"If you really want to know a nation, and to experience its collective mind, instead of tying tatty flags to lamp-posts you might want to get thee to a library, any library, but especially the British Library..." Zadie Smith on culture and the British library: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

there's a moment in PARADISE LOST where Satan arrives in Eden and realizes Hell isn't a place; it's a thing he carries within him and it'll follow him wherever he goes. and i think about that when i see these awful rich men whose monstrous wealth has enriched them not at all

Did men ruin life on land and can sending them to sea fix it

"Taking the fear out", an old Cypriot ritual: * A pan face-down over a fire. * Think of what you fear, the ritualist's hand on your head. * Two caged birds close by. * Water poured onto the pan so it hisses. * Leap over that and the fire. * The birds will absorb your fear. #WyrdWednesday

The pang of envy I just felt shattered my third chakra. See you next year, Trim. I want to party with the Puca

Everyone is listening to Lily at the moment, while I'm drawn always and ever back to Florence. Something bracing about the lack of sugar. No, you don't have to choose! I'm just going to put her here, OK? In sunglasses, channeling Patti Smith www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7XL...

A long-ago tyrant named Mandy thought a likeness in stone would be dandy, but the statue fell down, leaving only a frown, and the rest has become rather sandy.

It's time for the English to return to the Old Ways, find the hidden tomb, wake the true High King who will draw his sword, cleave the veil between worlds and chase away all demons with a light that is both Song and Terror

I was going to post snarkily about how a library is better than a ballroom, but became distracted by thoughts of a bibliophilic Cinderella. Cinders wants to read at the Institut de Paris, but has no pass. Fairy godmother appears to give her a metro ticket and lifetime membership. There is no prince.

Thread of mask-friendly costume ideas! :) (And now I totally want to pull together a Stevie Nicks costume. 😂)

RIP English writer Geoffrey Chaucer, died this day 1400, best known for The Canterbury Tales. "The life so brief, the art so long in the learning, the attempt so hard, the conquest so sharp, the fearful joy that ever slips away so quickly - by all this I mean love,...

I was going to post snarkily about how a library is better than a ballroom, but became distracted by thoughts of a bibliophilic Cinderella. Cinders wants to read at the Institut de Paris, but has no pass. Fairy godmother appears to give her a metro ticket and lifetime membership. There is no prince.

That bafflement is so strange to me. Such a limited understanding of Home.

The comparison to Idi Amin is apt.

Very excited about the upcoming @ibbyuk.bsky.social conference! Come along and hear from these AMAZING speakers or stream online. WHOSE HISTORY? Challenging historical narratives through writing for children and young people #kidlituk #ukkidlit #edusky

Who robbed the Louvre? Right answers only.

This is not normal discourse. It is not just a bit of fun for a Sunday paper interview. It is beyond the realms of the concept of decency shared across the political spectrum until last year.

Apropos of nothing, I really do think UK journalists and politicians need some reminding that mass deportation of LEGAL immigrants, particularly those with permanent status, is far more extreme than even Trump's America and would basically place Britain completely on its own among democracies.

I can beat the medievalists! In 61 CE, revolting British natives attacked the Roman colony of Camulodunum (Colchester). In 2015, in a domestic space, archs found the remains of a whole box of coriander as well as fenugreek, poppy seeds, cumin, & other Indian spices. Homesick Roman women made curry.

Having visited local NHS hospitals with my wife for the past month, it is clear that the health of our people depends hugely on immigrant workers.

"Seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space." — Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities, 1972. 🙏🏼🌍🕊️

A bit of joy 😸

Lots of up to date writing competitions open to children and teens in the UK. Great ideas for in school & at home. schoolreadinglist.co.uk/competitions... #ukedchat #amwriting

Good heavens, I didn't know this fabulous video is on YouTube. It's lovely to see my friends and neighbours Brian and Wendy Froud when they were still so very young! I've spent the last year helping them with a new book (we're not allowed to reveal the subject yet), which will be out in autumn 2026.

Word of mouth is important to a book's success. So, if you'd like to see the authors who wrote your favourite stories commissioned to write more, please keep talking about all the #books you love.

Tension is created by anticipation, juxtaposition, questions, and conflicts. All of these things create structure. When you use a recipe, if you understand the science behind it, you can make ingredient swaps or create something new. I think the same is true of fiction.

These are the utterly heaven-sent people who publish the historical A-Zs of London, so if you write London-set historicals, you want to follow!

Are you interested in Writing Fiction for Children? My new 6 week online course starts on 28th Oct. Tues eve 6.30pm to 8pm. Includes a one-to-one coaching session or manuscript critique. Get in touch to find out more: www.sarahwebb.info/contact

My goal for the day is one new patron. Signing up helps support my writing, my fabric art, and me as a human being and unofficial town sorcerer. You'll gain access to fun posts such as my weird affirmations and Mothman's monster-based etiquette advice. www.patreon.com/jeremycreature

The reason the Right are so invested in the myth that the arts have no value isn’t because the arts don’t generate wealth (they do); it’s that studying the arts teaches people to imagine better ways of judging the value of an idea than by counting how much money it makes…

A true classic!! 🖤

I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is? It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?

"A pox on him, I know him already by his damn'd tone; tis one Monsieur le Prate, a singing, dancing, talking fluttering Nothing" "such an eternal Tongue pad, that the clack on't never ceases, no not in his sleep"

"The printed song, “As soon as day began to peep”, was written for a character called Monsieur le Prate, a French fop, in a 1691 play titled Love for Money, which lampooned a girls’ boarding school. Its author was Thomas D’Urfey, a frequent collaborator of Purcell."

"The beauties, the antlered, the winged ones, all awash in their sea of blue light...I thought, God help me, seven years of this, and this the first night...I tried to think of Meg and Gavin, but the blue light came between me and my image of their hearth fire, and blurred the sun on the hillside."

An essential report from Dr Francesca Bonafede and colleagues that deserves careful thought and reflection from everyone interested in helping children and young people become the best writers they can be — in the broadest sense! 👇 literacytrust.org.uk/research-ser...

It’s really hard to describe to people who are not artists how survival mode does *not* inspire creativity, as the myth would have us believe. It suppresses creativity as you try to limit every possible risk – and the opportunities that come with them.

Oh my God this.

dēoren, adj: of or like a wild animal. (DAY-o-ren / ˈdeːɔ-rɛn) It’s #WorldAnimalDay (Dēores Dæg…sounds better in Old English). Learn about medieval animals in THE DEORHORD: AN OLD ENGLISH BESTIARY: buff.ly/l4Lbsip #OldEnglish #WOTD #TheDeorhord @profilebooks.bsky.social @princetonupress.bsky.social

Take pleasure where you can find it. You never know what's coming down the pipe to stop you enjoying things.

'In the black furrow of a field I saw an old witch-hare this night And she cocked a lissome ear, And she eyed the moon so bright' -Walter de la Mare 🎨Lucy Grossmith #BookWormSat

As the Taliban erases Afghan women, the world looks away The internet blackout has shut down the last hope of education for women in Afghanistan 🌎 Faye Curran

I can remember who I am by recalling the journey to now…

You don’t actually have to both sides this. The Jewish community in the UK is not the Israeli government. You can just condemn the murder of two British Jews killed in their place of worship and you don’t have to say a single other thing.

BREAKING Dr. Jane Goodall has died. She was 91. It is impossible to sum up the impact she has had on our world and on science in a social media post. She lived a long and incredible life but I am devastated. Full Story: bit.ly/4pPcNFH

I for one welcome the teeny, tiny Great Old Ones and bow before their dread glowy cuteness. Who says they won't do a better job of running the world. BE FAIR

How wonderful to celebrate stories that cross borders! Translated children's literature opens up magical worlds, inviting young minds to dream beyond their own. Let's explore together! 🌍✨ #booksky #translatedkidlit #worldkidlit