBLCentral

041

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Wil Wheaton ❌👑 @wilwheaton.net · 11/01/2025

I needed a reminder to take a break from doomscrolling, and I suspect I'm not the only one. So: it's okay to take even five minutes to put the phone down, minimize the window, whatever. Get a drink of water, unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders. Take care of yourselves & each other, friends.

3271386

Reposted by Esther Brownsmith, PhD

Katie Cross @drkatiecross.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

96% of children in Gaza feel that death is imminent; 49% wish to die because of the war. The psychological toll is devastating. The trauma experienced by these children will have lifelong consequences. www.warchild.org.uk/news/war-chi...

warchild.org.uk

War Child shares first study of psychological impact of war on vulnerable children in Gaza.

A first of its kind report - written by Gaza based Community Training Centre for Crisis Management, who are supported by War Child Alliance - lays bare the shocking psychological impact of the ongoing...

256