Ever wondered what it’s like to be inside a grieving person’s head? And why they can’t concentrate? My head was whirring 24/7 with incessant mental noise in which I endlessly revisited the period before my husband’s death, looking for “signs” I’d missed. read more: open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...

I'm running a 3-day residential retreat, themed around Feminist Writing. It's in April, in a gorgeous Victorian ex-spa hotel in Harrogate, and there'll be a heady mix of writing workshops and hikes to clear our minds. Early Bird booking price ends 19 Feb! Join me! rachelhewitt.org/retreats/fem...

I'm running a 3-day residential retreat, themed around Feminist Writing. It's in April, in a gorgeous Victorian ex-spa hotel in Harrogate, and there'll be a heady mix of writing workshops and hikes to clear our minds. Early Bird booking price ends 19 Feb! Join me! rachelhewitt.org/retreats/fem...

Please share with anyone who’s grieving or supporting a griever. I’ve started a free project to create a guidebook to the shitty island of complicated grief. It’s called When the Worst Happens, & I’m making free articles & vids about aspects of grief that are rarely discussed.

In April, I’m running a Feminist Writing retreat for writers of all genres & levels. We’ll work on how to highlight everyday sexism, describe unequal power between men & women, challenge stereotypes when portraying women and craft female-friendly language. rachelhewitt.org/retreats/fem...

In April, I’m running a Feminist Writing retreat for writers of all genres & levels. We’ll work on how to highlight everyday sexism, describe unequal power between men & women, challenge stereotypes when portraying women and craft female-friendly language. rachelhewitt.org/retreats/fem...

‘The hysteria that has developed about abuse of women’ (Chomsky in an email to Epstein).To all the Chomsky defenders, esp those on the left-this sentence, alone, dripping with misogyny & a sexist dismissal of sexual violence against women condemns him.There is no acceptable apology for this #epstein

The world is falling apart so what better time is there to come on a writing retreat with me? Disappear into a gorgeous Victorian hotel in North Yorkshire; eat your body weight in cake; blast out the cobwebs with day- and night-hikes; and, oh yes, do lots of writing! www.rachelhewitt.org/retreats

On 10 Jan at 8am, 150 runners set off on the snowbound Pennine Way to run the Spine Challenger South, a 108-mile race. Among them was Sarah Porter. But her race was soon to end – not from injury, but because of threats she’d be assassinated en route by Taliban sympathisers.

I don't think the algorithm shows my posts to anyone anymore, but anyway... Are you faltering with new year's resolutions? I'm writing a series of posts on becoming more physically active, sustainably. Today's post: is it helpful to have a goal in mind? open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...

Here’s a short history of dubious male allies, and what lessons we can apply to working out whether pro-feminist men are actually good for the women’s movement 🧵 For the whole piece, please see my Substack open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...

A little taster of my newsletter article this week, which will drop first thing tomorrow. Sign up to receive it! rachelhewitt.substack.com

I bought some fluffy cushions and the cat has taken to grooming them

1st book finished in 2026 and it’s a cracker @rachelhewitt.bsky.social In Her Nature brilliantly written Lots of ideas & thoughts on women in nature, grief, history & the power of being outdoors. Thoroughly researched & thoughtful. Very good strong recommend @bedsidereading.bsky.social

This is a deeply depressing read by Rachel Hewitt and one that will feel frustratingly familiar to anyone trying to get a book published right now!! Also when she lists the big non fiction sellers - phew. open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...

This by @rachelhewitt.bsky.social is v interesting rachelhewitt.substack.com/p/no-platfor... I’ve seen this the other way around: because I’m known in the digital sphere of my work, people urge me to write a book! But I’m not the right character to do that, I lack the patience and introspection.

A last minute place on my residential retreat about writing about the outdoors THIS WEEK (7-9 Jan, in Harrogate, UK) has just become available! Let me know asap if you might be interested in taking it. More info here: rachelhewitt.org/retreats

A last minute place on my residential retreat about writing about the outdoors THIS WEEK (7-9 Jan, in Harrogate, UK) has just become available! Let me know asap if you might be interested in taking it. More info here: rachelhewitt.org/retreats

I wrote about the crucial importance of finding joy in physical activity if you want to cement a sustainable exercise habit - & how finding joy requires us to take charge of our inner voices & attend to the quiet voice that notices the many pleasures of activity open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...

I've just sent out the 1st article from my new Sustaining Physical Activity community! Are you keen to be more active & don't know whether to make an exercise schedule or not? I talk about the benefits & how to make a sustainable, flexible plan- and I share my own open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...

I've just sent out the 1st article from my new Sustaining Physical Activity community! Are you keen to be more active & don't know whether to make an exercise schedule or not? I talk about the benefits & how to make a sustainable, flexible plan- and I share my own open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...

Some #endofyear treats for you – with some more recordings from #FiLiA2025 🔥🎉 First up: ‘Why Does Women's History Keep Being Erased?’ 📺 youtu.be/_DqB6oYEirg With Onjali Rauf, @rachelhewitt.bsky.social, Susanna Rustin and @glosswitch.bsky.social #HappyNewYear2026 #HappyNewYear #WomensHistory

Would you love to be more physically active, not just for a few weeks after New Year but in the long term? Join me! I'm launching the SPA (Sustainable Physical Activity) Community to share tips, research & accountability, & to find the joy in being active rachelhewitt.substack.com/p/join-me-in...

A festive post from me today, on men who buy crap Christmas gifts for their partners, or no gifts at all. Why? And how seriously should we take this? open.substack.com/pub/rachelhe...

I’ve nearly finished building and painting my library. I can’t wait to sit on the sofa, in front of the fire, with a gin and admire my handiwork. Not long now! (For an account of how I built the library, see this post rachelhewitt.substack.com/p/how-i-turn...)

Ribblehead Viaduct, Yorkshire, photo by landscape photographer Paula Beaumont.

I'm offering free trial subs to my Substack! You can read about the psychology of patriarchy and its harms in posts on: Psychopathology of Cancellation; Sex Snoopers & Spy Cops; why men keep secrets; myths of male disadvantage; & a feminist view of grief rachelhewitt.substack.com

3 pumpkins and a punk-kin

For Halloween, I wrote about how, in C18th Yorkshire, women were suspected to be witches, not because they mixed potions or cast spells, but because they seemed to enjoy running outdoors. Apparently there was no other explanation for a woman enjoying running. Link in bio!

Maria Nordin "Act of Comfort" (Sweden, 2022), depicting a woman carrying an impossibly large pile of linen for the laundry. Nordin likes to portray women's unpaid labour in the home, but in beautiful shapes and colours. #womensart

Owners 'distraught' as geese removed by council in Stillington, north Yorkshire. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Today marks a decade of living in God's Own Country; ten years of being a (North) Yorkshire lass. It's been a very hard decade in many ways, but Yorkshire's incredibly beautiful landscapes have helped to sustain me. I feel very lucky to live here. It feels like home.

Wet cat and dying embers

‘All doctors get things wrong. What matters hugely to families in our position is that they have the courage and humility to admit to these mistakes. If they do, it transforms the way you feel about a clinician.’ @paullaity.bsky.social on his daughter Martha’s death: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Thank you for all your lovely, supportive comments! If you’d like to read about how I built the library from @ikeaunitedkingdom.bsky.social Billy bookcases, I wrote a “how to” on my newsletter. Link in bio

This week I built a library. Now I just have to paint it 😱

Very interesting, inspiring & enraging episode of Subject to Power with @rachelhewitt.bsky.social - all the episodes I've listened to have been fascinating, on a wide range of feminist subjects open.spotify.com/episode/7z5o...

Was delighted to spot @rachelhewitt.bsky.social’s book at a bookstore in Geneva today!

ICYMI: for the weekend crew

There are still spaces on my WRITING RETREATS in November and January! These are for anyone writing about outdoor adventure: running, hiking, climbing, swimming, or embezzling £60K from your former employer and having to go for a very long walk. More info & book at www.rachelhewitt.org/retreats

I've become fascinated in the origins of modern peer-to-peer support groups for grief. And I’ve discovered that we have second wave feminists to thank for many of them!

@rachelhewitt.bsky.social Saw this and thought of you.

I've become fascinated in the origins of modern peer-to-peer support groups for grief. And I’ve discovered that we have second wave feminists to thank for many of them!

This is a thread on gendered differences in experiences of bereavement – and why it’s important that bereaved women have single-sex spaces. If you'd prefer to read this as an essay, there's a full version with refs (link in bio). This is for anyone who prefers to read on Bluesky.

The audiobook of Flipping Patriarchy releases NEXT THURSDAY 4th September! Pre-orer now. https://rbmediaglobal.com/audiobook/9781004200986/ Unabridged and narrated by total legend, Amanda Abbington. @wfhowes

I wrote about having Botox and fillers, and the feminist politics of injectables *braces self* If you’re interested, you can read it by following the link in my bio

Holidays with a teenager

The increasingly online nature of porn, hook-ups & sex-buying have made it easier than ever before for men to cultivate secret lives. It’s occurred to me that these factors also make it easier for men’s secrets to be *discovered*. Often all it requires is access to their phones.

Increasingly I think a major function of “masculinity” IS its crisis — a vehicle for the dominant & dominating group to justify focusing their social attentions primarily on themselves