Thanks for all the really amazing support from Question Time tonight! You heard it several times (including even from Reform!): @greenparty.org.uk are surging. Join us: join.greenparty.org.uk #BBCQT

Had a great chat on All FM yesterday afternoon about my book Young Mancunians, short fiction, and a bit of poetry as well! Really pleased with the reception to the book so far! www.mixcloud.com/allfm969/the...

One of my friends said my book, Young Mancunians, is better than Dostoevsky. Of course, that's an outrageous statement, but I'm running with it anyway. Young Mancunians - out now. "Better than Dostoevsky" ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A piece on British identity in 2025

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FQ5LXZQB Four 5-star reviews for Young Mancunians so far...

@ofcom.bsky.social I'd like to make a complaint here as it seems that Richard Tice MP is misleading the public in a way that could cause potential harm to audiences.

Someone should tell Richard Tice that a head of state doesn't have the freedom to lie. Claims made by, say, the US President have to be as factual as possible. Stating on live TV that Tylenol can cause autism is not protected under "free speech".

In the Name of Political Violence: A History of Incendiary Language from the MAGA Base and MAGA Affiliates Accompanied by Calculated Gross Hypocrisy Part 3 - Pete Hegseth, Elon Musk, Mecha Hitler, and RFK Jr

Just a long list of quotes to look at in response to the current lies and hypocrisy around an imaginary American “radical left”.

Feel compelled to share this - a piece I wrote last week in response to an absurd eulogy by Konstantin Kisin

"Among the rain and lights I saw the figure 5 in gold on a red firetruck moving tense unheeded to gong clangs siren howls and wheels rumbling through the dark city." Happy birthday William Carlos Williams.

A close reading of Echo, by Christina Rossetti #Poetry #WritingCommunity

Paperback's out!

Nigel Farage is making another speech broadcast live on BBC News and radio 5live. His party have 4 MPs. This coverage is not normal.

theexistentialreader.gumroad.com/l/jkoum Out now - only £1! The theme of this issue is 'Identity', with essays on Britishness, AI, our attitudes towards wage labour, as well as some poetry and film criticism. Check it out!

Full expect Zack Polanski to get as much air time as Farage from now on. Will be a bit weird if he doesn't.

theexistentialreader.substack.com/p/the-media-... Latest piece on Nigel Farage and media complicity in the rise of Reform UK.

Worth a watch this.

Thinking about trying to live life as a writer and the demand to make money

Latest piece from The Subtext

Epping, the crisis of displaced people, and why only an Internationalist approach can provide a solution

Protagonist as place - a look at Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s Manchester Happened, and what aspiring writers can learn from it when thinking about the construction of place.

I'm seeing a lot of acorns on my walks. Is this normal? I've never noticed acorns in August before.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FH1Q2MR4 Would anyone be interested in reviewing my book? I can send over a copy free of charge. It might be of interest to anyone passionate about short fiction, social realism in fiction, or sense of place in fiction.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FH1Q2MR4 Just in time for your Sunday reading pleasure! Young Mancunians is available now in ebook form! #booksky #iamwriting

The final story from Young Mancunians - Mother's Day #booksky #imprinting

As I prepare to self-publish my debut book, I thought I’d do another piece on the pros and cons of self-publishing, and the need to address the crisis of traditional publishing. #booksky #writingcommunity #writers

The importance of authentic dialogue in relation to sense of place, with a writing exercise and some recommended reading included! craigsnelgrovephd.substack.com/notes

Working in a mental health hospital is challenging for anyone, but going in blind can inflict its own trauma on the worker unable to help people in the way they need. The penultimate story in Young Mancunians - Observations. #booksky #iamwriting

The fourteenth story from Young Mancunians, The Shopkeeper.

Place and character in Manchester Happened

The banality of employment, the mundanity of routine. Number 13 from Young Mancunians - ‘Night Shift’ #booksky #iamwriting

Reviving the presence of the flaneur in short fiction in the twelfth story from Young Mancunians - She Walks at Night #booksky #writercommunity #iamwriting

Initially published in the first issue of the Existential Reader magazine, this piece asks the question - were the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki really necessary?

Short fiction and 'the intense awareness of human loneliness' #writing #shortfiction #writers #booksky

“…the solemnisation of drab days and the sanctification of the ordinary” - Anthony Burgess, Here Comes Everybody: An Introduction to James Joyce for the Ordinary Reader The eleventh story from Young Mancunians - ‘A Paterfamilias’ - free to read for all #booksky #writingcommunity #iamwriting

Exploring the pretence of American benevolence in the 1990s action blockbuster.

Introducing my new substack publication dedicated solely to Creative Writing #booksky #writingcommunity #creativewriting #writers

Escaping the past can sometimes be as simple as enjoying the present. But sometimes the past won’t let go. The tenth story from Young Mancunians - Danielle’s Night Out #booksky #writingcommunity #shortfiction

A distinct possibility of Russian, Chinese, and American only zones on the moon. Absolutely absurd. We have gone so wrong its virtually impossible to imagine is ever getting back to a place of sanity.

Issue #1 of the magazine! In this issue I write about the self-help industry, right-wing commentators, and I look at whether or not the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were really necessary. Also some poetry and other general musings! Check it out if you've got a spare quid!

The ninth story from Young Mancunians - ‘The Chapel’ - a story of loss, memory, and the need to conform #booksky #writerscommunity #iamwriting

This so-called 'genius novel' is out in a couple of weeks from @melvillehouse.bsky.social. You can bother your nearest independent bookseller, or get 25% off if you pre-order at @waterstones.bsky.social www.waterstones.com/book/we-live...

For Nathan, the protagonist of Derby Day - the eight story from Young Mancunians - football is the theatre of the working class, and his only for escape from the monotony of everyday wage labour #booksky #writingcommunity

I watched this documentary and risked part of my sanity so you don’t have to. I deserve a knighthood. Jokes aside, this is my response to a lazy, historically illiterate, but popular narrative that is pushed in a documentary that appeared on GB News last week.

A musical duo enter a reality singing competition convinced they are the next big thing to come out of “Music City”. Why? Because it means so much, of course. #booksky #writingcommunity

I swear no other country would get away with this using the excuse of "self-defence".

The first part of a commentary on the writing process and inspiration behind Young Mancunians #booksky #witingcommunity #iamwriting

The year in music 1962!

The 6th story from Young Mancunians is 'The Rain'. And the 2nd one to be available to all. If I was promoting an album I suppose this would be one of the singles! #booksky