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Emma Smith

@oldfortunatus.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.5K following 352 posts

Professor of Shakespeare Studies, University of Oxford

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Reposted by Emma Smith
edelsemple.bsky.social @edelsemple.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Here’s a flavour of my Introduction to the OWC #Shakespeare #Pericles, this time focusing on the play’s sources and genre. Follow along for more and tune into my #OxfordWorldsClassics @engfac.bsky.social webinar with Prof Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social on 2 Nov.! (1/5)
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Hester L-J @starcrossed2018.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
King Henry: I thought we'd have a HOLY war now? #ProdigalPrince #SlowShakespeare www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo... Jasper Britton as Henry in the opening scene of 1 Henry IV @the-rsc.bsky.social 2014, its design (des. Stephen Brimson Lewis) emphasising the religious context & language here.
A photograph of a play in performance. A king wearing a crown stands centre stage; it's dimly lit, with an enormous projection of a stained glass rose window on the floor, sanctuary lamps and a big crucifix hanging above, and a prayer desk in the foreground. There are monks with lighted candles standing in the background.
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Hester L-J @starcrossed2018.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
King Henry: that's it, no more civil war! #ProdigalPrince #SlowShakespeare www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo... David Troughton (he'd also played Bolingbroke to Sam West's Richard II) as King Henry in the 2000 @the-rsc.bsky.social Henry IV, dir. Michael Attenborough, des. Kandis Cook, Es Devlin.
A black and white photograph of a character in a play. A middle-aged man wearing a long pale robe with a high collar, with an elaborate crown on his head. His hands are clasped in his lap as he sits; he's speaking and looking serious.
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Hester L-J @starcrossed2018.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
And so it begins: breathing space? 1 Henry IV #ProdigalPrince #SlowShakespeare www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo... Here's Richard Coyle as King Henry IV in Player Kings, the 2024 composite version of 1+2 Henry by Rob Icke.
A photograph of a play in performance. A king stands with a big crown, a red velvet and ermine robe, and an orb and sceptre in his hands; he's just been crowned. There are four people in very formal black suits standing around him, bowing; one of them has a purple cushion, which the crown has just been carried on. Other people are watching from the back of the stage, dimly lit. The mood is solemn.
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Catharine Morris @catharinemorris.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The new issue of the TLS - out tomorrow @thetls.bsky.social
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Hester L-J @starcrossed2018.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
#ProdigalPrince my new #SlowShakespeare blog, reading 1 Henry IV every day, around 10 lines at a time, starts TOMORROW, 1 October! Here's one of my favourite Hals (and actors): Geoffrey Streatfeild @the-rsc.bsky.social 2007-8, with David Warner as Falstaff.
A photograph of a play in performance. An older man with luxuriant white hair and beard is looking past the camera, holding up both his hands. He's wearing a crumpled white shirt and a reddish-brown leather jerkin, undone and unkempt, over an ample belly, with a jaunty red scarf. Sitting behind him, feet up on a bed, is a younger man with slicked down blond hair, wearing cream trousers tucked into black boots, a messy white shirt and cream jerkin. And quite a lot of eyeliner.
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Carissa Véliz @carissaveliz.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Thanks to everyone who has subscribed to The Antidote! It's been a good few weeks. If you keep reading, I'll keep writing. If you haven't subscribed, check it out here: carissaveliz.substack.com/about
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Rachel Willie @racheljwillie.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Come one, come all! Shower us with your lovely abstracts!
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Faculty of English, University of Oxford @engfac.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
English Faculty/OWC #Shakespeare Webinar on Richard III with Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social and Susan L. Anderson 🗓️5 October 🕑6-7.15pm 📍Online via Zoom All welcome! The discussion will be followed by a Q&A. #RichardIII FREE but booking required:
shakespeare-webinar-richard-iii.eventbrite.co.uk
English Faculty/OWC Shakespeare Webinar: Richard III
In this free webinar, Professor Emma Smith will be discussing the new edition of Richard III from Oxford World's Classics.
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Hester L-J @starcrossed2018.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Thanks to Jen our fab computer officer @cam-english-fac.bsky.social all my #SlowShakespeare blogs are back here www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo... as 'projects' #StarCrossed #StormTossed #DaggerDrawn #KingedUnkinged #2Dudes1Dog #BurningBarge #InkyCloak #MoonMad. #ProdigalPrince begins 1 October!
Joseph Fiennes as Shakespeare wearing a rather grubby shirt with an unnecessarily plunging neckline. He is looking quizzically/sultrily past the inky quill which he is holding in his ink-stained fingers.
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Iman Sheeha (she/her) @drsheeha.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The proofs are here 👀🔥
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Matthew Harrison @matthewharrison.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
@pointslikeaman.bsky.social (@aelagrand.bsky.social ) have been using the database recently, as I prep for teaching, just to broaden our sense of these roles. wanted to say thank you! it's wild seeing the 18th and 19th century history of cross-gender casting!
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edelsemple.bsky.social @edelsemple.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
1/4 Here’s a flavour of my Introduction to the OWC #Shakespeare #Pericles, this time focusing on the play’s Chorus, John Gower. Follow along for more and tune into my #OxfordWorldsClassics @engfac.bsky.social webinar with Prof Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social on 2 November!
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English and Media Centre @engmediacentre.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
EMC CPD Face-to-Face: Refresh Your Approach to King Lear for A Level Literature "I've taught King Lear for decades but came away with a refreshed view of not just the play but ways in which I can deliver it." - Nathan Baldock, Harris Academy St. John's Wood. Book by: 8am on 8th Oct buff.ly/Za1Njd3
buff.ly
EMC CPD Face-to-Face: Refresh Your Approach to King Lear for A Level Literature
A cross-specification course to reinvigorate both your own reading of <em>King Lear </em>and your teaching strategies. (Includes a print & digital copy of EMC's <em>Studying King Lear.</em>) <em>NB:…
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English and Media Centre @engmediacentre.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A wonderful lineup for November's emagazine A Level English Literature Student Conference! Bookings open at 10am on Tuesday 29th September. See details and booking information on our website: www.englishandmedia.co.uk/conferences/...
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German Shakespeare Society (DSG) @dsg-shakespeare.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
📣 Registration is open! Join us in Weimar on 6–7 November to discuss authority and its abuses, governance, and legitimacy in #Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure! We're very much looking forward to welcoming our distinguished speakers, including @pascaleexeter.bsky.social and @lizschafer.bsky.social.🎭
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Big thanks to all involved. Uplifting and encouraging to share and learn together. I think the suggestion from @oldfortunatus.bsky.social for ‘guerilla writing’ really remains the most feasible path to wider sharing.
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Dr Ben Wilkinson-Turnbull (He/They) 🏳️‍🌈 @benwt.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Brilliant time yesterday at @awickenden.bsky.social and @oldfortunatus.bsky.social ‘s “Politics of Rare Books” event @crasshlive.bsky.social talking about/connecting with people working across all things rare books and colonial provenance with academics and librarians.
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Alice Wickenden @awickenden.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I came out of it inspired, much more knowledgable, and very grateful to have the opportunity to create these spaces! Huge thanks to my co-convenor @oldfortunatus.bsky.social, to @leverhulme.ac.uk and @crasshlive.bsky.social for funding, and above all to everyone who presented & attended 🌞 📚
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Alice Wickenden @awickenden.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
It was such a pleasure to be in a room full of experts from libraries, archives, and academia yesterday for a genuinely collaborative and stimulating conversation on the colonial legacies of libraries.
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Faculty of English, University of Oxford @engfac.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Next up in our #Shakespeare webinar series is RICHARD III. Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social will be joined by Susan L. Anderson (Mary Baldwin University) to discuss the new Oxford World's Classics edition of the play. 5 October | 6-7.15pm (BST) This is a free public event & all are welcome!
shakespeare-webinar-richard-iii.eventbrite.co.uk
English Faculty/OWC Shakespeare Webinar: Richard III
In this free webinar, Professor Emma Smith will be discussing the new edition of Richard III from Oxford World's Classics.
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Pamela Hutchinson @pamhutch.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
QUEEN KELLY in NFT1 tomorrow! Restoration by @milestonefilms.bsky.social plus music by the amazing @neilkbrand.bsky.social and intro and book signing by moi. Ambition and audacity by Gloria Swanson and Erich von Stroheim.
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Tom Fletcher @tomfletcherun.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
What would it cost to save 87m lives this year? Less than 1% of what the world is spending right now on war. As the biggest week of the year for the United Nations gets close, will world leaders listen? 👇 #UNGA
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Dr Varsha Panjwani @drvarshap.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
OWC *A Midsummer Night’s Dream* is out! My intro moves through many Dreams: eco‑dreams, queer dreams, imperial dreams, sexist nightmares & the generative power of dreams. (Ed. Terri Bourus; gen. ed. Emma Smith.) Explore Dream's strangeness: global.oup.com/academic/pro...
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Katherine Ibbett @eparpillee.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Up bright (kinda) and early for the first official event of my tenure as Ertegun director: introducing @oldfortunatus.bsky.social as this year’s Ertegun Lecturer! So I’m beginning with delight, and long may it continue.
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Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Giveaway! Would anyone like a Romeo and Juliet jigsaw, by Anna Higgie? 1000 pieces plus guide to the play by me. Repost and I will pick a winner at random on September 22
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Faculty of English, University of Oxford @engfac.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
We can't wait! You can register for the webinar here: shakespeare-webinar-pericles.eventbrite.co.uk
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Marissa Nicosia @nicosiamarissa.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Time to send us your proposals for Stuart Drama! HT @racheljwillie.bsky.social @bkadams.bsky.social @cazzert.bsky.social
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Anne-Valérie Dulac @annevaleriedulac.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I have been able to establish that the series was adapted from Henry Irving’s 1884 production of Twelfth Night. The article will appear in volume 79 of Shakespeare Survey (Cambridge University Press). www.cambridge.org/core/books/s...
cambridge.org
Shakespeare Survey 79
Cambridge Core - Renaissance and Early Modern Literature - Shakespeare Survey 79
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History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
🧵Early subscription libraries in Yorkshire emerged in the 18th century. These libraries allowed middle-class members to pool money to buy and preserve books. The most important example is The Leeds Library, founded in 1768 and the oldest surviving proprietary subscription
The Leeds Library, founded in 1768 and the oldest surviving proprietary subscription library in the country. Image: Michael D Beckwith, Public Domain.
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Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
@pamhutch.bsky.social looking forward to Queen Kelly next weekend! whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/defau...
whatson.bfi.org.uk
Buy cinema tickets for Queen Kelly + intro by film critic and historian Pamela Hutchinson | BFI Southbank
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edelsemple.bsky.social @edelsemple.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Thrilled to announce the Oxford World Classics #Pericles was published today! It was a pleasure to write the Introduction for this popular play. I’ll post about it each week until my OWC #Shakespeare webinar with Prof Emma Smith on 2 Nov. 2026!
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Dorothy Berry @dorothyjberry.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
finally someone is speaking out against Big Rare-Books-and-Manuscripts
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Prof. Liz Oakley-Brown @earlymodlancs.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
New series of #InOurTime starts 17 September with a discussion of More's "Utopia" Fantastic panel- @lauraashe.bsky.social @drjoannepaul.bsky.social and Cathy Shrank BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Thomas More's Utopia share.google/Y0vqfquGZEgH...
share.google
BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Thomas More's Utopia
How the description of a fictional island has fascinated readers for centuries.
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Dr Varsha Panjwani @drvarshap.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Birthday love to Zena, my gorgeous adopted donkey!💙I adopted her to celebrate finishing a draft for my introduction to #AMidsummerNight’sDream 4 Oxford World’s Classics (Bottom/donkey/queer families in the play). And in mischievous timing, the edition releases tomorrow, the day after her birthday!
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 08/09/2026
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Faculty of English, University of Oxford @engfac.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
There's still time to register for this evening's #Shakespeare webinar at 6pm. Prof Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social will be joined by Dr Harry Newman to discuss the new OWC edition of The Winter’s Tale. Followed by a Q&A. All welcome! Free but registration required:
shakespeare-webinar-the-winters-tale.eventbrite.co.uk
English Faculty/OWC Shakespeare Webinar: The Winter's Tale
In this free webinar, Professor Emma Smith will be discussing the new edition of The Winter's Tale from Oxford World's Classics.
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Kim Gilchrist @kimgilchrist.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
It’s publication day for my new book! Have a look if you’re interested in romance plays, popular culture, regional and amateur playing, doubling, rogue Stuarts, joy, and the adventures of Mucedorus in the seventeenth century. Info here: bit.ly/4qRZHZ7 Published by @ardenpublisher.bsky.social
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Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Advice, please? Are the pronouns for Judith Butler relating to Gender Trouble they/them as they would be for recent work? (Please don’t @me complaining about pronouns: I’m not interested)
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Hester L-J @starcrossed2018.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
A second outing to Stoppard's Arcadia at the Duke of York's* yesterday. A beautiful production of that tender, clever, ecstatic, hysterically funny, profound play. On for another 10 days... (Sat on the stage which was FABULOUS.) * soon to be the Tom Stoppard, hooray.
A photograph of a play in performance. A young woman wearing a long regency-style dress stands in a spotlight on the stage, reaching up with her right hand and looking up. There are two enormous lit outline circles suspended above her, and multiple glowing white bulbs.
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English and Media Centre @engmediacentre.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
We're proud of our 25/26 numbers + grateful to everyone who engaged with our work. We think you're inspirational - in your commitment to your students + your understanding of authentic, creative, dialogic approaches to our subjects. Here's to more of the same in 26/27!
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Katherine Ibbett @eparpillee.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Oxford is looking for a new Chair in History of Art - please share widely my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
my.corehr.com
Job Details
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Faculty of English, University of Oxford @engfac.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Our live #Shakespeare webinars continue on 7 Sept at 6pm. Prof Emma Smith will be joined by Dr Harry Newman to explore the new OWC edition of The Winter's Tale, which offers fresh readings of the play’s provocations on genre, psychology, game-play, gender & the role of the non-human. Register now:
shakespeare-webinar-the-winters-tale.eventbrite.co.uk
English Faculty/OWC Shakespeare Webinar: The Winter's Tale
In this free webinar, Professor Emma Smith will be discussing the new edition of The Winter's Tale from Oxford World's Classics.
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Katherine Ibbett @eparpillee.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Today I get to start a new role for the next 3 years: I'll be the Director of the Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities, working with brilliant graduate students across all humanities subjects and from across the world. It's a total thrill. But first: the Moving of the Books...
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Dr Anna Hegland @alhegland.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
My article on Winter’s Tale and The Lady’s Tragedy is online! It’s the idea that made it out of the group chat: this article builds on conversations I had @memsunikent.bsky.social about bodies in performance, & in the #WTWatchParty during COVID lockdowns, & now it’s out in the world! #EarlyModern
Image of the Taylor & Francis page for the journal Shakespeare, with the title of a newly released article by OP: “Not to be Altered”: The Author-Character in Shakespeare and Middleton. End ID.
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fravery.bsky.social @fravery.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” ― Stephen King
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Ian Duhig @ianduhig.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
RIP Wendell Berry. I've thought about this poem. 'Our Real Work', a lot since starting on Confluence with @julietgutch It reminds me of Paul Valéry : “Une difficulté est une lumière. Une difficulté insurmontable est un soleil." : “A difficulty is a light. An insurmountable difficulty is a sun”.
RIP Wendell Berry. I've thought about this poem. 'Our Real Work', a lot since starting on Confluence with @julietgutch It reminds me of Paul Valéry : “Une difficulté est une lumière. Une difficulté insurmontable est un soleil."  : “A difficulty is a light. An insurmountable difficulty is a sun”.

It may be that when we no longer know what to do/we have come to our real work,/and that when we no longer know which way to go/we have come to our real journey.The mind that is not baffled is not employed./The impeded stream is the one that sings
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The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing @oxfordlifewriting.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
How do you connect life-writing with the largest issues of ethics and cultural history? Professor Lara Feigel discusses her groundbreaking book 'Custody' (2026) with Professor David Dwan. @engfac.bsky.social 📅 20 October | 🕠 17:30 📍 @wolfsonoxford.bsky.social 🔗 Register: buff.ly/eqZkMln
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British Shakespeare Association @bsashakespeare.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
BSA Conference 2027, 'Sounding Shakespeare: Voice, Music, Sound, Silence' CfP part 1: call for seminar and workshop proposals open now until 30 September! The conference will take place at the University of Leeds, 21-24 July 2027.
britishshakespeare.ws
Conference - British Shakespeare Association
BSA Conference BSA Conference: ‘Sounding Shakespeare: Voice, Music, Sound, Silence’ University of Leeds 21-24 July 2027 The BSA’s 2027 conference will take place in the School of English and the School of Music at the University of Leeds, with a focus on ‘Sounding Shakespeare’. Taking as a starting point the four general themes of voice, […]
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Shakespeare Institute @shakesinstitute.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Professor Ewan Fernie reviews David Womersley's new book in the Dublin Review of Books, reflecting on the continuing significance of Shakespeare as a source of intellectual and creative thought. drb.ie/article/make... #shakespeareinstitute #ShakespeareStudies #literature #dublinreviewofbooks
drb.ie
Make the Gruel Thick and Slab - Dublin Review of Books
A new, engaging study of Shakespeare’s tragedies opens up deeper, more general questions as well as a way of thinking better and farther about the complex matter of living.
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