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Polly Hember

@pollyhember

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❤️‍🔥 PhD in modernist lit & cinema
🏫 Teaching film, literature & critical theory
🔮 Researching modernist networks
🎓 PhDone @theacceptedsociety

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October 26 🌪️ by @pollyhember

The first half of term has flown by! We left things for my transnational film module with a screening of Atlantique by Mati Diop - after an amazing five weeks of discussion around Glauber Rocha’s Maranhão 66 and Terra em Transe; Ousmane Sembène‘s Guelwaar and Borom Sarret; La Nouba des femmes du Mont-Chenoua by Assia Djebar; and Bamako by Abderrahmane Sissako. Excited for what comes next 💛 by @pollyhember

Last night’s online book launch to celebrate the publication of ‘Beyond Modernism: Noncanonicity and Early-Twentieth Century British Literature’ was such a joy ✨ very exciting to hear everyone speak and think about noncanonicity as a site of possibility and about interrogating the way that canons are constructed. Thanks again to Andrew and Katie for bringing this all to life 💛 by @pollyhember

Today was my first seminar of the new term! It’s the start of my third year module on transnationalism, diaspora and globalisation in contemporary film - today we looked at some working definitions before thinking through Cinema Novo, Glauber Rocha’s ‘Marranhão 66’ and his manifesto ‘The Aesthetics of Hunger’. by @pollyhember

Hanging onto the last little bits of summer 💛 by @pollyhember

Me and the cat against the book chapter deadline by @pollyhember

deadline time & some wfh lunches by @pollyhember

End of August: writing deadline edition by @pollyhember

Some exciting book post! 💫 ‘Beyond Modernism’ reflects on the process of canonisation, contingency, power, value, genre and form. This is my dream collection to be a part of - my chapter explores Oswell Blakeston’s noncanonical status, his resistance to labels, and his incredibly weird and funny book, ‘Through a Yellow Glass’; which is presented as a technical guide to filmmaking, but through Blakeston’s chaotic narrator and play with embodiment, ends up exposing the haphazard reality of working in British film studios in the 1920s. Very honoured to get to contribute to such a brilliant project.

‘Portrait of Oswell Blakeston - Metamorphosis’ by Austin Osman Spare in 1933.

‘Oswell Blakeston’ by Howard Coster in the 1930s.

‘Through a Yellow Glass’ by Oswell Blakeston, published by POOL in 1928.

First few lines of ‘Through a Yellow Glass’.

Blakeston in 1970, photographed for an interview with ‘The Times’. by @pollyhember

This week: re-read a lot of Butler, read a lot of new stuff all about nostalgia 📚🌒 by @pollyhember

Today, we celebrate Dr. Helenia Maria Quince, LCSW, who successfully defended her PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work! 🎓✨

Helenia’s dissertation centered Black women’s experiences of pregnancy loss in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Grounded in reproductive justice, her work imagines more humane and community-centered possibilities for care.

Helenia’s path to this moment was not without significant challenges. Through it all, she remained deeply rooted in her values, her work, and the communities she serves. It has been a privilege to accompany her during this final stretch and witness the conviction and persistence with which she claimed this moment for herself.

Helenia, you are living proof that when scholars honor their whole selves and allow themselves to be held in community, the process is all the sweeter. Congratulations, Dr. Quince! We are so proud to celebrate you and all that this moment represents 🥂🎓✨ by @pollyhember

First week of August: 🍅🌈🍷📚🩷🚂🍳🍻🚲🍝 by @pollyhember