Exciting news! Too Little, Too Hard forthcoming from Peninsula Press in July (preorder✨) A collection of essays on writing & work, writing & value. We are proud of this book that looks at the conditions for writers & of book production under neoliberalism. peninsulapress.co.uk/products/too...

This is also excellent.

The Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk’s recent comments on her use of AI in ‘preliminary research’ have hit a nerve – and rightly so, says Helen Charman artreview.com/why-olga-tok...

In a Turing Test of sorts, it looks like a 100% AI generated story just won the Commonwealth Prize for the Caribbean region "for its lyrical precision and haunting atmosphere, the story stood out for the confidence and restraint of its voice." Published in Granta: granta.com/the-serpent-...

Indexes to fiction are sometimes made, although they are unusual. Philip Bradley considered the topic in his 1989 article for @theindexer.bsky.social www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/epdf/10....

How much deception between lovers is acceptable before it mitigages consent between the sheets?: my review os Izabella Scott's The Bed Trick. artreview.com/the-bed-tric...

Through an existing legal case, Izabella Scott questions how much you should know about who you’re having sex with. artreview.com/the-bed-tric...

Nightmare scenario of dog speeding ahead and passing a coral snake, which I then discover lying, twitching its tail, on the narrow path between me and her. Managed to climb up embankment and round. Both unscathed.

⚠️ A lot of misinformation circulating about the #hantavirus outbreak. Facts: 🦠 Hantaviruses are not new; cases occur in the Americas every year 🚫 This is NOT “the next COVID” 💊 Ivermectin does not treat hantavirus infection Concern and vigilance are appropriate. Panic and misinformation are not.

Good to see a very early review for the US edition of Outcast from Kirkus. Will be out with @graywolfpress.bsky.social in July! I like a "philosophically charged journey". www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

This is cool

Someone on this website was talking about Algernon Blackwood and I consequently ended up reading him over the weekend / having creepy dreams. Would recommend.

For @artreview.bsky.social I wrote about the Venice Biennale shit show and a century of Israeli, Russian and US propaganda in the exhibition. artreview.com/there-has-ne...

Very sad news about Desmond Morris. What a CV: from London Zoo's head of mammals to director of the ICA to TV. Interviewed him 20 years ago – one of my first features – and he was incredibly encouraging. Patience learned from teaching Congo the ape to paint probably.

It never really comes up in profiles, maybe because I don't think he ever wrote about it weirdly, but my abiding memory are the seminars spent talking about Peep Show as the embodiment of lethargic times rather than whatever we were supposed to talk about. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ap...

Lovely to see another fan of Carole Rawcliffe’s Leprosy in Medieval England, my copy obviously well annotated and thumbed, but also just because it's so GOOD (it's fun!). Looking forward to your book too @katherineharvey.bsky.social.

Uh oh, @guardian, you should take a hint from a lesson @npr learned years ago. If you're going to use a "historical" image in a piece, make sure it actually relates to the history you're talking about. Your Black Death (plague) image is actually leprosy! www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a... 🗃️

Thank you @profannagreenwood.bsky.social for this fantastic review of Outcast in The Lancet. So many of the historic 'culture wars' over the disease and its stigma were played out in the pages of the journal, so its particularly touching to see it covered there.

☺️

“The psyche is miraculous,” Ghersi says. “Over the course of time we fragment and fracture through trauma, and hopefully somehow recombine and stay steady enough to survive and, if you’re lucky, reach a point where it’s safe to unpack those experiences.” Great interview and quote from her.

Spoke to the musician Arca about her post-burnout painting (and Venezuela) www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

"The climate is not neutral... disaster is a political choice." Sad and urgently needed despatch from the flooding in my adopted home state. Worth running though translate if you don't read Portuguese. vozdascomunidades.com.br/destaques/op...

This is the nub of it (cf AI being used in criticism, book writing etc.) You'd be a fool to do this for the money, but if you can get by with the pay, then you're doing the most fun work possible. Why would you ask a machine to take that away from you?

Thanks for everyone who bid on this, shared etc, the organisers say they raised over £5k. The hub is great: providing for those unhoused or in emergency housing for whatever reason. You can also donate furniture, electricals, tents, etc here lewishamdonationhub.org#SupportOurWork

There's an online auction ending today, which various friends have contributed to, as well as local artists, all in aid of the brilliant Lewisham Hub, an excellent "everything bank", providing all the resources to set up a home in the borough. www.ebay.co.uk/usr/lewisham...

It's insanely cringe: and I've done it all and will do it again.

So everyone thinks kids should be able to go to pubs and mess around, but when I turn up drunk and shouting at the soft play zone, that's a problem.

In which I suggest the greatest work of 21st century war art has come out of Ukraine's queer anarchist techno scene (Went to Lviv to see an exhibition)

Clear example of absolutely terrible school leadership. Truly pernicious stupidity that makes you think the harm they inflicted on the library must be the least of it. At the same time, wow, the librarian sounds incredible. What a job she was doing!

Thank you @profannagreenwood.bsky.social for this fantastic review of Outcast in The Lancet. So many of the historic 'culture wars' over the disease and its stigma were played out in the pages of the journal, so its particularly touching to see it covered there.

This is exciting but, if you are able and keen, it needs support!

FCDO travel advice is the stupidest thing. And laughable when you read how little the foreign office actually does for British people in trouble abroad. I ignore it with glee (and before people squeak about travel insurance – not ad, but there's Battleface. www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...

Said I'd give a talk about leprosy and the book at my mothers' church (tomorrow!) Turns out she's made flyers and they're all over the village.

As informed by @luketurner.bsky.social, Matt Goodwin is also from St Albans, and the same age as me. Different schools, mine the Catholic comp, Goodwin's the boys' school. I had friends at his school, but there was definitely a certain *type* there, so that he is who he is now, doesn't surprise.

@kirkdalebooks.bsky.social Might you have any Jaan Kross lying around?

Eddy Frankel's Tracey Emin review for the Guardian has left me quite teary. A masterclass of the form. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Tomorrow lunchtime, online and IRL in London!

Ban AirBnb, reason number 1001. In São Paulo, BBC Brasil finds that hundreds of apartments, built as much-needed social housing, have ending up on the site: more money flowing from the state to a few people in Silicon Valley.

Rob Arcane posted the opening of David F Noble's In Defense of Luddism (1993) and damn it's like it was written and hour ago.

Or, like Brazil, take it out of the commercial banking system altogether, and build a government-backed instant payment system allowing for fee-free transfers. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Slightly overawed that Outcast will be published in the USA by the legends at @graywolfpress.bsky.social. Preorders, to give the book its best possible American life, very welcome. Released 7 July! www.graywolfpress.org/books/outcast

Philippe Gaulier, the French master of clowning, has died. A decade ago, @lewisgoodall.com bravely did this piece from Gaulier's school where students were (lovingly) told they were boring and banged off with a drum. His impact on theatre and film is massive. RIP www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD4Y...

I did not like this (information, I liked the article).

From the worst to the best: 1. Universities (I can't be bothered with the follow up any more) 2. "Trendy" magazines (thankfully these days are behind me) 3. Germans and Swiss 4. Newspapers (5 stars, fully automated) 5. Small mag run by one person that you did because its fun (pay within an hour)

I almost didn't post this. I thought it would be too niche. But it's really taken off. It's about what happened when John Carey attacked Elizabeth Smart & George Barker in a review – and it's greatly enlivened by two of GB's children posting in the comments! mathewlyons.substack.com/p/the-critic...

This aside reminds me of the time I was left gaping in a conversation with a US art curator after she casually referred to herself as a public intellectual.