Book news - of the most wondrous kind! Thrilled beyond measure to be scooped by Tor Nightfire & Pan Macmillan with a new name & new genre. Not going to be doing much on here as I'll be on Instagram as my new alter ego Mina Templeton! Maybe see you there? I'm @minatempletonbooks on IG

£500 given out to a working class writer every month. Details in link. Please share :)

The Creatives Grant

let's make art less middle class

thewhitepube.co.uk

A motto for editors and proofreaders everywhere

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 2680: Don’t be afraid of failure. Failure means you tried something. No one ever succeeds without trying and failing - often, many times.

Fantastic mini poetry writing course here with Dialect Press, created & delivered by my fellow Thrutopians @poetryhilary.bsky.social, Ilse Pedler & Alice Willitts! If you're looking to bring hope into your creative practice, or perhaps re-invigorate your poems, this is for you.

Hilary Watson poet@poetryhilary.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Come join us in our workshop Writing the Future and exercising a muscle of hope. #BendingTheArcMagazine poets Alice Willitts, Ilse Pedler & I are running a workshop - course dates Saturday 28 February 2026 09:30 - 11:00 Saturday 14 March 2026 09:30 - 11:00 www.dialect.org.uk/coursesworks...

This call is about memory and refusal. What we carry. What carries us. If that’s central to your practice, submit. #PoemsAbout #LiftToTheSky #WednesdayWIPs #SpineEdicts #PoetryCommunity #SubmissionWindow #OpenCall #Poetry

Call for Submissions: Poetry That Remembers, Mourns, and Refuses to Let Go - The Broken Spine

Submissions Open Throughout January 2026 | Publication Later That Year

thebrokenspine.co.uk

*PAID WRITING OPP** You have 3 months to get your writing ready to submit to the 'Food' themed issue of FR 🍽️ Find out more here: foldingrock.com/submit-your-...

We're delighted to share this wonderful anthology of gothic fiction produced by the writers on our Gothic short story course, taught & edited by @bronteschiltz.bsky.social 📕🌹 Ft: Ninutsa Nadirashvili , Peter Beech, Adam Brown, Ewan Hannah @ewanmh.bsky.social, Margo Laurie & Christina Isibéal ✍️ 🔗👇

Sending out ARC requests for #poetry books published by small presses in 2026 in my role as reviewer for LitHub’s 2026 #100SmallPress project. Small presses and poets — don’t wait for my email, reach out if you’d like me to read and consider your book!

Feels ridiculous to be promoting books with all the News going on but I still have to eat, soooo—would you like to pre-order some gay-ass regency mean-girl escapism in the form of THE MISEDUCATION OF CAROLINE BINGLEY?

Perhaps the surest sign of AI not being super intelligent is the amount of tailored scams targeting the finances of authors, which is as rewarding as trying to mug a seagull.

Lunar New Year celebrations will take place on Sat 21 Feb at @cardiff-hub.bsky.social from 12-3pm. Come and experience the Lion Dance, tea tasting, Chinese medicine, music & dance and more! A free event - no booking required.

Write the book you would like to see someone pull from a higgledy piggledy pile in a secondhand shop 63 years after your death and say, "This looks fucking weird. I think I will buy it for Joan."

I'm very grateful to you for letting me know about Mr Altbell. What a shock. They obviously decided to operate sooner than planned. I hope Jill was satisfied with the bike. You didn't mention how it was.

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 9516: To make your readers care for your characters, you have to make it clear what or who your characters most care about.

I'm giving a Seed Talks lecture on Ghosted very soon! Wednesday 21st January, 7pm, Arches London Bridge. It's a hybrid event, too, so you can tune in via Ouija board (or a computer if you prefer). It'd be lovely to see you there! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-history-...

A History of Ghost Hunting and Why We Keep Looking

A social, historical, and scientific look at ghost-hunting – and why our fascination with it endures. Followed by Q&A.

eventbrite.co.uk

Ready for some new challenges in 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣6️⃣? 🖋️ Writing Women: Part 2 explores depictions of women in literature from antiquity through to the modern day. More info 👉🏼 www.aber.ac.uk/en/lifelong-... So excited to run this module again ✨ #Writing #WritingSky #Poetry #Feminism #JaneEyre

Happy New Year! We love sharing these pro-book posters from the Works Projects Administration Poster Collection in the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest.

Niche research question... but I'm hoping that a medievalist/ fairytale specialist might be able to help. I read a reference to a French (?) tale in which Noah sends out a dove from the Ark, but it returns a kingfisher. But I can't find any sources. Any leads gratefully received!

✨ SUBMISSIONS OPEN for the 2026 Sarabande Annual Prizes through Submittable starting today Jan 1 - Feb 15. This year’s judges are: Kaveh Akbar (Short Fiction), Adrian Matejka (Poetry), and Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Essay)! Winners receive $2,000 and publication! Full details at link in bio ✨

Welsh artist Gwen John, Cat study, c.1904 #WomensArt

Need entertainment over the holiday period? Don’t forget that our digital services are available all day every day! Dig into eBooks, audiobooks, newspapers, magazines, and even films and TV shows – check out the BorrowBox, Libby, PressReader and Kanopy apps to see what’s available.

No time left for postage but still need a thoughtful gift for the friend who's read everything? A Faber Poetry Subscription might be the perfect solution. faber.co.uk/faber-subscriptions/poetry-subscription/

Photographer Hannes Kilian, Cat Nero in the Snow, 1953. Printed 1973.

“Be sure to set me to ‘delicate,’ Alison. It’d be a shame to ruin that sweater, you know, in case it ever comes back in style.”

Interested in connections between #history & #CreativeWriting / #poetry? @ihr.bsky.social is seeking a Creative Practitioner in Residence for 2026. £1000 monthly stipend, opportunities for collaboration & developing projects. Happy to have a chat! Please share: www.history.ac.uk/fellowships-...

Creative Practitioner in Residence

The Institute of Historical Research hosts a Creative Practitioner in Residence who is interested in working collaboratively with historians.

history.ac.uk

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 2876: Don't write "a woman character", or "a gay character", or "a disabled character." Write a complete human being, with agency, and feelings, and flaws. No-one in fiction should be wholly defined by the groups they belong to.

Was not writing poetry a secret transaction, a voice answering a voice? Virginia Woolf, Orlando