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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

FULL BOOKS! Or, as we once called them, BOOKS.

Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"Require heat in wintertime" and "Ban beige-only classroom decorations" seem obvious to some, though few evidence-based studies exist.

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"Require full books" is ranked 25th out of 30 here, only a few above "Private school vouchers" and "Allow A.I. use." The explanation? "Some experts saw this as common sense, though there is little existing research."

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Sarah Brouillette @sarahbrouillette.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

my book is out now 🫶 💗 $18 with coupon code E26CNTNT enjoy!!!??? :)

dukeupress.edu

Content Machines: Reading and Writing in the Platform Era

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

So looking forward to this! Join me, @naemmanuele.bsky.social, and @ncte.org this Tuesday!

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Nicholas A. Emmanuele, PhD (he/him/his) @naemmanuele.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

This Tuesday, I’ll be in conversation @manshel.bsky.social about the American canon, text selection, & ELA standards. You don’t have to have read his article (“High School English & the Making of American Readers”), but we’ll be unpacking it—then having group chats! Open to all @ncte.org members!

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Sarah Wasserman @sarahlwasserman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It’s here it’s here!! 🥳 Hate LinkedIn but love novels? Read this book! So excited to receive @sselisker.bsky.social’s excellent book from @academic.oup.com on character networks. Scott is as kind as he is smart and I feel lucky to read and know him.

Cover of Scott Selisker’s book, Character Networks in Contemporary US Fiction

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

If you're curious how the American literary scene—and prizes like the National Book Award in particular—came to be so diverse... ❌ DON'T read this predictable rant about "Woke Pulitzers" or whatever! ✅ DO check out my book WRITING BACKWARDS, available here: cup.columbia.edu/book/writing...

A screenshot of a New York Times opinion column by Bret Stephens titled "The Literary World's D.E.I. Checklist."

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

We even teach this in schools! Many high school English students do a whole unit on “the individual *versus* society”!

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Listen, my opponent is going to try to tell you I’m pro-Raccoon. That’s just not the case.

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I know there are a lot of reasons to be worried right now about the future of higher education, but walking through the university just now I saw a guy walking with his pet dog cozied up to his chest—but only his pet dog was a giant raccoon!

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Scott Selisker @sselisker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Sample chapter up! "Ways of Reading the Character Network" from my forthcoming book. Expands my Bechdel Test article, w/ more angles on vernacular criticism (manic pixie dream girls, sidekicks of color, minor-character elaborations), character, humanities v. dataviz. academic.oup.com/book/63155/c...

academic.oup.com

Ways of Reading the Character Network

Abstract. This chapter elaborates on contemporary reading practices that center the character network: vernacular criticism like the Bechdel test and other

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Nathan Edwards @grackle.space · 22/09/2025

dudes rock

Tumblr post from every-lemon
Sep 8

so my spouse is part of a weirdly intense but mostly benign men's workout group that meets at like, 5:30am outside every day, even in winter. they do a lot of burpees and lugging cinder blocks up hills and stuff.
they take turns leading the workouts and tomorrow is his turn. I asked what he was planning. he handed me a sheet of William Carlos William poems from a large stack he'd printed.
I said "what" and he explained, helpfully, "it's a William Carlos William themed workout." I asked what inspired it and he said "l've been planning this for months."

Follow up tumblr post
every-lemon
Sep 9
it was a smash hit.
a dozen guys showed up (more than usual). spouse brought a red wheelbarrow and they took turns bringing cinder blocks up the hill with it. then they broke up in teams and did a relay with an "icebox" (cooler filled with 40lbs of ice). at the end he opened the cooler to reveal it was full of beach plum lacroix and all the guys cheered. they drank sparkling water as he read 'approach of winter' out loud.
he was home by 6:30am.

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Nicholas A. Emmanuele, PhD (he/him/his) @naemmanuele.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I’m excited to chat with @manshel.bsky.social on how books have entered our high school curriculum and then jump into breakouts rooms to hear how everyone is addressing curriculum development and implementation in their schools. Register today for 9/29/26! #CEL26 #NCTE26 #OnLeadership #LeadELA

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

So looking forward to this conversation with @ncte.org and @naemmanuele.bsky.social! If you're ever been curious about why we teach the books we teach and—more importantly—why we teach them *the way* we do, please join us!

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National Council of Teachers of English @ncte.org · 10/09/2026

Join the Conference on English Leaderhsip (CEL) for a discussion with @manshel.bsky.social about the history of secondary American English education, from the literary canon to parallel institutions of Advanced Placement, CliffsNotes, the Common Core State Standards, and more. bit.ly/4ifZmxa

The image is a promotional graphic for an event titled "On Leadership: Designing ELA Curricula." It features a conversation with Alexander Manshel. The event will occur on Tuesday, September 29, from 7:00 to 8:15 P.M. ET. The graphic includes the logos for CEL and NCTE, which is described as a constituent group of NCTE. A photo of Alexander Manshel is included.

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I've said it before, I'll say it again: there is no book or author or concept that is "too complex" for the high school classroom. The kids are all right and we'd do well to treat 'em like it!

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Brian Glavey @glavey.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

My book, Relatability: Sharing and Oversharing with the New York School Poets, will be out later this year--just in time to stuff it in your stockings--but you can preorder now with the code UCPNEW for 30% off. @uchicagopress.bsky.social press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

press.uchicago.edu

Relatability

An engaging account of how the New York School poets used art to imagine their queerness as something that might be shared with other people.How did Frank O’Hara and other New York School poets—a smal...

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Andy Hoberek @thathoberekguy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

“Woke 1 was crazy! We’ll never make those same mistakes again. ‘Defund the police’ was a really bad slogan, and we can all agree that it cost Democrats the 2020 election. Or at least, it would have, if Democrats had lost that election.”

mcsweeneys.net

Future Iterations of Woke

“In Woke 7, we come to understand that waiting for someone to do something bad before forgiving them is the mistake of Wokes 1 through 6, frankly. In Woke 7,...

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Chris Power @chrispower.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Elizabeth McCracken’s 10/10 punctuation rankings

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

BIG NEWS! The illustrious and prominent and 100% real venue CIO Views has chosen me for their cover story on the “10 Most Influential Something or Other”! At first I balked at the 3,500 USD “Featuring Fee,” but when a venue as well-regarded and storied and—I cannot stress this enough—*REAL* calls…

Hey Alexander,

I hope you are doing well.

I understand your schedule might be tight, but I didn’t want you to miss the chance to be featured in our upcoming edition: “The Top 10 Most Influential Leaders Transforming Education, 2026” by CIO Views.

We’d be honored to include your story. If you'd like to discuss it further, I’m happy to arrange a quick call at your convenience

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Brian Glavey @glavey.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Just re-upping that @laheffernan.bsky.social and I are proposing an in-person seminar called "Aesthetics for Amateurs" for ACLA in Houston this May. Give it a gander and considering submitting by September 22! www.acla.org/seminar/d6b4...

acla.org

View Seminar | American Comparative Literature Association

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Andy Hoberek @thathoberekguy.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I wrote a thing, which benefitted tremendously from the peer review process at @post45.bsky.social. Send them your stuff!

post45.org

The Blues Brothers, Tammy Wynette, and the Long Denouement of the 1960s – Post45

Andrew Hoberek

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Trevor Aleo @mraleosays.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Heck yes! This looks like it’ll be a fantastic event put on by a great organization. Considering basically everything related to English Education right now, it is more important than ever for all of us, researchers and practitioners alike, to understand the history of our field.

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

So looking forward to talking with Nick and @ncte.org about the past and present of high school English!

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Nicholas A. Emmanuele, PhD (he/him/his) @naemmanuele.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I’m excited to invite all @ncte.org members to a conversation with @manshel.bsky.social, author of “High School English & the Making of American Readers” on 9/29 @ 7pm! Then, we’ll use breakout rooms to discuss ELA curricula in our own schools. #leadELA #OnLeadership ncte.org/on-leadershi...

ncte.org

On Leadership: Designing ELA Curricula

Join the NCTE constituent group the Conference on English Leadership (CEL) for a discussion with Alexander Manshel, author of “High School English and the Making of American Readers.”

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

📚📚📚 Ready or not, IT'S BACK TO SCHOOL TIME! Time to dust off those lesson plans and organize the book room for another year. It also seems like a perfect time to re-share this article on how the books in the book room got there in the first place, and why those lesson plans look the way they do!

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

“Against the forces of anti-intellectual fascists and AI tech lords, self-flagellating academics and immediacy fetishists alike, we need to champion the difficulties and pleasures of humanities scholarship with our whole chests.” defector.com/humanists-ha...

defector.com

Humanists Have Done Nothing Wrong | Defector

For many years, I’ve held a pet theory that cultural consumers can be grouped into two broad categories: Primary Source People and Secondary Source People. The former are the book lovers, cinephiles, ...

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

What do contemporary climate novels and news coverage of Greta Thunberg have in common? A strange focus on the figure of the precocious only child! Highly recommend this fabulous new article in Contemporary Literature by McGill's own ADAM HILL! @cl-journal.bsky.social @mcgillenglish.bsky.social

cl.uwpress.org

Eco-Anxiety’s Precocious Only Children

> Many of us are balancing the marrow-deep desire for a child against an awareness that as they grow up, there may be no bugs left to swat away when we’re walking in the wilderness, no coral reefs to ...

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Laura McGrath @lbmcgrath.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Happy to see MIDDLEMEN reviewed in the Financial Times! “Extensively researched. . . There is plenty here for readers curious about the sociology or economic of literature - or for those who just appreciate a bit of literary gossip.”

ft.com

Middlemen by Laura B McGrath — literature’s power brokers

An insider’s look at publishing argues that literary agents have shaped genres, global reputations and the economics of modern fiction

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Jay Shelat @jshelat1.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Friends, my book—No Place for Home: Terror and Race in Literature After 9/11—has a cover! I’m so pleased with what Rachel Moeller and the design team at @uminnpress.bsky.social came up with! The book will be out in Spring 2027 and that I’ll post a pre-order link once it’s available! 1/2

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

In short, if you liked Emily Wilson on The Odyssey, then you might also like @jdconnor.bsky.social on TENET!

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Last night—don't ask me why—we watched TENET. Then I read this fantastic essay by @jdconnor.bsky.social. It's about the movie and logistics and streaming and COVID and Christopher Nolan's "ego-ideal." It's also about how studying contemporary culture entails trying to predict the future.

static1.squarespace.com

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

My takeaway from this is that Sianne Ngai is going to be a multi-millionaire once Nolan brings THEORY OF THE GIMMICK to IMAX!

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J.D. Connor @jdconnor.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

@post45.bsky.social finally has an instagram. It stinks! (I set it up.) But it kinda works. And it will get better, I promise. For now, it might be easier to find out about our new stuff if you subscribe over there. As always, everything will be at post45.org, too www.instagram.com/post45journal/

instagram.com

Instagram

Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

And though the cunning Lionel had knelt beside the charmèd pool to dip the babe in waters that would weaken ev’ry part he left the head that struck the ball unsoak’d

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

So foul and fair a tub I have not seen.

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Every 9th grader writing an essay on the "theme of fate" in Oedipus or Macbeth just found their opening paragraph

The year is 2007. Lionel Messi is helping Sheila Ebana give a bubble bath to her infant son, Lamine Yamal.

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

"Watch every play happen, then watch the important plays happen again in slow motion from three different angles, plus once more in super-slow motion from the best, most instructive angle." Kathryn Winner is BACK for @nplusonemag.com with the best, most instructive angles on the World Cup!

nplusonemag.com

Theater Kids | Kathryn Winner

Stutter Steppers With the knockout rounds well underway, it’s time to contemplate one of soccer’s great perennial mysteries: Why do the best players alive miss so many World Cup penalty kicks? The kic...

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

nplusonemag.com

Theater Kids | Kathryn Winner

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J.D. Connor @jdconnor.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Post45 CFP Alert: Super excited to announce this special issue, edited by Michelle N. Huang and Carlos Alonso Nugent. If you've ever thought that our periodization (or ASAP's!) needed fixing, now is your chance. submissions.post45.org/journal/CFP/...

submissions.post45.org

Why45? (or Why68?) | Post45 Journal Submissions

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Melanie Walsh @mellymeldubs.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

This is such a valuable dataset on small press bestsellers, preserving nearly 20 years of SPD's history. So much diligent data curation here, pieced together from social media posts and web archives. Congrats to Sera-Ann Hargrove and @micahbateman.bsky.social on creating this important resource.

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Post45 Data Collective @post45data.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

New dataset hot off the press 🚨 This data documents the bestselling authors and titles distributed by Small Press Distribution (SPD) between 2006-2023, including American poetry, short and experimental fiction, & hybrid nonfiction and essay. Check it out! data.post45.org/posts/small-...

data.post45.org

Small Press Distribution Bestseller Lists 2006-2023 – Post45 Data Collective

This dataset documents the bestselling authors and titles distributed by Small Press Distribution (SPD) between 2006-2023, including American poetry, short and experimental fiction, and hybrid nonfict...

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SHARP @sharpweb.org · 08/07/2026

Starting in just a few minutes at #SHARPIES26: @gbarnhisel.bsky.social interviewing @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and @manshel.bsky.social!

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Greg Barnhisel @gbarnhisel.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Come hear us talk about #BookHistory today at 3:30EDT/12:30PDT! Three @columbiaup.bsky.social authors who benefited from @philipleventhal.bsky.social 's editing

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UVA Press @uvapress.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Out now! "Animal Minds, Other Minds: Nonhuman Intelligence and Narrative Form in American Fiction" by Victoria Googasian How a fascination with animal consciousness, perception, and intelligence shaped American fiction in the twentieth century www.upress.virginia.edu/title/10206/ #booksky #readUP

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

TOMORROW! Join @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social, @gbarnhisel.bsky.social, and me at the @sharpweb.org festival for a conversation about books, how books get made, and how books about how books get made get made!

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Alexander Manshel @manshel.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

OK, hear me out. What if we just call it here and re-watch England-Mexico?

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Philip Leventhal @philipleventhal.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

"A brilliant diagnostic of the hypocrisies, ambivalences, and evasions of literary culture." -- Christopher Kempf Coming this fall: CROWD CONTROL, by Claire Grossman, Juliana Spahr, and Stephanie Young. tinyurl.com/36pd5bxh @columbiaup.bsky.social

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