Catherine Clarke
@cathamclarke.bsky.social
Writer, academic. Professor & Director @chppc.bsky.social & @vch-home.bsky.social. Beach hut days. New book: #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems, Penguin Allen Lane, 04.09.25.
https://www.catherineclarke.info/ / https://www.history.ac.uk/people/catherine-clarke
https://www.catherineclarke.info/ / https://www.history.ac.uk/people/catherine-clarke
Telling my 10-year-old (a massive fan of the 'Adventures in Time' series) that Dominic Sandbrook himself had picked #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems as a Times Best Book of 2025 - a lifetime highlight moment ❤️
November 29, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Telling my 10-year-old (a massive fan of the 'Adventures in Time' series) that Dominic Sandbrook himself had picked #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems as a Times Best Book of 2025 - a lifetime highlight moment ❤️
#IMC2026, Weds, 8 July, 7pm! Four medievalists who've published 'trade' books will discuss the process - from finding an agent to working with publishers & beyond. Sponsored by @ihr.bsky.social. @realmandeville.bsky.social @saracharles.bsky.social @eleanormaybaker.bsky.social @imc-leeds.bsky.social
November 29, 2025 at 1:19 PM
#IMC2026, Weds, 8 July, 7pm! Four medievalists who've published 'trade' books will discuss the process - from finding an agent to working with publishers & beyond. Sponsored by @ihr.bsky.social. @realmandeville.bsky.social @saracharles.bsky.social @eleanormaybaker.bsky.social @imc-leeds.bsky.social
![I
1. I have dwelt long in the house of lockdown: I have enclosed myself in the habitation of Netflix and groaning.
2. They have set me my bounds which I shall not pass: I keep the statutes and observe the laws.
3. I entered into the supermarket, but it was barren: its plenty was turned into empty shelves, and there was no toilet paper in it.
4. Neither were there delivery slots by day nor by night: verily, not even from Ocado.
5. [2nd part] Deliver us from the wilderness of delivery: and deliver our deliveries unto us.
6. I am become a stranger unto the pub, and unto the office: even an alien unto Pizza Express.
7. The sun ariseth, and I go forth to work and to my labour: even in my pyjamas until the evening.
8. I am weary of Zoom, my throat is dry: it melteth away like wax as my broadband vanisheth.
9. Yet they gape upon me with their mouths and say: thy toddler sitteth lurking in the corner of the screen, and lo he imagineth mischief.
10. And thou, oh daughter of lockdown: thou shalt do thy phonics in exile.
11. Also thy literacy and numeracy work, and thy comprehension: yea verily, even thy fronted adverbials.
12. They have sprayed markers for my feet: they have set a place for me on the pavement outside Tesco Metro.
13. The unrighteous forget their social distancing: I swerve from their transgressions.
14. [2nd part] The people rebuke each other: and bear in their bosoms the rebukes of many people.
15. A mask hath covered my face and I wash my hands: neither have I found any hand sanitiser to comfort me.
16. The pestilence layeth siege against me: according to the cleanness of my hands shall I be recompensed.
II
17. Clap your hands, all ye neighbours: clap in the front gardens and on the doorsteps.
18. Make a thankful noise, for it is Thursday: clap your hands and bang the pots; bang the mighty pan from the stove, the frying pan from the draining board, and the little pan from under the sink.
(etc.)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:imn5zuyki7dqgziteqzfmlrw/bafkreih4ezx2wr2butausmxefj4jhq2j37fsbhdum5oxhi6k6l2zk6ly74@jpeg)
Lovely to give a talk at the Centre for Regional and Local History in Leicester today - among friends 😍📕📕
#VictoriaCountyHistory @vch-home.bsky.social
#VictoriaCountyHistory @vch-home.bsky.social
November 28, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Lovely to give a talk at the Centre for Regional and Local History in Leicester today - among friends 😍📕📕
#VictoriaCountyHistory @vch-home.bsky.social
#VictoriaCountyHistory @vch-home.bsky.social
I'm so thrilled and proud that #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems is a Times Book of the Year (#history). In some incredible company on this list. Thank you!
November 28, 2025 at 12:09 PM
I'm so thrilled and proud that #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems is a Times Book of the Year (#history). In some incredible company on this list. Thank you!
I'm very much looking forward to this online event (in English!) hosted by the University of Silesia, Katowice, in conversation with my dear friend Rafal Boryslawski. Weds 3 December, 4pm London time / 5pm CET. #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems www.facebook.com/events/88180...
![Info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/881804601189365/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22attachment%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22newsfeed%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:imn5zuyki7dqgziteqzfmlrw/bafkreidktmapsytp5vias4x57mp5uvxgsvqvlrdwm5xnbh6mzkiqwp7eqm@jpeg)
November 28, 2025 at 11:39 AM
I'm very much looking forward to this online event (in English!) hosted by the University of Silesia, Katowice, in conversation with my dear friend Rafal Boryslawski. Weds 3 December, 4pm London time / 5pm CET. #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems www.facebook.com/events/88180...
#Canterbury, you do not disappoint! A long day travelling but totally worth it for some gorgeous bright and frosty views. Looking forward to my talk at Canterbury Christ Church University very soon!
November 26, 2025 at 3:23 PM
#Canterbury, you do not disappoint! A long day travelling but totally worth it for some gorgeous bright and frosty views. Looking forward to my talk at Canterbury Christ Church University very soon!
Tomorrow, Wednesday 26 November, #Canterbury - open to the public and all welcome!
www.canterbury.ac.uk/events/2025/...
www.canterbury.ac.uk/events/2025/...
November 25, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Tomorrow, Wednesday 26 November, #Canterbury - open to the public and all welcome!
www.canterbury.ac.uk/events/2025/...
www.canterbury.ac.uk/events/2025/...
Wrapping a few little Advent presents for my 10-year-old philatelist - various old Christmas stamps and first day covers (thank you, charity shops!). This 1989 Christmas set by the great David Gentleman has always been a particular favourite of mine. #stamps #medieval #philately #Christmas #Ely
November 23, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Wrapping a few little Advent presents for my 10-year-old philatelist - various old Christmas stamps and first day covers (thank you, charity shops!). This 1989 Christmas set by the great David Gentleman has always been a particular favourite of mine. #stamps #medieval #philately #Christmas #Ely
#AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems is one of the best poetry books of 2025 in the Financial Times / FT Weekend! This makes me so happy - especially as it's most definitely a #poetry #book for poetry sceptics. If you love #history, why not have a look and see where poetry can take us...?
November 23, 2025 at 8:31 AM
#AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems is one of the best poetry books of 2025 in the Financial Times / FT Weekend! This makes me so happy - especially as it's most definitely a #poetry #book for poetry sceptics. If you love #history, why not have a look and see where poetry can take us...?
#Talk: 'From Nation to Local: Re-Discovering England’s Places through #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems'. What happens to our understanding of the nation when we start at the very smallest scale? Friday 28 November, 3pm, University of Leicester - all welcome! www.englishlocalhistory.org/wp/2025/09/2...
November 22, 2025 at 10:36 AM
#Talk: 'From Nation to Local: Re-Discovering England’s Places through #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems'. What happens to our understanding of the nation when we start at the very smallest scale? Friday 28 November, 3pm, University of Leicester - all welcome! www.englishlocalhistory.org/wp/2025/09/2...
How lovely to find #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems on the list of the BBC History Magazine Books of the Year! And picked by the brilliant Alice Loxton, who I so enjoyed sharing a stage with at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in October. Thank you!
www.historyextra.com/magazine/his... #book #history
www.historyextra.com/magazine/his... #book #history
November 21, 2025 at 9:46 PM
How lovely to find #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems on the list of the BBC History Magazine Books of the Year! And picked by the brilliant Alice Loxton, who I so enjoyed sharing a stage with at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in October. Thank you!
www.historyextra.com/magazine/his... #book #history
www.historyextra.com/magazine/his... #book #history
November 20, 2025 at 11:47 AM
The birds on my book have made a friend! Thank you Waterstones Castlepoint (Bournemouth) for the lovely table display and this adorable robin perched on my book in the window ❤️
November 15, 2025 at 9:45 PM
The birds on my book have made a friend! Thank you Waterstones Castlepoint (Bournemouth) for the lovely table display and this adorable robin perched on my book in the window ❤️
This makes me so happy - not least because Anna Laetitia Barbauld was 'cancelled' for writing this fearless reformist poem, which deserves to be better known. Want to discover her vision of time travel and a future England in ruins? It's in #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems! 😄 Thank you, Leonie!
November 14, 2025 at 2:24 PM
This makes me so happy - not least because Anna Laetitia Barbauld was 'cancelled' for writing this fearless reformist poem, which deserves to be better known. Want to discover her vision of time travel and a future England in ruins? It's in #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems! 😄 Thank you, Leonie!
Lovely to catch up with my dear friend Rafal Boryslawski, visiting from Poland, and talk through some plans for my online seminar for the University of Silesia next month ❤️
November 14, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Lovely to catch up with my dear friend Rafal Boryslawski, visiting from Poland, and talk through some plans for my online seminar for the University of Silesia next month ❤️
An amazing night @ihr.bsky.social making toy theatres as part of @beinghumanfest.bsky.social 2025! Led by @pdwebster.bsky.social, we explored toy theatres as heritage reconstruction - and staged the shows of our dreams! So much joyful creativity in the room & lots of first-time visitors to the IHR.
November 14, 2025 at 8:53 AM
An amazing night @ihr.bsky.social making toy theatres as part of @beinghumanfest.bsky.social 2025! Led by @pdwebster.bsky.social, we explored toy theatres as heritage reconstruction - and staged the shows of our dreams! So much joyful creativity in the room & lots of first-time visitors to the IHR.
How lovely to meet my brilliant PhD student @pdwebster.bsky.social for the first time in real life today! He came over from the US to lead an amazing event at @ihr.bsky.social for the Being Human Festival - more on that soon!
November 13, 2025 at 9:37 PM
How lovely to meet my brilliant PhD student @pdwebster.bsky.social for the first time in real life today! He came over from the US to lead an amazing event at @ihr.bsky.social for the Being Human Festival - more on that soon!
Welcoming the newest member of our @chppc.bsky.social / @vch-home.bsky.social team, Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social - and discovering that we both consider a crochet poncho an essential office staple.
November 13, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Welcoming the newest member of our @chppc.bsky.social / @vch-home.bsky.social team, Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social - and discovering that we both consider a crochet poncho an essential office staple.
November 13, 2025 at 9:32 AM
When school pick-up is on #HengistburyHead... A much-needed half hour away from the screen this afternoon.
November 12, 2025 at 4:46 PM
When school pick-up is on #HengistburyHead... A much-needed half hour away from the screen this afternoon.
On Friday 28 November (3pm) I'll be speaking in the seminar series from the Centre for Regional and Local History and the Centre for Urban History at the University of Leicester. It's free and open to the public - all welcome! Info in AltText.
#AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems #book #history #event
#AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems #book #history #event
November 12, 2025 at 11:11 AM
On Friday 28 November (3pm) I'll be speaking in the seminar series from the Centre for Regional and Local History and the Centre for Urban History at the University of Leicester. It's free and open to the public - all welcome! Info in AltText.
#AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems #book #history #event
#AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems #book #history #event
The poem on my heart today: #Adlestrop, by Edward Thomas. A moment of stillness at a deserted railway station in the summer of 1914: written in early 1915, and published in spring 1917, just days after Second Lieutenant Edward Thomas, Royal Garrison Artillery, was killed at the Battle of Arras.
November 11, 2025 at 11:56 AM
The poem on my heart today: #Adlestrop, by Edward Thomas. A moment of stillness at a deserted railway station in the summer of 1914: written in early 1915, and published in spring 1917, just days after Second Lieutenant Edward Thomas, Royal Garrison Artillery, was killed at the Battle of Arras.
There's still time to get your copy and join us for a #TimeTravelAdvent! 25 chapters = a few minutes of immersive time travel for each day in December, leading up to (and including) Christmas Day. I'll be sharing posts on here every day, too. #AdventCalendar #book #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems
November 10, 2025 at 4:20 PM
There's still time to get your copy and join us for a #TimeTravelAdvent! 25 chapters = a few minutes of immersive time travel for each day in December, leading up to (and including) Christmas Day. I'll be sharing posts on here every day, too. #AdventCalendar #book #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems