Leila Walker

@lwalker

Assistant Professor in an academic library. Publishes on British romantic literature, climate change, plant humanities, librarianship, social justice, and pedagogy. Not gay as in happy, queer as in free Palestine.

799 Folgt1.090 Follower1.208 Posts

Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir lwalker.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Leila Walker@lwalker· 13d

This does not bode well for my upcoming week of research leave.

An attempt to access qc.cuny.edu/library -- the Queens College Library website -- returns the error: "Access Denied
You have been locked out due to too many attempts to access a file that doesn't exist.
If you are a site admin, click on the Unlock Me button below to unlock yourself."

Leila Walker@lwalker· 13d

Can you BELIEVE this magnificent creature’s human had the AUDACITY to take the print-out he was using as a BED RIGHT OUT FROM UNDER HIM. The absolute nerve.

An ample white cat with black markings sprawls across HIS writing desk and HIS laptop, next to HIS toy pen and HIS stack of pillow books, letting everyone know with HIS extreme ear-back exactly what he thinks of HIS stupid human’s stupid research.

Leila Walker@lwalker· 13d

We had to say goodbye to Vicky in December, and then Hamilton, her lifelong companion, last Monday. When we first brought Ham home, he and Vicky cooed at each other from opposite sides of the door and played even though they couldn’t see each other. I miss them so much.

Leila Walker@lwalker· 16d

Putting together my OER grant report, and like, how do I even answer this. Challenges: Adjuncts I was working with were fired. Classes we developed were canceled. We have no chief librarian. What is the lesson learned? Austerity measures destroy grant-funded programs?

Section 4 of the grant report template: Challenges, Changes, and Lessons Learned

Describe any significant challenges or changes encountered during the project and how they were addressed. Reflect on lessons learned and advice for future projects.

Leila Walker@lwalker· 26d

I come back to this note a lot when things are hard, from when I met the Beat poet Ruth Weiss. We all save each other.

3/9/07 for Leila - we all save each other’s sanity — love, Ruth

Leila Walker@lwalker· Jul 13

This dialogue, from Charlotte Smith's "Conversations Introducing Poetry" (1804), hits uncomfortably close to home today.

[Mrs. Talbot, explaining why it costs so much to go on vacation]: And those who cannot afford the expense must make up their minds to stay at home. Just as the daughters of those whose mothers a few years ago were drawn by four horses, and whose grandmothers
by six, are now glad to get into a stage coach.
EMILY. But why, Mamma ? Does not the earth bear the same crops it used to do, and as much ?
MRS. TALBOT. More, if we may believe all the improvements that have been made in agriculture, and rural economy of every sort .
EMILY. And what is the reason of it then?
MRS . TALBOT . The change of manners; the accumulation of wealth, which has made a great difference in the value of money; and wars, which have cost such immense sums to the nation .

Leila Walker@lwalker· Jul 13

Can you guess why we call him Best Friend Hammy?

A stunningly handsome tuxedo cat takes a reluctant selfie in the arms of his enthusiastic human.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Jul 2

Still one of the greatest episodes of television ever made.

A laptop shows a still from the Buffy episode “Hush.” Giles holds his pointer finger up dramatically while doing an overhead presentation about The Gentlemen.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Jun 22

Happiest of Mondays to you all.

"Dear Queens College Community:

As we start the summer, I write to share with you that I have informed CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez that I will retire as Queens College president, effective July 30, 2026. I have always said that this is my dream job, and it has been a difficult decision to depart and conclude my important work at the college. "

Leila Walker@lwalker· Jun 20

I'm so glad that my Instagram algorithm knows me so well

The six featured posts selected for me by the Instagram algorithm: A baby possum, a baby bat, another baby bat, an illustration of two pigeons canoodling, a tiny kitten getting a bath, and another baby bat.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Jun 17

Well fuck.

A screw firmly embedded in a bicycle tire.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Jun 11

LET'S GO KNICKS!!!!!

Fucking Mayor Mamdani is at fucking Peg's Cavalier and it's obviously why the Knicks wonn.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Jun 6

Like a tiny version of my giant Cheese!

An ample amount of cat stretched out tummy up on the kitchen floor in a spinal twist that defies the laws of physics.

Leila Walker@lwalker· May 28

I have the best research assistants.

Kir Kuiken’s book “Adrift on the Earth” tests on my lap. One cat sits next to me on a bright pink ottoman staring at a second cat, looking up at me from under a floral velvet chair.

Leila Walker@lwalker· May 28

Oh no. I'm Team Kant: "Your principles are immovable, which is great until somebody actually needs you to be flexible about literally anything."

A tarot-style card labeled "Team Kant" with the description: You are Team Kant
The Archivists

SRPA

Dual-Lens Personality Model

"Two things fill the mind with ever new admiration: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me."

What your friends say behind your back

Your principles are immovable, which is great until somebody actually needs you to be flexible about literally anything.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 29

I love that the worlds she imagined were even more detailed than she wrote. www.the-tls.com/regular-feat...

If you could make a change to anything you’ve written over the years, what would it be?

In The Dispossessed, I would mention the communal pickle barrels at street corners in the big towns, restocked by whoever in the community has made or kept more pickles than they need. I knew about the free pickles all along, but never could fit them into the book.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 27

I have a lot of race medals, but this is the one I’m most proud of.

Race day kit from the Palestine Half Marathon, including a technical tee with Banksy image of a man throwing a stone, a beau fully crafted medal, and a note explaining that the medal was designed for the canceled 2024 marathon.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 18

Finish line. Free palestine.

A very sweaty middle aged lesbian wears a keffiyeh in upper highland park.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 18

I choked up when I saw this mural

A mural in the style of Banksy under the Glendale overpass. A small child is looking through a telescope. At the wide end of the telescope, in a different hand, someone has added a peace sign, like peace is the star the child is seeking.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 18

I saw some excellent flowers along the way. They all agreed: Free Palestine.

A tulip blooming in the colors of the Palestinian flag.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 18

As you can see from my splits, I hit a wall. And stumbled on.

A chart of splits. It trends downward very slightly until about mile 6.5, at which point it fucking bottoms out dramatically.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 18

This was my slowest half marathon finish by far, and had it been any other race, I probably would have dropped. But I kept going. Free Palestine 🇵🇸

A screenshot of the moment that I finished the virtual Palestine half marathon, immediately after burping so dramatically that a small child visibly judged me.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 17

An excellent pigeon.

A still from a video of a dilute pigeon flying. Its wings are spread dramatically. It is the color of a pale pebble.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 13

Many things are terrible but today I made homemade ravioli with a mushroom, almond, and tofu ricotta filling, topped with crispy sage. And it was fucking fantastic

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 10

This is an excellent pigeon.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 7

Lolsob. I just renewed so I could vote on this, and ...

MLA Online Balloting - Access Denied
Our records show that you are not eligible to vote.

As established by the Delegate Assembly Organizing Committee, MLA members whose memberships were current on 10 January 2026 (the date that the Delegate Assembly approved the items on the ratification ballot) and who renewed their memberships by 25 March 2026, a week prior to the ballot opening on 1 April 2026, are eligible to vote on this year’s ratification ballot.

If you believe you received this message in error, please contact governance@mla.org for assistance.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 7

Ebony G. Patterson's 2023 installation of "ghost flowers" at @nybg.bsky.social inspired me to think more deeply and critically about the history of the plant trade and the way Charlotte Smith, 200 years earlier, treated plants not just as objects of study but as evidence of a world in motion.

A cast glass plant, modeled on an herbarium specimen representing a now-extinct species of plant, is surrounded by lush red leaves of living foliage.

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 5

Then we made a truly exceptional pumpkin peanut butter olive oil soup (recipe — and olive oil — from @oliveodyssey)

Is there anything better than an olive oil drizzle on soup with olive oil bread?

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 5

The Halloween house went all out for Easter (sound on).

Leila Walker@lwalker· Apr 5

Some excellent encounters I had in Ridgewood, Queens, today. A thread. To start, some magnificent flowering trees: cherry, star magnolia, and magnolia.