Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
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joannacdobson.bsky.social
Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
@joannacdobson.bsky.social
3.3K followers 1K following 270 posts
Writer of creative nonfiction; researcher in the environmental humanities. Based in Sheffield, lover of allotments and trees. joannaclaredobson.com
https://wreckageandshimmer.substack.com/
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joannacdobson.bsky.social
Dr Joanna Clare Dobson @joannacdobson.bsky.social · Nov 15
Hello, new followers! A little bit more about me: I write and do research on trauma and place, and the ways they thread, knot, felt, weave and tangle together. Currently querying my first memoir; writing towards my second. Can’t live without #allotments or #knitting
A picture of a middle-aged white woman leaning against a tree and smiling as she looks up (I don't remember what I was looking at)
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
kathleenjamie.bsky.social
Arresting the poets are we? Not a good look.
August 10, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
rspbscience.bsky.social
Hello world!

RSPB Conservation Science has officially landed on BlueSky

Follow us to hear about our science discoveries, new publications, citizen science, and all things conservation research
July 11, 2025 at 11:45 AM
joannacdobson.bsky.social
'She's a tree that's fallen; she's a tree that trees have grown out of; she's now part of the past, but also she fed and nourished and loved and guided a possible future'.
Absolutely beautiful tribute to Joanna Macy by @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social
www.meditationsinanemergency.com/in-honor-of-...
In Honor of Joanna Macy, 1929-2025
I write while staying in one of the great forests of British Columbia, a forest in which the inextricability of life from death is gorgeously evident. Several kinds of fern spring from this soil, some...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com
July 22, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
pollyrowena.bsky.social
Look what arrived while I was away @wcorklitfest.bsky.social! My edited ‘10 poems from the Lake District for @candlestickpress.bsky.social!
July 22, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
bookwormvaught.bsky.social
I'd like to big up what we have offered in the #Curae literary prize for unpaid carers and invite industry press, once more, to look at something extraordinary which people from across industry have helped me to put together a second time. It's still flying under the radar too much. LET'S GO!
July 19, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
davidhiggins.bsky.social
I was initially gen AI agnostic, before I read up on how it works, how it's been developed, and the ideologies that underpin it. In my view, its costs massively outweight its benefits and if you can avoid using it, you should.
davidandress.bsky.social Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · Jul 18
Thanks to an absolute blitzkrieg of marketing and the investment of tens of billions of dollars, the "AI" business has unconditionally captured the allegiance of almost everyone who doesn't know what it really is.
phoeberoi.bsky.social Phoebe @phoeberoi.bsky.social · Jul 18
in the last few days i have had 3 separate conversations where my saying ‘i don’t use chat GPT’ is treated like i’ve said ‘i don’t turn on the light in my house because i think it’s powered by a demon’. it’s a dividing line that i wasn’t really aware of
July 18, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
georgemonbiot.bsky.social
1. Yesterday, 86 people were arrested in the UK under the Terrorism Act 2000 for holding signs saying "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."
They are the opposite of terrorists. They were protesting *against* terrorism. 🧵
July 13, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
npitchford.bsky.social
For me as someone currently not disabled or ill (but close to loved ones who are), I’ve learned SO much nuance from Polly’s writing, centrally #SomeOfUsJustFall. Reading disabled/chronic writers helps transform what is visible/legible to me in others’ bodily & political experiences — & in my own.
pollyrowena.bsky.social Polly Atkin @pollyrowena.bsky.social · Jul 10
More on this in light of Winn's rebuttal. 1. There is a lot of pressure on memoirists to simplify narratives. 2. As I write about in #SomeOfUsJustFall, diagnosis is an ongoing process, especially with complex chronic conditions. Theories are posed; the body concurs, or doesn't. #TheChronicLife
pollyrowena.bsky.social Polly Atkin @pollyrowena.bsky.social · Jul 9
There were lots of other comments but probably the one that tipped me right over the edge was ' find a solution. Don't be a victim'. Friend, the solution is writing about it and continuing to exist. There's much more to this story, but the most pertinent bit just now is what happened next.
July 10, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
profcathyelliott.bsky.social
Yeah. The issue with The Salt Path isn't so much it's 'truth value' as the dodgy aesthetics which have always been there.
Look I have no interest in casting stones at someone who made up a story to cover up (a) bad decision(s), though I think that 'true' story would have been more interesting 1/n
nicwilson.bsky.social Nic Wilson @nicwilson.bsky.social · Jul 9
I've been writing in @thebookseller.com about how questions on the veracity of elements of The Salt Path highlight some of the serious issues associated with the prevalence of the 'nature cure' narrative.

#booksky #naturewriting #lifewriting #memoir #chronicillness
The Salt Path scandal: questions raised about the veracity of memoir
The Salt Path scandal shows how problematic "the nature cure" narrative can be.
www.thebookseller.com
July 9, 2025 at 12:02 PM
joannacdobson.bsky.social
One of the many problems I have with the ‘nature cure’ label is that it gets slapped on any memoir about nature and illness/disability/mental distress, regardless of content. When most of those books - and Nic’s is a fine example - are doing something MUCH more interesting than the term implies.
nicwilson.bsky.social Nic Wilson @nicwilson.bsky.social · Jul 9
I've been writing in @thebookseller.com about how questions on the veracity of elements of The Salt Path highlight some of the serious issues associated with the prevalence of the 'nature cure' narrative.

#booksky #naturewriting #lifewriting #memoir #chronicillness
The Salt Path scandal: questions raised about the veracity of memoir
The Salt Path scandal shows how problematic "the nature cure" narrative can be.
www.thebookseller.com
July 9, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
draflint.bsky.social
A fab looking peaty poetry opportunity for young poets (14-25).
ypn.poetrysociety.org.uk/workshop/bog...
The Bog Challenge on Young Poets Network – Young Poets Network
ypn.poetrysociety.org.uk
July 7, 2025 at 7:43 PM
joannacdobson.bsky.social
The Italian for swift is rondone, which is linked to the word for ‘patrol’. Patrolling implies ownership, agency, a sense of responsibility: the naming is a powerful, if subconscious, act of recognising the birds as co-citizens.
#swiftawarenessweek

wreckageandshimmer.substack.com/p/shimmering...
Shimmering with swifts
Finding abundance in Italy
wreckageandshimmer.substack.com
July 6, 2025 at 5:53 PM
joannacdobson.bsky.social
Hurrah!
nicolawriting.bsky.social Nicola Chester @nicolawriting.bsky.social · Jul 6
I don't know if this is a good time, but I'm on Substack. I think I've posted my first post. I mean I have, & hope I've done it right. It'd be lovely to have some subscribers (it's free) nicolawriting.substack.com/p/an-ecology... but if you'd rather, I've also blogged it here nicolachester.com ...
A curve of a downland hill with a white chalk track going across it, up to a gibbet or gallows on a long barrow, at its distant summit.
July 6, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
julianhoffman.bsky.social
It's not just about the broken trust between writer and reader, or all the time, energy and unfounded faith invested by booksellers, but it's also about the important stories still unheard of those living with illness and homelessness that could have been elevated by the industry instead.
July 6, 2025 at 10:53 AM
joannacdobson.bsky.social
Truth in memoir is a slippery thing. Nevertheless, if we present our writing as memoir, we enter into a solemn contract with our readers: that we are telling the truth as best as we possibly can. If one writer abrogates that responsibility, the consequences affect all of us.
July 6, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
pollyrowena.bsky.social
I've made a new list on @bookshop.org of books that explore nature / walking / the outdoors by disabled, neurodivergent and chronically ill writers - Nature Beyond Cure - aka our own narratives are messy and complex. Do share! #BookSky #DisabledWriters
uk.bookshop.org/lists/nature...?
Nature Beyond Cure: Disabled Perspectives
Books that explore nature and living with disability and illness from disability perspectives. No magical cures here!
uk.bookshop.org
July 6, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
nicwilson.bsky.social
I'll be talking about #LandBeneaththeWaves at the Book Nook in #Ware (sold out) on Tuesday and David's Bookshop in #Letchworth this Thursday. Lots of local nature, plus deadly plants, snickets and Hitchin's lost nightingales. Do some along and join us if you're nearby...

#booksky #naturewriting
Event ticket: Nic Wilson for Land Beneath the Waves
Date: Thursday 19th June 2025 Venue: David’s Bookshop. This is an in person event (not available to attend online) Event to start at 7pm, doors opening 6:30pm. Nic Wilson is a writer, editor and Guard...
www.davids-bookshops.co.uk
June 16, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
jackwallington.com
I’ve written to my MP sharing my concerns about the way Labour is planning to harm nature when they promised the nation they’d protect it - please do the same, numbers matter in steering politics
May 24, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
sarahjanebutler.bsky.social
On our darkest days it's easy to believe humans have no positive place in the natural world - this welcome post by @joannacdobson.bsky.social reminds us that the shimmer of life includes us open.substack.com/pub/wreckage... #naturewriting #environment
The shimmer of life includes us
On dealing with ecological guilt
open.substack.com
May 16, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
clhellisen.bsky.social
Writer and colourist @jordanacosta.co has a resource of pictures for writers to use rather than AI rubbish

www.jordanacosta.co/p/more-free-...
More Free-to-use Picture Resources for Writers
Because millions of free-to-use images are just the tip of the iceberg
www.jordanacosta.co
May 13, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
ppushbike.bsky.social
Looking forward to seeing this visually stunning film at DocFest. Lost for Words is inspired by The Lost Words (Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris). It includes a song setting of Heartwood, the 'charm against harm' Robert wrote for Sheffield's trees.

www.sheffdocfest.com/film/lost-wo...
Lost for Words | Sheffield DocFest
no synopsis available
www.sheffdocfest.com
May 12, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
nicwilson.bsky.social
My book launch of #LandBeneaththeWaves is now online, tickets available from @nextpagebooksuk.bsky.social. If you're near #Hitchin, come and join us for drinks, music and chat about local nature and our relationship with it. Should be a fun evening! 😊🐸🌱🪰🦔🦉💚

#naturewriting #chronicillness #booksky
Book Launch: Land Beneath the Waves by Nic WIlson
Join us for the debut book launch of "Land Beneath the Waves" by Nic Wilson, Hitchin author and Guardian nature writer
www.eventbrite.co.uk
May 12, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
tanjabueltmann.net
My letter to the Prime Minister. #immigration
Slightly amended so I can fit this here: I am writing to you as an immigrant who chose to make the UK my home. As someone who is now also a British citizen. And as a German-born historian who understands where the complete normalisation of the far right can end. I write to say: For shame! I first came to the UK in the 1990s for a visit with my grandmother. Objectively, much was backwards here. No mixer taps in the bathroom; awful ‘bread’; and strings had to be pulled to switch on lights. But however I felt about this, my own string had been pulled: I loved this Cool Britannia. It was quite possibly then that I decided that the UK was to be my home. When I arrived to settle here permanently, I made a choice: to contribute my skills, my knowledge—all I have to offer—to this country rather than another one. I am deeply disgusted by your comment today that immigration has done ‘incalculable damage’ to the country. This is the language of the far right. It is insulting, hateful & will fuel xenophobia. And it is just wrong. Migration is a normal part of the human existence. None of us would be where we are without it. Open your fridge and you will see migration. Immigrants help make the UK tick every single day, whether we clean toilets in our hospitals or provide care for the elderly; whether we empty our bins or carry out cancer research. We are mothers, sons-in-law, aunts and uncles, friends, neighbours and colleagues. I ask you not tell me that you do not mean me. I know that you do not—at least not primarily—mean a white woman from Europe who has a PhD. But who do you mean? And, much more importantly, who do you think those racists who were engaged in riots on our streets last summer think you mean? Anti-immigration narratives have defined UK policymaking for the best part of two decades. And fundamentally so. They were the key driver in delivering Brexit, for example, and, as such, have directly limited the rights and opportunities of British citizens. This obsessive focus on immigration as the ‘problem’—that is the real problem. And it is consistently delivering poor outcomes for the UK. Instead of tackling this, you are choosing to consolidate it, sowing divisions along the way. You may point me to polling and tell me that this is what voters want. Do they? I am not surprised at all that over 50% of voters might say they want to see immigration reduced if that is the question they are being asked. What we need to know is what they would answer to the question: “Would you like to see immigration reduced? What this would mean for you and your local community is XYZ.” That is not how surveys can ask questions, but governments absolutely can choose to make policy using such a more informed position. Prime Minister, you continue to talk a lot about making the tough choices. But let’s be clear: setting immigrants up as the ‘other’, as a scapegoat—describing us as a threat ‘pulling the country apart’, a ‘squalid chapter’, a risk that might make the UK an ‘island of strangers’—these are not tough choices at all. These are the easy choices. They are the choices that populists make who have no solutions to the real problems a country faces. What I would like to know, Prime Minister, is what you will do when your policies lead to the implosion of the UK’s Higher Education sector. What you will tell communities when they can no longer provide any care for the elderly. The policies you announced today will not solve anything at all. They will have exclusively negative impacts. For those immediately affected; for our communities; and for our economy. Being pro-immigration—it is progressive, yes, but the much more crucial point is that it is also the most pro-UK policy approach that any politician in the country can pursue. And you are choosing to do the opposite. This, Prime Minister, is the real damage—and it will be very calculable indeed. Tanja Bueltmann
May 12, 2025 at 2:46 PM
joannacdobson.bsky.social
Today I am thinking about the midwife who delivered my firstborn, the psychiatrist who led our family through a turbulent time, the neighbours who shared their cooking with us in London, the ESOL students who trusted me with their stories, and so many more. The sum total is incalculable enrichment.
paulbrand.bsky.social Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · May 12
If you thought the PM’s speech was punchy, his foreword to the immigration white paper says high net migration has done “incalculable damage” to the country.

That is a serious shift in tone for a Labour government/party.
May 12, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Dr Joanna Clare Dobson
victorianmasc.bsky.social
- Lecturer in Postcolonial or Indigenous Literature
- Lecturer in Early Modern English Literature.
University of Glasgow. FT Permanent.
Closing 22nd and 25th May.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMO617/l...
Lecturer in Postcolonial or Indigenous Literature (R&T) at University of Glasgow
Searching for an academic job? Explore this Lecturer in Postcolonial or Indigenous Literature (R&T) opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.
www.jobs.ac.uk
May 12, 2025 at 1:38 PM