It's bad - really bad: "At the end of 2024, 4.5m children – 31% of all UK children – were in relative poverty, living in households earning less than 60% of the UK’s median income. And 18% of all children were growing up in food-insecure households, without consistent access to nutritious food."

Thank you for this lovely obituary, Andrew. John supervised my DPhil. However witty and acerbic as a reviewer, he was gentleness itself with his students. He had the gift of appearing interested in whatever you had to say. I’m very grateful for his support and cherish the memory of his wry smile.

Met him in 2009 when I was a daft undergraduate, and had no idea what a big name he was. He was generous with his time, entirely egoless, and great fun to talk to.

A tribute in today’s Sunday Times to John Carey, who taught me more than I can say about books and the proper way to live… www.thetimes.com/article/34bd...

A peacock showing off its art.

Because there’s never a bad time to share Chuck Jones’s rules for the Road Runner, here are Chuck Jones’s rules for the Road Runner

My dog Nina (left) and her brother Gus the other morning, looking like two old friends just happy in each other’s company. That after spending half an hour trying to tear each other’s ears off…

"Morning, Jim!" "Hey, Tom."

They have the Pope selection looking like the NFL Draft. #NFL #nfl #nflmemes #PopeXIV #Cardinals

Happy 99th birthday to the man who gave voice to the wild. 🎉 Sir David Attenborough, thank you for a lifetime dedicated to the natural world, and for sharing its story with wisdom, wonder, and grace. You've inspired generations to fall in love with nature.

What do these corporations have in common? Netflix Ford Tesla T-Mobile Duke Energy DISH Network Metlife Dominion Energy United States Steel In recent years, they all paid their execs more than they paid in taxes. This is what a corporate-rigged system looks like.

Oooft! What a treat. How could you resist? Now in stock.

Congratulations to Sue Prideaux winner of The Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize 2025 for Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin, published by @faberbooks.bsky.social. 🍾

To celebrate The Pol Roger Duff Cooper 2025, each Friday we’re profiling a shortlisted book. This week we dive into Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux (@faberbooks.bsky.social). 🧵 @newcollegeoxf.bsky.social

To celebrate The Pol Roger Duff Cooper 2025, each Friday we’re profiling a different shortlisted book. This week we’re raising a glass to THE SCAPEGOAT: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham by Lucy Hughes-Hallett (@4thestatebooks.bsky.social) 🧵 @newcollegeoxf.bsky.social

Beautiful advance copy of #TheProsecutor from @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social & looking forward to hosting a Q&A at Piccadilly @waterstones.bsky.social with @jackfairweather.bsky.social on 4 March. Tickets still available. @wehaveways.bsky.social

This guy stared at me the entire way from DC to LA and I was convinced he was going to follow me and kill me before I realized his sunglasses were just on the back of his head.

To celebrate The Pol Roger Duff Cooper 2025, each Friday we’re profiling a different shortlisted book. We’re kicking off with, Italy Reborn: From Fascism to Democracy by Mark Gilbert published (Allen Lane).

A really good shortlist for a really excellent prize

Dept. of completely unexpected phone calls: one telling me I was being given a Robert Silvers Prize for literary journalism (along with Louis Menand!). All the more exciting because I always thought of Robert Silvers as dwelling on the peak of the Mount Olympus of editing.

Bristol Short Story Prize now open for stories of up to 4000 words, judged by prize-winning novelists and a literary agent. Also winning stories published. Link below Please share. bssp.blogs.bristol.ac.uk

Never Too Late Award for a writer over 60 from The Bridport Prize. Please share.

Early promise… a primrose already.

I'll be at The Southbank Centre in April taking about my new novel. For the very, very organised amongst you, tickets are now on sale :)

This Victorian family grave in Nunhead Cemetery, where I walk every day, is a heartbreaker. A memorial to six children in one family who died successively at 5 months and 14 days, 5 weeks, 14 days… on and on

I'm going to be eating mince pies and signing books at Foyles tomorrow night alongside lots of other authors. Free Christmas event. Come along!

My first post on here. Just a general hello. It feels remarkably like old times