Johanna Winant
@johannawinant.bsky.social
Posts are my own. Poetry is everyone's. She/her.
Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century (Princeton UP, 2025), Lyric Logic (Columbia UP, 2026), essays, reviews, and other writing in various places
Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century (Princeton UP, 2025), Lyric Logic (Columbia UP, 2026), essays, reviews, and other writing in various places
Pinned
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
Reposted by Johanna Winant
They claim financial exigency, but then turn down $4 million pledges to keep the PhD programs open and disregard financial analyses that point to the real problem—bad real estate deals, spending on consultants, and their own salaries 2/2
December 6, 2025 at 4:24 PM
They claim financial exigency, but then turn down $4 million pledges to keep the PhD programs open and disregard financial analyses that point to the real problem—bad real estate deals, spending on consultants, and their own salaries 2/2
Reposted by Johanna Winant
Also with the right poem this is the beginning of a full hour's class discussion.
a fun thing to do to start class is have students read a short and seemingly straightforward poem, circle a single word that surprises them, and discuss their findings with a neighbor
December 5, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Also with the right poem this is the beginning of a full hour's class discussion.
Reposted by Johanna Winant
a fun thing to do to start class is have students read a short and seemingly straightforward poem, circle a single word that surprises them, and discuss their findings with a neighbor
December 5, 2025 at 10:10 PM
a fun thing to do to start class is have students read a short and seemingly straightforward poem, circle a single word that surprises them, and discuss their findings with a neighbor
CRUCIAL! by Stephanie Foote
"I...lived through the devastation of a solid public university by a professional grifter who imagines himself as a visionary, and who takes every opportunity to express his vision. That person was Gordon Gee, and the university he destroyed was West Virginia University"
"I...lived through the devastation of a solid public university by a professional grifter who imagines himself as a visionary, and who takes every opportunity to express his vision. That person was Gordon Gee, and the university he destroyed was West Virginia University"
Project MUSE - Almost Heaven: West Virginia University and the Transcendental Grifter
muse.jhu.edu
December 5, 2025 at 6:04 PM
CRUCIAL! by Stephanie Foote
"I...lived through the devastation of a solid public university by a professional grifter who imagines himself as a visionary, and who takes every opportunity to express his vision. That person was Gordon Gee, and the university he destroyed was West Virginia University"
"I...lived through the devastation of a solid public university by a professional grifter who imagines himself as a visionary, and who takes every opportunity to express his vision. That person was Gordon Gee, and the university he destroyed was West Virginia University"
"Those of us who reject romantic notions of individual genius nevertheless can admit that there’s something to be said for a dose of extreme, un-assimalable newness—an aesthetic experience that does not appeal merely to our existing tastes and preferences, that does something unprecedented to us."
For MTC, John Downes-Angus reviews Tom Comitta's PEOPLE'S CHOICE LITERATURE and reflects on his experiences as a high school English teacher where on the daily he makes a case for reading the strange, the extreme, the unwanted—for the chance to accept "reading’s complicated gift to us."
Unwanted Reading: A Review of Tom Comitta’s ‘People’s Choice Literature’
The Sunday before I taught Beloved last spring, I sat on my couch wondering how I was going to convince a room full of second semester seniors that, before they left high school that June, they sho…
mid-theory.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:30 PM
"Those of us who reject romantic notions of individual genius nevertheless can admit that there’s something to be said for a dose of extreme, un-assimalable newness—an aesthetic experience that does not appeal merely to our existing tastes and preferences, that does something unprecedented to us."
it's my birthday today, and so I'll repost this into your timeline one more time just to say that writing this essay already felt like a tremendous gift, and I've been really moved by and grateful for the many powerful responses to it -- thank you
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
December 3, 2025 at 8:42 PM
it's my birthday today, and so I'll repost this into your timeline one more time just to say that writing this essay already felt like a tremendous gift, and I've been really moved by and grateful for the many powerful responses to it -- thank you
Reposted by Johanna Winant
here’s another Portland-area fundraiser for a family torn apart by ICE. husband shipped to Tacoma, wife just gave birth to twins www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-aid...
December 3, 2025 at 1:37 AM
here’s another Portland-area fundraiser for a family torn apart by ICE. husband shipped to Tacoma, wife just gave birth to twins www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-aid...
Reposted by Johanna Winant
I’m teaching a graduate class this spring on legal and literary personhood. NYC consortial students welcome! Let me know if you have questions.
December 3, 2025 at 2:22 PM
I’m teaching a graduate class this spring on legal and literary personhood. NYC consortial students welcome! Let me know if you have questions.
Reposted by Johanna Winant
Last night, four acclaimed poets and scholars joined LOA LIVE for a fascinating personal discussion on revered critic and professor Helen Vendler. Watch @notquitehydepark.bsky.social, Dan Chiasson, @kjavadizadeh.bsky.social, and Christopher Spaide reflect on the influence of this towering figure.
Helen Vendler’s Sixth Sense
YouTube video by Library of America
youtu.be
December 3, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Last night, four acclaimed poets and scholars joined LOA LIVE for a fascinating personal discussion on revered critic and professor Helen Vendler. Watch @notquitehydepark.bsky.social, Dan Chiasson, @kjavadizadeh.bsky.social, and Christopher Spaide reflect on the influence of this towering figure.
Reposted by Johanna Winant
A mom in Portland has been separated from her child since June bc ICE kidnapped her. The only thing standing between her & her baby right now is a $7,500 bond. There's 5k to go. PLEASE let's do this. Many hands make light work. This is literally the reason for the gd mfing season gofund.me/3e980d9d3
Donate to Help us get an asylum seeker released from ICE detention, organized by CLEAR Clinic
Our client Lorena (pseudonym) is a single-parent asylum-seeker w… CLEAR Clinic needs your support for Help us get an asylum seeker released from ICE detention
gofund.me
December 2, 2025 at 9:22 PM
A mom in Portland has been separated from her child since June bc ICE kidnapped her. The only thing standing between her & her baby right now is a $7,500 bond. There's 5k to go. PLEASE let's do this. Many hands make light work. This is literally the reason for the gd mfing season gofund.me/3e980d9d3
Reposted by Johanna Winant
My kids are reading the first 20pp of this for homework. Something that occurred to me as I assigned it: what’s nice about the book is that it takes students seriously enough to write a book about reading for them, not for their teachers. It’s addressed to my kids—so much of pedagogy stuff isn’t.
Hey! @johannawinant.bsky.social and I are in @publisherswkly.bsky.social today! We're talking about—guess?—close reading
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
Breaking It Down: PW Talks with Dan Sinykin and Johanna Winant
In Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century (Princeton University Press), coeditors and English professors Sinykin and Winant seek to redefine the technique as a way to make and understand arguments...
www.publishersweekly.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:49 PM
My kids are reading the first 20pp of this for homework. Something that occurred to me as I assigned it: what’s nice about the book is that it takes students seriously enough to write a book about reading for them, not for their teachers. It’s addressed to my kids—so much of pedagogy stuff isn’t.
Reposted by Johanna Winant
"I learned about close reading when I asked them to take their own thinking seriously—to take themselves seriously. Doing so, I found, forced me to take my job more seriously." Loved this. www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
December 2, 2025 at 2:25 PM
"I learned about close reading when I asked them to take their own thinking seriously—to take themselves seriously. Doing so, I found, forced me to take my job more seriously." Loved this. www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
Reposted by Johanna Winant
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
December 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
Reposted by Johanna Winant
Terrific essay on close reading away from elite spaces by @johannawinant.bsky.social
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
December 2, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Terrific essay on close reading away from elite spaces by @johannawinant.bsky.social
Reposted by Johanna Winant
"The years I taught . . . were scarred by despair, but I never despaired about my students, who, when our conditions allowed it, showed me again and again how close reading requires and multiplies both trust and strength." YES. @johannawinant.bsky.social at @bostonreview.bsky.social
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
December 2, 2025 at 6:23 PM
"The years I taught . . . were scarred by despair, but I never despaired about my students, who, when our conditions allowed it, showed me again and again how close reading requires and multiplies both trust and strength." YES. @johannawinant.bsky.social at @bostonreview.bsky.social
a small joy of the day:
I was contacted by the founder of an ed tech start up to see if I was interested in collaborating on a tool that uses AI to facilitate close reading -- the founder signed the email with the salutation "In Inspiration!" if that tells you anything -- and I responded honestly
I was contacted by the founder of an ed tech start up to see if I was interested in collaborating on a tool that uses AI to facilitate close reading -- the founder signed the email with the salutation "In Inspiration!" if that tells you anything -- and I responded honestly
December 2, 2025 at 6:18 PM
a small joy of the day:
I was contacted by the founder of an ed tech start up to see if I was interested in collaborating on a tool that uses AI to facilitate close reading -- the founder signed the email with the salutation "In Inspiration!" if that tells you anything -- and I responded honestly
I was contacted by the founder of an ed tech start up to see if I was interested in collaborating on a tool that uses AI to facilitate close reading -- the founder signed the email with the salutation "In Inspiration!" if that tells you anything -- and I responded honestly
"People want the humanities. People want to care about literature. People want to be able to talk to each other about how art works in complex and skilled ways."
I said this in the interview and I mean it!
I said this in the interview and I mean it!
Hey! @johannawinant.bsky.social and I are in @publisherswkly.bsky.social today! We're talking about—guess?—close reading
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
Breaking It Down: PW Talks with Dan Sinykin and Johanna Winant
In Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century (Princeton University Press), coeditors and English professors Sinykin and Winant seek to redefine the technique as a way to make and understand arguments...
www.publishersweekly.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:32 PM
"People want the humanities. People want to care about literature. People want to be able to talk to each other about how art works in complex and skilled ways."
I said this in the interview and I mean it!
I said this in the interview and I mean it!
Reposted by Johanna Winant
Hey! @johannawinant.bsky.social and I are in @publisherswkly.bsky.social today! We're talking about—guess?—close reading
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
Breaking It Down: PW Talks with Dan Sinykin and Johanna Winant
In Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century (Princeton University Press), coeditors and English professors Sinykin and Winant seek to redefine the technique as a way to make and understand arguments...
www.publishersweekly.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Hey! @johannawinant.bsky.social and I are in @publisherswkly.bsky.social today! We're talking about—guess?—close reading
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
Reposted by Johanna Winant
Fantastic essay about close reading and its power to empower.
“that crucial step of noticing requires the close reader to point to evidence and identify it as evidence, to make it into evidence, to grant themselves the authority to do so.”
“that crucial step of noticing requires the close reader to point to evidence and identify it as evidence, to make it into evidence, to grant themselves the authority to do so.”
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
December 2, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Fantastic essay about close reading and its power to empower.
“that crucial step of noticing requires the close reader to point to evidence and identify it as evidence, to make it into evidence, to grant themselves the authority to do so.”
“that crucial step of noticing requires the close reader to point to evidence and identify it as evidence, to make it into evidence, to grant themselves the authority to do so.”
Reposted by Johanna Winant
If you are at all curious about the ways the mechanisms of the publishing industry influence not just what books are published but how and why they are written, you need to read Dan Sinykin's BIG FICTION.
Today! All old & new books in @columbiaup.bsky.social's Literature Now series are 50% off, including POETRY AFTER BARBARISM by @xenoglossic.bsky.social; POETRY IN GENERAL by @keegancf.bsky.social; BIG FICTION by @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social; and WRITING BACKWARDS by @manshel.bsky.social! bit.ly/4rupQx9
December 1, 2025 at 9:20 PM
If you are at all curious about the ways the mechanisms of the publishing industry influence not just what books are published but how and why they are written, you need to read Dan Sinykin's BIG FICTION.
Reposted by Johanna Winant
Today! All books in @columbiaup.bsky.social Black Lives in the Diaspora series are 50% off, including THE SOUTHS IN HER by @nimojo.bsky.social; AFTERLIVES OF THE PLANTATION by Jarvis McInnis; and SCATTERED & FUGITIVE THINGS by @lehelton.bsky.social. bit.ly/4rupQx9
December 1, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Today! All books in @columbiaup.bsky.social Black Lives in the Diaspora series are 50% off, including THE SOUTHS IN HER by @nimojo.bsky.social; AFTERLIVES OF THE PLANTATION by Jarvis McInnis; and SCATTERED & FUGITIVE THINGS by @lehelton.bsky.social. bit.ly/4rupQx9
Reposted by Johanna Winant
Today! Save 50%-70% off on all @columbiaup.bsky.social
books in film studies, including DOWNTIME, by @goblemark.bsky.social; HOLLYWOOD'S OTHERS, by @fuscowrites.bsky.social; MY AFFAIR WITH ART HOUSE CINEMA, by Phillip Lopate, and MARY C. MCCALL, by @jesmyth.co.uk! bit.ly/4rupQx9 #CyberMonday
books in film studies, including DOWNTIME, by @goblemark.bsky.social; HOLLYWOOD'S OTHERS, by @fuscowrites.bsky.social; MY AFFAIR WITH ART HOUSE CINEMA, by Phillip Lopate, and MARY C. MCCALL, by @jesmyth.co.uk! bit.ly/4rupQx9 #CyberMonday
December 1, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Today! Save 50%-70% off on all @columbiaup.bsky.social
books in film studies, including DOWNTIME, by @goblemark.bsky.social; HOLLYWOOD'S OTHERS, by @fuscowrites.bsky.social; MY AFFAIR WITH ART HOUSE CINEMA, by Phillip Lopate, and MARY C. MCCALL, by @jesmyth.co.uk! bit.ly/4rupQx9 #CyberMonday
books in film studies, including DOWNTIME, by @goblemark.bsky.social; HOLLYWOOD'S OTHERS, by @fuscowrites.bsky.social; MY AFFAIR WITH ART HOUSE CINEMA, by Phillip Lopate, and MARY C. MCCALL, by @jesmyth.co.uk! bit.ly/4rupQx9 #CyberMonday
an incredibly beautiful thing happened to me this morning, a profound gift, I'm verklempt
December 1, 2025 at 7:11 PM
an incredibly beautiful thing happened to me this morning, a profound gift, I'm verklempt
Reposted by Johanna Winant
Exciting mail day! Can’t wait to dive into this 💎 by @johannawinant.bsky.social and @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social! #closereading
December 1, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Exciting mail day! Can’t wait to dive into this 💎 by @johannawinant.bsky.social and @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social! #closereading
Reposted by Johanna Winant
Happy to see @johannawinant.bsky.social and @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social getting great press-- nice essay by Johanna here. Our Comparative Literature issue (now in proofs-- coming soon) has a terrific essay on the subject by Yael Segalovitz. Stay tuned!
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
November 30, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Happy to see @johannawinant.bsky.social and @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social getting great press-- nice essay by Johanna here. Our Comparative Literature issue (now in proofs-- coming soon) has a terrific essay on the subject by Yael Segalovitz. Stay tuned!
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...