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 for free 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)).

  • THE OTHERS (YES, THE WRITERS) AND MY PARASITICAL SYNDROME

    [This is a really complicated semester, with lots to mark and edit, and pressing personal issues, which explains why I’m being so irregular in my supposedly weekly posting. Apologies!] Today I’m writing about writers and my parasitical syndrome. You may have heard of impostor syndrome (feeling you’re underqualified for a task you’re doing proficiently) and…

  • LOS OTROS (SÍ, LOS ESCRITORES) Y MI SÍNDROME PARASITARIO

    [Este es un semestre realmente complicado, con mucho que corregir y editar, y asuntos personales urgentes, lo que explica por qué estoy siendo tan irregular a la hora de subir mi supuesta publicación semanal. ¡Disculpas!] Hoy escribo sobre los escritores y mi síndrome parasitario. Es posible que hayáis oído hablar del síndrome del impostor (sentir…

  • WILL I EVER WRITE A NOVEL? (I DON’T THINK SO)

    [No, I’m not writing about Donald Trump’s victory. I don’t agree with any of the analyses I have read and there will be time enough to consider the catastrophes that his cabinet will cause in the USA and around the world. If we survive.] A couple of my students asked me how come I have…

  • ¿ESCRIBIRÉ ALGUNA VEZ UNA NOVELA? (NO LO CREO)

    [No, no voy a escribir sobre la victoria de Donald Trump. No estoy de acuerdo con ninguno de los análisis que he leído y ya habrá tiempo suficiente para reflexionar sobre las catástrofes que su gabinete causará en los EE.UU. y en todo el mundo. Si sobrevivimos.] Un par de mis estudiantes me preguntaron cómo…

  • ABOUT MY FATHER (AND WHY I’M WORKING ON MASCULINITIES STUDIES)

    I don’t know what the etiquette is in these cases, but I shared with my master’s class the reason for my absence last Thursday: my father, 87, died suddenly of a heart attack the day before, Wednesday 23. He had just got off the bus mid-morning, felt dizzy and, the neighbours have told us, collapsed…