The Maynooth and Dublin events were the last of a sequence of talks. Over this term I also gave talks in London (SOAS, IHR, British Library), Durham, Oslo, and Kingston. Often invitations grew after acceptance – come to give a seminar, but also meet students, take place in a reading group and so on. Each event was interesting and worthwhile, and I am grateful for all the invitations, but cumulatively this felt a bit too much – almost a visiting lecture or seminar every week, and chopping and changing between topics: from Foucault to territory, to terrain to Shakespeare, and back again. I did decline some invitations, and one was cancelled for reasons outside my control. Even material I’d delivered before, or had written in a near-final form, ended up being reworked, practiced, and polished. Each was of course helpful in shaping and reshaping material for eventual publication. I got to Paris twice for archival work, and we also moved flat in London, which adds its own challenges and complications.

I decided back in late 2016 not to attend the AAG, and so now I have a few weeks clear before my trip to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam I’ll be leading a reading seminar on urban territory, giving a public lecture on Foucault, and organising the Territory in Indeterminate and Changing Environments workshop. But that’s just three events in six weeks, and all in the same place. I’ll be looking forward to meeting some new people, having time with old friends, and getting to know the city, but above all plan to have my head down and write. That’s also the plan for the next few weeks over the Easter break, before a holiday.