Even if "white British" will be a minority in the UK in 40 years - so what? Seriously, so what? What is so terrible about that? Make people spell out their horrors. Make them spell out the things they are supposedly not allowed to say. Make them own it.

As someone who just finished a creative writing MA, I couldn't agree more. Just write!

I know you may have seen this today but just in case you ever have a doubt that so, so many British people in the highest echelons of their society had and have a baffling blindness to colonialism and its long, long shadow... From @profdanhicks.bsky.social upcoming book - bsky.app/profile/prof...

Nope. Wanna read some blood sucking #BlackVampires ?🧛🏾‍♀️Gomez’s The Gilda Stories🧛🏾‍♀️Butler’s Fledgling 🧛🏾‍♀️Banks’ Vampire Huntress Legend Series 🧛🏿‍♂️Johnson’s Image of Emeralds and Chocolate🧛🏿‍♂️Massey’s Dark Corner 🧛🏿‍♂️Girma’s Immortal Dark🧛🏾‍♀️Dennings’ This Ravenous Fate

Also please include self-published authors when you think of indie, not just small presses 🙏

Librarians in UK increasingly asked to remove books, as influence of US pressure groups spreads www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

Christmas cake and sunshine!

Poof! Someone disappeared mid stride in the Northern Quarter... well, that's my take anyway. I went to cross the road, and they were just sitting there as if someone up and vanished mid run... I think there's a story here.

The British automotive industry contributes £22bn to the UK economy. The creative industries contribute £124bn. Fucksake. Stop AI copyright theft.

This is high art

It is bleakly funny reading todays UK papers & seeing the Treasury claiming that 'diplomacy' ensured they got hit with lower tariffs while economists point out in adjacent articles that it's because the UK has fuck-all trade post-Brexit that they got a low tariff.

I loved The Garden of Delights, and such a treat to listen to @amalsingh.bsky.social read from his Novel. Thank you!

This Qingming—the day every year when Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites & make ritual offerings to ancestors— Xueting C. Ni reflects on the unique sense of Chinese horror, and why its stories remain under-explored. britishfantasysociety.org/on-chinese-h...

Just found out thanks to the latest update that Firefox has "AI" features. Here's how to switch them off.

The full report by the Tony Blair Institute is out, in which they detail how copyright should be "rebooted" in the AI age. It reads like a big tech lobbying document. I hope they will be asked serious questions at its launch in London today. Some very brief highlights: 🧵 1/8

New notebooks. After finishing my MA, I can't stand writing on my laptop, so back to basics.

Masking Saturday had me sleeping most of Sunday away... still regulating, will resume (gestures at thin air) soon...

My new commute read from author @alethearlyons.bsky.social

I strongly suspect that what we’re seeing with Gen AI is proof of the impact of what happens when you fail to teach even basic levels of image/visual comprehension to children. They grow up to become adults who don’t value or understand the art they consume.

I'll be at the #BlackBritishBookFestival this afternoon at Manchester Central Library repping the @britfantasysoc.bsky.social with @alethearlyons.bsky.social — come say hi!

This!

And it's not only about the international SFF community but also those who can't afford to expose themselves to Covid. It would be really cool if instead of going back to in person cons only, we made the effort to keep the online part alive because... things are taught right now. We want to join you

So I will say this as gently as I can: given the current state of the world, cons (especially held in the US) should really keep or enhance their online programming instead of eliminating it. I understand it takes resources to run a hybrid con but the alternative is to exclude the rest of the world

I did this as a kid in Manchester, UK. Entered competitions with the TLM Carousels across the North West and Wales... an OG skedaddler! My sister (troop leader) and I were the only Black dancers at every competition for a looooong time.

Modern folklore

There are SO MANY resources in this new guide from my friend-collaborator @duchessofhazard.bsky.social, including but not limited to gems from: @mskellymhayes.bsky.social @theradr.bsky.social @nonprofitaf.bsky.social @miamingus.bsky.social @newrepublic.com + more --> bit.ly/resist-guide

This thread!

Science fiction written by black women goes back to the 19th and early 20th. centuries! Images: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825–1911), writer of the first African-American utopian fiction, Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins (1859–1930) of the SF tale 'Of One Blood' (1902).

Libraries are so important for ALL children to have access to. Yet Lambeth council are about to cut £1M from the budgets of the libraries in their borough. We need your help to STOP this. I wrote an open letter to the council to try and get them to see the error of their decision. Please repost.

Just a handful of places left on @bronteschiltz.bsky.social's gothic short story course! Learn the art of gothic fiction & get published in a Comma eBook 👇 📅 Starts Mar 27 📍 Manchester Metropolitan University 📩 DM us to book directly & avoid Eventbrite fees! 🎟️ eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-th...

Morning at Oldham Writing Festival with Cultureword

One of the most common arguments you hear from fans of generative ‘AI’ is that it’s not plagiarizing people’s work, it’s just learning like a human learns. So I’m going to break down why that’s just not true, and why it can never be true, with the existing systems. 1/

The teenager has started Star Trek the original series... trying not to make eye contact or breath so as not to spook

Are you experiencing censorship of materials or programming related to Palestine in your library or archive? Librarians and Archivists with Palestine is gathering data and telling these stories. Report here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

I know we all love a dose of hopium, especially now. But the take, which I see all across here, that the far right was defeated in Germany tonight because 80% of Germans voted for other parties is very misleading and unhelpful. Understanding this really matters. 🧵

Past time we stop pigeonholing stories into rigid genres. Time to break some genre expectations.

On behalf of Beth Train-Brown "I'm a Creative Writing PhD applicant researching Deaf representation and Sign Language in Fantasy novels, looking to speak to D/deaf or sign-user members about their experiences with sign and how they could see it in a fantasy setting.

Exciting #OpenAccess news! Our initiative University Press Library Open has hit a major milestone, with 10,000 OA titles now available in its digital #library on uplopen.com. Scholars around the world can now read and download content from leading academic presses with no paywalls or subscriptions.

In this episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I chat with Kimberly Lau about how racist stereotypes appear in European fairy tales. We look at how Disney feeds into how we see fairy tales & some positive directions that the fairy tale may move towards in the 21st century! youtu.be/oFfd8CCo_Xc?...

It’s a coup. It’s a strategic alliance with Putin. It’s the end of the post-war international order. It’s the triumph of lies over truth and in Putin’s case, evil over good. We are through the looking glass & we all now have to decide who we are & what we stand for

For the love of everyone, make your events/workshops hybrid. If your event does not include this option, do not claim to be 'diverse and inclusive' as you are inaccessible to a vast number of people.

New official tartan has been confirmed for the Accused Witches of Scotland

Gov plans on AI + copyright will weaken copyright protections + allow AI companies to use writers' work without permission or payment Respond to the Gov’s consultation on copyright + AI by midnight on Tues 25 Feb to get your voice heard Pls share too! writersguild.org.uk/fight-back-a...

Fantasy fiction doesn’t need reclaiming for women – they already write and read it | Letters www.theguardian.com/books/2025/f...

www.cbc.ca/books/25-can... "25 Canadian Books to Read During Black History Month 2025 & Beyond" CBC Books

This weekend, Romancing the Gothic is hosting an online charity teachathon with 13 classes and workshops on history, literature and film Check it out Come join us! Recorded so if you miss, you don't miss out. You can pick and mix what you join us for. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1141089402...

Creative writing residency for a poet in the East, with space, a fee and lunch. Must live in or have strong ties to Suffolk. All details in the link. Please share :)

We have specific words for employed writers: Screenwriter, Author, Copywriter, Journalist, Critic, Editorialist. But if you write, you are a writer. Don't let anyone tell you - or even tell yourself - that you aren't a real writer until you are paid or published. I'm here to tell you that you are.

Just requested Nnedi Okorafor's 'The Death of the Author' be purchased by my local library. I'm on a streak at the moment, so whoever you are, Library bod, thank you for approving my requests.