Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 8h

Recommending my colleague Sarah C E Ross’s monograph on and anthology of English Civil War women poets

Reposted by Nikki Hessell

Paul_BarlowNZ @paulbarlownz.bsky.social · 1d

One final bit of good news - 234600 people across the motu voted to remove Māori wards, 245800 to keep them - 51.1% of all votes were to keep them, 48.9% not to. The majority of the country that voted were in favour so suck it coalition!

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Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 1d

💯

Faisal فيصل @faisalhamadah.bsky.social · 1d

Non-ironically my favorite genre of writing these days is a syntactically awkward student paper that is nevertheless brimming with ideas they’re trying on

Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 1d

The palpable relief of reading a syntactically awkward student paper nevertheless brimming with ideas they’re trying on after having to consume the stale cardboard generalities of a Chat GPT essay.

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

Errol 🦇 🏳️‍🌈 @eerieseymour.bsky.social · 3d

The Orphan Crusher is here to stay. If we don’t feed more Orphans to the Crusher the Orphan Crushing industry will die. It’s time to wake up to the reality of the Orphan Crusher. The Orphan Crusher is worth billions. We need to teach people to use the Orphan Crusher. It’s here to stay.

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 4d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 6d

These are the sorts of things you can do if you're serious about art, creativity, and growing an economy

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 6d

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."

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Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 7d

Long 19C job in New Zealand - see below

Sarah C E Ross @sarahceross.bsky.social · 8d

Job alert! University of Auckland, lectureship in English, in the long 19th century:

jobs.smartrecruiters.com/TheUniversit...

Lecturer - English

Company Description: Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of AucklandThe University of Auckland is New Zealand’s pre-eminent University, with a turnover of $1.1bn, including research revenue of over $...

jobs.smartrecruiters.com

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

Sarah C E Ross @sarahceross.bsky.social · 8d

Job alert! University of Auckland, lectureship in English, in the long 19th century:

jobs.smartrecruiters.com/TheUniversit...

Lecturer - English

Company Description: Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of AucklandThe University of Auckland is New Zealand’s pre-eminent University, with a turnover of $1.1bn, including research revenue of over $...

jobs.smartrecruiters.com

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

Te Herenga Waka University Press @thwupbooks.bsky.social · 8d

'I’ve got two teenagers at home. Life is busy. I’ve been drawn to books that offer the intensity of an encounter with a whole world over just a few sittings.' Here's what Ingrid Horrocks has been reading:
www.thepress.co.nz/culture/3608...

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

E-Tangata @etangata.bsky.social · 8d

“In this 50th anniversary year, the Tribunal and Te Tiriti are under a sustained attack from perhaps the most anti-Tiriti government that we’ve seen since the Tribunal was established.” — Carwyn Jones.

Fifty years of the Waitangi Tribunal | E-Tangata

“In this 50th anniversary year, the Tribunal and Te Tiriti are under a sustained attack from perhaps the most anti-Tiriti government that we’ve seen since the Tribunal was established.” — Carwyn Jones...

e-tangata.co.nz

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

Nathan K. Hensley @nathankhensley.bsky.social · 9d

Want to attend NAVSA 2025: Aftermaths but can't make it to DC? Want MORE brilliant Victorianist scholarship than you can get at the in-person event? The NAVSA 2025 DIGITAL PRESESSION is free and open to all —registration required for security

(thread of papers below)

NAVSA 2025 @navsa2025.bsky.social · 9d

#NAVSA2025 is running special digital panels on Fri, Nov 7 and Sat Nov 8! Registration is FREE but required: tinyurl.com/hy2zhe2y

NAVSA 2025: Aftermaths // Digital Pre-Session Registration

Attendance at the NAVSA 2025 digital pre-sessions is free but you must register in order to receive zoom links for both dates (Friday, November 7th and Saturday, November 8th). Please register if you ...

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

Bill Manhire @pacificraft.bsky.social · 10d

Wellington's independent bookstores

www.wellingtonnz.com/visit/shoppi...

Find an independent bookshop in Wellington - WellingtonNZ

Welcome to bookworm heaven. From secondhand treasures to the newest releases, there’s a book for everyone at these boutique bookshops in Wellington.

www.wellingtonnz.com

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

English Literatures & Creative Communication-THW @elccprogramme.bsky.social · 11d

We seem to be awash in book launches here at ELCC! Please join us on 24 October for "Te Whāriki," edited by Dougal McNeill, Anna Jackson, and Robert Sullivan

Invitation to book launch at Unity Books, Fri 24 October, 6pm

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Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 12d

I genuinely love that is banner news

A news banner, in the breaking news style, that says “Negotiations between Netball NZ and Dane Noeline continue “

Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 13d

"AI is the asbestos we are shovelling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations" 👏

JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 14d

This whole section really.

Finally: AI cannot do your job, but an AI salesman can 100% convince your boss to fire you and replace you with an AI that can't do your job, and when the bubble bursts, the money-hemorrhaging "foundation models" will be shut off and we'll lose the AI that can't do your job, and you will be long gone, retrained or retired or "discouraged" and out of the labor market, and no one will do your job.
AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations:

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

English Literatures & Creative Communication-THW @elccprogramme.bsky.social · 15d

Daylight saving is here, it feels like spring, maybe you should grab a copy of the Sunday Star Times and catch up on what the ELCC programme's poet and lecturer Anna Jackson has been reading? www.thepost.co.nz/culture/3608...

What I’m Reading: Anna Jackson

As we get into spring, look back at poet Anna Jackson’s winter reading list.

www.thepost.co.nz

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

Andrew @openpolicy.bsky.social · 16d

If you’re in Wellington / Poneke there is a protest against the genocide in Gaza and our government’s shameful
complicity at 1 pm in Cuba Street, by the bucket fountain.

#nzpol

RNZ News Feeds @rnzrss.bsky.social · 16d

NZ not yet recognising Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announces

The government has decided against recognising Palestinian statehood, retaining its "when, not if" position.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

Assiduously Julie @awaterevalley.bsky.social · 16d

The coalition is out of step with the people of Aotearoa New Zealand and out of step with the world. Shame on all of them.

NZ not yet recognising Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announces
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

NZ not yet recognising Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announces

The government has decided against recognising Palestinian statehood, retaining its "when, not if" position.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 16d

Shameful 🇵🇸

Mountain Tui @mountaintui.bsky.social · 16d

Our close allies - Australia, Canada, UK - all said recognising Palestine is essential for maintaining a two state solution. NZ is a small outlier but stays with the US and Israeli arguments #nzpol

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Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 17d

The best thing you'll see all day 😍
thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/...

Scotty Morrison’s greatest Te Karere sign-offs, ranked

Just when you think the news is over, the magic begins.

thespinoff.co.nz

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

The Spinoff @thespinoff.bsky.social · 26d

So where can art history take you?

A bunch of art history classmates reunite to explain how the soon-to-be-scrapped subject has served them, two decades on....

thespinoff.co.nz

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Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 26d

We've taken our @marsdenfund.bsky.social "Poetics of Treaties" project on the road! Spending time today at the Agowiidiwinan Centre & at the Museum of Human Rights thinking about treaties in those contexts, then speaking tomorrow at UW.

Thank you to @kerrysinanan.bsky.social for hosting us there

Kerry Sinanan @kerrysinanan.bsky.social · 26d

Very excited that I will finally meet @nikkihessell.bsky.social in person tomorrow and cannot wait to hear her talk with Carwyn Jones on how we can center Treaties in our work and on comparing different treaty experiences and knowledges in 'Canada' and Aotearoa

The BIPOC Network and the Department of English Special Programs present this
talk which will look at issues around treaties in a comparative and interdisciplinary way.
Carwyn Jones will talk about the example of Aotearoa New Zealand and the Waitangi Tribunal as an accountability mechanism, including the importance of understanding treaties as Indigenous law instruments. Nikki Hessell will talk about how historical settler ideas about treaty-making can be understood using Indigenous concepts that take in creative expression, including poetry, as part of the textual world of treaties.

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

English Literatures & Creative Communication-THW @elccprogramme.bsky.social · 27d

Please join the ELCC programme for the launch of Charles Ferrall's new book this Thursday at Unity! www.unitybooks.co.nz/news-and-eve...

Thursday September 18th, 6pmIn-store at Unity Books WELLINGTONBook Launch: South by South: New Zealand and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration by Charles Ferrall

www.unitybooks.co.nz

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Reposted by Nikki Hessell

Bronwyn Isaacs @find-bronwyn.bsky.social · 28d

Rawe! 50 years of Maori language week today:
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa... ""We've gone from a time when te reo Māori was barely heard in public, to a time when it's sung in stadiums, spoken in workplaces and celebrated in our homes."

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori celebrates 50 years

Māori Language Week has kicked off, with a parade, webinar series and a time capsule planned.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 29d

Genuinely, I think that's a big part of it. Being in a space where I'm not an expert & have limited experience, & so a different part of my brain kicks into gear - not analytical, more just like wonder & basic meaning-making.

Presumably the fact that I'm walking & moving is also part of it

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