An early Christmas present for those of us in the #KidLitUK community who've been waiting YEARS for the other shoe to finally drop. Harper Collins knew all about it. They paid off staff to keep their mouths shut. Shame on them, shame on him, and good riddance.

This looks like it will be great. Thanks to @shirleyannemcm.bsky.social for the heads up

Enjoyed watching the An Post Irish book awards last night. Sorry our Jenny (Ireland) didn't win, but happy for the rest. I hope that sax player got paid about 4 times as much as the rest of the band. Quare work out for the auld lungs.

So sad to hear of the closure of the brilliant Knights Of. Lovely people and excellent publishers.

That loud screech you can hear is the sound of a thousand YA writers gear shifting into Middle Grade.

Then again, there are worse things happening in the world.

I am trying to imagine a reason why no contemporary YA writers from NI were asked to appear in this documentary, or were even mentioned in it. Particularly writers like Sue Divin, whose debut draws on Kevin and Sadie. I don't normally complain about snubs but this one really bothered me.

Life with an 11yr old boy: Him: what's this white stuff on my orange? Me: it's just pith Him: *uproarious giggling*

Nuala McKeever has just won gold at the IMRO Radio Awards... here is my review of that play - Truth, Love Or Promise - that she performed at 4 Corners Festival this past year! Chuffed! sstockman.substack.com/p/nuala-mcke...

Here is a small thing you can for Palestine. Come to our event in Belfast on Saturday. Music, poetry and craic to raise funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians. Please share. Thank you x

I featured on this podcast, the Seed, with the wonderful Manchán Magan earlier this year. I always hoped I'd meet him in real life and we could talk about it, but it was not to be. Please do listen, even to the first half which is Manchán's bit. It's just beautiful. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw7U...

A poem for National Poetry Day.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cx...

JK be like 'I absolutely respect her right to not be a transphobe, but at the same time she totally betrayed me by publicly saying she wasn't a transphobe.'

They didn't even last as long as NI21. Flip sake.

We're quoting MLK again: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." I think it's time we talked about definitions of 'love' and 'hate' though.

Is business that bad Michael? Disgraceful

I was at the Trans Day of Remembrance service that Mike showed up to, many years ago. Clearly it didn't make much of an impression. It did on me. I remember how grateful people were that he had been there, how much hope it gave them. I wonder how they're feeling today. I wonder if he cares.

Looks like Your Party have a tiny window of opportunity to decide where they stand on trans issues 🙄. This reminds me of NI21. Can I suggest anarchy as an alternative? I don't mean in a Russell Brand way. More in a 'Let's not totally despair and remember that we can do lots of things ourselves' way.

Today’s news from Belfast. An actual proscribed terror group supposedly on ceasefire and enjoying the benefits of the Good Friday Agreement, doing actual terror. m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/...

I can

Turns out that AI won't make a picture of Trump being led into hell by Paddington, but they are OK with Paddington leading him into heaven. Paddington wasn't too happy about the arrangement, but that is modern life.

I know we're seeing headlines like this all the time, but even if there's only a small chance that the way we're living now could wipe out most of the farms in Western Europe within the lifetimes of our children, we should be screaming it from the rooftops. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A week since dad's funeral, two since he died. In the last month I've moved house and been to A&E (I'm fine), left my writing group and been rejected for arts council funding. Not really the summer I was hoping for. * adjusts sails * ⛵

And when John Boyne says in his Telegraph piece that writers aren’t meant to “denigrate, insult and push people to a point where those that are emotionally vulnerable might not survive their attacks”, all I can say is that he wrote the words below.

I do hope when I get cancelled that I get cancelled like John Boyne, repeatedly publishing articles in broadsheet newspapers about how worried I am that free speech is under attack.

When people ask me if I have any good stories from when I used to interview rock stars for a living my mind often goes a bit blank, and to be honest a lot of it was quite ordinary and unremarkable, but on the other hand there is this.

A*

Folks, this is how we do it.

We're now at a total of a quarter of the longlisted authors choosing to withdraw from the Polari Prize this year.

To be fair, this is exactly consistent with what terfs have wanted from the start: the erasure of trans people from all public places. I have a friend who was kicked out of both the men's and women's toilets in a university students' union on the same night. Years ago. EHRC merely catching up.

Mr Tumble in drag, reading to children. Enniskillen library, 2008. No big outcry. No protest. Why? Because it was pre-Trans Panic. Transphobia and the intimidation of drag art is inextricably linked. Please stop turning a blind eye to your favourite writer's transphobia.

Mr Tumble in drag, reading to children. Enniskillen library, 2008. No big outcry. No protest. Why? Because it was pre-Trans Panic. Transphobia and the intimidation of drag art is inextricably linked. Please stop turning a blind eye to your favourite writer's transphobia.

Hearing this so much today from local queens and trans people.

John Boyne's arrogance is seemingly perpetual. Here he is describing women like me as assistants to rapists, traitors to our kind. I cannot understand why the literary establishment in this country continues to turn a blind eye. It makes me feel physically ill.

This has gone quite wide, here & on insta. I’m talking about John Boyne and the Polari Prize. Boyne said in his paean to Rowling last week in the Irish independent that women who support trans rights are “complicit in their own erasure” and “ready to pin down a handmaiden as her husband rapes her.”

Today we are launching the Irish KidLit for Palestine Fundraiser in support of Medical Aid for Palestinians (@medicalaidpal.bsky.social‬) Running from 4th August to 17th August 2025. You can check out the fundraiser at www.ruthennis.com/irish-kidlit-for-palestine @sineadohart.bsky.social

[Photo Thread] Belfast Pride

Fixed it for you

Long time coming.

Okay, this one is for any artists in Ireland who regularly do kids events around the country. Chances are, you've probably had to go through Garda vetting at some point, which you will know is a major hassle for the self-employed. It looks like there's another change coming down the tracks. 1/

Ach sure there's nothing a wee spot of anti-Irish racism won't cure. Bants!

Hey Republic of Ireland, your new rules about getting people to present their vetting documents in person are super inconvenient for those of us who live in the North/far away from the organisations which need to vet us. Thanks for making it harder for freelancers to work.

I am in a hotel watching TV. HD telly makes everything look like Sapphire and Steel from the 80s.

everything will be fine, this global blanket of utter shit will disperse one day. we'll be all right...

I want us to stop saying 'This isn't who we are.' Look at it. It is who we are. We are a racist country. How are we going to change it? What is the plan? Image by Kevin Scott, Belfast Telegraph

"In a statement, the council said it previously took enforcement action & secured the site due to asbestos in 2011." Gonna say something radical here, but the council thinking it's cool to dump asbestos in the middle of working class communities is something that ppl should be upset about. 2011?!

Standard. Stay safe, everyone x