thespinoff.co.nz/books/20-11-... This take is probably old, but I think this conversation would be less heated if these covers (sorry for cursing the timeline) were somehow good and/or the AI use were imperceptible. The fact that they're heinous makes it much easier and more fun to be outraged.

My emails, constantly

Hi, Āporo Press is publishing three books in the next year. Poetry by Nicola Andrews and Jo Bragg, and a novel by Laura Vincent. If you’d like to support our indie effort to publish more Māori books we have a Boosted campaign. Mauri ora. www.thearts.co.nz/boosted/proj...

Folly Journal. 🫥

Saw the Eno doco last night (one of the many many iterations). Genius!! Highly recommend to anyone who tries to make things.

Phone call with mum: ‘People are driving around the supermarket car park, you know, going 40! Knocking over little old ladies… it’s easy to do once you’ve done it’

Sat my driving test today (passed!). I loved the test guy, an older man with big moustache. He refused all small talk and my efforts for us to be friends. Wouldn't say how his day was going. He sighed once at a red light but was otherwise an enigma. It was very freeing, somehow.

We are delighted to have a new James Brown book on the way. July! teherengawakapress.co.nz/slim-volume/

*crying* Please. Academics. 'The internet' is not a valid source description for your photos.

this was a mistake

:/

Just remembered an essay I have to write for an anthology, in less than a week. Good luck to my future self

Did a short poetry reading last night and it was fun and nice. But in her intro the lovely MC was like: ‘In these times we need poets to uplift and inspire us with their words’ and the poems I had prepared were about death and weed whacking and one was about a bad dream I had about green peas.

Significant milestone in my old-person-learning-to-drive journey: drove to the dump and got a new recycling bin

'It’s best to use digital tools to implement these structured task systems because they’re well suited for organizing and modifying large numbers of items grouped into levels and categories ...' I found this article insane www.newyorker.com/culture/offi...

Breaking my social media silence to say that earlier I was just walking along carrying many boxes to the mailroom when I saw the work courier guy. He veered towards me and gave me and the boxes a friendly hug! Kind of baffling but nice. The old 'box effect', surely

Best blog :))) newsroom.co.nz/2023/12/21/k...

I'm good at being terrible at self-promotion. However, my book 'Calamities!' came out earlier this year & then kinda vanished from existence & made no end-of-the-year lists or anything like that but fuck it, I'm quite proud of it. It's angry & a bit funny. Poems: shop.goodbookshop.nz/p/calamities...

Have almost surfaced from the busiest part of the year and feel dizzy from the effort of articulating my opinions, some of which are probably bad, and badly articulated – but also feel very lucky to get to read so many great things

. How Memory Works Come over here we say to the days that disappear. No, over here. .

Against all odds – Cycling Week is back! This might well be my dullest entry yet (except for the wind sock mystery) but still. The continuing is the thing. eyelashroaming.substack.com/p/cycling-we...

Sadly this event has had to be cancelled due to illness! Sorry everyone. I recommend still having a beer and reading a book though.

I am the grumpiest I have ever been.

a morning jerry

Jetlag is actually great. Have been up since 3am. Made some leek and potato soup (with an intense focus that means the soup will be good). Multiple loads of washing. Multiple teas. Cleaned out the fridge. I feel like one of those crazed early-morning CEOs. But with no ambition

Little plug for an event I’m doing with Ya-Wen Ho and Ash Davida Jane next week at Unity. (hm. I really have to get a new author photo) www.eventfinda.co.nz/2023/author-...

Not for the first time, I think Londoners must have bladders of steel. There is just never anywhere proper to go to the loo in this city

Incredible review of @pipadam.bsky.social's THE NEW ANIMALS by the one and only Joy Williams @bookpostusa.bsky.social! books.substack.com/p/review-joy...

I AM HAVING A GOOD TIME AT LAST

The people in the hotel where I am staying have taken away my tea strainer when cleaning my room. It is a fancy tea strainer. I am livid and sad. I think they think I am crazy with my tea ways.

Hey – so if anyone needs anything just blurted out, especially total non-sequiturs, in a time efficient manner, I can do that for you! No audience too large or small

Have gone awol at the Frankfurt book fair (sorry to my writers, I will bet back to work soon). It’s good

I am loving Germany so far but… please, the water glasses. They are so small

There’s a serious-looking panel discussion at Frankfurt book fair next week called ‘What Is a Book?’ Sign me the hell up. I will report back

Always feel a bit silly when my phone rings and I freeze in terror and don't answer it, then I google the number and see that it was just the tea shop telling me my special tea has arrived

Heard a story yesterday about a couple who are going to rehome their cat because the cat (who is otherwise an excellent, excellent cat, by the sounds) keeps attacking the man’s legs on the stairs.

An amazing grief poem by Tim Relf from the new 'Poetry Salzburg Review'.

the evening workspace awaits

So sick of seeing new articles about this cretin, but am always powerless against them and end up reading them all. This one was pretty good I thought. time.com/6315607/brya...

Got an email that opened with: 'I hope you are super busy.' Look. Let's just agree to hope that each other is well. No one needs your quirky business hopes, get outta here

This was heaps of fun! Thank you to Good Books. And thank you to Bill. And thank you to Goldings for the beers after. (No more public speaking though, now. Only private exclusive-members speaking from now on.)

Feeling pressure to invent a whole new personality for a new platform but ...ah the hell with it. Same old nonsense