“Try to rethink everything. Offer something different. It’s OK to experiment … Don’t give up too soon. There is always another way to say it.”

It’s deeply troubling to see the normalisation of excessive and potentially lethal police violence in the UK! Kremlin-style policing should never be accepted. Wake up!

The Dalkey Archive edition of CHERNOBYL PRAYER is published today.

Q: Can it ever be appropriate for policemen to kick a suspect armed with a knife who is already lying on the ground repeatedly in the head? Would it be a standard professional approach or an effective tactic? Response from ChatGPT. (Not an authoritative source, but informative, nevertheless.)

> Four decades on from the Chornobyl disaster, small communities of scientists, elderly returnees and soldiers have carved out lives among its abandoned buildings, while wildlife thrives in the surrounding forests. www.aljazeera.com/features/lon...

My co-translation of Svetlana Alexievich’s CHERNOBYL PRAYER comes out in the USA on 5 May. ‘A beautifully written book, it's been years since I had to look away from a page because it was just too heart-breaking to go on.’ — Arundhati Roy

My co-translation of Svetlana Alexievich’s CHERNOBYL PRAYER comes out in the USA on 5 May. ‘A beautifully written book, it's been years since I had to look away from a page because it was just too heart-breaking to go on.’ — Arundhati Roy

Libraries for me have been a source not just of books, but also of cool music, world cinema, and in the early days of the internet, they were a place to go online. Where was I on 11 September 2001? Using the library computer. Only found out what had happened once I got home. A strange memory.

Внимание, внимание! Early-bird discount deadline is fast approaching. Come and spend a week immersed in the wonders of literary translation.

Внимание, внимание! Don’t miss the deadline for the early-bird discount. Looking forward to welcoming you to the Russian workshop.

‘Trump is looking like a man who has never played chess before, and who suddenly moved his king to the centre of the board and doesn't really understand why he's now under attack.’ — Emily Maitlis

This year's inaugural Russian-English workshop at Oxford Translates will be led by acclaimed translator @annagunin.bsky.social. General applications are still open - scholarship applications close today! Apply by the 31st March to access the early-bird discount.

Applications are still open - bursary & early-bird deadlines are fast approaching! www.seh.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtransl...

"We still don’t know when Hind’s life ended. She feared the dark, and for all the heroism and sacrifices of the PRCS, the darkness found her."  @idreesahmad.bsky.social reviews the Oscar-nominated feature “The Voice of Hind Rajab.”

Deadlines for bursaries and the early-bird discount are fast approaching. Find more information in the link below: www.seh.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtransl...

Applications are now open - the deadline for bursary applications is the 16th March, while the deadline for the early-bird discount is the 31st March. All details here! www.seh.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtransl...

If the idea of spending a week immersed in literary translation appeals, then you will be warmly welcomed at Oxford Translates! I’ll be leading the Russian workshops, and for 2026 there is a wide choice of languages plus a multilingual-into-English option.

Nice one Meta - Dead children who wrote poetry of hope before they were killed are really dangerous. 🙄

7/7 was twenty years ago today. In my column for the @newstatesman.com, I reflect on how the London bombings reshaped British cultural life and brought 'the Muslim' to the centre of its discourse. www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...

I made a Starter Pack for everyone involved in @bristoltranslates.bsky.social (Bristol Translates Summer School) in 2025. Very happy to add attendees and anyone else I've missed on here! go.bsky.app/Dr1iv4J

I guess we're finding out what we would have done if we were white Americans living in the Jim Crow era or when Japanese Americans were rounded up & sent to concentration camps.

I just voted against proscribing Palestine Action, a civil disobedience group, as a terrorist organisation. But I'm furious that in doing so, the government forced me and others to vote against proscribing two other clearly terrorist groups. Cynical and dangerous from govt.

"It's a killing field, live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars... our form of communication is gunfire." www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

PUBLISHED ONLINE TODAY Sea Shells: Emerging Poets from #Gaza Selected and translated by MPT Poet in Residence, Batool Abu Akleen. modernpoetryintranslation.com/sea-shells-a...

On the one hand, we are told Israel is an ally of the West, meaning the Western governments will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel and come to her defence.

Registration for the Bristol Translates 2025 NORLA keynote speech by Damion Searls is now open: go to the link below to register by email. When? 7th July 17:00 BST Where? Join online from wherever you are in the world!

Israeli prison officers threatening to mark Israeli Jews who dissent with the Star of David. Genuinely couldn't make this up. How can they not see who they look like?

Ukrainian security service sources tell @financialtimes.com the agency is conducting "a large-scale special operation to destroy enemy bomber aircraft" deep inside Russia. "SBU drones are targeting aircraft that bomb Ukrainian cities every night." Claims 40 aircraft have been hit.

> 380 writers and organisations including Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan, Russell T Davies, Hanif Kureishi, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and George Monbiot have signed a letter stating the Israeli government’s war in Gaza is genocidal and calling for an immediate ceasefire. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Israel’s plan for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza – graphically demonstrated. Thank you, TRT World. For doing what the BBC is failing to do. www.trtworld.com/video/digita...

The final section of this interview is so powerful. Dr Haj-Hassan refusing to let the BBC “two-side” the genocide in Gaza. "You don't ask the perpetrator of genocide their opinion on whether they are committing a genocide". The eloquence in her rage is extraordinary. 2/2

‘Biden governed like a normal president in a normal moment’. What is normal about allowing and enabling an overtly genocidal starvation siege in Gaza? How can a person who’s authored a book on the Holodomor discuss Biden while airbrushing out that starvation siege?

1/ One of the hallmarks of Western liberalism is an assumption, in hindsight, of virtuous resistance as the only polite expectation of people on the receiving end of colonialism. While the terrible thing is happening — while the land is still being stolen and the natives still being killed —

My good friend and an amazing investigative journalist @willneal.bsky.social was barred from entering Georgia. Will has worked on several important investigative stories on Georgia rsf.org/en/between-h...

JUST IN | Palestinian Health Minister: 29 Have Died of Starvation in Gaza in Recent Days Palestinian Health Minister Dr. Majid Abu Ramadan says 29 people—mostly children and elderly—have died of starvation-related causes in Gaza in recent days, warning that thousands more are at risk.

And it's incredibly *blatant* ethnic cleansing at that. There's not the kind of clearly-implying-but-not-actually-saying-it thing that often takes place in ethnic cleansing campaigns (including the Nakba), they're just straight up declaring their intent to expel an entire ethnic group from an area.

If you listen to one thing today please make it the new @therestpolitics.bsky.social LEADING with Arab Barghouti, whose father Marwan is currently in an Israeli jail but who is seen by many - including moderate Israelis - as a key to peace. Vital voice. Wherever you get your podcasts

So David Lammy suspends trade negotiations with Israel… Why was the UK in trade negotiations with Israel?!?!

People who are still shouting that Israel is not committing genocide must be clapping their hands over their ears every time an Israeli minister steps onto a podium because

Yes, agree fully. The cowardice of silence is so painful to witness. People who could sway the public but choose the easy path instead.

> The systematic destruction of residential buildings and public structures has become a central part of the Israeli army’s operations, and in many cases, the primary objective.

The Eurovision rightly banned Russia from the song contest.

This is an official plan for ethnic cleansing. If you supported Israel for the past 18 months or so under the assumption that this was about the hostages you were taken for a ride. If you still support Israel's assault on Gaza, you support ethnic cleansing. It's that simple.

People argue about whether the Holocaust was unique. I’d say *every* genocide is unique. History doesn’t repeat itself in an identical fashion, after all.

How could The Spectator continue to commission a writer who refers to the West Bank as ‘Judea and Samaria’ and calls for murderous settlers to be shielded from journalistic scrutiny?

In addition to our language workshops, Bristol Translates will be offering professional development sessions on the 8th and 10th July for the first time. Intended for those not taking part in the rest of the summer school, you can apply directly for these dates.

This is huge news! Members of the British Board of Deputies have come out and criticised the slaughter in Gaza. www.ft.com/content/6a50...