The Joys of Teaching Literature, started in September 2010 and with a Spanish version since July 2021, is a blog for ranting and raving about (teaching and researching) English Literature, Cultural Studies, and Gender Studies, and other aspects of the Anglophone world. I publish a post once a week, usually on Monday. Please, download the yearly volumes from https://ddd.uab.cat/record/116328, or read the volume collecting some of the entries (Passionate Professing: The Context and Practice of English Literature, 2023). The comments option is not available, sorry, but you may contact me through my e-mail address, Sara.Martin@uab.cat. The contents of this blog are protected by a type 4 Creative Common License (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (by-nc-nd)).

  • SHAME ON YOU: AFTER MEETING CHRISTIAN GREY

    This is a post I wish I didn’t have to write, as I wish that E L James’s Grey Trilogy did not exist. I’m even deeply concerned that by publishing this, I might be calling anyone’s attention to this disturbing, revolting piece of trash. After meeting Christian Grey I can only say that I am…

  • RETURNING TO STEINBECK (IN THE BLEAKEST MOOD)

    One of the masterpiece I have been meaning to read since my student’s days (but never got round to) is John Steinbeck’s monumental The Grapes of Wrath (1939). I love John Ford’s film adaptation of 1940, but I’ve kept on putting off reading the book. Sorry but Steinbeck is one of those authors that makes…

  • THE CLASSIC YEARLY ENTRY: THE LITERATURE QUIZ…

    My entry of 6 June 2012, about the poor results of the quiz on the handbook Introduction to English Literature which first year students must take, offended, I know, many students. Two sent furious comments, criticising me for publicising students’ mistakes (even though I did so anonymously, nobody was ‘outed’). A girl was particularly angry.…

  • ASYRAS: A TOAST TO ITS GROWTH AND TO THE FUTURE OF YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN SPAIN

    I have had a memorable birthday present as one of the guest plenary speakers of the third ASYRAS conference, celebrated at the University of Oviedo. This was intriguingly called “The Significance of the Insignificant in Anglophone Studies”, a title apparently inspired by Bergson. Very philosophical! I cannot sufficiently thank organisers Alejandra Moreno and Irene Pérez…

  • SIMPLY PUZZLING: WHY ARE THE (ACADEMIC) SKILLS WE TEACH SO SOON FORGOTTEN?

    A recurrent topic of conversation among us, teachers, these days (we’re marking tons of essays…) is that students seem to forget from one year to the next how to apply the academic skills we teach them. Even from one semester to the next. Let me explain myself: they need to learn in the first year…