Okay, I get publishers affirming that the books we've produced are human-made, but have we also considered bringing back medieval book curses??? Just saying.

March 29, 2026 - 12:29 UTC

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Perhaps if the metre was more regular the curse might work?
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dont make the perfect an enemy of the good😘
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Well it was based on translations of (Latin & German) medieval book curses, whose own metre is a bit off, but hey, feel free to rework it.
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Have at it. Use it, don't use it, credit it, don't credit it - whichever, whatever. But here's a version with the metre corrected, since I keep being irritated by people pointing it out.
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I love a good critique, but not from randos, not on my shitposts and not without asking
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"May you step barefoot on a LEGO 100 times a day."
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Ok tempted to put a curse on my next paper
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Yesssss
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This is incredible! I'll be adding a similar curse in my next book.
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The meter may be a bit clumsy, but I really love the idea of your proposal.
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Maledictions!
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Oh I'm doing this. Absolutely yes.
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I was at the big medieval conference at Kalamazoo once and a monk was offering to activate book curses for people.
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I had menacing language added to the copyright page of HUMANS: A Monstrous History (University of California Press) warning against putting the book in an ecocide-plagiarism-harassment-psychosis-surveillance-enslavement-radioactive waste machine but this is the next level of writerly cursemaxxing!
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Most defo agree.
Curses have been put on things to stop theft going back to almost the earliest found records of writing. Why stop at books/papers? Add a curse to your car, your bag, your bike, and your dog!
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