Excited to reread my incredibly over-annotated copy of Oedipus Rex from A-level days. Something genuinely heartwarming about realising I've always been this much of a geek.
Nicola Kelly
@nicolakellywrites.bsky.social
Writer, talker, author of ANYWHERE BUT HERE: Stories of the Search for Belonging in Modern Britain. https://linktr.ee/nicolakellywrites
Last week: losing your way I read Anywhere But Here by @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social and felt despair about the asylum system And @mbarnfield.bsky.social on the politics of net zero, felt slightly reassured about the level if not the trend aveekbhattacharya.substack.com/p/readwatche...
Read/Watched/Listened/Ate: You May Find Yourself
30: July 2026
aveekbhattacharya.substack.com
Hurrah for the creation of a National Care Service! Andy Burnham’s right: we need one urgently. Here's why. (A personal story)
Nicola Kelly@nicolakellywrites.bsky.social · 2w agoAndy Burnham has said that reforming the care system is a priority for him. He's long called for a National Care Service. Here's why we need one - and why delivering on that promise might be the test of his premiership. (Pls subscribe - it's free) open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
Andy Burnham has said that reforming the care system is a priority for him. He's long called for a National Care Service. Here's why we need one - and why delivering on that promise might be the test of his premiership. (Pls subscribe - it's free) open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
Who cares? Hopefully Burnham does
On the National Care Service and why we desperately need it
open.substack.com
Andy Burnham, "To me, carers should be the best paid people in society, not the worst" "Many people from other countries have been caring for my dad" Andy Burnham praises migrants to the UK who care for our elderly, a stark contrast to Keir-island-of-strangers-Starmer
Just loving how John Cleese, now reduced to one of his own caricatures, rages about immigrants coming to the UK and failing to accept "our" culture, from his home in ... (checks notes) ... Nevis in the Caribbean.
On devolution, @jacktshaw.bsky.social on social care @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social
Today is the 75th anniversary of the UN Refugee Convention. To mark this anniversary, we're sharing the remarkable story of how Lord Alf Dubs escaped the Holocaust on the Kindertransport at just six years old.
Andy Burnham has said that reforming the care system is a priority for him. He's long called for a National Care Service. Here's why we need one - and why delivering on that promise might be the test of his premiership. (Pls subscribe - it's free) open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
Who cares? Hopefully Burnham does
On the National Care Service and why we desperately need it
open.substack.com
Sally Hayden and I in conversation tonight, 6.30, Daunt Books Hampstead. Still a few tickets left. See you there!
Sally Hayden@sallyhayd.bsky.social · last mo.Two weeks until this event in Daunt Books Hampstead Heath, with the brilliant @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social. Do come if you're around London. The ticket is £6, which includes a complimentary glass of wine or soft drink. dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/events/... @4thestatebooks.bsky.social
Two weeks until this event in Daunt Books Hampstead Heath, with the brilliant @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social. Do come if you're around London. The ticket is £6, which includes a complimentary glass of wine or soft drink. dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/events/... @4thestatebooks.bsky.social
My last signing queue! Always the best bit, hearing from audiences. Thank you thank you for all the support. What a 15 months.
Elliott & Thompson@eandtbooks.bsky.social · last mo.📸 On Saturday, @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social spoke at Chelmsford Cathedral about her book #AnywhereButHere: Stories of the Search for Belonging in Modern Britain for @essexbookfest.bsky.social. This is a powerful exposé of Britain’s broken asylum system and how it fails us all. bit.ly/3SFU6rO
Thanks for all the kind comments on this post. Tony would've been flabbergasted that anyone cared to read about him!
Nicola Kelly@nicolakellywrites.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe house next door to mine is being turned into asylum housing. My neighbours are up in arms. Here's the story. (It's free to read - but do subscribe for more) open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
The house next door to mine is being turned into asylum housing. My neighbours are up in arms. Here's the story. (It's free to read - but do subscribe for more) open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
On my street
HMOs, Reform stickers and flag-shaggers
open.substack.com
Thanks for all the kind comments on this post. Tony would've been flabbergasted that anyone cared to read about him!
Nicola Kelly@nicolakellywrites.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe house next door to mine is being turned into asylum housing. My neighbours are up in arms. Here's the story. (It's free to read - but do subscribe for more) open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
Reform have now lost six by-elections in a row in England, Scotland and Wales. Their national poll rating is 26% – below Labour in 1983 – and Farage’s approval rating is -37. They’re very far from the voice of the people and need to stop being treated as such.
The house next door to mine is being turned into asylum housing. My neighbours are up in arms. Here's the story. (It's free to read - but do subscribe for more) open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
On my street
HMOs, Reform stickers and flag-shaggers
open.substack.com
Love for the audience member who showed up to my event last night with full-on annotations and post-its in the book.
Wow thank you Nicola, that really means a lot from you - thanks so much for listening
So great to see all the love for new arrivals - and for my book - on Refugee Week. Thanks to you all for your support. I really appreciate it, and I know that those I've written about do, too. 🧡
Really appreciated how thoughtful and nuanced @anooshc.bsky.social and @tommctague.bsky.social were in this episode. When it comes to an issue as divisive and toxic as the asylum system, that's often not the case. Well worth a listen. open.spotify.com/episode/5CeU...
The private companies running Britain
The Politics Show · Episode
open.spotify.com
#RefugeeWeek 📖 Read: www.stmargaretshouse.org.uk/blog/refugee... 🎤 Weds 17 Jun, 6.30pm @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social discusses her book Anywhere But Here www.stmargaretshouse.org.uk/events/autho... 📸 Thurs 18 Jun, 6.30pm Celebrate a Saharawi exhibition www.stmargaretshouse.org.uk/events/openi...
Refugee Week – what it means to us | St. Margaret's House | A home for Creative Health in Bethnal Green, East London
Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. It’s a chance for us at St Marg...
stmargaretshouse.org.uk
Immigrants & asylum seekers are not our enemies. They are not responsible for the austerity, privatisation, erosion of civic life, thinning of democracy and concentration of power we suffer. But they're being punished for these things. Punished at the behest of the very people who *are* responsible.
27 people were made homeless after Tuesday night's violence in Belfast, including children.
Everyone on X and elsewhere who called for a violent response should be charged with incitement. Everyone involved in the pogrom should be locked up with exemplary sentences. Govt should make it clear that will be the response in future anywhere else. Enough.
This has nothing to do with stopping crime. It is to do with a global far-right movement, coordinated on X, organised by some of the most powerful men in the world from Silicon Valley to the White House inews.co.uk/opinion/fara...
Come and hear Sally and I chat about her new book! Daunt Books, 9 July, tickets available at the link below.
Sally Hayden@sallyhayd.bsky.social · 2mo agoNew London event for 'This is Also a Love Story' added: I'll be talking to @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social at Daunt Books Hampstead Heath on Thursday July 9. dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/events/... Full list of upcoming events here: sallyhayden.net/2026/04/11/t... @4thestatebooks.bsky.social
Wrote about a glorious week @hayfestival.bsky.social and picking up my pen/laptop/quill again. open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
Just keep writing
A week at the Hay Festival
open.substack.com