Sign in

Niall O'Sullivan

@rustyniall.bsky.social
407 followers 196 following 782 posts

(in no particular order…) poet, essayist, lecturer, gamer, dad buttondown.com/niall niall.garden

PostsRepliesMedia
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
On the train listening to two priests talk about a visit to Down House and Darwin's religious wife. I love being sober.
000
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
Tim Clare @timclare.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I'm in what I hope is just a tricky interregnum at the moment as multiple pitches & jobs fell through & unfortunate circumstances have delayed moving ahead with my new book at the pace I'd like. I'm trying to find solutions but if you like my work, a few tips would quickly add up: ko-fi.com/timclare
ko-fi.com
Buy Tim Clare a Coffee
Become a supporter of Tim Clare today!
1712
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I feel quite smug because I'm going to set the wonderful text-based adventure game Citizen Sleeper to accompany Brave New World and Neuromancer for my half of a "Moderns to Contemporaries" module. Told some of my students and they were really happy about it.
021
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Tried doing a pullup on some playground bars and immediately got leg cramps. It's like my legs were saying to my arms, "Don't worry lads, we got ya. Limbs united!"
000
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Me hearing Cliff Richard's Devil Woman on the Grand Theft Auto 6 preview. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4aD...
youtube.com
Limmy - Aha / Benny Harvey
YouTube video by Smoked2Death88
010
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Had a great gig at Bingo Master's Breakout last night and decided to read my old greasy spoon cafe poem as an encore (it was a Springsteen themed night so it seemed to fit). Ouch! I felt like Vegas Elvis trying to slide down the Jailhouse Rock fireman pole. It's a young man poem. Never again!
220
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Ed Sheeran’s pledge to donate $2m to some intentionally vague “regional aid“ makes up a smaller fraction of his reported $400m fortune as the meal deal I bought from Sainsburys has in relation to my current bank balance.
010
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
After a six-year hiatus, Poetry Unplugged is returning to Covent Garden's Poetry Cafe one more time for NATIONAL POETRY DAY UNPLUGGED!!! Thursday 1st October, 7.30pm (doors 7pm) for details and booking please visit the Poetry Society website. poetrysociety.org.uk/event/poetry...
1197
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I don't know what Nick Clegg just said, but Tom Watson replied with, "Hold my beer..." www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson joins Palantir
Peer takes full-time position at the controversial company as it fends off pressure from both Andy Burnham’s government and Sadiq Khan
010
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
There's a lot of English born, second generation Irish catching strays right now ... (Keep sticking it to him though, we can take it).
000
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I met Ed Sheeran when he was younger and he was a bit of a nob, but so was I at that age, so I let it be. Present day Ed Sheeran can definitely do one though.
000
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I am genuinely more excited for new Castlevania than I am for GTA6.
000
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
One good thing about getting older as an artist, for me at least, is seeing any display of eminence, or gravitas, as bullshit. It's utterly hollow and performative, but age can lend an air to it that younger artists are particularly vulnerable to.
000
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Old man gripe: why can't I see a single page telling me what services are running from my local station tomorrow? Why do I have to visit the engineering works pages of each operator and scan through a dense wall of text summarising for each route? AI is also really useless at finding this info too.
010
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
There's a degree of simultaneous smugness and unfunniness that can only come from a Guardian columnist. Other papers might throw in some reactionary vitriol or pure hatred, but Guardian columns always make me think of someone writing while trilling out little opera laughs at how clever they are.
000
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Sometimes I go on Threads and the first thing I see is a funny video and the next thing I see is a reminder of why I never go on Threads.
020
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Just found out you can buy a ".irish" domain extension now, which is the most American thing I've seen in quite a while.
010
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
There's been some discourse that makes me think my old foe, the page/stage divide, is stirring up again. Whenever shots are being fired from one end to the other, remember that there are a great number of poets bridging the two poles and all are welcome to cross back and forth in each direction.
040
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
RIP Wendell Berry. His poem, Questionairre, is more apt than ever.
Poem: “Questionnaire”
By Wendell Berry
1. How much poison are you willing
    to eat for the success of the free
    market and global trade? Please
    name your preferred poisons.

2. For the sake of goodness, how much
    evil are you willing to do?
    Fill in the following blanks
    with the names of your favorite
    evils and acts of hatred.

3. What sacrifices are you prepared
     to make for culture and civilization?
     Please list the monuments, shrines,
     and works of art you would
     most willingly destroy.

[cont][cont]

4. In the name of patriotism and
     the flag, how much of our beloved
     land are you willing to desecrate?
     List in the following spaces
     the mountains, rivers, towns, farms
     you could most readily do without.

5. State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
     the energy sources, the kinds of security,
     for which you would kill a child.
     Name, please, the children whom
     you would be willing to kill.
020
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Okay, so I really wasn't expecting Cliff Richard's Devil Woman to be the thing that finally got be feeling a bit hyped for GTA 6.
000
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
We're having a bit of a week, aren't we? I really liked her work and I really liked her which is a good thing as both were inseparable. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist who became a global superstar, dies aged 97
From the 1950s to the 2020s, Kusama produced vivid paintings, sculptures and vast installations that often drew on her experience of hallucinations
000
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I get that headlines have to be cautious during a disaster but the videos of the Nepal flash floods are horrific. Thousands must have died.
010
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
RIP Tim Curry. Yesterday death messed up and took the wrong 80 year old. Today it messed up further and took the wrong 80-year-old from Home Alone 2.
011
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
My kids ended up getting a bag of books when they were little because Dolly Parton bought them for every child in Southwark that year. They didn't know who she was so I told them that she was famous for being a very kind lady. RIP
040
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
There's been some Gen X/sick day discourse and I have to admit that I once wrote down "ennui" as my reason for sickness. Nobody came back to me about it.
130
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Lost my phone with Microsoft authenticator and trying to log into my personal account. The fun thing is that when you choose the "I don't have MS authenticator" they make you send a code to your email and your phone, make you change you password before asking you to log in with MS Authenticator.
120
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
Shivam Bhatt @shivambhatt.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Photo of a beautiful scrimshaw pie crisper made of aged ivory in the shape of a sea horse. Caption reads: Whaler made scrimshawed whale ivory Sea horse pie crimper, circa 1850.

@tonyhawktruther replies "string of words your grandpa lets out when he stubs his toe"
143271767
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
In the Guardian’s review of ‘The Great ADHD Myth?’, Lucy Mangan writes that the mother of a boy featured in the documentary “decides to keep him off the drugs”. In the end credit sequence of the programme, it says she put him back on the medication “after poor exam results”.
401470328
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Roma. It looked fantastic, was brilliantly shot and acted. But I hated how working class people were depicted as a one-dimensional dichotomy of subservient mutism or toxic masculinity while middle class characters were depicted as conflicted and complex.
010
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
I reckon the "race realist" is going to find himself at the sharp end of the hate campaign that he set in motion as the journalistic institutions seek to distance themselves from their part in it. They will also blame Cambridge, but he's going to find that the press were never his friends.
010
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
If the world ever gets too depressing, may I recommend watching a Maki Itoh wrestling match? I did not know about her cardboard home made championship belt gimmick but I am most definitely here for it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukze...
youtube.com
【Full Match】Maki Itoh vs Aya Sakura| Kawaii Of Kawaii Championship Match - English Commentary -
YouTube video by Stardom Global
010
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 15/08/2026
TW: Suicide If you tell people you have SI, many are likely to suggest you call 988 or text the suicide lifeline. These are good resources *if you need to be kept physically safe;* they are not as helpful if your ideations are passive. Allow me to share some things that have helped me. /1
512292772
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Made the mistake of posting in the main reddit news sub under a post about Arday as the place is obviously full of racist gowls. The three digit hit to my reddit karma was a worthwhile price for telling them exactly what they are.
020
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
"Cambridge has a lot to answer for..." seems to be the rallying cry for the ghouls right now. "They put him in that position..." And what position, exactly, would that be?
100
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 14/08/2026
This is the coverage of Arday **just in the Telegraph** in the UK. This is only the first four pages of results, just in one outlet.
Ä14
Jason Arday found dead
2 hours ago — Mr Arday was found •unresponsive• at an address in Battersea. south London. on Froy
afternoon. He was uter pronounced dead at the scene. A Read rnore
Jason Arday says he was an illiterate, mute child. His .
6 hours ago — Jason Arday says he was an i&erate. mute child. Cambridge's youngest-ever black
professor in 2023. Arday attended from the age of four to 11
r— mm-WI 3
A PhD is no longer a sign of brilliance — take it from Dr Arday
1 day aeo — Juon Arday resigns from the Unwersity of Cambrdge after The Telegraph reports he had
falseb• claimed to have pubåshed a book
We are all Jason Arday now
S days ago — Jason Arday resons from the University of Cambridge after The Telegraph reports he had
falsew cGimed to have published a book Aug 7.2028. Read more
Cambridge professor claimed he was on Seven Up..
2 Aug 2026 — He was not bom until 1985. Prof Arday is at the centre of a row about academk
plagiarism after The Tekgragh that he had been accused
The Jason Arday 'memoir' that now appears to be more .
7 days ago — Instead of tales of triumph over adversity. the now-fomer Cambridge professors
autob"qraphy is a case study in self-rnythobgising,
Arday failed to mention 'months-long coma' in autobiography
8 days ago — Jason Arday toz publishers he was k•ft a three-month coma fohwhg a car gash. but
never wrote about the ordeal his memoirs_
Jason Arday is living proof that you reap what you sow
6 Aug 2028 — The Cambridge professor feed plagiarism alegations and made fantastical clä'ns about
his life. so what did he expect woUz happen? Read rmre
ÄIO
Arday 'accused student of Miite privilege' after she
4 days ago — Forrner Cambrdge professor alleged* htplied that Roehamptm student was racist after
cornplaint about essay SOOre.
Jason Arday is rnerely a symptom of the Leffs corruption
Aug 2026 — Lab-curs on school standards is on the same toxic assumptions that created his
academic career.
Cambridge hired Arday after 'listening to black stu…
17455942065
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I genuinely can't process the terrible news about the death of Jason Arday, which might not be properly confirmed at this point. I feel like one of many slow motion car crash watchers that have followed the story with occasional clever observations and now I have nothing to say.
120
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
What if somebody crashed their car into a forest due to that alert noise, and it exploded, and led to a firestorm in Ross-on-Wye? Is that what Andy Burnham wants, because that's what'll happen!
051
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
Tim Clare @timclare.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
⚠️ EMERGENCY WARNING ⚠️ EVERYONE IN THE UK IS DEAD DEAD EXCITED THAT IS, FOR THE NEW SERIES OF CELEBRITY TRAITORS TUNE IN ON BBC & BBC IPLAYER
0152
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Fuck me, you can tell me I can't have a barbecue without making me think the nukes have been launched.
120
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
In other news, it's been a while since we've had a "poetry is booming" article in the broadsheets, so I'm glad it's come back around.
010
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Something I recently read in a book by Bob Doto about using a Zettlekasten as a writing aid really struck a chord with me: You don't really know what you think about something until you try writing it down.
100
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
In Devon, babies will be born in laybys, catching rabies from Mayflies, so say cheese as your mates die, it may please the state, right?
021
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
There's definitely a 00s Spoken Word poet working at the Guardian sub desk right now.
A Guardian headline saying: Maternity Cuts
In Devon,"babies will be born in laybys".
010
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
Sasha Dugdale @sashadugdale.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Really worth watching!
072
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
People always say "phone bad" but about thirty teenagers just got on our coach and it's still silent on the top deck.
020
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I'm a typical gamer Dad, but I think they nailed fidelity in the last generation. Everything after Red Dead 2 feels incremental in comparison to the steeply rising gradient of hardware requirements at a time when hardware prices are on an even steeper gradient. www.theguardian.com/games/2026/a...
theguardian.com
The ​games industry’s obsession with ​visual fidelity is costing them money and talent
Big developers are discovering that the technical progress of photorealism doesn’t always translate into the creative spark that gives gamers joy – and keeps them playing
000
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Videos keep turning up in my YouTube feed from people in their 20s saying "This helped me to quit doom scrolling forever" and my immediate response is, "No it fucking didn't."
020
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Heere ys the booke of the humoral and elemental values of the Teenaged Mutante Turtles Who Are Ninjas: Michelangelo - Ayre - Sanguine - Springtyme Raphael - Fyre - Choleric - Somer Donatello - Earthe - Melancholic - Autumn Leonardo - Watir - Phlegmatic - Wynter
39727
Niall O'Sullivan @rustyniall.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
One big issue with the Jason Arday saga is that posh white institutions such as Oxbridge can't just look towards the many minority ethnic writers and academics that have steadily and rigorously built their work and careers, they always seem to need a *sensation*, the next BIG THING.
130