Arresting the poets are we? Not a good look.

Hello world! RSPB Conservation Science has officially landed on BlueSky Follow us to hear about our science discoveries, new publications, citizen science, and all things conservation research

'She's a tree that's fallen; she's a tree that trees have grown out of; she's now part of the past, but also she fed and nourished and loved and guided a possible future'. Absolutely beautiful tribute to Joanna Macy by @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social www.meditationsinanemergency.com/in-honor-of-...

In Honor of Joanna Macy, 1929-2025

I write while staying in one of the great forests of British Columbia, a forest in which the inextricability of life from death is gorgeously evident. Several kinds of fern spring from this soil, some...

meditationsinanemergency.com

Look what arrived while I was away @wcorklitfest.bsky.social! My edited ‘10 poems from the Lake District for @candlestickpress.bsky.social!

I'd like to big up what we have offered in the #Curae literary prize for unpaid carers and invite industry press, once more, to look at something extraordinary which people from across industry have helped me to put together a second time. It's still flying under the radar too much. LET'S GO!

I was initially gen AI agnostic, before I read up on how it works, how it's been developed, and the ideologies that underpin it. In my view, its costs massively outweight its benefits and if you can avoid using it, you should.

Dave Andress@davidandress.bsky.social · last yr.

Thanks to an absolute blitzkrieg of marketing and the investment of tens of billions of dollars, the "AI" business has unconditionally captured the allegiance of almost everyone who doesn't know what it really is.

1. Yesterday, 86 people were arrested in the UK under the Terrorism Act 2000 for holding signs saying "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action." They are the opposite of terrorists. They were protesting *against* terrorism. 🧵

For me as someone currently not disabled or ill (but close to loved ones who are), I’ve learned SO much nuance from Polly’s writing, centrally #SomeOfUsJustFall. Reading disabled/chronic writers helps transform what is visible/legible to me in others’ bodily & political experiences — & in my own.

Polly Atkin@pollyrowena.bsky.social · last yr.

More on this in light of Winn's rebuttal. 1. There is a lot of pressure on memoirists to simplify narratives. 2. As I write about in #SomeOfUsJustFall, diagnosis is an ongoing process, especially with complex chronic conditions. Theories are posed; the body concurs, or doesn't. #TheChronicLife

Yeah. The issue with The Salt Path isn't so much it's 'truth value' as the dodgy aesthetics which have always been there. Look I have no interest in casting stones at someone who made up a story to cover up (a) bad decision(s), though I think that 'true' story would have been more interesting 1/n

Nic Wilson@nicwilson.bsky.social · last yr.

I've been writing in @thebookseller.com about how questions on the veracity of elements of The Salt Path highlight some of the serious issues associated with the prevalence of the 'nature cure' narrative. #booksky #naturewriting #lifewriting #memoir #chronicillness

One of the many problems I have with the ‘nature cure’ label is that it gets slapped on any memoir about nature and illness/disability/mental distress, regardless of content. When most of those books - and Nic’s is a fine example - are doing something MUCH more interesting than the term implies.

Nic Wilson@nicwilson.bsky.social · last yr.

I've been writing in @thebookseller.com about how questions on the veracity of elements of The Salt Path highlight some of the serious issues associated with the prevalence of the 'nature cure' narrative. #booksky #naturewriting #lifewriting #memoir #chronicillness

A fab looking peaty poetry opportunity for young poets (14-25). ypn.poetrysociety.org.uk/workshop/bog...

The Italian for swift is rondone, which is linked to the word for ‘patrol’. Patrolling implies ownership, agency, a sense of responsibility: the naming is a powerful, if subconscious, act of recognising the birds as co-citizens. #swiftawarenessweek wreckageandshimmer.substack.com/p/shimmering...

Shimmering with swifts

Finding abundance in Italy

wreckageandshimmer.substack.com

Hurrah!

Nicola Chester@nicolawriting.bsky.social · last yr.

I don't know if this is a good time, but I'm on Substack. I think I've posted my first post. I mean I have, & hope I've done it right. It'd be lovely to have some subscribers (it's free) nicolawriting.substack.com/p/an-ecology... but if you'd rather, I've also blogged it here nicolachester.com ...

It's not just about the broken trust between writer and reader, or all the time, energy and unfounded faith invested by booksellers, but it's also about the important stories still unheard of those living with illness and homelessness that could have been elevated by the industry instead.

@chloehadj.bsky.social · last yr.

I spent months on this investigation and gathered docs from the UK courts, Land Registry and a French local authority, to show that Raynor and Moth Winn's story is not as they claim. @tortoisemedia.bsky.social @observeruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Truth in memoir is a slippery thing. Nevertheless, if we present our writing as memoir, we enter into a solemn contract with our readers: that we are telling the truth as best as we possibly can. If one writer abrogates that responsibility, the consequences affect all of us.

I've made a new list on @bookshop.org of books that explore nature / walking / the outdoors by disabled, neurodivergent and chronically ill writers - Nature Beyond Cure - aka our own narratives are messy and complex. Do share! #BookSky #DisabledWriters uk.bookshop.org/lists/nature...?

Nature Beyond Cure: Disabled Perspectives

Books that explore nature and living with disability and illness from disability perspectives. No magical cures here!

uk.bookshop.org

I'll be talking about #LandBeneaththeWaves at the Book Nook in #Ware (sold out) on Tuesday and David's Bookshop in #Letchworth this Thursday. Lots of local nature, plus deadly plants, snickets and Hitchin's lost nightingales. Do some along and join us if you're nearby... #booksky #naturewriting

Event ticket: Nic Wilson for Land Beneath the Waves

Date: Thursday 19th June 2025 Venue: David’s Bookshop. This is an in person event (not available to attend online) Event to start at 7pm, doors opening 6:30pm. Nic Wilson is a writer, editor and Guard...

davids-bookshops.co.uk

I’ve written to my MP sharing my concerns about the way Labour is planning to harm nature when they promised the nation they’d protect it - please do the same, numbers matter in steering politics

RSPB@rspb.bsky.social · last yr.

We’re calling on everyone who cares about nature: write to your MP now. Show them we won’t stand by while vital protections are ripped up: action.rspb.org.uk/page/159517/...

On our darkest days it's easy to believe humans have no positive place in the natural world - this welcome post by @joannacdobson.bsky.social reminds us that the shimmer of life includes us open.substack.com/pub/wreckage... #naturewriting #environment

The shimmer of life includes us

On dealing with ecological guilt

open.substack.com

Writer and colourist @jordanacosta.co has a resource of pictures for writers to use rather than AI rubbish www.jordanacosta.co/p/more-free-...

More Free-to-use Picture Resources for Writers

Because millions of free-to-use images are just the tip of the iceberg

jordanacosta.co

Looking forward to seeing this visually stunning film at DocFest. Lost for Words is inspired by The Lost Words (Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris). It includes a song setting of Heartwood, the 'charm against harm' Robert wrote for Sheffield's trees. www.sheffdocfest.com/film/lost-wo...

Lost for Words | Sheffield DocFest

no synopsis available

sheffdocfest.com

My book launch of #LandBeneaththeWaves is now online, tickets available from @nextpagebooksuk.bsky.social. If you're near #Hitchin, come and join us for drinks, music and chat about local nature and our relationship with it. Should be a fun evening! 😊🐸🌱🪰🦔🦉💚 #naturewriting #chronicillness #booksky

Book Launch: Land Beneath the Waves by Nic WIlson

Join us for the debut book launch of "Land Beneath the Waves" by Nic Wilson, Hitchin author and Guardian nature writer

eventbrite.co.uk

My letter to the Prime Minister. #immigration

Today I am thinking about the midwife who delivered my firstborn, the psychiatrist who led our family through a turbulent time, the neighbours who shared their cooking with us in London, the ESOL students who trusted me with their stories, and so many more. The sum total is incalculable enrichment.

Paul Brand@paulbrand.bsky.social · last yr.

If you thought the PM’s speech was punchy, his foreword to the immigration white paper says high net migration has done “incalculable damage” to the country. That is a serious shift in tone for a Labour government/party.

- Lecturer in Postcolonial or Indigenous Literature - Lecturer in Early Modern English Literature. University of Glasgow. FT Permanent. Closing 22nd and 25th May. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMO617/l...

Lecturer in Postcolonial or Indigenous Literature (R&T) at University of Glasgow

Searching for an academic job? Explore this Lecturer in Postcolonial or Indigenous Literature (R&T) opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.

jobs.ac.uk

That's 131,000 vacancies. You did read it right. I 'hope' the whole lot of them have someone to look after them in their old age.

Farrukh@implausibleblog.bsky.social · last yr.

Left: Yvette Cooper, "We will be closing the care worker visa as well" Right: House of Commons Library, "131,000 vacancies for care workers"

Ooh looking forward to reading this. Absolutely loved What the Trumpet Taught Me

Kim Moore@kimmoorepoet.bsky.social · last yr.

Substack on writing and performing from "What the Trumpet Taught Me" which I hope will be the first of a series of posts on alternative performances, hybrid writing, giving yourself permission to write what you want to, editing, drafting and expanding on ideas. open.substack.com/pub/kimmoore...

This is bonkers. Care homes are closing because they can’t recruit staff. Elders are stuck in hospitals because of care home staff shortages. This is actually an opportunity to argue for the value of migrant workers but I guess that would clash with their apparent plan to Be More Reform

Peter Stefanovic@peterstefanovic.bsky.social · last yr.

BREAKING: “We will be closing the care worker visa for overseas recruitment” - Home Secretary Yvette Cooper Don’t we have a desperate shortage of care workers?

The allotment is looking great this year, thanks to hours of work by @juliandobson.bsky.social. But it’s so, so thirsty. Anyone else finding their rhubarb and broad beans seem sluggish in the heat? #allotments #growyourown