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Dr Fiona Tolan

@fionatolan.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.6K following 189 posts

Reader in Contemporary Women’s Writing, LJMU, UK. Contemporary British fiction, feminist theory, politics of cleaning. Posting in a personal capacity.

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Reposted by Dr Fiona Tolan
Miriam Gershow @miriamgershow.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The most vulnerable essay I’ve ever written. What if you get a @nytimes.com (!!!) review for yr debut novel, but Janet Maslin uses Rate My Professor to deduce you’re an ugly loser? If you’re me, you let it haunt & haunt you. 🙏 to @exactingclam.bsky.social. www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-22...
exactingclam.com
Unusually Credible and Precise | Exacting Clam
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
“Val Doonican Rocks, But Gently”
Val Doonican Record album cover
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I got a great deal on 6 plants for new flowerbed. The plants just arrived (teaspoon for scale): 🌱
6 tiny plants that fit inside a small bowl
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Rereading Wuthering Heights because I’m going to be teaching it next semester. Haven’t read it for *decades* but feel like I know every word. I swear, you never know a text as well as the text you studied for A.Level.
Cover of the Penguin Classics edition of Wuthering Heights
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Reposted by Dr Fiona Tolan
THE NERVE @thenerve.news · 19/07/2026
NEW: Who funds Nigel Farage? And why has it taken till now for any journalistic scrutiny? @carolecadwalla.bsky.social who has tracked him for a decade exposes how the UK press & regulators looked the other way 🧵👇
Farage the money launderer and me: a decade of denial
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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
"His goal has been to write 10 books per week, which is the maximum Amazon allows." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/t...
nytimes.com
Someone Used A.I. to Write an Unauthorized Biography of Me. I Don’t Recommend Reading It. (Gift Article)
Someone used A.I. to write my biography. Thousands more of those books are polluting Amazon. Who is behind all this drivel?
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Wordle 1,852 6/6 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Outrageous! smdh #wordle
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The English Association @englishassociation.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
The EA, the Institute of English Studies, & University English are holding an online #emergency summit for all English colleagues to address the proliferation of redundancies, restructurings, other significant challenges to our & cognate disciplines across the sector. 👇🏼 mailchi.mp/1b1ef2d5a8a3...
mailchi.mp
Emergency Action On… the Situation for English (10:00 - 12:00, 16 July 2026)
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Hyphen @hyphenonline.com · 07/07/2026
Three students at a school in Luton have become self-published novelists while juggling schoolwork and exams. Their books explore fantasy, psychological mystery and coming-of-age fiction. hyphenonline.com/2026/07/07/luton-s…
hyphenonline.com
Three girls from one Luton school become self-published novelists - Hyphen
Hamidah Odunuga, Ghania Kashaff and Iqrah Imaan Imran from Challney High School for Girls want to show other Muslim girls what’s possible
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CarolineJMolloy @carolinejmolloy.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Seen lots of “don’t swim without lifeguards” messages - this is *exactly* why Lidos were built in ‘30s - til then kids & w/class folk swam in canals. The decline of Lidos is a public health scandal & we need public support to restore @simonforstroud.bsky.social savestroudlido.org/when-we-get-...
savestroudlido.org
“When we get down to swimming, we get down to democracy”: The story of the outdoor pool – Save Stroud Lido
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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
There's probably never been a better time to remind you that when David Hockney first took his Mum to California she remarked 'all this lovely weather and nobody puts their washing out'.
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Fiery Mark @fierymark.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
This has lived in my head for 2 joyful years 🙏🏼 @jonnymorris.bsky.social
Starmer & Zelenskyy discuss Sugababes
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arr @arr.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
english isn't for cowards. if you're not saying 'torpify,' that's a skill issue. there's no Académie Française telling you what to do. if you try to type 'pallific' and freak out when you see a little red underline, maybe you're not ready to roll with the big dogs.
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Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
You are creating that debate. There is no debate. There is a far right talking point and a media willing to traffic it into the mainstream.
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Chickens in Oslo
Large bronze statue of 3 noble-looking chickens
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
“Reform has the most extreme policy on energy and climate the UK has seen since modern science on the subject began. The party opposes solar; it opposes wind; it opposes batteries… Once again: Reform is largely funded by fossil fuels” Private Eye on the anti-thought, pro-corruption threat of Reform
MELTING TICE

RICHARD TICE, Reform
UK's deputy leader and spokesman on energy and climate, made an extraordinary appearance on Bloomberg's Zero podcast last week. A few things soon became clear: firstly, he hasn't read the science.

Tice claims the UK. is "almost
unilaterally" beggaring itself by choosing low-carbon power (tell that to China, building hundreds of gigawatts of solar and wind each year). He hasn't read the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) summary for policymakers. He says "thousands" of scientists disagree with accepted climate science but wouldn't - couldn't? - name any scientists who'd advised him.

He thinks net zero will bankrupt Britain (jobs in clean energy are growing faster than much of the rest of the economy). He threatened to walk out twice - once when presented with the IPCC's summary. When asked about batteries, which store solar and wind power safely and cheaply until the evening peak, he said: "We don't need batteries. It's ridiculous."

Reform UK has the most extreme policy on energy and climate the UK has seen since modern science on the subject began. The party opposes solar; it opposes wind; it opposes batteries, for God's sake. Its policy is "drill, drill, frack Lincolnshire".
Once again: Reform
is largely funded by fossil fuels.

The main defence Tice wielded was that the IPC recently abandoned its always implausible
"RCP8.5" scenario - the worst-case, which predicted coal use doubling or tripling this century.
İronically, Tice himself is the British politician who would do more than anything else to bring about that polluted world.

'Young Windy'
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NPR @npr.org · 25/05/2026
The books had to be light and small enough to fit in servicemen's pockets. The motto of the Council on Books in Wartime was: "Books Are Weapons in the War of Ideas."
n.pr
In the 'biggest book giveaway in history' WWII soldiers received pocket-sized reads
The books had to be light and small enough to fit in servicemen's pockets. The motto of the Council on Books in Wartime was: "Books Are Weapons in the War of Ideas."
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
All in a day’s work for this guy
Workman hanging from a harness working on the stone facade of the Bodleian library
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Reposted by Dr Fiona Tolan
Dr Seth Thévoz @seththevoz.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
It never ceases to amaze me how many election pundits don’t understand the dynamics of First Past the Post, and how vote-splitting works under the UK’s electoral system. John Curtice does. Listen to John Curtice.
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
#MayDay in #Oxford means squeezing past a crowd of tipsy dancing students when you need to get into the library at 9am ☀️ 🕺🏻 🍺
Colourful crowd of people standing in front of the Bodleian library steps
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Delivery day! 💜
Cardboard box with copies of book, Jackie Kay: Critical Essays
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
New Perkins Gilman just dropped! 🙌🏻
Cover image of The Yellow Wallpaper with words above: ‘check out Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s brand new title’
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
So pleased to see *Jackie Kay: Critical Essays* finally out in the world! It was a pleasure to work on & contains brilliant new essays and a wonderful foreword by Kay 💜
Front cover of book with photo of Jackie Kay
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
When Angela Rayner underpaid £40,000 in stamp duty, Richard Tice said it was "morally completely indefensible” and she should resign if she had “any moral decency”. Now we learn he set up four shell companies that let him avoid paying £100,000 he owed in tax and to then transfer the cash to Reform
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Is it just me or does this egg cup look like a happy Hitler?
Small wooden egg cup shaped like a person, with a black side fringe - looks a bit like a young happy Hitler
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
My cat suggests everyone just BASTA 🐈‍⬛
Tuxedo cat sat atop a fish tank against a white background and under a red sign that reads ‘BASTA!’
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
Her favourite nap spot 🐠
Tuxedo cat lying on top of a fish tank
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Just back from a winter solstice swim - a fast 1.5k in the Thames - perfect chilly Christmas start ❄️
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C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-Century Writings @c21literature.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
One of our reviews editors @heyitsdenisew.bsky.social has a book out! Congratulations Denise!
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James Bailey @drjamesbailey.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
Here’s the cover for LIKE A CAT LOVES A BIRD: THE NINE LIVES OF MURIEL SPARK, out 16 April with @sceptrebooks.bsky.social Preorder here: lnk.to/LikeaCatLove... Please share! The book doing well means I can write another (and fulfil my dream of owning a pizza oven), so it’s pretty serious 🐈‍⬛ 🐈‍⬛ 🐈‍⬛
Orange and pink cover for Like a Cat Loves a Bird, a forthcoming biography of Muriel Spark, with a black and white photo of Spark holding a black cat on the cover
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
This is the route I swam this morning (though under rainier skies) - a beautiful spot
Aerial shot of a winding River Thames banked by green fields
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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Don’t fall for the authoritarian hype – Reform and the hard right can be stopped in their tracks | Gordon Brown
From the US to Europe and Asia, grievances are being exploited to gain power. But moderate voices are still in tune with the majority, says former prime minister Gordon Brown
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John Williams @worldoftelly.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
None shall pass.
An implacable brown and tan rabbit guards a door.
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
You shall not pass!
Tuxedo cat stretched out across top step of brightly carpeted stairs
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
In the beautiful but uncomfortable Sheldonian Theatre waiting for Ian McEwan to arrive 📚 #oxford #books
Shot of inside of the Sheldonian theatre, university of Oxford, with crowd starting to fill the seats
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
Always funny driving along the A303 and getting a great view of Stonehenge and the tourists
Stonehenge and grey clouds overhead
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
Back home but thinking about 7pm at the beach when the sun goes down (sound up for waves) ⛱️
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
My current view over the trulli in Alberobello 🇮🇹
View through a stone doorway over a hillside of Italian trulli - traditional houses with distinctive conical grey stone roofs
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Matthew Leggatt @matthewleggatt.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Please help me share the CFP for this Literature Compass Special Issue dedicated to the work of Simon J James and covering key Victorian and Edwardian writers like H. G. Wells, George Gissing, Dickens, Wilde, George Du Maurier, and Conan-Doyle on behalf of Hadas Elber-Aviram.
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Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
It’s always “Ladies, if you are alienated by overwork, drop out of the public sphere and become a tradwife” and never “Ladies, if you are alienated by overwork, form a union.”
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Waiting on the library to open & trying to figure out which wing will be shadiest over the course of the day 🥵
Quadrangle of the Bodleian library with sunshine and shadows on the library walls
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 06/07/2025
My cat outraged at the cheeky fox in our garden in broad daylight 🐈‍⬛ 🦊
Fox walking along a wall with a black cat peering down at it from a fence
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 06/07/2025
Excuse me, is that breakfast pancakes I can smell?
Close up of a fox looking directly at the camera
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Faber Books @faberbooks.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
‘I get up at 4 a.m. when I wake, & it is black, & write till the babes wake. It is like writing in a train tunnel, or God’s intestine.’ Sylvia Plath on writing Ariel, in a letter to Richard Murphy in October 1962. At this time, Plath was sometimes writing two poems a morning.
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Paul Crider @paulcrider.liberalcurrents.com · 30/06/2025
This essay by @judedoyle.bsky.social on sex, porn, and the sex wars is just fantastic. I endorse every word of it.
jude-doyle.ghost.io
This Is How You Lose the Sex Wars
Trying to pick a pathway through forty years of the ugliest conflict in feminism.
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Predictions of £40bn hit to public finances from Brexit ‘correct’ Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast of a 4 per cent productivity loss from leaving the EU has been largely borne out, says top economist www.thetimes.com/business-mon...
thetimes.com
Predictions of £40bn hit to public finances from Brexit ‘correct’
Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast of a 4 per cent productivity loss from leaving the EU has been largely borne out, says top economist
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
So geekily excited to finally have my hands on the first issue of Good Housekeeping from 1922
Collage of 2 photos: on the left, a green leather bound copy of GH; on the right, colour cover of first issue - a drawing of a little girl pouring milk into a saucer for a kitten
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Dr Fiona Tolan @fionatolan.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
I can’t stop thinking about what it must be like to be Pitbull in the O2 arena, looking out at 1000s of people all dressed up as *you* 🔥
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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
PhD Studentship at Legacies of British Slavery Centre: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
ucl.ac.uk
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
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Wasafiri Magazine @wasafirimag.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Highly commended for the 2024 Wasafiri Essay Prize, Simar Bhasin discusses her paper, 'A Qissa of Resistance: Desire & Dissent in Selma Dabbagh’s Short Fiction'. This essay will be published in our forthcoming issue, Wasafiri 123. The 2025 Wasafiri Essay Prize is open until 30 June 2025.
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