So I went to India and this activity seems to be the highlight! 😂😂😂

I love this piece by Kate Hollingsworth in @fictivedream.bsky.social - conceived in my The Female Gothic workshop at @flashficfestuk.bsky.social festival this year. fictivedream.com/2025/10/12/b...

Yesterday Liz Amos & I ran a workshop on art and poetry featuring the African diaspora at @october.books The project #noplacelikehome❤️ is part of @writingourlegacy important work on sharing experiences and creative thinking from the global majority.

And for the Haunting Award: @lmbayley.bsky.social @ruralunease.bsky.social @susmitab.bsky.social

For the Award for Disabled Creatives: @suzannehicks.bsky.social

Please join me in congratulating the #WelkinPrize nominations for the @genrepunkmag.bsky.social awards. For the Editors' Choice Award: @cake-girl.bsky.social @noranadj.bsky.social @mrallanmiller.bsky.social

Sunshine on a Sunday. Preparing for the book club chat across continents. A bit of Bombay street food that connects us all. Bombay Scottish classmates zooming in for a delicious discussion of Susannah Clarke’s Piranesi with a side of laughter, banter, heart-to-hearts and serious book discussions.

Was so happy to be back at the @morrablibrary in Penzance. Was here ten years ago for the #penzancelitfest where David Bottomley interviewed me about my debut novel, The Normal State of Mind

Flash inspired by Mughal miniature paintings on 31 July 7:30-9 pm by Susmita (me!) Links to book below. Do come along and explore new prompts and ideas!

Gutted I can’t make any of these dates. @coffeeandpaneer.bsky.social @susmitab.bsky.social and @hanakhalique.bsky.social run such brilliant workshops. Grab a spot if you can.

We’re at the @flashficfestuk.bsky.social this weekend - come and say hello 💕

A brilliant anthology and three exciting workshops lined up to celebrate its anniversary 🎉

It’s a year since the publication of Flash Fusion: An anthology of flash fiction & conversations on craft by South Asian writers, & we’re celebrating in style Workshops to be held via Zoom & recorded for participants. Discounts available. Details & booking info: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/flash-fusi...

Fun was had in Bath at the launch of our anthology ‘Monsoon’. We enjoyed workshops by @jupiterjonz.bsky.social & @susmitab.bsky.social & a panel on the future of flash as well as tons of readings of stories from our anthology. A lovely day & so good to meet so many new people 😊😊😊

Last week I visited a school in Southampton with @johnhansardgallery to introduce Gond Art from India. I had the opportunity to blend my art background with poetry writing & create found poetry artwork. Here are a few examples of their work. The first photo is my own artwork I used as an example.

It’s here! @kazbarwrites.bsky.social

Sharing a few photos taken at Winchester Poetry Festival's Poetry Hub as part of Bournemouth Writing Festival 2025. These were taken during my sessions, so they're mostly of me! But it was a weekend of many workshops and readings at the WPF Poetry Hub space. Photo credit: Solid Imagery

The exhibition ‘Cornershop & Portals into Other Worlds’ is now on at the Westside Gallery foyer, Winchester School of Art. Also featuring my poem commissioned by @southamptonforward It’s on for the next couple of weeks. If you’re in Winchester, don’t miss it!

Really looking forward to reading this collection. Congratulations Kathryn 🎉🎉🎉

FlashFlood is now open for submissions until Saturday 26 April. Flashes up to 300 words. Previously published accepted (2022 & earlier). Debut writer spots. Free to enter. For more details see here: flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/p/submission...

Our celebration of flash in Bath, UK on 14 June includes workshops by @susmitab.bsky.social & @lunchontuesday.bsky.social & a panel with @kazbarwrites.bsky.social @karjon.bsky.social @judehwriter2.bsky.social & @scooterwriter.bsky.social as well as the launch of our anthology ! t.co/IzQCKOsInR

Some photos from the #womeninscience show I curated for ArtfulScribe at Mayflower Mast Studios 🚀🧮🧬🔬🚜

It’s all happening this weekend! @artfulscribeuk LitFest at @mayflower.studios Am absolutely delighted to be curating the headline event Women in Science: Told through Poetry, Storytelling and Dance. Let’s celebrate these women in science from around the world and through the ages.

After watching Mrs, the Hindi remake of the Malayalam film, The Great Indian Kitchen, I’ve retired to a sunny spot in the company of my plants to contemplate on life, marriage, independence, companionship & the balance between all these things. If you have watched it, what did you think of the film?

Such a lovely evening at @arcwinch listening to David Nicholls talk about his writing journey, his fascination with songs and music in his books, his writing process and his support for libraries at the Winchester Books Festival and I managed to get a signed copy of his latest book. 📚📖📚

What a heart-stoppingly brilliant story by @mattkendrick.bsky.social in Tiny Molecules.

The next online short story course I’m teaching starts on 3rd February. It has a real breadth of reading material, I’m told by my former students, and opportunities to experiment within the short story form. Still a few places left. www.profwritingacademy.com/course/write...

Vote for your favourite 3 mini flashes for the People’s Prize 🏆

‘We brothers ruled the earth, …’ What a poignant story by @jamesmontgomery.bsky.social Just beautiful 💕

Every year the Public Lending Right (PLR) sends authors info about how many times their books have been borrowed in libraries, & pays authors 11.76 p/loan. I’d like to thank all my readers & hope that you keep borrowing books from libraries to keep them thriving and growing.

So much in so few words. Congratulations @laurabesley.bsky.social for this stunning piece.

You have ELEVEN days left to submit your short story(ies) up to 4000 words to the Bristol Short Story Prize! Publication and prizes to everyone on the short list! Full details at bssp.blogs.bristol.ac.uk -- please share!

Excited my shortlisted mini flash is up today ☺️ thanks Matt for shortlisting it!

Birthday sleepover - multiple teens in the house 🤣🤣🤣

Last week at Poetry@JHG An evening spent listening to great poetry & reading my poem, based on post memory theory, about the Bengal Famine of 1943, a genocide of that time where more than 3 million people died during the British rule in India, & the current genocide in Palestine. 📷 Nosa Malcolm

First writing workshop of the year at God’s House Tower, Southampton today inspired by Jane Austen’s letters and @jocelynjmcg art installations exploring the Female Gothic. We were also inspired by @louisemangos flash fiction A Roadmap of Womanhood. Don’t miss the exhibition at @ght_soton.

Congratulations, Susmita! Glad this has put a smile on your face!

Yay! I made it to the long list! So happy to start 2025 with a smile on my face 😀😀

Since there are a few people who seem up for this (a not-Christmas exquisite corpse), I'm going to set it up and see where it goes. I'll start the ball rolling on Monday 23rd and we can write a story together (or maybe I might start a couple?) over the course of a week.

I've created a Hybrid Writing starter pack, a place to find writers, lit mags & publishers who leap over genre boundaries & out of boxes, ignoring labels & definitions - in their own writing & in what they publish! Pass it on and let me know who else I might add! go.bsky.app/MswLLwc #UnboxYourWords

Our final in-person SO:Write Women’s writing group met yesterday. We wrote about gratitude & giving thanks, ended with chai latte & conversation. Thank you ArtfulScribe for a glorious 8 year run, I’m grateful to be a part of it as a participant & then as the facilitator for the past 2 years. ❤️✍🏽✍🏽❤️

Winter swims - I loved this story by Stephanie Niu.

Inspiring Orwell Foundation lecture by Nazanin Zachary-Radcliffe last Thursday at Southbank Centre. Was so lucky to be able to accompany my daughter, an Orwell Youth Fellow.

And that’s a wrap. All good things come to an end & here we are, with Joanna, the first facilitator of So:Write Women’s Writing group, 8 years ago. I was so fortunate to run it the last couple of years. Thank you @artfulscribe.bsky.social and everyone in the group for your support& love. And words.

A glimpse into last night’s exhibition launch of the project Just Popping In: Cornershop and portal into other worlds. I was commissioned to write a poem for this project. Students & staff of Solent University & Winchester School of Art worked with Southampton Forward to create fashion and design.

Excited to be at Southampton Solent University for the launch of Southampton Forward’s Corner Shops: Portals into Other Worlds project. I was commissioned to write a poem to accompany the beautiful fashion creations by the students of Winchester School of Art and Solent University

Great chance for six artists based in the North to receive financial support, mentoring, coaching, observational placements, peer-to-peer learning and access to the Factory International creative team. Deadline 9th December. Please share

Reminder! Our next online festival day with workshops by @kathyfish.bsky.social @stephaniecarty.bsky.social & @nivenaudrey.bsky.social is this Sat 30th Nov. Also incs contest with prizes, readings, yoga with @sudhab.bsky.social 11.00 am till 6.30 pm. GMT £30 for everything flashfictionfestival.com

My first post on Bluesky. Thank you for all the follows. Working my way through the app and following back. Looking forward to interacting with all things arty, literary and lots of creative content. Here’s my writing buddy, Timmy 🐾🐾🐾