June reading. Duffy, Fosse, Bowie dominate alongside re-reads of Rhys and Pushkin. Thanks to: @omnibuspress.bsky.social @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social @whiterabbitbks.bsky.social @cipherpress.bsky.social @backlisted.bsky.social

Re-reading Jean Rhys - Good Morning Midnight again. To use modern parlance, I don’t think I’ve ever been ‘seen’ by a writer half as much as by Rhys. It’s such painful writing. Faites comme les autres, damn you.

So, sticking 30 children in a poorly ventilated classroom designed to retain heat, with no AC and windows that barely open, when the outside temperature is actually above skin temperature, is really NOT a good idea. They ain't learning anything in that environment! 14/

Happy 91st birthday to the incomparable Terry Riley, one of our greatest American seekers.

While various sectors of the media are castigating schools for partially closing or sending out sensible advice about hydration and generally caring about kids, I’d like to point out there’s a massive recruitment crisis and all that noise is not helping encourage people to join the profession.

“Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it."

I used to be an irresistible force Now I’m an immovable object.

I save these up for my bike rides. I nearly had to stop today as I kept welling up. This is writing of the highest quality, moving, funny, wry, clever and wise. Thanks Andy.

I remember Hockney scoffing at people saying ‘these aren’t the best of times!’ His reply was ‘these are the only times we’ve got, we have to make the best them!’

The last dive

And Hockney was great company on camera. This SBS is totally charming but also intellectually sharp. A mind like a mantrap. youtu.be/LwtEafmBjZY?...

Remember seeing this in a Sunday Times colour supplement in the 80s. It went straight into my brain. A few years later I got to stand in front of it at a Tate retrospective- it really was monumental

I’m often reminded of Updike’s comment about the Beatles. ‘How can you argue against something that brought so much joy?’ It’s how I feel about Hockney.

So many paintings to remember Hockney by but I’ve got a soft spot for these early ones

Thank you @backlisted.bsky.social that was a total joy

May reading: Thanks to @iammilliam.bsky.social @backlisted.bsky.social @penguinukbooks.bsky.social @prototypepubs.bsky.social @conduitbooks.bsky.social @judecook.bsky.social @omnibuspress.bsky.social @reversediorama.bsky.social @whiterabbitbks.bsky.social @faberbooks.bsky.social etcetera…

Book post is the best post. Inspired by the genius Simon Goddard BowieOdyssey project, finally got my hands on Any Day Now by Kevin Cann After the brilliance of his Kate Bush biog, Graham Thomson turns his attention to the majesty that is Talk Talk and Mark Hollis.

If you fancy a lovely small but perfectly formed show then can I suggest early 50s Patrick Heron at Hazlitt Holland Hibbert Gallery on Bury St London - someone totally retooling English painting. Remarkable stuff

If Ian Dury were still alive he’d include @iammilliam.bsky.social Inventory in the chorus of Reasons to be Cheerful. Parts one, two and three.

It’s a remarkable tribute to a complex unlovable loveable writer.

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m.... I hope this is the beginning of many more tributes to one of the most important writers of her generation

So sorry to hear this. Her London trilogy is an essential read. Glad to see Kings College on the Strand has her picture on the building along with other more well known alumni.

As much as I may wish otherwise Terry Pratchett isn’t going anywhere.

So long #SonnyRollins

That’s my boy! Absolutely chuffed.

Road Safety Experts: Helmets and Hi-Viz Are the Best Tools To Ignore Root Cause Of Road Violence

Recent reading. As always thanks to all the writers, publishers, @backlisted.bsky.social @judecook.bsky.social @drjamesbailey.bsky.social @grantabooks.bsky.social @stuhennigan.bsky.social @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social @omnibuspress.bsky.social @serpents-tail.bsky.social @bhousepress.bsky.social etc

This Bowie project: BowieOdyssey by Simon Goddard pub @omnibuspress.bsky.social is a work of art. We’ve reached 1976 and almost all other work on Bowie seems flat and dull and plain by comparison.

MaÏa Hruska’s Kafkaesque (expertly translated by Sam Taylor pub @wmcollinsbooks.bsky.social ) is a must read for not just for Kafka fans but for anyone interested in language, identity, loss and translation itself. In many ways it’s a history of the twentieth century- genuinely moving work.

If only all writers could be served as well as Muriel Spark has been by @drjamesbailey.bsky.social Like a Cat Loves a Bird. Clear eyed analysis, some lovely close reading, fair on the faults as well as the triumphs. There won’t be many better books on a writer this year.

Any email that begins ‘I appreciate…’ clearly doesn’t appreciate

“The last thing the world needs is another middle-aged white man writing about masculinity, politics and whatever”: An Interview with @stuhennigan.bsky.social — @susannacrossman.bsky.social minorliteratures.com/2026/04/14/t...

What a way to end publication day! For the Guardian, I’ve written a piece on navigating the weird and wonderful word of Muriel Spark. Read it, and do give my book a read, too. LIKE A CAT LOVES A BIRD: THE NINE LIVES OF MURIEL SPARK is out right now! 🐈‍⬛ www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...

Lovely event to launch Maïa Hruska’s Kafkaesque from William Collins Books on Kafka and translations.

The cafe on the tenth floor of the new tower at Tate Modern is like some middle class tastefully dressed enclave high above London directly out of a JG Ballard gated community novel.

This looks easy. It’s not. After work, if I wanted to think about the future, I might have a drink in one of those dark-wood, etched-glass Victorian pubs near Pimlico, sitting on a wobbling stool by the wall. The Palm House - Gwendoline Riley.

The postman always rings twice - when he forgets he’s got a second parcel for me - this just in from @reversediorama.bsky.social eagerly awaited indeed.

Been looking forward to this from @drjamesbailey.bsky.social what a beautiful thing it is too complete with my very own badge.

Writers and book designers, how can you encourage me to buy your book? Maps. The answer is always maps. Look at this beauty from Jane Rogoyska - Exile Hotel pub by Allen Lane

Many years ago I did a History of Art A level as an adult. The first old painting that I really connected with was a Masaccio. Today I got to stand in a gantry less than a metre from it. It sounds daft but I had tears in my eyes.

Just started reading this, I think.

Great work by @faberbooks.bsky.social getting this translated and published - Trotzig’s Queen. A quite remarkable novel with the family resemblance to Out Stealing Horses in its reticence and harsh emotions. Brilliant and brutal.

Spent the week immersed in this phenomenal book. Kim Ghattas has put together a guide for the uninformed on the fault lines, history, machinations and murderous ambitions behind Middle Eastern politics. It feels even more essential by the day

As a vegetarian can I suggest that restaurants don’t bother trying to replace the meat with some crappy Wellington or nut based abomination in a Sunday roast. Just give us extra roast potatoes, like lots and we’ll be happy.

Auditory is my new highlight of the week This instalment will chime with those of us who were deeply unsettled by the gleeful reporting of Reading 94 in the music press at the time. And anything that is done to reclaim YMG from obscurity is fine by me. Thanks Andy.

‘When a cat voluntarily disappears from home’, Muriel Spark once said, ‘it’s merely because the whim has seized it to look for something less boring elsewhere’. That was Spark, in her life and in her work: untethered, aloof, and forever seeking a life less ordinary. 🐈‍⬛ Out 9th April! (link in bio…)

I am a rock bottom riser/and I owe it all to you Sometimes all I want to do is listen to Bill Callahan like forever.