Whodunnit? Is AI murdering human creativity in plain sight? Come to an event with Killing Eve author Luke Jennings, novelist Winnie M Li and bestselling writer Catherine Mayer to discuss this & other issues impacting writers, readers & the world of writing. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/human-writ...

And as the world stares into the abyss… www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Two men fighting on the street just now. An everyday scene and so too the misogynistic insults they are trading, calling each other little bs and both threatening to sexually assault the other’s mother. And still media routinely invite me to debate whether feminism has gone too far

The future is already here in London. It is not only unevenly distributed but looks as dystopian as anything @greatdismal.bsky.social described

Please join me for this special Alternative Book Fair *Plus* event on Thursday, April 16th, at 6.30pm: Human Writes: Exploring the Challenges of Writing and Promoting Books in the Age of AI and Social Media. The panel includes acclaimed authors Winnie M. Li and Luke Jennings. 🧵

Stop scrolling and read this. Oh.

Last night I had a profound thought. Didn’t write it down. Damned if I remember what it was 🤣

Today’s instant poem, prompted by discussions with friends about the confluence of protests on March 28th.

Here's an illustration of how hard it is to correct mistakes once published. Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote in his memoir that Andy Gill, producing the Chili's first album, wrote "shit" in his notes about a track. That story is repeated today in Mojo. But I have Andy's notebook 🧵

Good news for a change www.thebookseller.com/news/governm...

A different question is how many supporters would be surprised, or put off, by any of this. For me, the bigger media failure has been to mainstream and normalise populists and their toxic views

She navigated a tragedy-scarred Chicago childhood, pressure to subsume ambitions to marriage & motherhood, found fulfilment in both, crossed continents & forged a long career in the arts, working into her 90s. In her last weeks, she spoke of writing another book. What a woman, what a mother

Bog off, Adobe Acrobat. No I absolutely do not want your "AI Assistant" to summarise my own book to me, or train on it.

Love human rights and know how to raise funds? The Wollstonecraft Society is recruiting a part-time fundraiser: jobs.theguardian.com/job/10046412...

Love human rights and know how to raise funds? The Wollstonecraft Society is recruiting a part-time fundraiser: jobs.theguardian.com/job/10046412...

Today’s Times asks but fails to answer why chat shows are almost exclusively hosted by men. There’s a photo of Paula Yates but no mention of her. Today is her daughter Peaches’ birthday & Claudia Winkleman’s debut as chatshow host so here is that answer catherinemayer.co.uk/everything-y...

Still way too positive. The ‚Welt’ e.g. has long stopped to be mainstream conservative paper.

A sober - and sobering - assessment by @janemartinson.bsky.social of the Telegraph takeover www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Don't let my avatar put you off. The only royalty in SoHoT are some of the great thinkers on technology

Serious science www.sciencenews.org/article/smar...

March for hope and unity and against the far right www.togetheralliance.org.uk

I am one of thousands of authors to contribute to Don’t Steal This Book to draw attention to daylight robbery. I wrote the following poem and post it online knowing that I am feeding the beast, but also hoping that it illuminates the problem

Missed this story amid the glut of news but it’s quite the metaphor for the promise of AI www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

I am one of the thousands of “contributing authors” www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

I wrote this yesterday after visiting Andy’s heart on the Covid Memorial Wall. #instantpoem

As international women’s day draws to a close for another year, can everyone just take a look at the world and give patriarchy marks out of ten for how it’s running things?

Whoever thought it was a good idea to schedule the National Day of Reflection on International Women’s Day?

An international women’s day message from my friend and partner in activism Sandi Toksvig #iwd #internationalwomensday

Today we march against violence. Here’s a poem I wrote about a man lashing out, whether at another person or a whole population or class of people #iwd #internationalwomensday #instantpoem #endvawg FYI The London March starts at noon, from Duke Street W1 @millionwomenrise.bsky.social

Nice to hear the Today programme mark the run-up to International Women’s Day by platforming a numpty who blames feminism for poor outcomes for children & positions the wholly inadequate provision of early years childcare as invidious pressure on mothers to return to work 😡

Happy world book day. Let’s read the past and write the future. In the spirit of the former, here is a 1958 novel by my grandmother. #worldbookday #worldbookday2026

If you’ve seen good coverage of the wider impacts of the current conflagration, please share. How does this play out eg for Russia, China, long-term and for other conflicts?

Today is the anniversary of Sarah Everard’s murder by a serving police officer. Here is the piece I wrote in the immediate aftermath. Its call for change feels even more urgent www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

An instant poem for #iwd week, inspired - if that is the right word - by a lecture from a man of the left. #internationalwomensday

A bright spot in the mess of bad news: the cheering rise of Olivia Dean and the influence of her mother Christine, former deputy leader of the Women's Equality Party observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Wrote this yesterday morning, in what turned out to be the last minutes before war

Gorton & Denton might be a teaching moment in British politics, but Labour risks missing the most important lesson. It isn’t just about whether the party needs to be clearer about the values it represents (though of course it does… You can’t beat the far right by echoing it). A short thread

Featuring the Byline Times editorial team and: Natasha Devon @natashadevon.bsky.social John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social Mark Vernon @askwilliamblake.bsky.social Catherine Mayer @mayeroflondon.bsky.social James Bloodworth @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social

Good morning www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

Yes the Pentagon really is arguing that Anthropic should remove any safeguards to stop weapons deciding for themselves who to target and when. www.anthropic.com/news/stateme...

Looking forward to participating in this @bylinetimes.bsky.social debate on the Lure of Perfection at London's Cockpit Theatre on March 2. It's IRL, no filters and promises to be lively. Hope to see you there. www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/the_lur...

Turning back the clocks to 1599 just in time for international women’s day www.thetimes.com/article/4e39...

Yes, we're live again at the Cockpit Theatre on March 2nd! Joining us: @natashadevon.bsky.social @johnmitchinson.bsky.social @askwilliamblake.bsky.social @mayeroflondon.bsky.social @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social Tickets: www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/the_lur...

Another of my instant poems. #instantpoem #poetry

Leaf by Seán Hewitt

Today’s instant poem, prompted by looking at this photo of my much younger self and wondering about the gap between her imagined future and the world we now inhabit.

In my biog of then Prince Charles, I wrote that he should “not only to speak for himself but answer for himself”. Also this, though tbh electoral calculus always played at least as large a part as “misty patriotism”. #royals #monarchy #kingcharles

Not sure about those "funny" Andrew/Epstein memes