Daily pleasures

I see and touch bluestone everyday, and clearly I am not the only one!  Alison posted on my facebook page today: 

Lovely book project! And bluestone - such a huge part of the daily pleasures, for me, of living in Fitzroy: sometimes I pat it as i walk past, sometimes I just like to rest my hand on it... I vividly remember the keynote given at your Hearts of Stone event a few years ago (Jeffrey Cohen?), which was so brilliant on affect and matter and stone....

A few people -- well, Melbournians -- have responded in this way when I mention this project. It truly does feel like the local stone (as sandstone is to Sydney, I think). And indeed, the project takes much inspiration from Jeffrey Cohen's work on stone. My project will be much more local, and even incidental than his, but I cannot wait to read his new book, out in a few months: https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/stone

We have written together on fire, and will be sharing a panel on the elements at the London Chaucer conference in July with Sophia Wilson and Hetta Howes. We have not worked on stone together, but I'm sure his book will be a guiding spirit to this project.