Kathryn Harkup (she/her)

@rotwangsrobot.bsky.social

1786 Followers 690 Following

Writer, Science Communicator and Vampirologist

Fullwell cross library. A circular building with a central dome of windows and a green canopy roof that is a cross between a circus tent and a Spanish villa. Xanadu meets Seville's islamic architecture. Love it.
Cover of the book showing the title inside the curve of an upside down question mark
Cover of the book with an illustration of a moustached man sitting at a desk with pen in hand. On the desk is a miniature street scene with a lamppost, an advertising column, a ballerina and three women walking along in typical turn of the century dress - hats, long skirts - two of them are holding umbrellas.
Cover of the book showing a young woman with dark hair and downcast eyes looking very sad
Cover of the book showing a painting of a hut at Rye Harbour by Anna Teasdale. The red roofed hut is in the middle distance. Big grey clouds roll overhead and the foreground is filled with wild flowers and gentle rolling dunes leading up to the water. Benson's fictional world is based on the real town of Rye.
Cover of the book showing a fox strutting along in a Zorro (geddit?) mask
Cover of the book showing Gulliver held captive by the Lilliputians
Cover of the book showing a red fox looking over its shoulder.
Cover of the book showing the shoreline of the river Thames with a jetty and tower bridge to the right. There is also a drawing of a snake in the bottom right corner looking as though it has just slithered over to the shore from the jetty.
After the ball, a painting by Ramon Casas of a woman in a long black dress collapsed on a green sofa and staring bemused into the middle distance.
Cove of the book which is black with yellow lines running across it at right angles, like a road map.
Poster advertising the event Death by Shakespeare with a drawing of Shakespeare in one corner and event details in the other. The talk is at 2pm at the Institute of Mental Health on the University of Nottingham's Jubilee campus, room A08. The text reads 'a captivating guest lecture by Dr Kathryn Harkup, a former chemist who has embraced her calling as a vampirologist and science communicator.' It then goes on to say 'William Shakespeare found dozens of different ways to kill off his characters and audiences today still enjoy the same reactions - shock, sadness, fear - that they did more than 400 years ago when these plays were first performed. but how realistic are these deaths, and did Shakespeare have the knowledge to back them up?'
Cover of the book showing a big black V and the words 'is for venom' in white art deco letters and the subtitle 'Agatha Christie's chemicals of death'. There is a yellow art deco snake curling around one arm of the big v and giving a warning hiss
Cover of the book showing the title over what looks like a stained glass window
A big red advert that says 'out now in paperback' in big black shouty letters and a picture of the cover of the book Superspy Science: Science, Death and Tech in the World of James Bond
Photo of the book with a red hand gun on the cover (which I assume is a Walther PPK but I honestly don't know). There are also casino chips, a martini glass, a black bow tie (pre-tied, sigh) and some very sixties looking sunglasses with big thick square frames.
Cover of the books showing a painting of a dark room with a bright window at the back. A women sits by the window reading a book.
Cover of the book showing a red rose frozen in ice
Cover of the book showering a sepia photo of a woman dressed in skirt, jumper, pearls and heels leaning over a balncony looking at blocks of housing opposite.
Cover of the book showing a blurred image of a girl in a green dress as she twists away from the viewer.
Cover of the book showing a gun, aimed at the viewer, bursting through a page with the one, two buckle my shoe nursery rhyme written on it
The cartoon character Totoro smiling and looking very pleased, which is how I feel and look in my big hoodie.