iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 9h

They quoted me in this New Yorker piece about AI today. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

“Let’s say there’s a world or time line I exist in where A.I. has been subject to regulation. It is ethical. It has no footprint environmentally,” the novelist Jeff VanderMeer, a prominent critic of A.I., told me over the phone. “With those guardrails in place, would I read an A.I. book? All I can say is no. And the reason is, in part, because I want to read something coming from a particular mind.” Using A.I., he said, “feels like a betrayal of the whole point of why you’re a writer.”

10291082245

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

If you missed my talk yesterday, you can watch it here! Fantomina and an alternative genealogy of the romance! youtu.be/Jkq0PO4GeGU

youtu.be

Fantomina and an Alternative Genealogy of the Romance with Dr Sam Hirst

YouTube video by Romancing the Gothic

23012

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I've just put up another new Romancing the Gothic talk for October. Really excited to hear from Carolina Barcelos about contemporary Latin American women writing the Gothic and horror! October 10th at 4 and 9pm BST 4 - buytickets.at/romancingthe... 9 - buytickets.at/romancingthe...

buytickets.at

Select tickets – Latin American Women Are Speaking: Horror and Gothic in Our Contemporary Literature with Carolina Barcelos – Zoom

Latin American Women Are Speaking: Horror and Gothic in Our Contemporary Literature with Carolina Barcelos – Zoom, Sat 10 Oct 2026 - Our series of talks is funded exclusively by donations. The talks a...

02415

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

If you have been waiting for it, the #AScareADay challenge for October is up! It's one short story or poem a day to celebrate the spookiest of months. They're all hand-picked by my own fair hands. Take a peek! romancingthegothic.com/2026/09/16/t...

romancingthegothic.com

The 2026 October #AScareADay Challenge

It’s that time of year again! I’ve spent the whole year putting together this list, trying to find a good range of new authors and some old favourites! The #AScareADay challenge is all …

21511

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 11/09/2026

I'm going to have to get my Spanish driver's licence so I can go and visit all of these beautiful hórreos in northern Spain. It was really interesting learning about the history and cultural importance of these raised granaries while painting this watercolour

emmabolton.com

Los hórreos

Painting the cultural heritage of northern Spain

0114

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 15/09/2026

Never forget that maintaining the status quo is, and always will be, a political act.

2713185

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 12/09/2026

My favourite shopping experience in Granada is going to the huevería for eggs (but also beans, olive oil and potato chips). I feel so lucky that I can still find most things I need for day-to-day life a short walk away. I hope we can keep it that way

emmabolton.com

The huevería

In which we visit the egg shop

010

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 11/09/2026

emmabolton.com

Los hórreos

Painting the cultural heritage of northern Spain

0114

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 09/09/2026

I’m learning from these companies that the way to be present in life is more tech, not less. I’m glad to be corrected, as I’ve been thinking the opposite for decades.

1918

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 09/09/2026

It's been the hottest summer ever in Spain and it's felt like it

000

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 06/09/2026

It still feels like the middle of summer in Granada, so I thought we could all use a dip in the ocean:

emmabolton.com

Spring in Almuñecar

Swim with me at the beach in Granada

000

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 29/08/2026

Come and learn about the early Gothic with me this fall! Sam's courses are so good. Come for the stories that surprise you, stay for the thoughtful class discussions and unexpected rabbit holes. It's the same price for international students and there are usually movie watchalongs on Bluesky too!

142

Reposted by Emma Bolton

EMA 112 Andalucía @112andalucia.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

🔴Registrado un terremoto de magnitud 4,6 con epicentro en #Alhendín #Granada sentido en las cuatro provincias orientales ☎️Recibidas más de medio centenar de llamadas que informan de desprendimientos y grietas, sin que hasta el momento haya constancia de daños personales 📣Sigue #Consejos112 👇

062

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Yash @odriozolite.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Spain became the first nation to hold both the men's and the women's World Cup at the same time!

4499111

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Ian McQue @ianmcque.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

A new example of Meta shithousery. This is a post of mine on Instagram (left). Click the dots top right and this advisory note appears (right). I never use ai, never will. Why would they do this? Who benefits? Are they just trying to make viewers think everything is genAI so they just accept it?

A digital painting I posted on instagram. I didn’t use ai to create it.

An Instagram advisory saying the artwork in the post is ‘likely made with AI’

601875468

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 19/07/2026

Ready to support Spain in the World Cup Final! Slightly confused why we're starting with the US national anthem... ...and Tom Cruise?! Let's hope the game is better than this intro. ¡Vamos!

000

Reposted by Emma Bolton

John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Okay here's my Disability Pride Month Story Recommendation Thread! I'll update it across the month with books and short stories that I love. (It won't be daily because I am quite disabled and life is about to avalanche on me.) So! Here are things that ruled and that you should read.

516772

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

The great thing about an RtG conference is that it's online. It runs all day to cover different time zones. You can pop in as much or as little as you like. AND it's recorded (with speakers permission) so you can catch up on what you miss! Accessibility is important to us!

02710

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 28/01/2026

useful on this point with case studies: "Late lessons from early warnings: the precautionary principle 1896-2000" www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/...

Full report [1.7 MB]
Front, Preface, Acknowledgements [101.0 KB]
Chapter 1 - Introduction [94.9 KB]
Chapter 2 - Fisheries: taking stock [155.6 KB]
Chapter 3 - Radiation: early warnings; late effects [89.9 KB]
Chapter 4 - Benzene: an historical perspective on the American and European occupational setting [155.6 KB]
Chapter 5 - Asbestos: from 'magic' to malevolent mineral [141.1 KB]
Chapter 6 - PCBs and the precautionary principle [176.5 KB]
Chapter 7 - Halocarbons, the ozone layer and the precautionary principle [147.4 KB]
Chapter 8 - The DES story: long-term consequences of prenatal exposure [119.6 KB]
Chapter 9 - Antimicrobials as growth promoters: resistance to common sense [103.5 KB]
Chapter 10 - Sulphur dioxide: from protection of human lungs to remote lake restoration [104.6 KB]
Chapter 11 - MTBE in petrol as a substitute for lead [176.9 KB]
Chapter 12 - The precautionary principle and early warnings of chemical contamination of the Great Lakes [112.7 KB]
Chapter 13 - Tributyltin (TBT) antifoulants: a tale of ships, snails and imposex [154.8 KB]
Chapter 14 - Hormones as growth promoters: the precautionary principle or a political risk assessment? [99.1 KB]
Chapter 15 - ‘Mad cow disease’ 1980s–2000: how reassurances undermined precaution [138.7 KB]
Chapter 16 - Twelve late lessons [246.2 KB]
Chapter 17 - Conclusions [161.4 KB]
Some summary points [59.3 KB]

28625

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

This year we are celebrating 200 years since Ann Radcliffe's posthumous works with a conference focusing on women and people of marginalised genders in the Gothic. 22nd and 23rd August. All online. Open to all! Writing workshops! Panels! Keynotes! Poetry reading! Tickets from £10!!

02619

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 14/07/2026

"Ireland's Enterprise Minister Peter Burke attended a private dinner with tech giant Meta at the US ambassador’s residence in February to discuss the “digital agenda for Ireland’s EU presidency,” amid a US drive to soften Europe’s policing of big tech." www.independent.ie/business/min...

independent.ie

Minister dined with Meta lobbyists at US ambassador’s residence amid US drive to soften Europe’s policing of big tech

Peter Burke’s intimate dinner with the tech giant’s reps was aimed at discussing ‘the digital agenda for Ireland’s EU presidency’

3177117

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 14/07/2026

The Spanish commentators are just as entertaining the Spain v France match itself - just yelling Pedro Porro over and over and over until it just becomes a single rolled 'r'

000

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Ajuna Soerjadi 🌸 @ethicsofai.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

AI ethics hardly has anything to do with the use of AI anyway. It is about thinking critically who benefits from this technology, who structurally carries the burden, by whom it is built, from which ideologies and how this manifests in its harmful societal impact.

18919

Reposted by Emma Bolton

#13MorbidMondays @morbidimagining.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Welcome to the second of #13MorbidMondays until October! Prompt: SUCH WICKEDNESS Chat questions on the theme QUEER WRATH posted 1pm Eastern Share posts inspired by the prompt/theme or general posts of macabre art, writing, reading recs, music, folklore, history, etc. No A.I. Please use alt text

Text reading "SUCH WICKEDNESS #13MorbidMondays" against a backdrop of a dark smoky/cloudy graphic

#13MorbidMondays Prompts

1. bone-deep
2. such wickedness
3. a paler shade
4. many years
5. faded photograph
6. falsehearted
7. within the woods
8. moonrise
9. never found
10. in the mirror
11. all silent
12. an unsteady hand
13. the epitaph

Illustration of four skeletons playing instruments and dancing from The Dance of Death (1493) by Michael Wolgemut, from the Nuremberg Chronicle

1127

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 13/07/2026

This post grew out of a conversation with a friend who struggled to read after having her first kid. It's full of ideas for starting to enjoy audiobooks more if - like me and my friend - you're a fast, visual learner and your mind tends to wander when you try to listen to long chunks of text

emmabolton.com

When you can't read the way you used to

How to enjoy audiobooks (from someone that didn't come naturally to)

020

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 12/07/2026

When I was in grade 7, my class spent an entire term reading The Hobbit together out loud. Then we made papier-mâché puppets of the main characters and wrote our own children's book. Mine was about a cat who was an aspiring ballerina but got chicken pox the night before the show. I loved it

020

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her) @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

This is why everyone should check out the podcast @thisguysucked.com! As host @ceaubin.com says, "you can't libel the dead." Historians! Do you have a favourite dead person? You know what to do. This is me doing Christopher Columbus:

podcasts.apple.com

Christopher Columbus with Surekha Davies (Subscriber Preview)

Podcast Episode · This Guy Sucked · August 28, 2025 · 16m

28514

Reposted by Emma Bolton

The Delicious Legacy Podcast @deliciouslegacy.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

This 7.6cm terracota figurine shows a woman baking bread in a tandoor style oven, right? Very accurately as well. Where is it from? Cyprus, 600- 450 BCE It's amazing how far and wide georgaphically, and time-wise, this style of baking encompasses! Check the air hole at the bottom too!

Terracotta woman baking bread
Cypriot
ca. 600–480 BCE

27029

Reposted by Emma Bolton

John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Unboxing my new Fantasy novel the only way I know how: WITH A SWORD.

40544143

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Janna Krone @jannakrone.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

The online course on Gothic literature past and present finished today and it was beyond wonderful. If you are interested in literature you should check out @romgothsam.bsky.social classes. It was definitely more fun and educational than a lot of the classes I did at university. Will miss it.

1213

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 06/07/2026

as genai proliferates, it has become difficult to avoid it. at @aial.ie, we're compiling a list of genai-free tools, libraries & websites to support research across tasks;grammar/spell check, coding/code review, data analysis (esp large scale text classification) & graphing/data visualisation recs?

static.klipy.com

Freemedou: We'd Love To Hear It

ALT: Freemedou: We'd Love To Hear It

6192100

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 12/01/2026

I felt such a sense of achievement finishing this watercolour painting of Granada's Fuente de las Granadas. It was already one of my favourite monuments, and taking the time to paint it has helped me appreciate its details even more. #acuarela #art #spain

A watercolour painting of the Fuente de las Granadas or the pomegranate fountain in central Granada by Emma Bolton on a background of leaves. The three-tiered pink fountain is in the foreground while in the background are lush, textured trees, the mountains and a blue sky. The style is bright and illustrative.

141

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Chella Ramanan 🇬🇩 @chellaramanan.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Calling all the sapphic romance fans... Sam gives great talks. Luckily one is happening this Saturday on the history of sapphic romance... 👇💋💅💜

083

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Hey all! Guess who's doing a talk on the history of sapphic romance this weekend!? ME! Come and join me at 10am or 7pm BST on Saturday 10 - www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fated-love... 7 - www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fated-love...

eventbrite.co.uk

Fated lovers, burning houses and unruly hens: A sapphic history of romance

Dr Sam Hirst introduces a history of sapphic romance with closer studies of work by Tasha Suri, Olivia Waite and more!

47351

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Sarah @sarahalba.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I did a history of romance course with Sam at the start of the year so I *know* this is going to be an excellent talk. Come join us!

041

Reposted by Emma Bolton

#13MorbidMondays @morbidimagining.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Welcome to the first of #13MorbidMondays until October! Prompt: BONE-DEEP Chat questions on the theme BONES posted at noon Eastern Share posts inspired by the prompt/theme or general posts of macabre art, writing, reading recs, music, folklore, history, science, etc. No A.I. Please use alt text

Text reading "BONE-DEEP #13MorbidMondays" against a backdrop of a dark smoky/cloudy graphic

31812

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 02/07/2026

My latest watercolour painting inspired by a photo I took of my Dad taking a photo of the lions at the Patio de los Leones in the Alhambra palace in Granada last summer #art #acuarela #watercolor

Watercolour painting by Emma Bolton of a white man in a red shirt, navy cap and bright blue shorts crouched down to take a photo over a gutter. Behind him is a pink building filled with beautiful archways covered by a pointed, brown tiled roof in the Patio de los Leones at the Alhambra palace in Granada. In the background are a turquoise sky and some cypress trees.

0161

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 02/07/2026

My latest watercolour painting inspired by a photo I took of my Dad taking a photo of the lions at the Patio de los Leones in the Alhambra palace in Granada last summer #art #acuarela #watercolor

0161

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Everybody in the "climate space" (which means everyone on earth...) needs to understand these mind-blowing figures. Google's "total electricity consumption jumped from 31 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024 to 43 TWh in 2025." In ONE year. The AI corporate arms race is eating the world.

7043332446

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Micro SF/F by O. Westin @microsff.com · 29/06/2026

When the selkie returned to the beach, a man was holding her sealskin. "Is this yours?" he asked. "May I borrow it?" "You want to be a seal?" "No, but when I take it off, I'll be a woman, right?" "My heart, you already are," the selkie said. "That skin is mine, but I can help you find yours."

162493885

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 26/06/2026

"Rounded corners and uneven walls show Roman builders designed the cistern to fit the natural terrain rather than forcing the landscape into a standard plan." A cool discovery re: a Roman water management system in the mountains in Cádiz

010

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Toft @toft.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

My absolute favorite, my eternal love, the giant turkey library

1214

Reposted by Emma Bolton

Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Artist’s painting of a hippo on a flake of limestone 🦛❤️ Perhaps a practice sketch, or simply for the joy of painting 3,500 years ago! From Deir el-Bahri, ancient Thebes, c. 1479–1425 BC 📷 The Met #Archaeology #Art

402287475

Emma Bolton @emmabolton.com · 25/06/2026

This is such a good watch! @olivia.science discusses why the current AI hype cycle isn't sth new, how women have been (and continue to be) objectified and displaced by inanimate objects, and why it's harmful for eg image generators to displace artists. And you'll get to learn about knocker-uppers

1179