Shana tova!

Extremely late to substack…

As #Shabbat ends, Jews around the world prepare for Rosh Hashanah, there is a LOT we are all hoping for in the year ahead. Above all, Peace. Join @samanthaellis.bsky.social reflecting on a community that survived an existential threat, and on preserving culture. Listen now - link in bio #jewsky

Excited to say that, ahead of #RoshHashanah, our new episode is with author @samanthaellis.bsky.social - talking about Judeo Arabic and Amba Check your podcatcher to listen now, or subscribe to join us in our exploration of the Jewniverse. shows.acast.com/who-jew-thin...

⭐️ Kirkus starred review! www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

🙏 it has been a soul-warning experience reading @samanthaellis.bsky.social’s account of her ongoing relationship with her language and culture as an Iraqi Jew. 👏 For such a brisk read it covers enough ground in such rich detail that you will feel, as I did, deepened and delightfully surprised.

Saturday! RSL BookSlam with me & five (five!) other authors: Sabrina Mahfouz, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Karrie Fransman, Felicity Ward & Theon Cross. The theme is Reanimate. It’s free. Come along!

Can’t stop thinking about this haunting piece by @ericawgnr.bsky.social.

US readers! My new book is available for preorder now & if you do it in the next 3 days it’s 25% off at @barnesandnoble.com with the code PREORDER25 so please do! www.barnesandnoble.com/w/always-car...

Aaaaand it made Pick of the Week! Thank you @nikkibedi.bsky.social & thank you to everyone who’s listened & everyone who’s written to me about it.

Not enough media about Judeo-Arabic imo

Ooooh. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Today! (And afterwards on BBC Sounds). I had the best time talking to the very erudite & joy-giving @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social.

It would be amazing if this led to more resistance of these narratives & in general more willingness to have loose ends & open questions & conflict in books. (Hugely grateful that my publishers have never asked me to provide any sort of healing or happy ending in mine.)

Really nice interview with @samanthaellis.bsky.social on books about endangered languages, starting with Ross Perlin’s brilliant Language City:

Amazing to get to see @marinabenjamin.bsky.social become an @rsliterature.bsky.social fellow.

Listen to @samanthaellis.bsky.social on Inside A Mountain via the link below! Discussing nostalgia for an unknown place! insideamountain.podbean.com/e/samantha-e...

I really enjoyed doing this one even though I am permanently embarrassed by my lack of a writing routine. Thank you @mogster.bsky.social for asking me to do it!

Charlie Lee Potter somehow managed to get a psychogeographic take on my book even though it’s specifically about being severed from a place. I really loved doing this one. insideamountain.podbean.com/e/samantha-e...

Also I love this graphic but it is funny how they haven’t put the knife in - the Judeo Iraqi Arabic phrase is just TOO wincingly visceral.

I obvs didn’t plan to write a book *just* for Iraqi Jews but getting a review that says “finally we are no longer invisible” & references some of my favourite Mizrahi writers is v v special. thejewishindependent.com.au/love-letter-...

Not living in Yorkshire I am a bit wary to comment BUT in the Brontës’ day, the moors were not unspoiled & quiet - one scholar I interviewed for my Anne biography said they were “heaving”!

Two more fantastic books to add to your list of summer reads! Delve into an intimate celebration of family memory, language, and recipes from Samantha Ellis, and enjoy a moving love story written by the brilliant writer and art-historian Iain Pears. More info here: shorturl.at/Cx5GP

Reopen the libraries.

Sam’s said lots of what I was thinking here & better than I could have said it.

❤️ this so much on changing your mind & nuance & learning & exploring & listening.

Yes, this! So many memoirs wrap up in a bow of beautiful messages or inspiration. I couldn’t do that with mine - & it feels more truthful not to, to keep questioning, wrestling, to leave things unresolved.

Thank you @bookluvvr.bsky.social for these really generous thoughts on my book - also reading this I realise I was maybe working my way towards writing a language-y book even when I thought I was only writing about the Brontës.

Thanks to everyone who’s supported the new BROKEN VEIL channel so far... Join up, and get loads of exclusive short-run podcasts, including the our weird-culture discussion Discomfort Blanket, and - thanks to you - the next series of BROKEN VEIL itself… www.patreon.com/BrokenVeil

Samantha Ellis recommends the best books on Endangered Languages for Five Books! #ChattoandWindus @samanthaellis.bsky.social fivebooks.com/best-books/e...

LOVED talking to @calflyn.bsky.social for @fivebooks.com about my five best books on endangered languages - these are all books that help me navigate losing my own language. fivebooks.com/best-books/e...

If I hadn’t taken my mother to @chalkefestival.bsky.social where I was speaking with Lorna Gibb & Shalina Patel I wouldn’t have learned that the Judeo-Iraqi Arabic for ferris wheel is doolab el huwa, “cupboard of air”. Archiving endangered languages only goes so far; to save them you need to speak.

Still a few more hours to go!

I always love @sarramanning.bsky.social’s recs for books in general & also specifically which ones to nab on kindle - thank you for doing mine!

Highly recommended. This isn't just a book about #JewishDiversity #jewishhistories it's a reflection on the migrant experience on later generations. As the world convulses again, more will be cultures shaped by expulsion and adaptation. It's a great read - and only £1.99!! #jewsky

My book’s the kindle daily deal (UK only) for £1.99 today! If you’ve already bought it THANK YOU. And please leave a review if you can - it helps other readers find it. www.amazon.co.uk/Chopping-Oni...

Read the full story on @opendemocracy.net here: www.opendemocracy.net/en/mps-vote-...

Greene Door is back, with a focus on Romance, Romantasy and Fantasy! Opening Monday 2nd June Closing Thursday 31st July More details below: greeneheaton.co.uk/the-greene-d...

Gorgeous review in @thespectator1828.bsky.social! www.spectator.co.uk/article/shou...

When I searched to see if Mary Shelley and Jane Austen could have met in Bath, Google AI informed me that they were, in fact, sisters...

Thank you @abcaustralia.bsky.social & Julian Morrow for having me - link for anyone who’d like to listen. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

It’s 84 years tonight since the Farhud ended in Baghdad. I wrote about it a bit here (& also in my book). I think it’s important to tell all the stories. www.instagram.com/p/DKaWdkfIQK...

Thank you @womtells.bsky.social for this weeks honest post! open.substack.com/pub/morganll...

As an aside: DO NOT ORDER THE PAPERBACK. I notice they’re still saying it’ll be published by Unbound. It won’t. I got my rights back and will be finding a new home for it soon. If you’ve preordered, ask for a refund. amzn.eu/d/6l5Nfvy

This is a stunning piece.

I’m so happy I’ll be talking to the brilliant Emma Forrest (who has an Iraqi Jewish heroine in her new book!) about Chopping Onions on my Heart on June 11th at @dauntbooks.bsky.social Hampstead. Book here: dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/events/...

This is really good by @leerandall.bsky.social on how English is a language of strangers.

Really enjoyed talking to Roots and Narrative Al Nafs podcast. www.youtube.com/watch?v=c069...

I've opened up an online shop to sell some books out of my cupboard, and I'll sign them if you want. While I wait for Unbound to cough up what was meant to be my book earnings for the last couple of years, it seems only sensible. Dive in! Limited stocks... www.gralefrit.co.uk/shop.html

I’m so happy I’ll be talking to the brilliant Emma Forrest (who has an Iraqi Jewish heroine in her new book!) about Chopping Onions on my Heart on June 11th at @dauntbooks.bsky.social Hampstead. Book here: dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/events/...