Daresbury, Cheshire — Lewis Carroll’s birthplace
Any biography of Lewis Carroll will inform you that he was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the eldest boy and third child of Frances Jane Lutwidge and Charles Dodgson, in the … Continue reading
A spot of sightseeing: When Lewis Carroll visited Brussels 150 years ago (The Bulletin, 9 July 2017)
The celebrated author only left the UK once in his lifetime – and the first stop in his European travels was Brussels. The rest of this article is available for … Continue reading
La Bruxelles de Lewis Carroll, entre visites et mystère (Le Vif/L’Express, juillet 2017)
Il y a cent-cinquante ans, en route pour Moscou, accompagné de son ami Henry Liddon, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, alias Lewis Carroll, faisait étape à Bruxelles. Au programme : visite des … Continue reading
After the conference | Part II — Bliss
In my previous post, I was telling you about how complicated it was to obtain funding for a conference in Belgium and how I nearly lost my mind (side note: … Continue reading
After the conference | Part I — Surviving madness
A wonderful (and substantial) part of a scholar’s life is spent in conferences. As Itir Toksöz argues in a blog post on the Guardian Higher Education Network, “Striking a balance … Continue reading
Mount Cemetery, Guildford (England)
Though it may seem bizarre at first to visit a cemetery, I tend to think of them as places where history is archived. The Mount Cemetery in Guildford (Surrey) is … Continue reading
SWYM-MWYS | Conférence sur Alice
“On devrait écrire un livre sur moi, ça, oui !” — Alice Le Département d’anglais et le Service du Doyen de la Faculté de Traduction et d’Interprétation de l’Université de … Continue reading
SWYM-MWYS | Conference on Alice in Wonderland
“There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought!” — Alice The English Department and the Dean’s Service of the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation of the … Continue reading
On the benefits of doing (other) stuff
My rule of thumb has always been, “in case of doubt, turn to the classics.” I see it as the main perk of being a bookworm. While there are many … Continue reading
Space ghetto
Originally posted on Brandon Robshaw and the English Language:
Here is a very nice little accent-joke, told to me by my daughter Ros (17). Say the phrase ‘space ghetto’ in…
Make your mind up
This post is a collaboration with Welsh blogger Gareth Rhys Davies. We started writing it in the wake of the announcement of the results of the EU referendum, and it … Continue reading
Me and my impostor syndrome
There was me and my monkey And with his dungarees and roller blades smoking filter tips Reclining in the passenger seat of my super-charged jet black Chevrolet — Me and … Continue reading
Don DeLillo by Don DeLillo
Learning languages is among the most frustrating experiences a human being can go through, because no matter how hard you try to learn a language and a culture, there will … Continue reading
Imposter syndrome & being a woman
Imposter syndrome: Why do so many women feel like frauds? by Claire Cohen in The Telegraph.
Interview with Kostas Kaltsas, the Greek Translator of Infinite Jest
Infinite complexity: on translating David Foster Wallace into Greek by Scott Esposito on Literary Hub.
On the value of performing Shakespeare’s plays in the original accent
World-famous linguist David Crystal and his son, actor Ben Crystal, look at the original pronunciation of Shakespeare’s texts in a video on 22 Words.
How things have changed for female academics
How things have changed for female academics by Myra Strober on The Times Higher Education, or how a rejection in 1970 for a tenure-track position inspired a lifetime of struggle … Continue reading
BBC English: does it dictate proper pronunciation?
BBC English: does it dictate proper pronunciation? by Juerg Schwyter (OxfordWords Blog)
Les fautes d’orthographe diminuent les chances d’être recruté
Les fautes d’orthographe diminuent les chances d’être recruté par Agathe Charnet (Le Monde Campus)
How Italy Improved My English
How Italy Improved My English by Tim Parks (The New York Review of Books)
Burgess on Translation
Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture. — Anthony Burgess
Moranifesto
I will never not love Caitlin Moran. She is both brilliant and mad, which is a combination that gets me anytime. If you are an avid reader, you may have … Continue reading
On notebooks
I have been toying with the idea of writing about notebooks for quite a long time, so here we are. My project was to write a 500-something-word about the topic, … Continue reading
Alice in a World of Wonderlands — Part II: The Books
As I was saying in my previous post, Alice in a World of Wonderlands is quite the heavy thing. At first, its general editor, Jon Lindseth, aimed at roughly 1,000 … Continue reading
Alice in a World of Wonderlands — Part I: The Project
As some of you may know from experience, one of the most difficult challenges of a long-term work (like a PhD, or writing a book, for example) is the lack … Continue reading
Not a Little Lady, Mate.
– Is your ring a little lady?” – Why, yes. Yes it is.” Later, different person: – Is it a penguin?” – …” If people want to believe that my … Continue reading
Offside
— … and that bloody Rooney was in an offside position but the referee did not see it. So what was Courtois supposed to do? I mean… — So very … Continue reading
Academic assholes and the circle of niceness
This post on Academic assholes and the circle of niceness on The Thesis Whisperer blog is worth reading (as most posts on the Thesis Whisperer anyway).
Laketown
Third attempt at watching The Desolation of Smaug. This time,Tricia almost made it past the Laketown scene. The Dreamers by Albert Joseph Moore (1882), Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
I knew it
— Darn. I knew I should have stuck to my Schwarzkopf conditioner. Lady Lilith by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1866–68, 1872–73), Delaware Art Museum. Photo: Tate Britain.
Ellen Terry and her glorious gown of beetle wings
The Virtual Victorian (“Peer back into the mists of time — for facts, fancies and fabrications about the Victorian era”) has just published a lovely post about Ellen Terry’s gown … Continue reading
Paradigm Shift in Flynn’s Gone Girl
Flynn, Gillian (2012). Gone Girl. Phoenix: Orion Books. 475. (If there was a soundtrack to books, I’d choose this) A few weeks ago, I was properly ill for the first … Continue reading
Dodger by Terry Pratchett
Pratchett, Terry (2012). Dodger. : London: Random House. 403. I picked up Dodger at the WHSmith in St Pancras International just before boarding the Eurostar back home, just as you … Continue reading
Connecteurs
C’est en pleine rédaction de mon chapitre portant sur les fondements théoriques de ma thèse que je me rends compte que “quelque chose cloche” dans ma manière d’écrire. Ce n’est … Continue reading
Rose
“In my 20s I was often defending, or trying to defend, Rose against David, or promote her cause somehow. The effect on my writing was fairly direct, though I think … Continue reading
Tell me what you eat
I have been teaching English in Belgium for the last four years. My students generally are naturally curious — and I am grateful for that — but they also come … Continue reading
My Students Are Like Yours — Only Cooler
Last year, I realized that my second-year students did not completely master the present perfect. That same week, I dyed my hair red — which was completely unrelated at the … Continue reading
