Simon Kővesi

@kovesi

Professor of English & Scottish Literature, Head of School, Critical Studies, University of Glasgow. Research working-class literature & Romantic-period cultures. Editor, John Clare Society Journal.

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Simon Kővesi@kovesi· 25d

Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MWp...

Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry in their TV show A Bit of Fry & Laurie in a sketch "Concerning Language". Full film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MWpHQQ-wQg&t=1s

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· 28d

One of my favourite moments in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (1821). The poor know better how to have fun.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· 29d

Call me a Luddite, but I do frequently wish that AI had peaked with Metal Mickey.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jul 11

John Clare's grave, surrounded by local school children's midsummer cushions in St Botolph's churchyard, Helpston, today, at the JC society festival.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jul 9

John Clare journals should be landing on UK doormats today, in time for the Helpston festival on Saturday, and the poet's birthday on Monday.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jul 7

Yes! Was being lazy & took a transcription shortcut via OCR, but to go from this (left, 1841 original, JD Devlin), to that (today, by Adobe Acrobat OCR), proves that human people are sometimes a better option than the magic robot smurf gremlins hidden deep in the mysteries of our machines.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jul 7

Ah, good old Optical Character Recognition.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jul 7

Fry and Laurie anticipating the Farage approach to making money in public office, by decades, in their sketch, "Tribunal": www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu2i...

Extract from FRY AND LAURIE sketch Tribunal:

PhyllidaI thought you stood for family values and clean living?

StephenCleanse living.

PhyllidaCleanse living. In your electoral literature, for instance, you promised to come down hard on homosexuals.

StephenSince I've been in office I have spent a lot of money and energy coming down very hard indeed on homosexuals.

Stephen M.To return to financial matters, Mr Wade. Do you think it is appropriate that in these very lean times for ...

StephenIn these very lens times ...

Stephen M.Whatever. The point is, you have been accused of making a lot of money from being a councillor.

StephenYes. Well. There you have it: "accused". That's the attitude I have to deal with all the time. Making money is a crime, something to apologise for. Well, I'm sorry but when I grew up "profit" wasn't a dirty word. "Arse" was a dirty word. "Profit" wasn't. "Scrotum" was a pretty dirty word too and so was "titty". Well, I'm not ashamed to say that I've never been afraid of hard graft, sheer bloody graft ... or is "graft" a dirty word too, like "botty" and "helmet"?

Stephen M.I think we've heard enough, Councillor. This may be an informal hearing, but frankly, I'm sure we're agreed ...

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jul 5

Don't know if I yet have a favourite place in the world, but this comes close. Termessos, ancient Pisidian city in the Taurus Mountains, Antalya, Turkey. It's more than worth the walk.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jul 2

Bold opening lines to Jane Webb's 1827 novel "The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century", set 100 years from now, in 2126.

CHAPTER I.
In the year 2126, England enjoyed peace and tranquillity under the absolute dominion of a female sovereign. Numerous changes had taken place for some centuries in the political state of the country, and several forms of government had been successively adopted and destroyed, till, as is generally the case after violent revolutions, they all settled down into an absolute monarchy.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jul 1

Outrageous scenes from this loud & proud hollyhock in our backyard.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jun 30

What an incredible study of summer sun & rural heat this is, by Anthony Devis (1729–1817), ‘Herdsman driving Cattle’, undated, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:...

Image of ‘Herdsman driving Cattle’, undated, by Anthony Devis (1729–1817), watercolor, graphite, and black ink on medium, moderately textured, cream laid paper, from Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:7743

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jun 26

Here's more!

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jun 24

Something reassuring in the fact that this is what a London Dandelion looked like 250 yrs ago. By William Curtis in his celebratory study of "ordinary" urban plants "Flora Londinensis: or Plates and Descriptions of Such Plants as Grow Wild in the Environs of London..." (Author and B. White, 1777):

Hand tinted etching of a Dandelion in William Curtis's book "Flora Londinensis: or Plates and Descriptions of Such Plants as Grow Wild in the Environs of London..." (Author and B. White, 1777).

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jun 23

Stonehenge, drawn and mapped in Abraham Rees's The Cyclopaedia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature - published 1820.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jun 23

Goya - what a heart his was - what empathy.

‘Beggar with a staff in his right hand’, from the Images of Spain Album (c. 1812–20), by Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jun 23

Inordinately excited about this year's forthcoming John Clare Society Journal, featuring cover art by Tracey Bush, & new writing from @victoriaxiaoxiaoma.bsky.social, Richard O'Brien - @notrockyhorror.bsky.social - Martin Kratz, Cassie Falke, Jens Peters, & an index of publications, & reviews.

Contents List of the John Clare Society Journal, July 2026:

Trans-species Empathy in John Clare’s ‘The Pettichaps Nest’ and Anna Letitia Barbauld’s ‘The Caterpillar’ by Cassandra Falke

Anxious Tree s Give Leaf: Reading John Clare in Lockdown by Martin Kratz

John Clare Reaches the Pacific, poem by Richard O’Brien

The Phenomenology of Walking in John Clare’s Poems by Xiaoxiao Ma

‘When silence husheth other themes’: John Clare, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff and the heath by Jens Peters

An Index of Significant Publications on John Clare, 2023–2025 edited by Andrew Hodgson and Erin Lafford

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jun 20

Anthony Devis (1729–1817) "Driving sheep to market", from Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection:

Watercolor painting by Anthony Devis (1729–1817) Driving sheep to market, undated, Watercolor, pen and black ink, and graphite on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream laid paper, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection,

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jun 19

Not long to get your proposals in for the James Kelman 80th birthday conference, in Spring 2027. Jim was 80 earlier this month. call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/05/...

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jun 10

Was just thinking the same thing Will. Bliss.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Jun 1

I have always loved, and will always love, Forest Whitaker.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· May 26

Garden of earthly delights.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· May 23

@tattersdill.bsky.social I am not sure I understand the rules of this game sorry.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· May 22

Spectator, this week.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· May 20

James Kelman at 80: a conference to mark the 80th birthday of the great Glaswegian writer. Spring 2027, University of Glasgow @glasgow.ac.uk

Call For Papers
James Kelman at 80

Conference, spring 2027, Glasgow

2026 sees Glaswegian writer James Kelman reach his 80th year. In a career lasting over fifty years, Kelman has pioneered a highly distinctive literary practice across genres including the novel, the short story, the essay, and drama. But it is as a writer of fiction that Kelman’s influence looms largest. Kelman’s work in fiction is distinguished for its uncompromising formal stances and for the writer’s insistence on the directly political significance of those stances. As Kelman put it in an early interview, ‘Getting rid of [the] standard third party narrative voice is getting rid of a whole value system. You have to start examining every term’. His work has been hugely influential on generations of artists, and his reception has often been controversial. But his artistic commitments remain determinedly in place, and he continues to write and publish unique work.
This international conference sets out to consider the living legacy of Kelman’s writing, especially in the genres of the novel and the short story, and examines and reassesses his ongoing significance in the cultural and political worlds of the twenty-first century. We invite paper proposals on the innovations of Kelman’s fiction and its political significance, focusing on any period or aspect of Kelman’s work. The conference will be held at the University of Glasgow, in the spring of 2027 (exact date to be confirmed). More information to follow.
Please send c. 200-word paper proposals to Andrea Brown, Executive Support Assistant in the School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow, via email <critstudies-hos@gla.ac.uk>, by the deadline of Tuesday 30th June 2026.
Organisers
● Professor Timothy Bewes (Brown University)
● Professor Scott Hames (University of Stirling)
● Professor Simon Kővesi (University of Glasgow)

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· May 9

Potayto, potahto. Detention Facility. Concentration camp.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· May 7

NF>BNP>UKIP>REFORM UK All the same, just getting better at dressing violent racist hatred in a suit and tie.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· May 4

Saw a rehearsed reading of David Edgar's 1976 play Destiny, about the rise of the far right, last night. This bit, a woman talking at a meeting of the Taddley Patriotic Front, is so prescient - furious about immigration & supposed communism & job security. Reform UK is a racist party.

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Apr 26

Editing the 2026 issue of the John Clare Society Journal, published on the poet's birthday, 13 July, every year. One of the best jobs is choosing the cover. Here's some recent faves:

Simon Kővesi@kovesi· Apr 26

John Clare Society Festival 10-12 July, couple of days before the poet's birthday on 13 July. Here's the schedule in the Village Tribine. Featuring the brilliant Dr David Stewart (Northumbria University) on Clare's publications in the Annuals. www.villagetribune.org.uk/magazine/vil...