Arresting the poets are we? Not a good look.

Hello world! RSPB Conservation Science has officially landed on BlueSky Follow us to hear about our science discoveries, new publications, citizen science, and all things conservation research

'She's a tree that's fallen; she's a tree that trees have grown out of; she's now part of the past, but also she fed and nourished and loved and guided a possible future'. Absolutely beautiful tribute to Joanna Macy by @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social www.meditationsinanemergency.com/in-honor-of-...

Look what arrived while I was away @wcorklitfest.bsky.social! My edited ‘10 poems from the Lake District for @candlestickpress.bsky.social!

I'd like to big up what we have offered in the #Curae literary prize for unpaid carers and invite industry press, once more, to look at something extraordinary which people from across industry have helped me to put together a second time. It's still flying under the radar too much. LET'S GO!

I was initially gen AI agnostic, before I read up on how it works, how it's been developed, and the ideologies that underpin it. In my view, its costs massively outweight its benefits and if you can avoid using it, you should.

1. Yesterday, 86 people were arrested in the UK under the Terrorism Act 2000 for holding signs saying "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action." They are the opposite of terrorists. They were protesting *against* terrorism. 🧵

For me as someone currently not disabled or ill (but close to loved ones who are), I’ve learned SO much nuance from Polly’s writing, centrally #SomeOfUsJustFall. Reading disabled/chronic writers helps transform what is visible/legible to me in others’ bodily & political experiences — & in my own.

Yeah. The issue with The Salt Path isn't so much it's 'truth value' as the dodgy aesthetics which have always been there. Look I have no interest in casting stones at someone who made up a story to cover up (a) bad decision(s), though I think that 'true' story would have been more interesting 1/n

One of the many problems I have with the ‘nature cure’ label is that it gets slapped on any memoir about nature and illness/disability/mental distress, regardless of content. When most of those books - and Nic’s is a fine example - are doing something MUCH more interesting than the term implies.

A fab looking peaty poetry opportunity for young poets (14-25). ypn.poetrysociety.org.uk/workshop/bog...

The Italian for swift is rondone, which is linked to the word for ‘patrol’. Patrolling implies ownership, agency, a sense of responsibility: the naming is a powerful, if subconscious, act of recognising the birds as co-citizens. #swiftawarenessweek wreckageandshimmer.substack.com/p/shimmering...

Hurrah!

It's not just about the broken trust between writer and reader, or all the time, energy and unfounded faith invested by booksellers, but it's also about the important stories still unheard of those living with illness and homelessness that could have been elevated by the industry instead.

Truth in memoir is a slippery thing. Nevertheless, if we present our writing as memoir, we enter into a solemn contract with our readers: that we are telling the truth as best as we possibly can. If one writer abrogates that responsibility, the consequences affect all of us.

I've made a new list on @bookshop.org of books that explore nature / walking / the outdoors by disabled, neurodivergent and chronically ill writers - Nature Beyond Cure - aka our own narratives are messy and complex. Do share! #BookSky #DisabledWriters uk.bookshop.org/lists/nature...?

I'll be talking about #LandBeneaththeWaves at the Book Nook in #Ware (sold out) on Tuesday and David's Bookshop in #Letchworth this Thursday. Lots of local nature, plus deadly plants, snickets and Hitchin's lost nightingales. Do some along and join us if you're nearby... #booksky #naturewriting

I’ve written to my MP sharing my concerns about the way Labour is planning to harm nature when they promised the nation they’d protect it - please do the same, numbers matter in steering politics

On our darkest days it's easy to believe humans have no positive place in the natural world - this welcome post by @joannacdobson.bsky.social reminds us that the shimmer of life includes us open.substack.com/pub/wreckage... #naturewriting #environment

Writer and colourist @jordanacosta.co has a resource of pictures for writers to use rather than AI rubbish www.jordanacosta.co/p/more-free-...

Looking forward to seeing this visually stunning film at DocFest. Lost for Words is inspired by The Lost Words (Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris). It includes a song setting of Heartwood, the 'charm against harm' Robert wrote for Sheffield's trees. www.sheffdocfest.com/film/lost-wo...

My book launch of #LandBeneaththeWaves is now online, tickets available from @nextpagebooksuk.bsky.social. If you're near #Hitchin, come and join us for drinks, music and chat about local nature and our relationship with it. Should be a fun evening! 😊🐸🌱🪰🦔🦉💚 #naturewriting #chronicillness #booksky

My letter to the Prime Minister. #immigration

Today I am thinking about the midwife who delivered my firstborn, the psychiatrist who led our family through a turbulent time, the neighbours who shared their cooking with us in London, the ESOL students who trusted me with their stories, and so many more. The sum total is incalculable enrichment.

- Lecturer in Postcolonial or Indigenous Literature - Lecturer in Early Modern English Literature. University of Glasgow. FT Permanent. Closing 22nd and 25th May. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMO617/l...

That's 131,000 vacancies. You did read it right. I 'hope' the whole lot of them have someone to look after them in their old age.

Ooh looking forward to reading this. Absolutely loved What the Trumpet Taught Me

This is bonkers. Care homes are closing because they can’t recruit staff. Elders are stuck in hospitals because of care home staff shortages. This is actually an opportunity to argue for the value of migrant workers but I guess that would clash with their apparent plan to Be More Reform

The allotment is looking great this year, thanks to hours of work by @juliandobson.bsky.social. But it’s so, so thirsty. Anyone else finding their rhubarb and broad beans seem sluggish in the heat? #allotments #growyourown

I created a POETRY WRITERS STARTER PACK for short-form poetry (which includes many of the Blueskyers that I follow, as well as relevant magazines, organizations etc.) go.bsky.app/UxLkD3s #poetry #poetrycommunity #bskypoets #poem #inkmine #writingcommunity #haiku #tanka #micropoetry

Today, 12 noon - 4pm, Exchange Place Studios, Sheffield, S2 5TR (free, no need to book, just drop in)

If you’re surprised by this, you’re not paying attention.

It’s wonderful - and surreal! - to be named by Elle U.K. as one of their 40 for 40 Women of Hope: “the trailblazers pushing the status quo who will define the next four decades.” Here’s to another 40 years of progress. Or just the next 40 minutes, to be fair.

Wow! After a day recording the audio of #LandBeneaththeWaves in London, now fab bookshops like @foldedorset.bsky.social & @stanfordstravel.bsky.social are coming online with pre-order links (incl. Blackwells for folk in Canada & US): linktr.ee/nicwilsonaut... #naturewriting #booksky #chronicillness

A short poem about long Sunday mornings. Thanks to @benbanyard.bsky.social for taking this for Black Nore Review. blacknorereview.wordpress.com/2025/05/08/j...

Well this looks fascinating - and it’s open access

A glorious thread

1776: Rain much wanted. No rain since the second week in March. The latest summer birds of passage generally retire the first: this is the case with the hirundo apis, the caprimulgus, & the stoparola. Birds are never joyous in dry springs: showery seasons are their delight for obvious reasons.

Isn't this a beautiful #CraftedWildlife butterfly?

Blessed Beltane to you all - we found the sunrise this morning, and the pinked trees, and the deer. May the summer hold all sweetness for you, may the long days fill you with light, and may what you planted and coaxed in the darkness bloom. 💜

Swifts overhead in Criccieth! @salthepoet.bsky.social @cwjoneschris.bsky.social

‘Red deer … still do not cross what was the “iron curtain” – even though the electric fence that divided the countries was taken down 25 years ago’ Excellent and sickening account of the environmental cost of border walls. 1/2 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

My first post on Substack on the swifts we share our house with #swifts @joannacdobson.bsky.social @drjomaher.bsky.social @longbarrowpress.bsky.social @petegreensolo.com cwjoneschris.substack.com/p/swift-diar...

Calling river-lovers: your river needs you! The Big River Watch runs until 1 May. Spend 15 mins by your local river, record what you see in the free BRW app––& help create a clearer picture of UK river health. I'm taking part. More here. @theriverstrust.bsky.social theriverstrust.org/take-action/...

For Independent Bookstore Day I bought a copy of the Nature Chronicles prize anthology from the excellent Rhyme and Reason in Sheffield. So far I’ve read an absolute gem of a multilayered essay by @davidhiggins.bsky.social on minibeasts. Really looking forward to the rest.

My new workshop:small museums for mental health, is now live. I'll teach you how creating small museums alters brain biochemistry to improve mental health & we'll make small museums together 24 May,zoom, recording available afterwards Open to anyone,anywhere workshops.emmamitchell.uk/courses/smal...

Join us for a supportive, caring session where parents, carers, and guardians can express their emotions about the climate crisis. Date: Tues 20 May | Time: 13:00-14:30 BST | Register on Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1070918499...

The Govt’s #PlanningBill would allow developers to pay cash to trash wildlife & the environment. The nature levy isn’t a tool for ecological recovery - it’s a license to kill nature. Pleased to join ecologists & experts to sign letter to MPs👇 @zero-hour.bsky.social @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social

And now this. I’m losing track of all the ways this government is failing us, not even through incompetence but through deliberate policies that seem purposely designed to dig us deeper and deeper into the sh*t the Tories left