Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick

Morning, all. Some lexical heavy lifting going on today, for a top secret thing, naturally ;)

Coming in November! Black Ink: Pulp Stories from Black Newspapers, 1929-55. Stories of daring rogues, alien encounters, zombies, future technologies, and punching racists. Co-edited by Timothy R. Granger (aka Timaeus Bloom) and Mike Phillips. frombeyondpress.com/books/black-...

This is absolutely insane. The sort of Kafka-esque nightmare you would find in a Philip K Dick book set far in the dystopian future. A window on America tumbling into autocracy. www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

One thing I'd forgotten about reading a long-ish book is the simple pleasure of looking forward to hopping into bed and spending an hour or two with it and the prospect of repeating that routine for however many nights to come.

Ossoff: "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? The president posting about the Obamas like a Klansman."

For those of us who read The Fountain in the Forest in 2018, this is very exciting news indeed!

👍🏼🙏thank you for sharing, Grant — very much appreciated🫡✊

ICYM – p.s. thanks all🙏🫡✊

Thames just visible there —- around 5:30 pm today

*DRUM ROLL* – cover reveal! My new novel Phantom at the Feast, the follow-up to The Fountain in the Forest, is out from No Exit Press on 18 June ’26. It has a stunning cover designed by Mark Ecob, with image by the great London photographer Chris Dorley-Brown... www.waterstones.com/book/phantom...

We're open to submissions next Friday (13th February) for gorse 15: Eureka!/EYPHKA! Full details on the website: gorse.ie/gorse-15-eur...

A hugely enjoyable & inspiring evening hearing @stuhennigan.bsky.social talk about his new novel #Keshed with the wonderful @regretteruane.bsky.social and @davidcollard.bsky.social Thank you for such a great event 💙📚💙 Published by @ortacpress.bsky.social 📚💙📚 www.ortacpress.com/product-page...

Some Jim Sallis in North Dakota Quarterly: ndquarterly.org/2020/01/30/f...

RIP James Sallis, who was both an excellent writer and a stand-up person who refused to sign a loyalty oath at the college where he taught ten years ago. www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts-culture...

REMEMBER THEIR NAMES

RIP James Sallis — novelist, critic and translator. Highly recommend any, and these two came to hand tonight, but also to highlight his excellent collection of essays on noir, Difficult Lives 🙏🫡✊#jamessallis

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

ICE has killed 9 folks in the first 26 days of ‘26: • Alex Pretti • Renee Good • Keith Porter • Heber Sanchaz Domínguez • Victor Manuel Diaz • Parady La • Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz • Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres • Geraldo Lunas Campos They all deserve justice. And for us to remember their names.

ICE are at the Italian Olympics in case any US athletes try to defect.

RIP the great Sly Dunbar youtu.be/LJxgu9jcPp8

It’s a privilege to be the @royalliteraryfund.bsky.social RLF Fellow @royalholloway.bsky.social @rhulhistory.bsky.social — here to offer confidential writing advice and support to all. At RHUL? Find these posters on screens around the campus to book a 50-minute one to one to improve your writing✍️🫡✊

As the caught haggises await their annual slaughter, and Burns Night suppers draw nigh, ye might be looking for something intellectually meaty to read this bonnie January day. So here’s LEVEL VIBE featuring Burns and the Scottish-Jamaica connections. www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/burns-night-...

Local MP Sarah Olney was among the speakers at a public meeting stumbled upon earlier today (next to the bridge on the banks of the Thames) about the campaign to reopen Hammersmith Bridge in London, which is currently only open to pedestrians and cyclists…

Thames just after 5 pm today

This is a truly horrifying account of increasingly likely collapse of essential natural systems which would bring mass food shortages, price rises & global disorder. Commissioned from UK intelligence chiefs but scandalously suppressed by Govt, & sneaked out now while attention is elsewhere 👇

Blue Thames in London at 4:15 pm today

Córy Doctorow with another verbal bullseye: pluralistic.net/2026/01/13/n...

Excerpt from Revolutionary Letter № 8 by Diane di Prima

PLEASE SHARE | GRAY DAY 2026: Reimagined Glasgow—45 Years of Lanark. 25 Feb 2026, 7–10pm, Òran Mór, Glasgow. Hosted by Josie Long. New writing by Rachelle Atalla & Alan Bissett + new animations. In partnership with @canongate.co.uk Tickets: link in bio.

9 years ago we lost Mark Fisher, whose work offers perhaps the best diagnosis of the situation we find ourselves in. In his memory, we've tasked authors with using Fisher's ideas as a jumping off point for all-new horror fictions. 📘THE MONSTER, CAPITAL (Feb 26) commapress.co.uk/books/monste...

Check this out. New bestseller list for independent publishers. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Thames at Barnes, SW London, around 3;45 pm

Book post! Division Street America by Studs Turkel, bought on the recommendation of @davidcollard.bsky.social First published in 1967, it's a series of interviews with everyday Chicagoans about the issues of the day and whatever else came up.

Thames looking upstream at Barnes Bridge, London, RN — those colours!

2/2 Discord by Jeremy Cooper Finders Keepers by Nicholas Royle Foulness by David Henningham Keshed by Stu Hennigan Library of Brothel by Anakana Schofield Phantom at the Feast by Tony White These (and others) are books that matter.

. . .

In an annual tradition - here's the top ten crime novels of the year as selected by the keenest reader I know - my mum Gillie. No particular order. Stig Abell - The Burial Place Maz Evans - That'll Teach Her Rob Parker - The Troubled Deep @thestigabell.bsky.social @robparkerauthor.bsky.social

The sun has now set on 2025 (in this part of the Northern Hemisphere anyway, and for friends in Australia and Indonesia it’s probably 2026 already!) — so I think it’s safe to say: Happy new year, all!

ICYM I interviewed Croatian author Jurica Pavicic for @thecwa.bsky.social's Red Herrings journal about his superb novel Red Water. The Eng. trans @bitterlemonpress.bsky.social is one of @crimereads.bsky.social international crime novels of 2025. Now on my site 👉 pieceofpaperpress.com/2025/12/03/p...

Latin American metafiction, Japanese puzzles, Central European noir, and French psychologicals: Molly Odintz @mollsotov.bsky.social rounds up the best international crime novels of 2025. crimereads.com/the-best-int...

"The novel’s strengths lie in its relentless drive, clear-eyed judgement, and focus on empathy" So excited to see Red Water by Jurica Pavicic included in @crimereads.bsky.social 'The Best International Crime Novels, Mysteries and Thrillers of 2025'! #Croatia crimereads.com/the-best-int...

Readers and bookshops: please boycott any publisher that replaces literary translators with the non-reading, uncultured, lying, manipulative plagiarism regurgitator.

Following a spring clean at Longbarrow HQ, I've found a number of hardbacks (ex-bookshop / damaged in transit) that are perfectly readable, but not saleable. If you're in Sheffield (postcodes S1-S12 only), and you'd like a free book, message your postal address and I'll deliver it over the weekend.

"I genuinely thought the pandemic would change the art world for the better." Winter mail #2: 'Obiter Dicta', the latest addition to @tonywhite.bsky.social's 'lo-tech, sustainable publishing platform' Piece of Paper Press. Further information: pieceofpaperpress.com/about-popp/

Stuck for gift ideas for the crime fiction fan in your life? The paperback of THE FOUNTAIN IN THE FOREST is in the shops right now, AND the follow-up PHANTOM AT THE FEAST comes out on No Exit Press in June ‘26. You don’t have to be amid Tokyo cherry blossom like Hiromi, who sent this after reading🙏!

individuals who support the short story in the uk - list in 2025 anthology by @nicholasroyle.bsky.social - @prototypepubs.bsky.social @ailsacox.bsky.social @ggaffa.bsky.social @cathygalvin.bsky.social @jonathangibbs.bsky.social @johnnymains.co.uk @chrispower.bsky.social @tonywhite.bsky.social

"Only 95% of people told us to get fucked even after we ran their answers through the very slop machine we were trying to force them to tolerate. It's just not clear what this means."