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Tanya Kirk

@tanyakirk.bsky.social
1.2K followers 780 following 94 posts

Librarian at St John’s College, University of Cambridge. Curated a Fantasy exhibition at the British Library. Views my own. She/her

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Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Great news, and looking forward to a book historian becoming Chief Exec of the UK Space Agency sometime soon in this brave new world!
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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
bear with me but... wouldn't it be wild... if the head of the British Library had ever been... a librarian??
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Seriously so weird. How did we get into a situation where we have an elected Labour government who are scared to be seen as a Labour government?
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Cab Davidson @gnomeicide.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Taking the money from overseas aid budgets is fundamentally wrong headed. If you want to fund public transport, do it with car fuel duty.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
This blew my mind. Some of the largest data centers can require up to 5 million gallons of water per day, equivalent to the water use of 50,000 people. Why are we selling out the survival of our planet to enrich a handful of Big Tech CEOs?
theguardian.com
Majority of US’s new AI datacenters to be built on drought-hit land
Guardian analysis finds facilities to be built in some of the driest areas as outcry grows over water needed to power AI
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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 02/06/2026
Someone actually did a study a while back that showed the most effective way to get women out of TERF groups wasn’t people trying to change their minds, it was them getting literally any benign hobby, like learning other languages or taking up needlework
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Can confirm also makes an excellent tattoo design reference source
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
this is a 19th century painting of @alancumming.bsky.social in Circle of Friends (1995) and I will not be persuaded otherwise www.robertyoungantiques.com/products/dep...
robertyoungantiques.com
Depicting an Unknown Gentleman Seated at his Desk
Oils on CanvasEnglish, c.1850 23.75
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Terri Windling @terriwindling.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I'm making one last push to let people know about this online talk -- sponsored by the British Library in conjunction with their current exhibition on fairy tales. The live stream starts at 7:30 tonight, but if you buy a ticket *before* the event you can watch it any time over the next 7 days.
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Natania Barron ~ Fantasy Author @natania.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Appropriate since snakes do not have arms.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Currently advertising two fixed term parental leave posts: Special Collections Librarian (13 months; £43,622-£49,097 - closes 9 March) and Special Collections Assistant (6 months; £30,508-£33,096 - closes 7 April). It's a great chance to work with a brilliant collection jobs.joh.cam.ac.uk
jobs.joh.cam.ac.uk
Vacancies - St John's College, Cambridge
St John’s is a large community of more than 150 Fellows and 250 staff who all help us to be an inspiring place to live, learn, teach, research and work.
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Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Something nasty on the bookshelf: my review of @tanyakirk.bsky.social's collection of stories about books and libraries for @blpublishing.bsky.social, ‘The Haunted Library’ drfrancisyoung.com/2026/03/04/s... 📚👻
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Trinity College Library, Cambridge @trincolllibcam.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Job Opportunity! We're looking for a Graduate Trainee Librarian #libraryjob www.trin.cam.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...
trin.cam.ac.uk
Graduate Trainee Librarian
(One-year fixed term contract, full-time) Trinity College Library wishes to appoint an enthusiastic Graduate Trainee for one year from September 2026. The post offers an ideal opportunity to gain a…
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Trinity College Library, Cambridge @trincolllibcam.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Job Opportunity! We're looking for a Graduate Trainee Archivist. #archives www.trin.cam.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...
trin.cam.ac.uk
Graduate Trainee Archivist
One-year fixed term contract, full-time Trinity College Library wishes to appoint an enthusiastic Graduate Trainee Archivist for one year from September 2026. The post offers an ideal opportunity to g...
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Very good reporting on the situation at the British Library by Claudia Cockerell in The Evening Standard. Appreciate the time and care taken to investigate and explain it all. I believe Library workers on the ground are prompting much-needed culture change there. www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...
standard.co.uk
The worst of times: Trouble at the British Library
Cyber chaos, striking staff and a crisis of leadership. Claudia Cockerell investigates a national treasure’s year of reckoning
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Julia Laite @julialaite.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
It's wild that there appears to be more current concern for the Lost Library of Alexandria than for the British Library. The BL's crisis exemplifies the accelerating destruction--through apathy as much as by design--of human knowledge & learning. I'm not even being dramatic.
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Matt Shaw @matthewshaw.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Nolo Mortem Peccatoris (& @tanyakirk.bsky.social!) www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
churchtimes.co.uk
Lost medieval carol to be ‘brought to life’ on Advent Sunday
Macaronic carol, including both English and Latin, comes from a manuscript, S. 54, in the old library of St John’s College, Cambridge
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight www.cityam.com/the-british-...
cityam.com
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
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Robbie Richardson @londonmikmaq.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
This headline ticks all the boxes for me.
A headline that reads “Demonic wind in the willows jumper banned from westminster abbey
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BLPublishing @blpublishing.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Cursed shelves and ghoulish libraries... 👻 Dive into fourteen tales featuring bewitched books in The Haunted Library, for lovers of the weird and the written word. Available now: shop.bl.uk/products/the-haunted-library-tales-of-cursed-books-and-forbidden-shelves
The Haunted Library: Tales of Cursed Books and Forbidden Shelves, against a green background.
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KDS 📖 🎲 🎮 @kdsbooks.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Book mail: November Tales of the Weird from @blpublishing.bsky.social The Haunted Library edited by @tanyakirk.bsky.social This is not a new version of the original Haunted Library book they published (see post 2), but there are some crossover stories #weird #horror #library #books 🩸📚💙
The haunted library book plus art cards, bookmark and info card
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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
am reminded of the old joke: what did James Watson discover? Rosalind Franklin’s notes.
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caasbrey @caasbrey.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Harvard Gazette:
Gazette: “You are the mother of two In ten years you have produced three novels and two short-story collections. Can you talk about your process and how you manage work and family?”
Groff: “I understand that this is a question of vital importance to a lot of people, particularly to other mothers who are artists trying to get their work done, and know that I feel for everyone in the struggle. But until I see a male writer asked that question, I am going to respectfully decline to answer it.”
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
Calling English a 'rip-off degree' is one of the most blatant exhibitions of personal barbarism I've ever seen. You've demonstrated nothing but the poverty of your own mind.
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Amanda Watson @amndw2.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
I couldn't resist. #pleasingterror
A bingo card for the ghost stories of M.R. James. Boxes read:
"Spiders
Terrible hotel stay
Narrator makes fun of golf
Latin passages
Eerie disembodied voices
Confirmed bachelor main character
Vengeful spirit
Evil magician
Working-class character as comic relief
Bleak East Anglian coast
Visit to an archive
Narrator in guidebook mode
FREE SPACE
Unholy doings in a church
Frogs or toads
Queen Anne style house
Cursed artifact
Don't buy that rare book!
Something hairy and horrible
Someone gets too curious
Tentacles
Story told via old manuscript
Research trip gone horribly wrong
Beds are scary
Tactile horror
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
The Haunted Library is out on 13 November! This is a collection of classic bookish ghost stories. Thanks @blpublishing.bsky.social for letting me moonlight even though I’ve left the BL
A book cover for a book called The Haunted Library: Tales of cursed books and forbidden shelves, edited by Tanya Kirk, published by British Library Tales of the Weird. The cover is black with an illustration in bright green, featuring ghostly figures in a library
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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Over the weekend, the world's richest man appeared on screens in central London to call for a race war and for the UK government to be overthrown. No arrests were made in connection with that communication.
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Iwan Rhys Morus @irmorus.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Entirely agree.
theguardian.com
How AI is undermining learning and teaching in universities | Letter
Letter: Prof Leo McCann and Prof Simon Sweeney say student misuse of generative artificial intelligence is widespread and we must be sceptical of its usefulness
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Alexandra Lanes @ajlanes.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
This, from the Quakers, is a pretty good example of how to resist pressure from bigot lobbying groups. Effectively “we legally can allow trans people to use the loo, we morally should, and we tried it and nothing bad happened”
quaker.org.uk
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Dr Laura Varnam @drlauravarnam.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
I want to write a new blogpost, academic pals! What’s your best advice for sustaining your motivation as an early career scholar, post PhD, without institutional affiliation? How can you feel supported in carrying on with your work? And what can those of us lucky enough to have jobs do to help?
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Very excited for this!
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Alice Wickenden @awickenden.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
hello. if you work at a university please ask your library to buy my book. it is all about books and libraries and also plants, museums, the Royal Society, and the ways we learn. I think it will be interesting to lots of people, hopefully. thank you www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...
cambridge.org
Hans Sloane's Library Collection and the Production of Knowledge | Cambridge University Press & Assessment
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Exciting heritage science project using St John’s special collections!
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Terri Windling @terriwindling.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
This discussion of Sylvia Townsend Warner's 'The Corner That Held Them' is fabulous! (And it's great to hear @tanyakirk.bsky.social on the show again.) The earlier Backlisted episode on STW's 'Lolly Willows' was terrific too. May we please have a discussion on STW's 'Kingdoms of Elfin' next?
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Una McCormack @unamccormack.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Nonstop nuns on the new episode of @backlisted.bsky.social, in which we discuss "The Corner that Held Them" by Sylvia Townsend Warner. With fellow postulants Tanya Kirk and Andy Miller, and Mother Superior Nicky Birch. @tanyakirk.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social www.backlisted.fm/episodes/242...
backlisted.fm
242. The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner — Backlisted
Sylvia Townsend Warner's  The Corner That Held Them  (1948) is the subject of this episode, almost ten years since Backlisted covered the same author's classic debut  Lolly Willowes ...
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Backlisted Podcast @backlisted.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
New episode up now. The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner, with Tanya Kirk in conversation with Andy Miller, Una McCormack and Nicky Birch. An hour of Mother Superior book chat. @tanyakirk.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social www.backlisted.fm/episodes/242...
backlisted.fm
242. The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner — Backlisted
Sylvia Townsend Warner's  The Corner That Held Them  (1948) is the subject of this episode, almost ten years since Backlisted covered the same author's classic debut  Lolly Willowes ...
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
So many nuns, so much fun. I had a brilliant time recording this; thanks so much Andy, Una and Nicky
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Becky L @bekkhilde.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
📢Dream job alert! 🚨 You could lead our small & friendly team at the Antics and work with one of ✨the best✨ special collections in the country! Happy to answer informal questions about SAL / the library. Please share amongst your networks of #library, #archives & #heritage professionals! 👇
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Jess Zimmerman @jesszimmerman.com · 15/04/2025
The scene from Real Genius where every student has sent a tape recorder to listen to the lecture, which is being given by a reel-to-reel machine.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Reposting for the Monday crowd!
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Exciting job opportunity to become St John's College's Special Collections Librarian www.joh.cam.ac.uk/special-coll... - permanent post, salary £41,944-£47,208 (depending on experience) plus benefits. Working with a great collection and a friendly team. @ciliprarebooks.bsky.social #LibraryJobs
joh.cam.ac.uk
Special Collections Librarian | St John's College, University of Cambridge
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
#LibraryJobs
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
We are hiring at St John's! We have an opening for an Early Career Librarian post, 3 year fixed term, salary £27,786, and as part of the role the College will pay the successful candidate's fees and give them day release to undertake a Masters' degree in Librarianship. www.joh.cam.ac.uk/vacancies
joh.cam.ac.uk
Work at St John's | St John's College, University of Cambridge
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Richard 🎧 W @haunted.audio · 13/12/2024
unplugged from work. armchair in a strange and unfamiliar old building. owls, bats and a yawning dog nearby. fireplace and fuel. whisky, and a beautiful new book… Let’s go. 🙏 @tanyakirk.bsky.social
The cover of “Spirits of the Season” (Ed. Tanya Kirk) a collection of Christmas ghost stories from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In front of a soon-to-be-lit fireplace…
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Attention Cambridge friends
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
@calfraser.bsky.social thanks for the follow! Just wanted to say I loved Prairie Fires! A great book.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
If you're a fan of a creepy Christmas tale and you're local to London, you might fancy coming to see me and Jess Starr from Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers, chatting about the publishing history of ghost stories on 10 December ies.sas.ac.uk/events/conve...
ies.sas.ac.uk
In Conversation: A Ghost Story for Christmas - the festive publication history of ghost stories
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Owen Exie Hurcum 💜🤍💙🍉 @owenexiehurcum.com · 20/11/2024
Today is #TransDayofRemembrance. A day to mourn all our trans siblings lost to transphobia. It is also a day of action and education so that one day the list of those we have lost does not grow year on year. Below is a short list of some basic educational resources on trans activism.
A graphic that shows 5 candles in blue, pink, and white. The colours of the trans flag. The text reads "Transgender Day of Remembrance November 20"
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NLISN @nlisn.bsky.social · 07/08/2024
Interested in Recruitment and Interviews for #Neurodiverse #Library workers? Have a look at the Recruitment and Interviews Report on the NLISN website here: nlisn.org/outputs/ #Neurodiversity #Neurodiverse #accessible #accessibility #autistic #dyslexic #dyscalculia #Dyspraxia
media.tenor.com
Library Belle GIF
ALT: Library Belle GIF
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