Exciting to see that New Writing Scotland 44 is out, including a wee piece from me in its pages, which I am thrilled about!

Association for Scottish Literature@asls.org.uk · last wk.

🎉PUBLICATION DAY!🥳 NAMING THE SNAKES New Writing Scotland 44 Eds: Chris Powici, Allan Radcliffe & Anna C. Frater The best new short fiction & poetry from forty-three writers who are Scottish by birth, residence, or inclination. Available now from all good bookshops! 💙📚 asls.org.uk/publications...

Devastated to watch the place I grew up suffer a terrible wildfire that, despite stellar work in containing its spread, has flared up again 😥 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Cairngorm wildfire 'flare-up' as people urged to stay away

Frontline teams say hotspots remain on the "challenging terrain" and exclusion zones are still in place.

bbc.co.uk

There are now 8 episodes in the #attheedge podcast series. At the Edge takes a deep dive into our often complex relationship with wild nature, and explores ways in which people and wildlife can thrive together. Listen on your usual podcast platform. And, please do spread the word.

Some book acquiring was done in June when I was down in Bath for a friend's wedding - these books were all excellent, but When There Are Wolves Again was a particular stand-out!

Fiction and fantasy aren't "fake" any more than light seen through a prism is fake. It's just seen from a different perspective. Light through a prism is still light. Truth through a story is still the truth.

Fucking rude and outrageous frankly.

Year Progress Bot@yearprogress.bsky.social · last mo.

▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░░ 50.01%

Of all the horrific right wing tropes and beliefs, climate denial really gets me. It's just pure agnotology at the expense of millions of people's lives. I really want to believe in hell so I can pray they'll go there.

Prepping for a writing retreat today, slightly nervously. Will I be able to make the most of it? I hope so! In the meantime, time to appreciate some bluebells 💜

word is out! contributors have been getting their copies while I was on annual leave and EHOBS v. 1 (parts 1 AND 2) are now out in the wild! Huge thanks to @edinburghup.bsky.social , my co-editors and ALL the contributors to this multi-decade endeavour edinburghuniversitypress.com/series-the-e...

when we mourn le guin, we mourn one of our greatest writers & thinkers. but we also mourn one of our all-time greatest haters

Rumours are true! We are now open for short fiction and poetry submissions from equity-deserving groups. Give us your words, your anxiety dreams of electric sheep, your last gasp of a dying star. As always: make it SFF, make it long-term www.heartlines-spec.com/submission-g...

Submission Guidelines

Learn all about our submissions guidelines, what we're looking for, and our payment details

heartlines-spec.com

I've got an MA student who wants to look into early modern surrogacy. Has anything been written on this? Was it even a thing / different name, perhaps? #histmed #histsex #earlymodern

The thing about short fiction is that there is nothing in this world better than short fiction.

✨ Out of the Margins: Centenary Programme – Alexandria ✨ Join @kirstininnes.bsky.social this May at Alexandria Library for free creative writing workshops. Explore setting, character & style across 3 sessions. Limited spaces—book now! 📖✍️

Writing Short Stories like Agnes Owens with Kirstin Innes

Have you always felt that you had a story within you that you would love to write?

eventbrite.co.uk

Hey, SFFH authors. We're getting to the end of our list of readers, so if you'd like an opportunity to read your work at one of our event days, please fill in the form. forms.gle/NxR3i79jkUSi...

Just an exceptional piece of writing by Jon here. Come for the 2-foot-long adders, stay for the nuanced argument - courageously tackling a sometimes thorny subject with compassion and verve: bsky.app/profile/jon-...

Jon Moses@jon-moses.bsky.social · 4mo ago

A (quite personal) essay from me about reclaiming rewilding in Wales, out in @inkcapjournal.bsky.social today. I was born, raised and still live in rural Wales. My ancestral farmhouse is a ruin surrounded by conifer trees. I understand the fears. But it's the loss of nature I fear far more.

"Direct and compelling, it is the literary equivalent of making good eye contact." Really interesting wee essay. I've got a piece coming out later this year at New Writing Scotland that's deeply personal - delving into my anxieties around memory - and using second person was key to unlocking it...

Kathy Fish@kathyfish.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Pay Attention: The Use of Second Person in Flash Fiction open.substack.com/pub/artoffla...

If you want to meet these stellar Scots (and many more besides) then you should definitely check out tickets for @cymerafestival.co.uk - weekend passes now live!

Solaris Books@solarisbooks.bsky.social · 4mo ago

In honour of @cymerafestival.co.uk - Scotland's excellent festival of SFFH - revealing their programme for 2026, meet the Solaris authors who make Scotland their home! @mkhardywrites.com @rhiannonagrist.bsky.social @rainewilson.bsky.social @davegoodman.bsky.social @gen-dimova.bsky.social

BAGGER: (spilling my groceries on the floor) Oh God. I'm so sorry. This isn't what I'm supposed to do. ME: How are you supposed to do it? MANAGER: She means she was gonna be a fox. In the woods and shit. But something happened and she got stuck. BAGGER: (crying) Got so stuck.

The @bsfa.bsky.social & @locusmag.bsky.social are now including a Translated category in their awards, just like all of the other major countries' sff fiction awards do. Time for other Anglophone awards to do the same. After all, it's always good to have too much to read! #SFinTranslation

THREAD. A collection of photos I have taken of excellent cats I have met on walks. You will find the all-important captions to the photos in the alt text.

THREAD. My parents' cat Bridget vanished. As the weeks dragged on they became ever more worried, so to distract himself my dad began to paint Bridget's adventures, imagining her travelling through time and popping up at some of art & music's most important moments. I've collected his work here...

The Cymera Prize for Speculative Short Fiction is open to any writer living in Scotland or Scottish by birth or inclination, aged at least 14 years. Submissions are open from Monday 12th January 2026 until 8pm BST on Sunday 22nd March 2026. www.cymerafestival.co.uk/2026-prize

2026 Prize — CYMERA

cymerafestival.co.uk

Come join the team at @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social! Great role helping us take care of the Library and Archive! Closing date - 16/02/26 Salary - £42,765-£46,051 Hours - 35 pw

Rebekah Higgitt@rhiggitt.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Exciting job opening @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social Library and Archives Manager. Details here careers.nms.ac.uk/job/827960 #museumjobs #libraryjobs 📜

Bafflingly there are still people out there in the world who think being passionate about nature is “kind of weird”. or “a niche interest”. These people have it all wrong. Nature isn’t some quirky sideline to the main business. It IS the main business. Nature is us.

Such a beautiful close of the year!

I was thinking about what gifts people used to give to readers (besides gift editions of famous poets' work and illustrated histories of wars and such), and while I was thinking about it, somebody brought a book to the counter.... (1/10)

Lifelong learning is the way to go!

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 7mo ago

'Record numbers of Swedish retirees are enrolling in a university run “by pensioners for pensioners” amid increased loneliness and a growing appetite for learning and in-person interactions.' 1/2

When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.

Contingent Magazine@contingent-mag.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Seems like it's worth posting this one again.

"Fairy tales, folk tales, stories from the oral tradition, are all of them the most vital connections we have with the imaginations of the ordinary men and women whose labour created our world." Angela Carter