At The City of Lost Books today: a long-gestating post on R.F. Kuang's Babel. thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac.uk/r-f-kuang-ba...

My latest illustration for the Little Toy Soldier saga. The mood darkens!

A new post over at The City of Lost Books: Karel Čapek's War with the Newts (1936), an essay by my mother, Elizabeth Maslen, with help from my father, John Maslen. Will appeal to all who love the Slavic fantastic! thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac.uk/karel-capek-...

The BBC’s Small Prophets is a very beautiful show. Please give it some love if you can!

An excelllent post on the impact of place, viewed through the lens of fantasy literature:

The magnificent Romanesque nave of Dunfermline Abbey!

Seize your chance!

This one was intended for Christmas but took too long so it’s the first picture for 2026. Christmas tree darts!

If you’re in the UK & are so inclined, from Dec 25 to Jan 5 you can get the Kindle edition of THE RIVER HAS ROOTS for 99p as part of their 12 Days of Kindle event! This means in the UK you can also get that price matched at other etailers, like Kobo! Merry Christmas! www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/...

If you’re working on any area of fantasy and the fantastic, come and join us at Glasgow in June 2026 and do consider presenting or running a workshop! All the info you need and the full CFP is here: fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/20... @uofgfantasy.bsky.social @uofgartshums.bsky.social

✨GIFCon is back for 2026! ✨ We’re very excited to launch the Call for Papers for GIFCon 2026, with the theme “Technologies of the Fantastic” You can find out more here: fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/20...

Over at The City of Lost Books: Christmas illustrations for the most colourful of books in dazzling black and white. A despatch from the past, when I thought of being an artist. With compliments of the season! thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac.uk/jo-heaton-re...

in case you missed our announcement We're seeking short stories in Jan 2026 for our upcoming anthology, Modern Decadent, which embraces the fin de siècle literary & arts of the decadents, along with 19th century symbolism and aestheticism. We also welcome stories with a good dash of proto-Weird 🖤

Over at The City of Lost Books: Elizabeth Maslen, Poems on Death. They're much more cheerful than the title suggests! thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac.uk/elizabeth-ma...

And we are hiring! We have been incredibly lucky to get this funding and are very grateful for the opportunity to work on this. Please circulate to people who would be interested in applying. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPN147/p...

A reminder that we're hosting the first European Conference on the Fantastic, Fantasy's Present Pasts, in Glasgow next summer (23rd-25th June 2026). The Call for Papers and Sessions can be found here: fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/20.... Closes 12th December. Please do consider submitting!

The 1st instalment of my 1st serialized short story has landed in people's inboxes care of @scottishbooktrust.bsky.social! If you want to read "A Road Less Taken" over the course of this week, sign up! You'll get access to previous instalments too. www.scottishbooktrust.com/book-week-sc...

Ruth M. Arthur's books captivated me as a child - they were a blend of past and present, with a hint of the paranormal (Margery Gill was the illustrator). One favorite was The Saracen Lamp. tinyurl.com/bdf22dnd #Bookvember #booksky

Naomi Mitchison (née Haldane, 1897–1999) was born #OTD, 1 Nov, & saw almost every day of the #C20th. A hugely influential writer, with 80+ books – poetry, politics, #HistoricalFiction, #ScienceFiction, #Fantasy, #ChildrensFiction & more – to her credit, she deserves more attention A 🎂🧵 💙📚 1/10

Just in time for Halloween... Thank you NewCon Press for this wondrous bounty. For which we must pay ... in blood.

This time next week, the world(s) of Fantasy descend on Brighton for #WorldFantasycon2025! Your GSFWC pals'll be along to speak on injuries in genre, *not* kicking arse, getting smoochy, Monster on Monster action, and much, much more! (1/4) @worldfantasy2025.bsky.social @hws.bsky.social

In honour of my mother, Elizabeth Maslen, there's an essay of hers on Storm Jameson and Doris Lessing at the City of Lost Books. It seems right to be promoting it today, when the last volume of Pullman's The Book of Dust is being released... thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac.uk/elizabeth-ma...

It's here. BAD LANGUAGE 13/11/25 "made with love and horror, & a guidebook for our time" — @adamzmith.bsky.social "Mayer's words & a gift and a gateway" — @elizabethlovatt.bsky.social "incantation & spell distil a complex argument" — Lola Olufemi Pre-order: peninsulapress.co.uk/products/bad...

Great news for Le Guin fans in Glasgow!

# Long lead time scheduled post fail FTW. It's not summer anymore, but that just means it's perfect weather for some chilly chills.

In May this year I had a conversation with Graham Foster about Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan (1946), which he recorded for his brilliant podcast Ninety-Nine Novels. Here it is! www.anthonyburgess.org/podcasts/nin...

Just one highlight from the new Reaktion catalogue reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/the-mus...

📣 TODAY! Don’t miss Of Us & Others – a powerful new film by Maya Rose Edwards 🎬 Screening 12–5pm at Civic House (drop in anytime!). One day only – Sat 4 Oct! AGA’s first visual art commission supported by @creativescots.bsky.social & the Edwin Morgan Trust

Woolf’s fantastical side has a new expression. So excited to read these stories as a lover of Orlando!

I wrote a review! shinynewbooks.co.uk/folklore-a-j...

An anniversary blog post at The City of Lost Books: Ten Years of The City of Lost Books! Find out what I've learned and failed to learn in a decade of blogging! thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac.uk/ten-years-of...

Rachel Ayers highlights six of the many fine retellings of the fairy ballad Tam Lin. I was honoured to publish @pameladean.bsky.social's extraordinary Tam Lin in the Fairy Tale Series (Tor Books), and I'm delighted to see it listed as one of the greats. It truly is. reactormag.com/a-knight-to-...

Another illustration, another insect!

My latest effort in the illustration line. That’s a mayfly in the corner!

Interesting newsletter linking antifascist writing to The Name of the Rose. I hadn't thought of the ways TNotR is antifascist before. A great read!

There's a new blog post over at The City of Lost Books, on Amal El-Mohtar's wonderful novella The River Has Roots! @uofgfantasy.bsky.social @dimitrafimi.bsky.social @mjrsangster.bsky.social @tattersdill.bsky.social thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac.uk/amal-el-moht...

Follow Ramonkey's account! He has amazing stuff 🔥

Congratulations Stefan! My review of his award-winning study of urban fantasy is here: www.salonfutura.net/2025/07/urba...

There’s a wonderful Paula Rego exhibition at the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock, featuring three series of lithographs illustrating nursery rhymes, Peter Pan and Jane Eyre. Totally brilliant!

There are still some tickets available for the last 'Widdershins III' event at Green Hill Arts on Dartmoor: an evening of dark, adult fairy tales performed by folklorist & storyteller @lisaschneidau.bsky.social. Highly recommended! Go here for more info: www.greenhillarts.co.uk/calendar/202...

I found this wonderful book at the Hyndland Bookshop, Glasgow, which has a fine selection of art books and Nordic writers. I’ve love John Bauer’s work for years and it’s wonderful to have it joined to the fine stories that inspired it.

I Am Frankelda, the first-ever stop-motion feature produced in Mexico, speaks truth to power while still providing an infectious level of fun. Read @jaredmobarak.com's @fantasiafestival.com review:

The Forth and Clyde Canal Society’s charming puffer moored at The Stables near Kirkintilloch, where puffers were built

Robert Graves and Fantasy mythographies of World War 1. profadamroberts.substack.com/p/graves-and...

I met a fine frog

Marshall’s second novel is a meditation on tyranny, violence, complicity and resistance, essential reading in times like these. No easy answers here, but a burning rage against injustice which I found inspiring, and real and mythical tigers to feed your dreams.

Enjoyed doing this interview with Sylvia Bishop for Five Books. I was asked to pick classic Fantasy books - choosing five was tough, as you can probably tell from both the length and all the side mentions...: fivebooks.com/best-books/c...

This interview of Matt Sangster by Sylvia Bishop is both wise and entertaining!