It's #FridayReads time! Recently, I've been reading Kevin Barry's The Heart in Winter, an intoxicating stream of consciousness Western love story. Tom Rourke and Polly Gillespie are a magnetic yet disturbing duo: you can't help but root for them! [ #booksky 📚💙]

Happy Publication Day to @lenniesaurus.bsky.social, POYUMS ANNAW 🌊 is out today! These poems are a call to arms, confronting ideas of patriarchy, gender-based violence and societal injustice with equal parts tenderness, quick-wit and righteous fury. Out now: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/poyu...

Evening! Last week I went to see Juliet Stevenson in David Lan’s The Land of the Living @nationaltheatre.org.uk. Stevenson was magnetic and slightly terrifying in her portrayal of Ruth, a UN worker trying to repatriate children stolen by the Nazis. [ #theatresky #theatre #whatwearenotreading]

Really proud Fall of Civilizations has been named a Waterstones paperback of the year. Get it at your local Waterstones! LINK: www.waterstones.com/book/fall-of...

I was on Channel 4 News earlier this evening to talk about Scots, domestic abuse, and the joy of poetry! www.channel4.com/news/len-pen...

‘I was writing at my lowest ebb’: Scottish author Len Pennie on domestic abuse and the power of poetry

A very nice write-up for THE DEFINITIONS in Kirkus, and, dare I say, *very* good news for readers who like their entries into the canon of contemporary dystopias elliptical, unsettling and belonging to the lyrical tradition www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

Thank you so much, Linda! I’m really thrilled you enjoyed Marnie and Zed’s story. 📕🌈 <Sighs happily> Heads-up, folks - from such a world expert on verse novels, that’s like getting a Michelin star! ⭐ 🥰 @evewhiteagency.bsky.social @hotkeybooks.bsky.social #skybrarians

Afternoon, #writingcommunity! @tiafisher.bsky.social's new YA verse novel is picking up its fair share of positive press. See why for yourself and grab a copy 👇 shorturl.at/e1Yao [ #booksky 📚💙 #YA #MustRead]

Wales, I've missed you. I'll be in Crickhowell a month to the day, launching the good ship poyums with the great shop, Book-ish. Let's talk language, healing and hope. Limited tickets available here 👇🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 www.book-ish.co.uk/event/an-eve...

Evening all! Emmanuel here with another #WhatWeAreReading post! I'm #nowreading Elizabeth Crook's 'The Which Way Tree', a gripping novel set in Civil War Texas. It follows a young girl's Moby Dick-esque revenge quest against a demonic panther. [ #booksky 📚💙]

Congratulations @tiafisher.bsky.social! #Skybrarians, take advantage of this #giveaway for the brilliant YA verse novel, NOT GOING TO PLAN. It's the perfect #BackToSchool addition to your school library catalogue. [ #booksky 📚💙 #edusky #WritingCommunity #YA]

Mark October 10th in your calendars!! [ #FilmSky #Netflix #BookSky 📚💙]

Enjoy this Moby Dick-esque #QotW! 'This panther has killed my mama. It has spoilt my face. It has robbed us of our kids. If I shoot it, then I will skin it, and dry out the hide and walk on it for the rest of my life.' (Elizabeth Crook, The Which Way Tree) [ #booksky 📚💙 #NowReading]

What are you waiting for?? Vote Len Pennie for Scots Writer o the Year here👇 projects.handsupfortrad.scot/scotslanguag... [ #booksky 📚💙 #WritingCommunity #PoetrySky #PoetryCommunity #BlueSkyPoetry]

Jumping on the #WyrdWednesday Wagon! Today we’ve got the cover of Steven Quincey-Jones’ Fishfolk. It's a fable involving shapeshifting nautical creatures of the sea and their dominion of the waves. Very Lovecraft-coded! [ #booksky 📚💙 #BookChatWeekly #Lovecraftian]

For the whole of August you can grab the hilarious, witty and romantic Austen time-travel debut "A Crime Through Time" by Amelia Blackwell for just 99p on Kindle! Grab the steal of the summer here. www.amazon.co.uk/Crime-Throug...

Evening all, hope you enjoy this #QotW! 'I saw a generation of young people struggling against the world and systems that they found themselves within and controlled by. The internet. School. Exams. The media.' (Josh Silver, Happy Head) [ #booksky 📚💙 #writingcommunity]

It's #NationalChocolateChipCookieDay, so here's a special cookbook for you to devour! Remi's Sugar & Spice is perfect for all you cookie fans: from air fryer chocolate chip to raspberry and white chocolate, you'll be sorted! Grab a copy: shorturl.at/TH3Pd [ #Foodsky #booksky📚💙 #baking #recipe]

Emmanuel here with some Woman in Suite 11 news for you all! @ruthwarewriter.bsky.social's latest thriller has charted on the New York Times’ bestseller list for the third week in a row! Grab a copy below: shorturl.at/gktFh [ #booksky 📚💙 #writingcommunity #suspense ]

💍 Seven Rules for a Perfect Marriage – Rebecca Reid The funny and relatable summer read about long-term love and happy endings! 'A dream of a book: humour, warm, fun characters and a story I stayed up all night for. I loved it!' Lucy Vine www.bloomsbury.com/uk/seven-rul...

Happy Friday all; hope you enjoy this #QotW! 'Nostalgia only makes me old. The innocence I want my brood to cling on to like ten-bob notes was killed in TV's lassitude.' (Ros Barber, 'Material') [ #booksky 📚💙 #writingcommunity #poetry #PoetrySky ]

Back-to-back Ruth Ware posts for you all! The Woman in Suite 11 is on a roll, instantly becoming a Canadian bestseller. It charted at #2! [ #booksky 📚💙 #writingcommunity]

We’re ending the week on a high note! The Woman in Suite 11, the latest from the inimitable @ruthwarewriter.bsky.social, is an instant #NYT #Bestseller. It charted at #4!! Grab a copy here: tinyurl.com/yzc23jzv [ #booksky 📚💙 #writingcommunity]

If you’re looking for a #JaneAusten coded cosy crime novel, Amelia Blackwell’s A Crime Through Time is the book for you! Check the episode out and grab a copy here: tinyurl.com/36s43dmf [ #booksky 📚💙 #writingcommunity]

Happy Friday all; hope you enjoy this #QotW! 'The most important quality for an editor, a sensitive editor, is diplomacy. Adapting your style to each situation.' (Judith Jones in 'The Editor' by Sara B. Franklin) [ #booksky 📚💙 #writingcommunity #writing]

Emmanuel here with a new #WhatWeAreReadingPost! I'm #nowreading Sara B. Franklin's The Editor, a biography of legendary editor Judith Jones. It’s been fascinating seeing how different publishing was in the past and sobering to see the erasure of Judith's editorial mark. [ #booksky 📚💙 #booklover]

We’ve got some special summer news for you all! Natalia Rudin—author of Cooking Fast and Slow—will be hosting a food salon on July 19th at the Oscar Restaurant. Come enjoy the book's time-saving recipes and good vibes :) Grab your tickets here: shorturl.at/thuYt [ #Cooking #Booksky 📚💙 #Foodsky]

Afternoon! Since it's #InternationalFairyDay, we wanted to spotlight a book that speaks to the spirit of #FairyDay. It's Elli Woollard's The Footballing Fairy! Our main character Femi would rather kick a football than grant a wish; come see the mischief she gets up to! [ #Booksky📚💙]

Tour tickets and books available here. 👇 buythebook.online/poyums-annaw

Here's another weekend #QotW for you! 'Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be part of me. Nor do I often want to be a part of you. But we are, that's true!' (Langston Hughes, 'Theme for English B') [ #booksky 📚💙 #poetrysky]

Evening! Hope you enjoy this weekend #QotW :) 'In London every now and then I get this craving for my mother's food I leave art galleries in search of plantains saltfish/sweet potatoes' (Grace Nichols, 'Like a Beacon') [ #booksky 📚💙 #poetrysky]

Happy Friday all! Hope you enjoy this #QotW :) 'Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.' (John Gillespie Magee Jr., 'High Flight') [ #poetrysky #booksky 📚💙]

Evening! We’re over the moon with the news that Natalia Rudin’s debut cookbook, Cooking Fast and Slow, is an instant Sunday Times Bestseller :) From 15 mins or less to 1 hour #recipes, this has everything #Foodsky needs. Grab a signed copy here: shorturl.at/X0Tq8 [ #Cooking #Booksky 📚💙 #Cooksky]

Another sunny day means another cheerful #QotW; hope you all enjoy! 'What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.' (W. H. Davies, 'Leisure') [ #booksky 📚💙 #poetrysky #WritingCommunity]

Looking to stave off the boredom this #HalfTerm? Wish you were enjoying some more #sun? No holidays on offer here, but here’s the next best thing! The Sun is calling Rachel Wolf’s Sun Trap, published last month, a great escapist read. See why; grab a copy here: shorturl.at/tnTob [ #booksky 📚💙]

Evening all! Hope you enjoy this #QotW! 'I held you in the square And felt the evening Re-order itself around Your smile.' (Ben Okri, 'I Held You in the Square') [ #booksky📚💙 #Poetry #PoetrySky]

Evening! Since it’s #InternationalTeaDay, we’re bringing out a very special archive post… It’s James Norbury’s #mindfullness filled debut, Big Panda and Tiny Dragon! Best of all, the iconic characters come with a tea-set, pictured below with the book. [ #cosy #TeaDay #Tea #Booksky📚💙]

🔥 CROSSING THE LINE, is coming to the stage! 🔥 See an extract of the work-in-progress as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. I'd love to see you there. ❤️22 May, 6 - 7pm. St Georges' Theatre, Great Yarmouth. 👏 nnfestival.org.uk/whats-on/cro... #communitytheatre #norfolkandnorwichfestival

Happy #Friyay! Hope you enjoy this #QotW :) 'I am a simple man who decided to act and see for himself, and it is as though I have had several lives. I do not wish to add to these.' (V.S. Naipaul, 'One Out of Many') [ #booksky 📚💙]

Evening! We're all still buzzing off of @lenniesaurus.bsky.social's win at the #Nibbies earlier this week! She won the Book of the Year: Discover Award; may it be the first of many! [ #BritishBookAwards #PoetrySky #booksky 📚💙 #writingcommunity]

Our next winner is Len Pennie, taking home the Book of the Year: Discover award for poyums (Canongate) ✒️ “Reading this is an experience that transcends sexuality, race and gender,” said one judge #Nibbies #BritishBookAwards

Hi all, it's a little belated, but enjoy this #QotW! 'You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.' (James Anthony Froude, The Nemesis of Faith) [ #booksky 📚💙]

Emmanuel here with our #whatwearenotreading! Last week I went to see #Anora. Sean Baker is known for spotlighting the experiences of sex workers and individuals on the periphery in his films; the portrayal of sex work in the US was fascinating. Mikey Madison was magnetic! [ #filmsky #moviesky]

Evening! It’s #ChildrensBookWeek, so we're spotlighting a gripping middle grade thriller… Simon Fox’s Running Out of Time! Not only can the protagonist, Aleksander, can steal time—time will also fly by for your little one when reading this book! [ #kidlit #childrensbook #booksky📚💙]

Happy #Friyay! We hope you all enjoy the #BankHoliday; here's a special #QotW for you all! 'wi need a highah quality a livity wi need it now an fi evrybady' (Linton Kwesi Johnson, 'More Time') [ #PoetrySky #Poetry ]

Afternoon all! Since it’s #NationalSuperHeroDay, I thought our archive post should spotlight James Bishop’s hilarious Iguana Boy! Unlike the world of #MHA, powers aren’t genetic and only kids are heroes! You’d be surprised how far iguana-telepathy can get you! [ #kidslit #KidsBooks #booksky 📚💙]

Evening! I hope you enjoy today’s (quite short!) #QotW. Funnily enough, I’ve always found it quite motivating and I hope it gives you the #motivation to smash whatever you’re doing this weekend! ‘Be something: then, be somebody.’ (John Donne, Sermon CXLVI) [ #ReadyfortheWeekend #WeekendVibes]

Putting finishing touches on my new book, POYUMS ANNAW today, so excited for yous to read it. If you'd like a signed/dedicated copy, they're available from the Portobello bookshop website, they ship internationally and have a special dark blue option! Any questions please don't hesitate to ask. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙

Evening! Eve, Steven and I just saw Robert Icke’s Manhunt @royalcourt.bsky.social. Frankly, we’re all still digesting it: this foray into contemporary masculinity, and its portrayal of Raoul Moat, will be on our minds for some time. [ #theatresky #Manhunt #whatwearenotreading] [📷: Manuel Harlan]