You can pre-order my debut novel Dooneen on @bookshop.org here. It's my sixth debut novel. Pre-orders, as I'm sure you know, are essential to the healthy continuance of society. If you don't pre-order right now, you're basically destroying everything beautiful.

Good piece by @tomstevenson.bsky.social on the Xi era that deftly unpicks some of the lazy, prejudicial thinking about the CCP that is starting to feel like it's AI generated. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Good response to Murnane's Inland (I don't think a 'review' of it is possible) www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20...

Crucial - and generally totally overlooked part of this story - is *what* the journalists that Labour Together smeared were reporting on How Labour Together used £730k in illegal political donations to boot strap Keir Starmer’s political rise That’s why they were targeted

A clever form makes me admit that I am all over the place

A fabulous book.

New blog post: “Modernity as Detour: Aby Warburg and the Kyoto School” by Xinyi Wen. From Warburg’s unrealised Japan trip (1896) to Renaissance astrology in Japan’s modernity debates (1942). warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/... #WarburgInstitute #IntellectualHistory #HistoryOfIdeas

Forgive me banging on about this story again - but should you wish to download it, today's the last day (from link below, or Spotify, Apple, etc) - then it's only available on BBC Sounds www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Further Reductions.

Great news - The Expansion Project was the best new novel I read last year.

Some colour for this endless January. Released from a box after 25 years.

Belated congratulations!

The multi-talented Emily Nemens has a new novel, Clutch, out in a few months. More on that here emilynemens.com/books/ and pre order here zandoprojects.com/books/clutch/

If all you want for Christmas is new short stories from @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social Mark Haddon and (ahem) me Then check out The Essay on Radio 3 Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week Three stories of winter journeys inspired by Schubert's Winterreisen www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

I wrote about Blinding for the TLS www.the-tls.com/literature/f...

Sunset is a perfect film. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttF-...

Pentland quarry fern fossils

A book to watch for in 2026 (have been eager to see it since reading and liking some magazine pieces by @yilingliu95.bsky.social) bookshop.org/p/books/danc... + it comes with blurbs by @karenhao.bsky.social & @iandenisjohnson.bsky.social (who refers to it as a "masterful piece of reporting")

"@davidharvey.org's lifelong passion has been that of a restless analyst who continues to inspire with his heart as well as his head." In celebration of David Harvey's 90th birthday, Andy Merrifield on Harvey's Consciousness and the Urban Experience. www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/t...

Before you can say "More pricks," read @nickholdstock.bsky.social's 2023 essay about writing PORCUPINE: www.rlf.org.uk/posts/journe...

Congratulations to László Krasznahorkai, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature today. Read an excerpt of his novella Animalinside, free from our archives: buff.ly/9gx85pA

A little gem worth revisiting www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...

Hooray for Laszlo! www.the-tls.com/literature/f...

My novel about the art historian Aby Warburg’s struggle with madness, that was shortlisted for the Novel Prize, will be out next year. www.saggingmeniscus.com/catalog/porc...

'Even a book that has sold 15 million copies worldwide cannot be held responsible for the politics of how China is represented in the West.' Nick Holdstock: The sequel to Wild Swans

I wrote about the Wild Swans sequel for The TLS www.the-tls.com/lives/autobi...

I wrote about Schattenfroh for @thetls.bsky.social www.the-tls.com/literature/f...

I wrote about the Wild Swans sequel for The TLS www.the-tls.com/lives/autobi...

1/ Dear readers, The Dial is evolving. You talked, we listened — and have made a few changes to our magazine.

Anyone else getting a deluge of I-can-promote-your-wonderful-book messages? They are much more detailed than usual - are they AI generated?

An amazing piece by Robert Foyle Hunwick on Margaret Biottin's book on prostitution in China, which shine when it asks sex workers how they view the industry and themselves: chinabooksreview.com/2025/08/07/s...

From our current issue. Nick Holdstock returns to China for a writing residency. Buy or subscribe at thedublinreview.com

In the latest Dublin Review I write about the ethics of returning to China for the first time in a decade thedublinreview.com/product/summ... @thedublinreview.bsky.social

Buried very deeply in the accompanying leaflet of my new pills: "Do not be concerned if you see small white balls or granules in your stools after taking this medicine"

Happy Birthday Thomas Pynchon! An old piece I wrote for @nplusonemag.com www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...

Please consider donating to them - n+1 is a vital source of timely, interesting writing

The first English-language interview of Michael Lentz, together with the translator of Schattenfroh Max Lawton. Give it a listen. open.spotify.com/episode/50Er...

The sadness of one's last Skype call. Farewell, beloved ring tone! Shall miss those frozen screens.

We’re delighted to announce that award-winning novelist Kamila Shamsie will deliver the 2025 #PENLecture in partnership with @newwritingnorth.bsky.social & @nclanews.bsky.social. Join us at 6pm on 19 June, at Culture Lab, Newcastle University. Book now ⤵️ www.englishpen.org/posts/events...

In my @theguardian.com review of Krystelle Bamford's fine novel 'Idle Grounds' I quote Robert Aickman and namecheck Shirley Jackson and E.F. Benson, if that's up your street. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

We felt it had to happen, yet were scared of our hope. But yes, a new Pynchon novel approaches. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316427...

‘Even an elderly woman who doesn’t know how to use a smartphone and doesn’t watch TV is constantly feeding data into this network by turning lights on and off, using the toilet or turning on the stove.’ Long Ling on the new city being built for Beijing’s overflow: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Presenting the #InternationalBooker2025 shortlist. Find out more about all the books, authors and translators: thebookerprizes.com/ibp2025

'The upper sky darkened; the river was burnished; a smudged conflagaration consumed the horizon.' A horrible sentence? Just asking for a friend!

Beyond excited.

The PEN case list has launched. As Ma Thida says: "2024 has been a year of unprecedented assault on freedom of expression across the globe". We are in solidarity with all those standing up for human rights and will continue to counter those who are shredding human rights frameworks around the world.

‘Art is a portal through which one enters the uncanny. It can bring havoc, or it can bring bliss.’ Ange Mlinko on the works of László Krasznahorkai: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

My story about love and geese from Banshee issue 7 can now be read here nickholdstock.com/wp-content/u...