Book of the month: Raharimanana In the midst of some pretty gloomy headlines over the last month or so, online African literature magazine Brittle Paper brought heartening news. Its 100 Notable African Books of 2025 shows up some encouraging trends: around a third of the titles on the list are…

#ICYMI we’re not done with 2025 yet! We’ve highlighted a book a month - fab books that might have passed you by. They’re half price – this last week only – so do swing by – and if you missed any, fill yer boots! The 2026 You will appreciate it… 😁 renardpress.com/renard-press... (Link in bio)

Delighted to be appearing at the Destinations show in London as part of the @stanfordstravel.bsky.social Travel Writers Festival. I’ll be talking to the wonderful @annmorgan.bsky.social about #SmallEarthquakes on 29 Jan. Use the code SPKSTANFORDS for a free ticket: www.destinationsshow.com/london

Rad Folke(stone) & environs! Me & the dazzlingly brilliant @annmorgan.bsky.social want to talk to YOU next Thurs about the politics of speech (and silence and reading and stuff). Thurs 29 Jan, 6.30 pm, £5 (ticket = deposit to buy the book) @folkestonebookshop.bsky.social 🧡🧡🧡 Cu there!

I'm so looking forward to hosting @annmorgan.bsky.social on Tue 20 Jan. Her Relearning to Read book is absolutely fabulous and fun, and her interactive workshop is bound to be too! Register for free here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Next week there's a rare, free chance to sample my incomprehension workshop for curious readers as part of a virtual event hosted by @marinasofia.bsky.social Join us at 7.30pm GMT on Tuesday 20 January. Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Sometimes literature in translation doesn't play by the rules - which makes it exhilarating but also frustrating. Join us on 20 Jan for a free virtual discussion on relearning to read with literary explorer @annmorgan.bsky.social us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Dressed in my Arctic gear for a trip to the playground. Making the most of the fact my daughters aren't yet old enough to be embarrassed by this. Wishing all literary explorers a very Happy New Year! #2026

Book of the month: Yun Ko-eun ayearofreadingtheworld.com/2025/12/23/b... #booksky

Book of the month: Yun Ko-eun 'What have you got in that you're excited about?' I asked Hunter at the Folkestone Bookshop when I popped in a while back. As often happens when I walk into that place, this was the start of a long, fascinating conversation, in which I was ushered from shelf to shelf…

Ever thought 'No idea what this book is about!'? How can we explore the world (and ourselves!) and get comfortable with not having all the answers? Join @annmorgan.bsky.social in a playful and interactive FREE virtual event for curious readers everywhere us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Thrilled to be quoted in this article in The New Indian Express celebrating the resurgence of the work of Dracula translator and cult Malayalam author Kottayam Pushpanath: www.newindianexpress.com/states/keral...

Free incomprehension workshop taster Good news! If you've been wanting to try my incomprehension workshop, your chance has come! I'll be offering a virtual taster session and chatting to super reader, blogger and all-round translation champion Marina Sofia at 7.30pm (UK time) on Tuesday 20 January…

Good news! If you've been wanting to try my incomprehension workshop, your chance has come! I'll be offering a virtual taster session with @marinasofia.bsky.social at 7.30pm (UK time) on Tuesday 20 January. A free event for curious readers everywhere. Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

bookjotter.com/2025/12/08/three-things-9-into-winter-waffle/ #ThreeThings #ToveTrove #Books #Reading @annmorgan.bsky.social

In her witty new book, Ann Morgan asks readers to examine their own reading habits and turn them on their head.

Very grateful to @elenalappin.bsky.social for having me on the latest episode of Shop Talk With Writers. You can read about the show and have a listen here: elenalappin.substack.com/p/reading-as...

My Trip to Greenland with Tété-Michel Kpomassie As followers of this blog will know, my hero is Tété-Michel Kpomassie, the author of the landmark travel memoir An African in Greenland, translated by James Kirkup, which was my Togolese choice for my 2012 project to read a book from every country.…

If the MPs ever want my assistance with their inquiry into keeping the joy of reading alive, I might just submit this as evidence: my journey to Greenland with ‘the writer I’d most like to meet’. www.thetimes.com/travel/inspi...

Book of the month: Alla Gorbunova Books come to me from many directions these days. Emails from publishers. Messages from readers of this blog. Suggestions from other writers. Reviews. Social media posts. Conversations with booklovers around the world. In many cases, I hear about books before they…

I might be way off here, but something tells me an MPs' inquiry is not going to help terribly much with the joy...

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

"A stark reminder of what it means to be constrained by others’ ideas when we imagine ourselves to be free." Thank you @annmorgan.bsky.social for including 'The Rarest Fruit' in this wonderful article about books to read to understand quests in @theobserveruk.bsky.social 📚

Londoners! This looks wonderful. I met South African filmmaker Nicole Schafer years ago in Malawi, and her vision and commitment to her craft remain so impressive. This film screens in London this Saturday. Do go if you can riversidestudios.co.uk/see-and-do/m...

It was an absolute honour to chat with Elif Shafak for the @royalliteraryfund.bsky.social podcast. Full of insight and fun, I hope! @annmorgan.bsky.social @orendabooks.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/3a98...

Really exciting book news out of Norway. And while the article focusses on the sealskin binding, I'm even more excited by the fact that these neumes are not square, which suggests a date well before 1200.

Delighted to receive a copy of this from @translatingwomen.bsky.social, who wrote the introduction. Latin American writers have consistently written some of the boldest, most challenging and illuminating accounts of female experience I’ve encountered. #booksky #feminism #translation

Does anyone know if any of the work of Petr Šabach has been translated into English? #booksky

‘A person is a star that does not fall alone. Who knows where the echo will reverberate when we leave this earth? Perhaps someone will rise from our ashes in another time and realise they have been burned by the flame of our fall.’ ayearofreadingtheworld.com/2025/10/30/b...

I live in a small town on the south coast of the UK and there is someone publishing world-class Kurdish literature a few minutes’ walk from my house. I give you my latest Book of the month ayearofreadingtheworld.com/2025/10/30/b... #booksky

Book of the month: Bachtyar Ali I'm very fortunate to receive messages from readers and writers around the world telling me about books I might like to read. Many of the titles I've featured on this blog are the result of conversations with people in parts of the planet from which we English…

I am published by a genuine unicorn of an independent publisher - the wonderful, carbon-neutral, inclusive and thoroughly humane @renardpress.com. Today, they posted this. Please buy a book if you can

Think I'm prouder of this than any of my own books: the collection translated for me from São Tomé and Príncipe back in 2012 is finally published in English ayearofreadingtheworld.com/2025/10/22/n...

News: São Tomé and Príncipe collection published after 13 years Perhaps the most extraordinary thing that happened during my 2012 quest to read a book from every country (and there were many extraordinary things) involved the small African island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. Of the 11 or so…

Is anyone else starting to find hardbacks a bit last century? I'm beginning to find the sight of them oddly quaint...

GOOD PEOPLE OF GLASGOW! I am thrilled to be appearing at this year's Aye Write festival on Sunday 9th November at 6pm. I'll be chatting to terrific writer Adam Oyebanji and all round legend Ann Landmann - come and find us and spread the word! tinyurl.com/yc56dfe8 @orendabooks.bsky.social

Obviously disappointed to have been pipped to the post for the Nobel yet again, but this lovely write-up of RELEARNING TO READ BY @carosanderson.bsky.social is a powerful consolation carosanderson.substack.com/p/what-to-re...

Arrived at my desk this morning to find this. Just the encouragement I needed today! #parentsky

On Sunday, I'll be on stage at the Cheltenham Literature Festival reacting to the announcement of the new Nobel Literature laureate. Who do you think it's going to be? #booksky

Lately, I’ve sent RELEARNING TO READ to Armenia, India, Bhutan, the US, France, Italy, Eritrea and the UAE. These days, sending parcels internationally involves lengthy paperwork. So today I gave copies to Penny and Kate at my local post office to thank them for helping me get my book out there.

Absolutely bowled over by this piece in today's Culture Newsletter from @prospectmagazine.co.uk. What a generous, insightful and powerful review. Thank you! www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/the-...

RELEARNING TO READ is published to today. My dad died while I was writing it. He was planning to travel in retirement but never got to. I've dedicated the book to his memory; it makes me smile that as it sets off around the world, he goes with it. ayearofreadingtheworld.com/2025/10/01/p...

Publication day: Relearning to Read It's out! My fourth book, Relearning to Read: Adventures in Not-Knowing officially hits the shelves today. It's available worldwide in English and can be ordered through all the usual channels and bookshops, as well as directly through my publisher's website.…

Delighted to wish @annmorgan.bsky.social a happy #publicationday! A book about leaning into uncertainty to see the richness in lit from across the globe, in three slightly different covers, with a foreword by @lucycaldwell.bsky.social that will leave you beaming. 😁 renardpress.com/books/relear...

Whoop! We have SOLD OUT of the special numbered editions of RELEARNING TO READ and it's not even published yet! But don't despair, the paperback is available and comes in three slightly different covers. If you order one, it's a lucky dip. Or order three to be safe... renardpress.com/books/relear...

Book of the month: Ning Ken One of the lovely things about this project is the interactions I've had through it with writers around the world. The Chinese literary master Ning Ken is a great example. After I gave a quote to support Thomas Moran's English translation of Tibetan Sky, I received a…

Give away! Tell me about a book you gave or received for a chance to win a beautiful essay collection featuring many well-known writers' reflections on childhood reading (shipped anywhere in the world) ayearofreadingtheworld.com/2025/09/18/g...

Sure - it was the Oxford English Dictionary, which is what I also have on my desk.

Today is a sneaky early launch for my book #RelearningtoRead, published by @renardpress.com with a wonderful introduction by Lucy Caldwell. The official paperback publication date is 1 October but today fifty of these limited-edition copies, signed and hand-numbered by me, tumble into the world.