matter matters

Books in English

Gorman, Amanda (2021): The hill we climb: an inaugural poem.

Wimbush, Sarah (2024): STRIKE.

Books in Dutch

Borrel, Daan (2025): De Duivelsberg: een wandeling.

Brusselmans, Herman (2024): Ex-roker.

Cornelisse, Paulien (2025): hèhè: over wat we zeggen zonder dat we het doorhebben.

De Coster, Saskia (2025): Pink Lady: een wandeling.

Demets, Paul (2022): De bijendans: gedichten.

de Vries, Thorn (2025): Schillen.

Donner, Marian (2024): Rooksignalen: (een hoofdkussenboek).

El Hamidi, Lotfi (2022): Generatie 9/11: migratie, diaspora en identiteit.

Goemans, Anne-Gine (2025): Dhr. weigert zorg: liefdevol en ontluisterend verslag over een vader met dementie in het verpleeghuis.

Hagen, Hans (2025): De zakdoekjesboom: een wandeling.

Jensen, Stine (2025): Zin van de dag.

Joseph, Guida (2025): Enkele reis Sobibor: de briefkaarten van mijn grootmoeder.

Kamagurka & Harold Hamersma (2024): Dorstman & Dorstman.

Kamagurka (2025): Bij mij om de hoek.

Marsman, Lieke (2025): Op een andere planeet kunnen ze me redden.

Meijer, Eva (2025): Muizenleven.

Meijer, Eva (2025): Variaties op aanwezigheid.

Reid, Geleijnse & van Tol (2024): Fokke & Sukke: het afzien van 2025.

Rezazadeh, Sholeh (2024): De wind vindt altijd zijn weg.

Schoeters, Gaea (2025): Het geschenk.

Sitalsing, Sheila (2025): Waar ik me voor schaam: over zwijgen en het doorgeven van schuld.

Skotnicki, Stefan & Dore van Duivenbode (2025): Mijn twee moeders: [hoe een joods jongetje gered werd door zijn kindermeisje].

Stok, Barbara (2025) [2012]: Vincent [Tiende, uitgebreide druk].

Ton, Betje (2025): De vliegende klimaatactivist: hoe mijn streven naar een duurzamer leven me een gevoel van vrijheid opleverde.

Van den Broeck, Charlotte (2025): Plakboel.

van den Toorn, Jip (2025): 2025: hoe vond je zelf dat het ging? [een jaaroverzicht].

van der Ploeg, Froukje (2025): Soms blijft iets.

van der Werf, Gerwin (2025): De krater.

van Iperen, Roxane (2025): Eigen planeet eerst: waarom onze democratie geen antwoord heeft op het grootste vraagstuk van deze tijd.

Van Reybrouck, David (2025): De wereld en de aarde: hoe houden we het veilig?.

Withuis, Jolande (2024): Moeder, antimoeder.

My year in books 2023 – 2024

Books in English

Akbar, Kaveh (2017): Portrait of the alcoholic.

Arruzza, Cinzia, Tithi Bhattacharya & Nancy Fraser (2019): Feminism for the 99 percent: a manifesto.

Crary, Jonathan (2022): Scorched earth: beyond the digital age to a post-capitalist world.

Fraser, Nancy (2019) [2017]: The old is dying and the new cannot be born: from progressive neoliberalism to Trump and beyond [with an interview by Bhaskar Sunkara].

Han, Byung-Chul (2022): Infocracy: digitalization and the crisis of democracy [translated from the German by Daniel Steuer].

Han, Byung-Chul (2024) [2023]: The crisis of narration [translated from the German by Daniel Steuer].

Morton, Timothy (2021): Spacecraft.

Morton, Timothy (2023): The stuff of life.

Murakami, Haruki (2021) [2020]: Murakami T: the T-shirts I love [translation by Philip Gabriel].

Nelson, Maggie (2005): Jane: a murder.

Okri, Ben (2023): Tiger work: stories, essays and poems about climate change.

Rankine, Claudia (2014): Citizen: an American lyric.

Žižek, Slavoj (2021): Pandemic! 2: chronicles of a time lost.

Books in Dutch

(2023) Heksenmonument: een pamflet over eerherstel voor onschuldige slachtoffers van de heksenvervolgingen.

Antonissen, Dimitri (2022): Stiftgedichten.

Atangana Bekono, Simone (2024): Marshmallow: gedichten.

Benders, Martijn (2019): Baah baaah krakschaap / De P van winterslaap.

Benders, Martinus (2020): Ginneninne.

Benders, Martijn (2022): Gedichten om te lezen in het donker.

Blees, Gerda (2022): Week.

Block, Robin (2023): Handleiding voor ontheemden: gedichten.

Blyden, Sophia (2024): Dobberen: gedichten.

Bonevacia, Gershwin (2020): Toen ik klein was, was ik niet bang: gedichten.

Bouwman, Rinske (2024): Een soort eelt.

Chabotten (2024): Gezinsverpakking.

Claeys, Martha (2023): Trots: de filosofie van een emotie.

Claus, Hugo (2000): Een slaapwandeling: novelle.

Cornelisse, Paulien (2024): De verwarde cavia: terug op kantoor.

de Coster, Saskia (2023): Een kleine filosofie van grote emoties: jaloezie.

de Coster, Saskia (2024): Mijn jaar van het spook.

de Graaf, Erik & Christine Braun (red.) (2024): Het onvoorstelbare verbeeld.

de Greef, Renske (2022): Mamamorfose: een (autobio)grafisch verhaal over moederschap, identiteit & te moe zijn om een ondertitel af…

Dekker, Fabian (2024): Fabriekswerk: over de vergeten arbeidersklasse.

de Nijs Bik, Dewi (2023): Indolente: gedichten.

Denil, Floor (2020): Arlo: een beeldroman.

Dröge, Philip (2023): De Tawl: hoe de Nederlandse taal (bijna) Amerika veroverde.

Droog, Irwan (2024): Wally en wij: een reis in het kielzog van een wereldberoemde walrus.

Faassen, Paul (2024): Even in het nu.

Fonchie Fotchind, Babeth (2022): Plooi.

Gescinska, Alicja (2021): Trojaanse gedachten.

Groen, Marieke (2024): Het verhaal van mijn schaarste.

Grunberg, Arnon (2023): De geschiedenis van mijn opklapbed [illustraties Klaas Gubbels].

Grunberg, Arnon (2023): De vluchteling, de grenswacht en de rijke Jood.

Haan, Bas (2024): Dodelijke zorg: het drama achter de verwaarloosde psychiatrisch patiënt.

Heitman, Mariken (2024): De mierenkaravaan.

Herzberg, Judith (2023): Jo.

Jansen, Suzanna (2022): De omwenteling: of de eeuw van de vrouw.

Jansma, Esther (2024): We moeten ‘misschien’ blijven denken.

Jensen, Stine (2024): Goddeloos: waarom we atheïsme nodig hebben.

Kamagurka & Marc Van Ranst (2021): Kamacorona.

Kanobana, Sibo Rugwiza (2024): Witte orde: over ras, klasse en witheid.

Kasanmonadi, Roan (2024): Vuurbloem: gedichten.

Knibbe, Hester (2024): Binnen in de aarde is een berg: gedichten.

Kok, Ruurd (2024): Sporen van Drie Oktober: tastbare herinneringen van beleg en ontzet van Leiden.

Kranenburg, Melanie, Niek van Ooijen & Maaike Haan (2019): Naasten.

Kuipers, Nynke (2024): Stilte na de oorlog.

Lampe, Astrid (2018): Zusterstad 2.0.

Lampe, Astrid (2021): Tulpenwodka.

Lampe, Astrid (2024): Zachte landing op leeuwenpootjes.

Lazaroms, Ilse Josepha (2021): Duet.

Lazaroms, Ilse Josepha (2024): Elders.

Nellen, Frank (2023): De onzichtbaren.

Nelson, Maggie (2024) [2007]: De rode stukken: autobiografie van een rechtszaak [translation by Nicolette Hoekmeijer; originally: The red parts (2007)]

Oosterhoff, Tonnus (2024): Mond vol dobbelstenen: gedichten.

Paalman, Iduna (2022): Bewijs van bewaring: gedichten.

Pluim, Gemma & Ivo van Woerkom (2024): The great Marc Evers: het waargebeurde verhaal van de kampioen die nooit iets zou kunnen.

Reid, Geleijnse & van Tol (2024): Fokke & Sukke: het afzien van 2024.

Rezazadeh, Sholeh (2024): Neem ruim zei de zee: gedichten.

Robben, Jaap (2024): Wantij: een wandeling.

Schermer, Marijke (2021): Gods wegen.

Schnitzler, Hans (2024): Filosofie van de kroeg.

Schnitzler, Hans (2024): De mens, de machine & de therapeut.

Schute, Ivar (2024): Ik, de man met afasie: de betekenis en impact van het niet kunnen spreken.

Smithuijsen, Doortje (2024): Kapitalisme is seksisme: een pamflet.

Steinz, Elisabeth (2024): De kleine Steinz.

van den Dool, Anne Louïse (2022): Wij zijn uitgeweken: gedichten.

van den Dool, Anne Louïse (2024): Ontbindende voorwaarden.

van der Zijl, Annejet (2024): Het sneeuwklokjesbos: een wandeling.

van de Vendel, Edward (2024): Kom nog even naar mij kijken straks: poëziegeschenk 2024.

van Duivenbode, Dore (2024): Oerbos: de strijd om de Europese natuur.

van Essen, Rob (2023): Februari.

van Essen, Rob (2024): Heen en weer: een wandeling.

van Heemstra, Anneloor & Lenneke Hoope (2021): Dingen die erger zijn: een stripverhaal over borstkanker.

van Iperen, Roxane (2021): De genocidefax: wat doe jij als het erop aankomt?

van Leeuwen, Joke (2024): De weg naar morgenochtend: een beeldverhaal.

van Slobbe, Merel (2023): De maan schijnt feller in de metaverse: gedichten.

Verbeke, Annelies (2023): Koude soep: een wandeling.

Verdoodt, Sofie (2014): Doodwater.

Verdoodt, Sofie (2023): Anker kruis hart.

Verkerk, Rinke (2024): Het hele dorp wist het.

Wilbrink, Gijs (2024): Strangwater: een wandeling.

Wortel, Maartje (2024): Camping.

Zwirs, Barbara (2024): De werkelijkheid als verweer: van getuige tot verdachte in een terrorismezaak.

My year in books 2023 – 2024

About a quarter of the books I read last year were single-authored collections of poetry, the majority in my native language. There were a few incentives for this poetry reading spell, for a start The Forward Book of Poetry 2023 (Amazon) which was a birthday present. I started but did not finish reading this annual collection of new poetry because I was busy following up on a few of the selected poets. Two collections (i.e. Kaveh Akbar; Warsan Shire) were available from the university library. But this quest finally pushed me to cross the threshold of the poetry bookshop in my neighbourhood. A few times I had arrived in front of a closed door and on other occasions had resisted the temptation to enter afraid of going on a shopping spree. In order to reduce my spending on books (and save trees) I have set myself the rule only to buy books that are not (readily) available from the library, and refrain from buying books online. The first time I entered the poetry bookshop in my neighbourhood I was delighted to be in a bookshop dedicated to poetry and find a few collections that were on my list for two or three years. Nonetheless, I vowed to restrain myself from entering this particular bookshop too often.

Poetry in English

Akbar, Kaveh (2021): Pilgrim Bell: poems.

Glück, Louise [2006] Averno [bilingual edition; Dutch translation (2022) by Radna Fabias].

Glück, Louise [2021]: Winter recipes from the collective = Winterrecepten van het collectief: gedichten [bilingual edition; Dutch translation (2022) by Radna Fabias].

Shire, Warsan (2022): Bless the daughter raised by a voice in her head: poems.

Vuong, Ocean (2017): Night sky with exit wounds.

Vuong, Ocean (2022): Time is a mother.

In other bookshops, too, English poetry has become more readily available, albeit in translation. After noticing the Dutch translation I found myself a copy in English of Ocean Vuong’s recent collection Time is a mother in the same general bookshop (I’m checking and see that one poem from this collection is actually included in, towards the end of, The Forward Book of Poetry 2023, but if you recall, I did not get to finish that collection). This prompted me to get his debut collection Night sky with exit wounds on loan from the library. It is good to see that the niche for English poetry in translation is expanding and becoming more visible in Dutch bookshops. But maybe I’m wrong and this niche has escaped my attention before, apart from occasions when the Nobel Prize in Literature laureate would be a poet and their work translated as soon as possible. Note to self: don’t forget to buy Louise Glück’s collected poems, or wait for a definite collection including Winter recipes from the collective. This year I read the bilingual editions of that and Averno, both translated in Dutch by Radna Fabias, incidentally, whose second poetry collection I was awaiting so much that I had overlooked the existence of this poetry in her translation. Bilingual editions rock: two for the price of one.

Poetry in Dutch

Benders, Martijn (2016): Lippenspook.

Benders, Martijn (2017): Nachtefteling.

Bruinja, Tsead (2020): Springtij: gedichten over het leven met tbs.

De Groen, Dominique (2017): Shop girl.

De Groen, Dominique (2019): Sticky drama.

De Groen, Dominique (2020): Offerlam.

De Groen, Dominique (2022): Slangen.

Garcia Diaz, Maxime (2021): Het is warm in de hivemind.

Glück, Louise [2007] Averno [bilingual edition; Dutch translation (2021) by Radna Fabias].

Glück, Louise [2021]: Winterrecepten van het collectief: gedichten = Winter recipes from the collective [bilingual edition; Dutch translation (2022) by Radna Fabias].

Knibbe, Hester (2020): Inzake dit huis: gedichten.

Köseoğlu, Çağlar (2020): Nasleep.

Marsman, Lieke (2023): Ter gelegenheid van poëzie: verslag van twee jaar Dichter des Vaderlands.

Mbarki, Nisrine (2022): Oeverloos.

Meijer, Eva (2023): Het witste woord.

Nia, Nafiss (2019): 26 woorden voor schoonheid.

Stitou, Mustafa (2022): Waar is het lam?

Van hee, Miriam (2022): Voor wie de tijd verstrijkt: gedichten.

Van hee, Miriam & Hester Knibbe (2023): Er staat te gebeuren.

van Leeuwen, Joke (2022): Aan tafels: een gedicht.

A third incentive for my spell of reading Dutch poetry is the increased visibility of female poets in Dutch mainstream media. Again, maybe I’m wrong and it was a blind spot; that I have started to see more because I’m trying to catch up with the work of familiar and new poets, having re-experienced how comforting reading poetry can be. I find comfort in the effort it takes to read, to try and understand poetry, and any associations and thoughts this might evoke. May such a transfer of creative energy in my brain distract from less productive, obsessive thoughts and help to resolve my never-ending (yet to be ended) writer’s block. (I still have to decide how many blog entries it takes to stop speaking of a writer’s block.)

It would seem that this year I have finally been able to rewire my brain to cope with macula degeneration in one of my eyes and that I am getting up to my usual reading speed and appetite, with over eighty books and booklets finished. The majority are in my native language (I’ve tried to indicate which books in Dutch are available in other languages). There are a few themes emerging from this year’s list which I will try to unpack in a few blog entries and thereby test if my reading appetite translates into creative energy. These will not discuss the most obvious piece of evidence of absence: I did not finish reading any book on archaeology this year. Does this mean that I do not qualify as an archaeologist anymore?

Books in English

Agamben, Giorgio (2021) [2020]: Where are we now?: the epidemic as politics [translated by Valeria Dani].

Akbar, Kaveh (2021): Pilgrim Bell: poems.

Beaton, Kate (2022): Ducks: two years in the oil sands.

Dukes, Hunter (2020): Signature.

Ghosh, Amitav (2016) The great derangement: climate change and the unthinkable.

Glück, Louise [2006] Averno [bilingual edition; Dutch translation (2022) by Radna Fabias].

Glück, Louise [2021]: Winter recipes from the collective = Winterrecepten van het collectief: gedichten [bilingual edition; Dutch translation (2022) by Radna Fabias].

Han, Byung-Chul (2022): Non-things: upheaval in the lifeworld [translated by Daniel Steuer].

Klein, Naomi (2023): Doppelganger: a trip into the mirror world.

Mahdavi, Pardis (2021): Hyphen.

Nelson, Maggie (2017) [2009]: Bluets.

Nelson, Maggie (2015): The argonauts.

Shire, Warsan (2022): Bless the daughter raised by a voice in her head: poems.

Sparrow, Joe (2023): Homunculus: new edition.

Vuong, Ocean (2017): Night sky with exit wounds.

Vuong, Ocean (2022): Time is a mother.

Books in Dutch

Benders, Martijn (2016): Lippenspook.

Benders, Martijn (2017): Nachtefteling.

Biesheuvel, J.M.A. (2023): Austerlitz-Parijs-Alaska.

Bruinja, Tsead (2020): Springtij: gedichten over het leven met tbs.

Buruma, Ian (2023): In de schaduw van het kwaad: Eichmann in Jeruzalem.

Cain, Susan (2012): Stil: de kracht van introvert zijn in een wereld die niet ophoudt met kletsen. [translation by Jan Willem Reitsma; originally: Quiet. The Power of Introverts in a World that Just Can’t Stop Talking].

Dam, Nhung (2023): Definitie van liefde: roman.

de Bas, Jan (2021): Corona in cartoons: terugblik op een niet normaal jaar.

Debon, Nicolas (2023) [2021]: Marathon: Amsterdam [Olympiade] 1928. [translation by Dieter Van Tilburgh]

Deckwitz, Ellen (2023): April.

De Coster, Saskia (2023): Maart.

De Coster, Saskia (2023): Net echt.

De Groen, Dominique (2017): Shop girl.

De Groen, Dominique (2019): Sticky drama.

De Groen, Dominique (2020): Offerlam.

De Groen, Dominique (2022): Slangen.

de Jong, Raoul (2023): Boto Banja, of: het geheime genootschap der dansende schrijvers.

de Vos, Marjoleine (2020) Je keek te ver: een wandeling.

Donner, Marian (2022): De grote weigering.

Februari, Maxim (2013): De maakbare man: notities over transseksualiteit.

Februari, Maxim (2023): Doe zelf normaal: menselijk recht in tijden van datasturing en natuurgeweld.

Garcia Diaz, Maxime (2021): Het is warm in de hivemind.

Gerritsen, Esther (2023): Gebied 19.

Glück, Louise [2007] Averno [bilingual edition; Dutch translation (2021) by Radna Fabias].

Glück, Louise [2021]: Winterrecepten van het collectief: gedichten = Winter recipes from the collective [bilingual edition; Dutch translation (2022) by Radna Fabias].

Grunberg, Arnon (2023): God, de grote romanschrijver.

Heerma van Voss, Thomas (2023): Omwegen: een wandeling.

Jensen, Stine (2011): Echte vrienden: intimiteit in tijden van Facebook, GeenStijl en WikiLeaks.

Jensen, Stine (2012): Dag vriend!: intiem kapitaal in tijden van Facebook, GeenStijl en WikiLeaks.

Jensen, Stine (2022): De beloning: een wandeling.

Jonkman, Renske (2023): Uitwaaien: lofzang op ons vlakke land.

Kamagurka (2023): Dat waren nog eens tijden.

Knibbe, Hester (2020): Inzake dit huis: gedichten.

Kobabe, Maia (2023): Genderqueer: een memoir [translation by Lies Lavrijsen; originally: Gender Queer: a memoir (2019)].

Koelewijn, Jannetje (2023): Ruimte maken voor het andere: het denken van Marjan Slob.

Köseoğlu, Çağlar (2020): Nasleep.

Marsman, Lieke (2023): Ter gelegenheid van poëzie: verslag van twee jaar Dichter des Vaderlands.

Mbarki, Nisrine (2022): Oeverloos.

Meijer, Eva (2023): Het witste woord.

Meijer, Eva (2023): Dagen van glas.

Mizee, Nicolien (2021): Nicolien Mizee’s Vogelboek.

Mizee, Nicolien (2023): Dwaalgast: een wandeling.

Neutkens, Sarah (2023): Tusseninmens: hoe mode van gedaante verandert.

Nia, Nafiss (2019): 26 woorden voor schoonheid.

Oudman, Thomas (2023): Uit de shit: pleidooi voor meer boeren en minder vee.

Piketty, Thomas (2023): Racisme meten, discriminatie bestrijden [translation by Alexander van Kesteren; originally: Mesurer le racisme, vaincre les discriminations (2022)].

Reid, Geleijnse & van Tol (2023): Fokke & Sukke: het afzien van 2023.

Schilperoord, Inge (2022): Het licht in de stad.

Schilperoord, Inge (2023): Windstilte: een wandeling.

Schnitzler, Hans (2017): Kleine filosofie van de digitale onthouding.

Sharifi, Maral Noshad (2023): Citroeninkt.

Stitou, Mustafa (2022): Waar is het lam?

Tsarfati, Einat (2023): Ik ben een chaoot: een handleiding [translation by Christine Braun; originally (2022)]. [French: Je suis bordélique: Guide pour une vie désordonnée; English edition announced for 2024: I’m a Mess (Amazon)]

Typex (2013): Typex’ Rembrandt. [English edition (Amazon)]

Typex (2021): Je moeder!: lief en leed op anderhalve meter.

Vanhauwaert, Maud (2023): Tosca.

Van hee, Miriam (2022): Voor wie de tijd verstrijkt: gedichten.

Van hee, Miriam & Hester Knibbe (2023): Er staat te gebeuren.

van Heemstra, Marjolijn (2023): Wat is ruimte waard.

van Leeuwen, Joke (2022): Aan tafels: een gedicht.

van Leeuwen, Joke (2023): Dát bedoel ik, zei de zalm.

van Leeuwen, Joke (2023): Ik dacht dat jij.

van Vliet, Joke (2022): Wanneer de herten komen.

Vriens, Jacques (2022): Het dassenpad: een wandeling.

Weijers, Niña (2023): Cassandra.

Wortel, Maartje (2019): Dennie is een star.

Wortel, Maartje (2021): De groef: een wandeling.

Zaboezjko [Zabuzhko], Oksana (2022): Mijn langste boektournee [translation by Tobias Wals]. [German edition: Die längste Buchtour (Amazon)]

Zantingh, Peter (2022): Tussentijds.

What: Warren Ellis (2021): Nina Simone’s Gum, London: Faber. [paperback edition 2022 with an additional Afterword]

Where: I learnt about this book from Bill Caraher’s blog in December and it has been on my reading list until I found it to have arrived in paperback edition in a bookshop in the vicinity earlier this week and could stop checking if it was available in a library or bookshop near me.

Why: Because of my discomfort with the proliferation of object biographies in archaeological interpretation, I’m interested in how object biographies work outside archaeology and in this case I also wanted to find out more about the non-academic ‘material turn’ in popular writing.

Let me start by saying that I was not familiar with Warren Ellis, so my urge to read this particular book was not celebrity driven on that account, although there is the enchantment that lies in the Nina Simone connection, of course. I was interested in the story-telling involved in the peculiar history of a piece of gum.

It’s not an enchanting piece of gum that keeps everything in the book sticked together, nor serendipity, as Ellis seems to prefer. [I turn on the radio and it happens to play a Nina Simone song.] I would say that from his position in a pre-existing network of things and people not only Nina Simone’s gum but also Ellis himself creates flows that extend and embellish both their biographies. What Ellis attributes to fascination and serendipity with Nina Simone’s gum, may rather be a result of celebrity networks in which so much more things seem to be possible.

That’s the risk in the quick fix of object biographies in archaeological interpretation: too much focus on one particular object (or class of objects) makes us less appreciative of the fuller network of people and things, places and histories, in which these objects participate and that allows them to take centre stage and makes them shine.

What: Alice Gorman (2019): Dr Space Junk vs The Universe: Archaeology and the Future, Cambridge-London: MIT Press.

Where: I can’t recall where I found out about this book precisely, probably an announcement of the MIT book contract in the twitter timeline of CHAT.

Why: To fill my lack of knowledge of the Space Age, in this case from the perspective of archaeology of the recent and contemporary past (contemporary archaeologies).

So, I learnt a lot from reading the book, which is a mix of Space Age history, space-related material culture, personal journey in the emergent field of space archaeology, and it also prompted me to follow up Alice Gorman’s work by reading some of her articles (see below for references). Obviously, there is a difference between a book for a general audience and articles in academic journals, but the greater detail of the latter was more to my liking. There may be a wider audience for a collection of such detailed case studies, which are mostly behind paywalls of academic publishers.

Alice Gorman (2007): La Terre et l’Espace: Rockets, Prisons, Protests and Heritage in Australia and French Guiana, Archaeologies 3(2), 153-168. DOI: 10.1007/s11759-007-9017-9

Alice Gorman (2009): The Gravity of Archaeology, Archaeologies 5(2), 344-359. DOI: 10.1007/s11759-009-9104-1

Alice Gorman (2011): The sky is falling: how Skylab became an Australian icon, Journal of Australian Studies 35(4), 529-546. DOI: 10.1080/14443058.2011.618507

Alice Gorman (2019): Dr Space Junk vs The Universe: Archaeology and the Future, Cambridge-London: MIT Press.

Justin St P. Walsh & Alice C. Gorman (2021): A method for space archaeology research: the International Space Station Archaeological Project, Antiquity 95(383), 1331-1343. DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2021.114 [currently free access by editor’s choice]

What: Shawn Graham (2019): Failing Gloriously and Other Essays, Grand Forks, ND: The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota.

Where: I came across this title, of course, at The Digital Press’ ringleader’s blog.

Why: I wanted to read this, because I had forgotten that I had wanted to read this since the author mentioned on his blog that he was working on a book, although having read this book, I don’t think it’s that book, or maybe that book morphed into this book and the better for it.

You can download the pdf of Failing Gloriously and Other Essays for free at the publisher’s website. I don’t want to spoil your reading experience but it’s good to think (similar to reading his blog without having an interest in digital humanities, like I did to push myself out of my comfort zone and finding out that it was worth the effort). When you finish reading the book effortlessly and are still thinking about having or not having an academic career, come back here and discuss why the glorious community focuses on digital humanities pedagogy and making failure safe for students and practitioners within academia. Why not start finding a way to invite the unlucky back into the community; the more failures, the merrier.

I registered for a public lecture tomorrow that is more or less in the same field as my PhD thesis. I’m reluctant to attend because I feel like a failure among the lucky ones in the audience. My academic failure makes me feel unwelcome. Carrying a PhD should not feel like that.

Last month I was happy to stay in London and even more happy to frequent (yes, frequent, because on more than one occasion I spent several hours in) bookshops. On one occasion I found a copy of Fotis Ifantidis’ photographic essay “Archaeographies: excavating Neolithic Dispilio” (2013).

You can buy a hard copy yourself at reduced price with the publisher, or continue to be amazed by following the dedicated blog visualizingneolithic that shares a new photo about every other month, and browsing the archives.

A couple of months ago I attended the 7th Louwe Kooijmans Lecture by professor Eszter Bánffy at the National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden, the Netherlands. She talked about “Worlds of clay and worlds of timber: The roots of the Early Neolithic in Central Europe”.

For the record (since neither of the organizing entities – Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University or the National Museum of Antiquities – is keeping a public record), here is a list of the Lectures that have been held so far:

Date	Lecturer	Title
2009	L.P. Louwe Kooijmans	Inaugural lecture of the series
3 March 2010	Nicholas Conard	‘Sex, Art and Rock-’n- Roll’ in Swabian Aurignacian’
25 May 2011	Richard Evershed	‘Prehistorische moleculaire boodschappers’
28 March 2012	Harald Meller	‘De familiebegravingen van Eulau en het graf van Koningin Eadgyth’
17 April 2013	Pierre Pétrequin	‘Production and circulation of Alpine jade axes during the V-IVth millenium in a European perspective.’
11 May 2017	Kristian Kristiansen	‘CLOSE ENCOUNTERS – Steppe migrant thugs pacified by Stone Age farming women.’
9 May 2018	Eszter Bánffy	‘Worlds of clay and worlds of timber – The roots of the Early Neolithic in Central Europe’

For the record, last year I mentioned to one of the organizers that all invited lecturers so far had been male. This year they broke the pattern.

It also killed the running joke that an invited lecturer had to sport (or grow) a beard similar to the one in the Lecture’s logo.

One shape that symbolism can take is a one-to-one relationship (in a strict numerical sense) between things and people. Saying it with flowers – ceramic poppies – in remembrance: “The major art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at the Tower of London, marked one hundred years since the first full day of Britain’s involvement in the First World War.” Two recent protests in The Hague used things to evoke the scale of suffering in more recent situations; incomparable in the number of people affected, but similarly saying it with (numbers of) things.

The strong symbol of empty chairs were juxtaposed with celebrations at the Russian embassy (see here for other pictures and a reminder of the tragic event). Yesterday thousands of school exercise books were used to remind members of the Dutch parliament how many children with autism spectrum disorder (and other special needs) are excluded from primary education (don’t go to school, for years) because of a failure on the part of schools to implement new regulations that should have granted them the assistance they need.

The slogan on the banner reads in Dutch: “Every child counts.” So quite literally, saying it with things as people as numbers.