Lorna Gibb
Writer, Fiction & Non-fiction. Associate Professor Stirling. Rep'd by Peter Straus at RCW. New book 2025 Rare Tongues - Secret Stories of Hidden Languages (Atlantic & Princeton). Also a novelist. Once a dancer, medievalist, phonologist..
- Today we decided to try taking mum to her favourite place #Glasgow She is so happy and we are so glad we came! (Mum has bad dementia so trips can be challenging but incredibly worthwhile!).
- Reposted by Lorna GibbA proposal to require property developers to include at least one “swift brick” in every new home to save swifts, house martins, sparrows, and starlings - all of which are in rapid decline - at a mere cost of £35 per building has been rejected by UK Labour. naturalworldfund.com/labour-block...
- Reposted by Lorna GibbI would rather live next door to someone who speaks another language than live next door to someone who doesn’t want to live near people who speak other languages. I know nothing about Person A but I know person B is a shitbird.
- #RareTongues "essential reading for linguists, anthropologists, and activists alike. It earns its place in academic discourse by challenging disciplinary boundaries and advocating for a more inclusive, compassionate linguistics” Thank you so much Language in Society #languageinsociety
- Last weekend had an amazing time speaking about Rare Tongues @ilkleylitfest.bsky.social Wonderful theatre! Sold out! And only one book left at the end. Relaxed afterwards with Hockney and cello music before the long, reluctant drive home. What a brilliant part of our country!
- We are house browsing in the South East..Tonight I found this. It even has a garage that's 'big enough for a car'!!! Wow!
- Tiggy is peeved and puzzled that I'm working rather than paying her attention.
- Reposted by Lorna GibbToday is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
- Reposted by Lorna GibbFFS utterly abysmal reporting
- Reposted by Lorna GibbIf you don't want Prime Minister Farage to be able to have greater control over whether you or your less privileged neighbour can work, get benefits or access healthcare then you don't want a mandatory ID scheme.
- May he brighten your day just a little too!
- Having an amazing time at #wigtownbookfestival Lovely, interesting people, comfortable hotel, and a packed event for #RareTongues Great party and fireworks last night too!!
- Reposted by Lorna GibbSome wise advice on your academia.edu account. It's probably time to delete it.
- Reposted by Lorna GibbMy brother and sister-in-law have been raising funds to help Layla Mohammed and her family escape the hell in Gaza. I know times are tight for everyone, but if you can spare anything, even a repost, it is much appreciated. www.gofundme.com/f/layla-moha...
- Reposted by Lorna GibbYOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.
- Our pear tree is proving to be popular!
- Reposted by Lorna GibbToday's artist without a (known) birthday: Juan de Flandes, a Flemish painter in Spain. Here, Annunciation, c. 1500. Mary seems to be reading a comic book. Good for her!
- Reposted by Lorna GibbHis Name Is Jesus. He’s a Carpenter. ICE Arrested Him. open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
- Reposted by Lorna GibbYes, this IS absolute madness.
- Reposted by Lorna GibbI spoke to women sexually harassed by staff, I spoke to a woman trapped in her room because she was visually impaired and no one would assist her. scabies break outs, staff bullying, kids held in rooms with no windows. Janice doesn’t mention them in her article www.thetimes.com/article/a50f...
- And also to make other people understand why you think it's so amazing!
- Reposted by Lorna GibbThis is so niche I can't believe I am asking, but does anyone know anyone who might be an expert in Protestantism in Italy during the Reformation? (Stranger things have happened). RTs welcome.
- Reposted by Lorna GibbThe UK did have one standout product that was considered globally valuable- universities- and unilaterally decided to stop providing the product because it was more important to be xenophobic than successful
- Jupiter is not helping me to write today.. #catsonbluesky
- Reposted by Lorna GibbJust saw a journalist and friend post about not eating properly in days in Gaza - then watched him live on TV. There is nothing more emblematic of the shameful indifference from many Western nations than watching those who bear witness to genocide slowly becoming consumed by a genocide
- Lovely academic article by the wonderful Professor Ares from Malaga Uni about my last novel. So grateful to her for this astute and generous reading which so beautifully understands what I hoped to do. riuma.uma.es/xmlui/bitstr...
- This is a lovely piece from one of the priests at my church. Worth a few minutes of reading!
- Just back from a week walking St Cuthbert’s Way - some reflections on pilgrimage from my walk maggietalksrubbish.blogspot.com/2025/07/st-c...
- Reposted by Lorna Gibbnew @lselibrary.bsky.social oral histories Movement Ordination of women digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections/... fascinating Clare Wilson. husband opposed as she earned good money teaching and could always occupy herself, but her heart was set @lsegender.bsky.social @womenshistnet.bsky.social
- Reposted by Lorna GibbI just left the Everglades Immigrant Interment Camp. No, I’m not using their ridiculous name. It was a very tough to witness humans in those cages. Every Floridian should be ashamed that our taxpayer money is being used for this.
- Reposted by Lorna GibbWow, nine hours of standoff. Deep bow to those standing up against ice.
- Reposted by Lorna Gibb
- This is my 'we've found some Camargue horses' happy, excited face.
- Reposted by Lorna GibbJust reached 1000 YouTube subscribers for @thecathedral.bsky.social
- Reposted by Lorna GibbListen to the Ideas #Podcast with @drlornagibb.bsky.social Gibb and @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social and enjoy this fascinating discussion about when languages vanish. hubs.ly/Q03s7tpC0
- Reposted by Lorna GibbI loved this book by @drlornagibb.bsky.social . I came late to languages, which I like to blame on poor teaching, but it was likely my own poor attitude. But now I’m learning Korean and German and how much a language holds. This book is a kaleidoscope of knowledge about language, culture and life.
- Reposted by Lorna GibbBREAKING NEWS: This video will likely improve your day.
- Eid Mubarak!!! For all my friends who celebrate xxx
- Reposted by Lorna GibbAnyway (Have a Mary Oliver)
- The sunshine has gone and mum's in her unhappy dementia place today. Just praying for a little more 🌞 this summer for her up here, so she can get back to this...
- Reposted by Lorna Gibb[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Lorna GibbCheck out last week's newsletter! Piece By Piece | Fast Five with Lorna Gibb | Marginalia with Margaret Echelbarger | Matt Fraser on The Light of Asia @drlornagibb.bsky.social @bskybymidge.bsky.social @columbiajournalism.bsky.social newbooksnetwork.substack.com/p/piece-by-p...
- Reposted by Lorna GibbV important study by a @languageonthemove.bsky.social team member If you are Australia-based and speak a language other than English, please consider taking part in this survey, which involves doing a short online search for resources in another language and then answering some survey Qs about it 👇
- Reposted by Lorna GibbI agree with Kelvin. I voted for a tolerant, progressive nation. It will not be established by Labour's persistent aping of the populist right.
- This is fun. I did the Fast Five for the New Books Network and here it is. From Eliot to Ovid, I give you the books that I still can't stop reading.
- Reposted by Lorna GibbNasty, racist decision by the Home Office. ‘The author of an award-winning memoir about his life as a refugee has been refused a UK visa to attend a premiere of its adaptation for the London stage by one of Britain’s most celebrated playwrights.’ www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
- Reposted by Lorna GibbI abhor fascism, so it’s with a heavy heart that I’m going to do a fascism, awfully sorry about your human rights
- Reposted by Lorna GibbWho's gonna tell her about Jesus?
- Reposted by Lorna GibbDepressing stuff on international students. It's clearly possible for circumstances in a student's home country to worsen over three years so that grounds for an asylum claim develop. 1/2
- Yet another amazing review for #RareTongues Thank you Nature magazine! I am starting to enjoy the review period now (usually I live in dread).
- Reposted by Lorna Gibb“Rare Tongues is at heart a personal journey. . . . Gibb navigates complex and sensitive terrain—technical and politically charged—with both scholarly rigor and warmth.” Read the full review of @drlornagibb.bsky.social’s global tour of endangered languages at @wsj.com: www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
- Delighted to see this fabulous review of #RareTongues in the Wall Street Journal.. Thanks so much!
- www.arabnews.com/node/2598680... Lovely wee mention for Rare Tongues @princetonupress.bsky.social in the Arab News today!
- Reposted by Lorna Gibb@drlornagibb.bsky.social examines the seriousness of preserving the world’s most obscure (and endangered) languages.
- Reposted by Lorna Gibb'A few of [these languages] are under threat, their continued existence in question, because of creeping linguistic homogeneity, moving like a silencing killer across our landscapes, rendering words unspoken and forgotten.' Very interesting essay on endangered languages by @drlornagibb.bsky.social:
- So excited to have this piece as an intro to #RareTongues on the mighty beast that is Lit Hub! Thank you!
- So excited to have this piece as an intro to #RareTongues on the mighty beast that is Lit Hub! Thank you!
- @drlornagibb.bsky.social examines the seriousness of preserving the world’s most obscure (and endangered) languages.
- Reposted by Lorna Gibb“The book is also, in part, a memoir.” In "Rare Tongues," @drlornagibb.bsky.social weaves together endangered languages with personal stories, choosing tongues that moved her or shaped her life. What language has left a mark on your life? #ThatWordChat #RareTongues #Linguistics #Memoir
- Reposted by Lorna Gibb“I grew up bilingual without knowing it.” @drlornagibb.bsky.social shares how language shaped her early life in a working-class Scottish home and how that quiet fluency would eventually shape her work. At the time, Scots was considered “just a dialect”—something informal, overlooked. #ThatWordChat
- Reposted by Lorna GibbAre non-written languages more endangered? @drlornagibb.bsky.social breaks it down: without a written record, many languages disappear without a trace. The irony - some of the best records we do have of endangered oral languages were created by the very people who endangered them. #RareTongues
- Launch Day! Events lined up for tonight!
- An enthralling exploration of the world’s rarest and most endangered languages. Lorna Gibb's Rare Tongues is out now! Learn more about this "thought-provoking tour of the diversity within the world’s languages" (Kirkus Reviews): press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
- Jupiter in his happy place. #catsonbluesky
- Reposted by Lorna GibbWe’re going live with @drlornagibb.bsky.social on April 22 to celebrate "Rare Tongues," her powerful new book about endangered languages around the world. Register to join us: bit.ly/ThatWordChat #ThatWordChat #BookLaunch #AmReading #Linguistics
- Reposted by Lorna GibbInspiring flash fiction from @kitdewaal.bsky.social. I see how it won the @bridportprize.bsky.social!
- Reposted by Lorna GibbI would do anything for growth (but I won't do that). Labour continues to put the party interest before the national interest.
- Tiggy is completely unimpressed by the lovely @princetonupress.bsky.social box. Wonder if I can get her more keen when this lovely US edition launches in less than 3 weeks! What do you think? #RareTongues #Princeton
- I love this coming together of my creative and academic work. I am honoured @rosarioariasuma.bsky.social thought my novel worth writing about for an academic journal, and so enjoyed reading her analysis.
- Open Access publication alert! ✒️ Our PI @rosarioariasuma.bsky.social’s chapter "'I Know that I Exist': Lorna Gibb's _A Ghost Story_ as an Assemblage of Matter and Spirit" is now available online ⬇️ hdl.handle.net/10630/38099 dx.doi.org/10.31338/uw.... #RELY #LitAssemblage #NewPublication
- Reposted by Lorna GibbStirling is v cool and people should recommend this to their students or apply if they're interested 💚
- What a wonderful audience! Thank you so much lovely @portybooks.bsky.social !
- What a night we just had! 🌟 Thank you so much @drlornagibb.bsky.social for such a wonderful event & thought-provoking conversation about linguistics — we had an incredible time! ✨ 📹: Missed out? Don’t worry! You can rewatch the event on the Events section on our website.
- Reposted by Lorna GibbWhat a night we just had! 🌟 Thank you so much @drlornagibb.bsky.social for such a wonderful event & thought-provoking conversation about linguistics — we had an incredible time! ✨ 📹: Missed out? Don’t worry! You can rewatch the event on the Events section on our website.
- Reposted by Lorna GibbA week to go until the first @writeback.bsky.social at the British Library. We have three superb writers who will each be discussing a subject of their choice, then going ahead to interview each other. Should be a great night. Tickets here thebritishlibrary.seetickets.com/event/writeb...
- It's been a wonderful whirlwind of a London visiting. Signings, too little time thinking about a new book in the BL, and seeing old friends in the evening. One bookshop visit and a publisher lunch to go, then back to Scotland to read from #RareTongues at a conference tomorrow!
- Reposted by Lorna Gibb“Once a language is lost, important knowledge disappears with it.” Rare Tongues author @drlornagibb.bsky.social takes readers on “a thought-provoking tour of the diversity within the world’s languages—and [makes] a strong case for their preservation." Read more: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...
- Reposted by Lorna GibbName. Shame. Set aflame.
