David B Hobbs
@deebeehobbs.bsky.social
Assoc Prof of English (modernism/poetry) at ULethbridge, critic (often in The Nation), ghostwriter of Tár On Tár
Pinned
David B Hobbs
@deebeehobbs.bsky.social
· Feb 28
Ronald Johnson’s style, according to this friends and critics, was premised on “concentrated seeing”: A mode of poetic observation that slowed the world down and captured both its sound and nature.
Ronald Johnson’s American Romanticism
An inheritor of a distinct tradition that stretched back to Coleridge and Emerson, Johnson’s naturalistic poetry was immersive and intimate all at once.
bit.ly
one more time for the weekend — was thrilled to have the chance to write about Ronald Johnson, connecting him back to some of his early influences & source texts as well as pointing towards some contemporary poets continuing in his idiosyncratic Queer Romantic tradition
Reposted by David B Hobbs
This Saturday at 7 pm, two @columbiaup.bsky.social authors, Keegan Cook Finberg and Kristin Grogan discuss their extraordinary new books, POETRY IN GENERAL and STITCH, UNSTITCH: in conversation w/ Christopher Nealon at @redemmas.org! bit.ly/3LAvRYz @keegancf.bsky.social @kristingrogan.bsky.social
Keegan Cook Finberg and Kristin Grogan present "Poetry in General: How a Literary Form Became Public" and "Stitch, Unstitch Modernist Poetry and the World of Work" in conversation w/ Christopher Nealo...
Join us for an evening of rethinking the power and labor of poetry in everyday spaces.
bit.ly
November 14, 2025 at 1:26 AM
This Saturday at 7 pm, two @columbiaup.bsky.social authors, Keegan Cook Finberg and Kristin Grogan discuss their extraordinary new books, POETRY IN GENERAL and STITCH, UNSTITCH: in conversation w/ Christopher Nealon at @redemmas.org! bit.ly/3LAvRYz @keegancf.bsky.social @kristingrogan.bsky.social
you can just say “Harvard”
it's been hard to put this feeling into words, but we've spent the past couple of decades being lectured to and patronized by an elite class that spent its free time joshing with jeffrey epstein about his little sex abuse empire while lecturing us about how out of touch we are
November 13, 2025 at 8:08 PM
you can just say “Harvard”
hello Ottawa! I am giving this talk tomorrow please come!
+ thank you @kqandrews.bsky.social for inviting me!
+ thank you @kqandrews.bsky.social for inviting me!
November 13, 2025 at 7:33 PM
hello Ottawa! I am giving this talk tomorrow please come!
+ thank you @kqandrews.bsky.social for inviting me!
+ thank you @kqandrews.bsky.social for inviting me!
Reposted by David B Hobbs
This seems hard to believe…given that Blackstone Inc. is only 40, KKR is 49, & Bain Capital is 41.
THE MEDIAN AGE OF A U.S. HOME BUYER NOW SITS AT A RECORD HIGH OF 61 YEARS, PER NAR.
November 11, 2025 at 8:01 PM
This seems hard to believe…given that Blackstone Inc. is only 40, KKR is 49, & Bain Capital is 41.
Reposted by David B Hobbs
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
Reposted by David B Hobbs
I love this by Peter Coviello (former chair of Africana Studies at yes, Bowdoin). Very smart AND very funny. lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:49 PM
I love this by Peter Coviello (former chair of Africana Studies at yes, Bowdoin). Very smart AND very funny. lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Reposted by David B Hobbs
ASAP: The Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present seeks applications for the next editor(s)-in-chief of the award-winning ASAP/Journal.
Please see more information below!
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Please see more information below!
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
10.1 ASAP Journal call for editors 2025 short.docx
ASAP/Journal Editor-in-Chief Search ASAP: The Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present seeks applications for the next editor(s)-in-chief of the award-winning ASAP/Journal. Elizabeth Ho w...
docs.google.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:19 PM
ASAP: The Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present seeks applications for the next editor(s)-in-chief of the award-winning ASAP/Journal.
Please see more information below!
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Please see more information below!
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Reposted by David B Hobbs
Hi Bluesky 👋
Small life update: I’m at the centre of a multimillion dollar lawsuit in Alberta launched by a failed candidate for Jason Kenney’s UCP
It may be the longest and most expensive media trial in Canadian history
I’m ready to go public about it and I want to share more details with you 🧵
Small life update: I’m at the centre of a multimillion dollar lawsuit in Alberta launched by a failed candidate for Jason Kenney’s UCP
It may be the longest and most expensive media trial in Canadian history
I’m ready to go public about it and I want to share more details with you 🧵
November 7, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Hi Bluesky 👋
Small life update: I’m at the centre of a multimillion dollar lawsuit in Alberta launched by a failed candidate for Jason Kenney’s UCP
It may be the longest and most expensive media trial in Canadian history
I’m ready to go public about it and I want to share more details with you 🧵
Small life update: I’m at the centre of a multimillion dollar lawsuit in Alberta launched by a failed candidate for Jason Kenney’s UCP
It may be the longest and most expensive media trial in Canadian history
I’m ready to go public about it and I want to share more details with you 🧵
free tip to other college teachers — ChatGPT seems to really struggle with the question “Why might this approach to this topic be interesting to someone who is not you?”
November 7, 2025 at 12:53 AM
free tip to other college teachers — ChatGPT seems to really struggle with the question “Why might this approach to this topic be interesting to someone who is not you?”
Reposted by David B Hobbs
check it out
November 6, 2025 at 7:18 PM
check it out
me at 20y/o: this guy is the best rapper alive
November 6, 2025 at 3:50 PM
me at 20y/o: this guy is the best rapper alive
I have been hesitant to wade into the “problems with BlueSky” conversations but this should be getting wayyyy more burn
Don’t worry, Kim Petras has seen the video of mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani requesting her music from a DJ. The DJ didn’t have any, but Petras has plenty of love in her heart for the mayor-to-be.
Yes, Kim Petras Has Seen That Zohran Mamdani Video
Don’t worry, Kim Petras has seen the video of mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani requesting her music from a DJ. The DJ didn’t have any, but Petras has plenty of love in her heart for the mayor-to-be.
www.vulture.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I have been hesitant to wade into the “problems with BlueSky” conversations but this should be getting wayyyy more burn
Reposted by David B Hobbs
November 5, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by David B Hobbs
I am SO happy to be able to share the wonderful cover for DISPATCHES FROM THE AVANT-GARAGE: THE ALTERNATIVE PRESS coming in March from Wayne State UP. The cover has it all—postcards, letterpress, a bison. Beautifully designed, as it happens, by Lindsey Cleworth, who grew up in my/our hometown.
November 5, 2025 at 2:24 PM
I am SO happy to be able to share the wonderful cover for DISPATCHES FROM THE AVANT-GARAGE: THE ALTERNATIVE PRESS coming in March from Wayne State UP. The cover has it all—postcards, letterpress, a bison. Beautifully designed, as it happens, by Lindsey Cleworth, who grew up in my/our hometown.
when these hit Grailed I am going to financially ruin myself
Our message to Andrew Cuomo was loud & clear in June.
It’s louder & clearer tonight.
It’s louder & clearer tonight.
November 5, 2025 at 9:13 PM
when these hit Grailed I am going to financially ruin myself
Reposted by David B Hobbs
Originally published in 1980, Ronald M. Schernikau’s “smalltownnovella” is finally available in English via @uglyducklingpresse.bsky.social, translated by Lucy Jones. In this excerpt from the afterword, Ben Miller writes on craft, politics, and lowercase text.
Innocence and Its Opposite | Ben Miller
Ronald M. Schernikau knew that literary creation and political engagement are intimately related—and in unpredictable ways.
thebaffler.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Originally published in 1980, Ronald M. Schernikau’s “smalltownnovella” is finally available in English via @uglyducklingpresse.bsky.social, translated by Lucy Jones. In this excerpt from the afterword, Ben Miller writes on craft, politics, and lowercase text.
Reposted by David B Hobbs
GO THE FUCK OFF!!!!!!
Mamdani: "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant."
November 5, 2025 at 4:47 AM
GO THE FUCK OFF!!!!!!
We’re joyscrolling!!!!!!!!!!
November 5, 2025 at 3:41 PM
We’re joyscrolling!!!!!!!!!!
Reposted by David B Hobbs
here is my story about how Zohran's focus on community amid the loneliness epidemic helped young people connect their politics to an organizing infrastructure, that interviewed ZM, and does not use the NYT's framing of "they don't know how to make friends" :-) and also ran 4 days before NYT's lol
Zohran Mamdani's Establishment-Fighting Campaign Built Community for Young People
“What Mamdani has done is not only inspire and mobilize young people, but he has exposed the establishment and some of their calcified views of participation and inclusion.”
www.teenvogue.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:14 PM
here is my story about how Zohran's focus on community amid the loneliness epidemic helped young people connect their politics to an organizing infrastructure, that interviewed ZM, and does not use the NYT's framing of "they don't know how to make friends" :-) and also ran 4 days before NYT's lol
Reposted by David B Hobbs
I’m just a small-town political scientist, & it’s still relatively early, but it appears that The Actual Democrats did not Need To Do any of the Things or Learn any of the Obvious Lessons that Ezra Douthglesias said they Must Do & Learn.
November 5, 2025 at 2:08 AM
I’m just a small-town political scientist, & it’s still relatively early, but it appears that The Actual Democrats did not Need To Do any of the Things or Learn any of the Obvious Lessons that Ezra Douthglesias said they Must Do & Learn.
Reposted by David B Hobbs
I'm mad. Please put in the newspaper that I'm mad.
November 5, 2025 at 2:54 AM
I'm mad. Please put in the newspaper that I'm mad.
Reposted by David B Hobbs
Zohran at the rally for trans youth on february 8 ❣️ he was polling single digits.
June 25, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Zohran at the rally for trans youth on february 8 ❣️ he was polling single digits.
Reposted by David B Hobbs
Don’t miss the feminist poetics event of the year!
Aaaaand if you want to hear more about this gorgeous book, Keegan and I will be launching our books at Red Emma’s in Baltimore next Saturday 11/15 ✨🌹✨🌹
Today is the official publication day for POETRY IN GENERAL: How a Literary From Became Public.
✨ Now available wherever books are sold ✨
Use CUP20 for a discount from the press
cup.columbia.edu/book/poetry-...
✨ Now available wherever books are sold ✨
Use CUP20 for a discount from the press
cup.columbia.edu/book/poetry-...
November 4, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Don’t miss the feminist poetics event of the year!
thanks to @matthiasellis.com for suggesting Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Opus“ as work music on a recent pod — spent all weekend writing to it. Serious and poignant!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OAh...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OAh...
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Tong Poo | Ryuichi Sakamoto Opus
YouTube video by Milan Records USA
m.youtube.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:16 PM
thanks to @matthiasellis.com for suggesting Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Opus“ as work music on a recent pod — spent all weekend writing to it. Serious and poignant!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OAh...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OAh...
her kid got a bloody nose because due to Fall Back he was so tired and bumping into things because he got an extra hour of sleep 👍
November 4, 2025 at 12:03 AM
her kid got a bloody nose because due to Fall Back he was so tired and bumping into things because he got an extra hour of sleep 👍