A vital novel whose complex characters struggle against their own and their family’s expectations, against a society that doesn’t see or value them, and against the random cruelties of the UK immigration system. A thoughtful and touching must-read. @tawseefkhan.bsky.social shorturl.at/topdh

John Boyne lives in Ireland where we’ve had self-ID for trans people for over ten years and Boyne (who, just for the record, is vocally anti-trans and supports the views of anti trans hate groups) can’t point to a single instance where this has caused conflict with women’s rights

What you're normalising by doing photo age verification: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

By my count this makes 5 out of 12 authors on the Polari First Book longlist who have withdrawn. It's hard to understate the moral courage this involves, esp for folk launching their first book into the world. As so often, those with the most to lose end up showing the most moral fibre. Solidarity x

Wrote my latest substack around a question I get asked a lot at literary events: ‘what can we do?’ It’s about voting better, how we can support refugees, and appraising Labour’s record on immigration one year in. It’s also full of food/film/music/book recs! tawseefkhan.substack.com/p/why-you-di...

Wrote my latest substack around a question I get asked a lot at literary events: ‘what can we do?’ It’s about voting better, how we can support refugees, and appraising Labour’s record on immigration one year in. It’s also full of food/film/music/book recs! tawseefkhan.substack.com/p/why-you-di...

God, the number of people who were willing to believe that the South Yorkshire police were too woke to prosecute sexual abuse cases, when in fact the police force was itself an instrument of patriarchal sexual violence. It’s like a case study in the worst excesses of the British press.

Just arrived in Berlin! Determination by @tawseefkhan.bsky.social

Some personal news… @roxanegay.bsky.social and @debbiemillman.bsky.social are relaunching @therumpus.net!!! And I’m excited to be joining their team as poetry editor! 🤓 WEEEEE!!! You can submit your poetry for consideration here: therumpus.submittable.com/submit

2 book year for me – BAD LANGUAGE (Peninsula) in Nov & this amazing compendium I've had the honour to edit w/ Sarah Shin @silver-press.bsky.social in Oct! More Le Guin, this time w/ added Bhanu Kapil, @davidnaimon.bsky.social, @unamccormack.bsky.social & more! uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

Just posted my second newsletter over at the place beginning with ‘S’. It’s about Pride month and reading lists, and the kinds of books and authors they end up excluding. Ignore the fuzzy picture, it’s a good read! 🥰

Another interesting read from my buddy @tawseefkhan.bsky.social’s new substack. This week: on being a queer writer whose work isn’t considered ‘queer enough’ for reading lists… open.substack.com/pub/tawseefk...

Just posted my second newsletter over at the place beginning with ‘S’. It’s about Pride month and reading lists, and the kinds of books and authors they end up excluding. Ignore the fuzzy picture, it’s a good read! 🥰

In case you missed it: my first newsletter!

Published my first newsletter today, over at the place beginning with ‘S’. 👀 It’s about getting over my shyness and discomfort with sharing personal things on social media. Can be found under my government name! (Or reply and I’ll send you the link!)

Trying to give you all a break from my incessant self-promotion, but I’m in Newcastle tomorrow talking about Determination and the asylum system, if you fancy coming along. Tickets are free! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/author-tal...

Ask Faiza Shaheen about this one.

Four days to go until I turn in the final final final draft of this in solstice, for copy-edit & proofs. Exactly 3 years (of near death experiences) since I cut the first draft together. Wish me luck. November 2025, Peninsula Press. bad language, by me.

If you think it can’t happen here, remember that it already did. In 1942 soldiers came with rifles to our home and ordered us out. They put us in internment camps. Most of us were citizens.

Happy publication day to me!!!

Happy publication day to me!!!

Had an EXCELLENT time in Leeds yesterday on the 1st stop of the Determination paperback tour, interviewed by the brilliant @karenpowellwrites.bsky.social The best thing about library events is that you get ppl attending who might not feel comfortable at a bookshop event - I love reaching them!

You can find it here (once you remove the spaces). I'd really appreciate your support. 2/ tawseefkhan.substack.com

So I’m doing a few events to celebrate the publication of Determination in paperback. Meeting audiences and getting to chat about the book is my absolute favourite part of the author life, so I’d LOVE to see some of you there! First stop: Leeds! 😍

hello! after lots of umm-ing and aah-ing about the ethics of the platform, i decided to join the newsletter app beginning with 'S' - you know the one. 👀 A place to share my existential thoughts / current fascinations / favourite things. You can find me there as 'tawseefkhan' - please do join!

hello! after lots of umm-ing and aah-ing about the ethics of the platform, i decided to join the newsletter app beginning with 'S' - you know the one. 👀 A place to share my existential thoughts / current fascinations / favourite things. You can find me there as 'tawseefkhan' - please do join!

More for Pride: Japanese authors have written about same sex relationships for more than a millennium. RJL presents a list of LGBTQ+ stories from Japan that are available in English translation. Not all of the authors listed are/were queer.

Ghazal Mosadeq of @pamenarpress has translated Parnia's "The Extinguished Star" pamenarpress.com/post/parnia-...

Indie solidarity. The symbiosis between indie bookshops and indie publishers makes it possible for us to do what we do. Manifesto printed for #indiebookshopweek

Referring to events in Ballymena as "disturbances" is a euphemism too far. We are witnesses to a pogrom. And it behoves us to say so, loud and clear. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...

More of this tone please 😏

Don't let all the news distract you from the ongoing starvation and killing of Palestinians in Gaza. The Israeli govt is deliberately trying to prevent news getting out . It dismisses what news there is as Hamas propaganda while refusing to let international journalists in. An information war too.

UNBOUND AUTHORS: The administrators are scheduling a second creditor meeting to address concerns brought forward over director conduct. If you would like to attend, YOU MUST FILL OUT THE ADMINISTRATORS PROOF OF DEBT FORM (it’s simple and not scary). DM me with your emIl to be forwarded it

Hi friends! Are you unsure if my novel is for you? Think the cover is cute, but don't know what it's about? Want to test it out before you grab yourself a paperback? Well, then listen to me reading from #Determination below - recorded to celebrate its longlisting for the #Jhalak Prize 2025!

Very excited that the #Determination paperback has made it to @foylesforbooks.bsky.social a few days before our official publication date. And it’s on a table! In such good company! Get it while it’s hot! 😂💜

Didn’t realise that Substack platforms and funds actual NAZIS, so I’m going to have to pivot to an alternative, having spent ALL MORNING setting my profile up! 🤦🏽‍♀️

Very excited that the #Determination paperback has made it to @foylesforbooks.bsky.social a few days before our official publication date. And it’s on a table! In such good company! Get it while it’s hot! 😂💜

Yael van der Wouden, who won last night’s @womensprize.bsky.social for Fiction, said she was intersex in her speech and had only got the right treatment because of “every trans person who’s fought for healthcare.” Say it again: Transphobia. Hurts. Everyone.

Highly recommend Yance Ford's documentary POWER (on N*tflix sadly) for those looking for context on what's happening rn. Incredible archival research on deliberate, century-long militarisation of US police driven by white supremacy. A chilling film w/ excellent interviewees. www.powerthefilm.com

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. #books #booksky💙📚 #bookchallenge 1/20

"The U.S., the most powerful country on Earth, is striving mightily not just to act on the concentration camp tendency at home but is simultaneously attempting to create an international detention network."

Why is it that the smallest events are often the best? VERY intimate gathering at @Blackwells last night for #JhalakPrize showcase, but @ashley__thorpe and I had a great time. I got compared to Elizabeth Strout & I’m not lying when I say that was a career HIGHLIGHT!!! 💜💜💜

Why is it that the smallest events are often the best? VERY intimate gathering at @Blackwells last night for #JhalakPrize showcase, but @ashley__thorpe and I had a great time. I got compared to Elizabeth Strout & I’m not lying when I say that was a career HIGHLIGHT!!! 💜💜💜

Absolutely cracking event at @blackwellsmcr.bsky.social tonight with @tawseefkhan.bsky.social and @ashleythorpe.bsky.social

this is literally fraud. You did not sign authors with the promise to pay their due if you made a profit, you committed to pay them for their work that they delivered and has sold. At the very least this publisher needs to be blacklisted, but hope there are also legal consequences somehow

Very happy to get a mention in The Tablet this afternoon - as a ‘standout debut novel’, no less!!!

Very happy to get a mention in The Tablet this afternoon - as a ‘standout debut novel’, no less!!!

#Manchester: don't miss this brilliant in-person event with shortlisted authors @ashleythorpe.bsky.social @tawseefkhan.bsky.social and Aniefiok Ekpoudom at @blackwellsmcr.bsky.social on June 2nd! eventbrite.co.uk/e/jhalak-prize… Book asap!#jhalakprize252#jhalakshowcasese