We are thrilled to reveal the 2026 #WomensPrize for Fiction longlist. 16 titles that showcase the profound force, resonance and scale of fiction writing: from tackling turbulent global issues to examining the intensely intimate. Discover the longlist here: youtu.be/fyPfDaHddLg

Two days to go… The 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist will be revealed at 2pm GMT this Wednesday 4 March. Will we be seeing you there? #WomensPrize #WomensPrizeforFiction

When There Are Wolves Again is a BSFA finalist! 🐺 Utterly delighted and in amazing company too. Congratulations to all the finalists! www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...

I’m a big fan of Sandra Newman’s novel The Heavens with its time slip from noughties New York to Elizabethan England. So, I’m pretty overwhelmed to read this early response. Coming: September 2026 @goldsf.bsky.social @goldsmithspress.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @sarahsuch.bsky.social

Welcome @tadethompson.bsky.social and the superb Antara, an historical fiction novel, on the pre-Islamic warrior poet of renown 😍 Big thanks to Alexander Cochran at @greyhoundliterary.bsky.social! Antara will be out in 2027. Cover by @alisonsampson.bsky.social. @publishingscotland.bsky.social

So chuffed to have my climate short story in this anthology’s wonderful lineup! Life in far-future biodomes saving temperate ecosystems 🙂 Thanks to editor @wishusdonna.bsky.social and NewCon Press.

What a joy, to have been even a small part of this! It’s all been a lark.

‘…the neo-classical school of economics had come to dominate universities “like Catholic theology in medieval Europe … a doctrine that fundamentally defines the way humanity sees the world”.’

I began to write LOSS PROTOCOL in 2023, and here at last is a box of copies of the finished book. Published, in the UK, on February 12th.

The oldest known image of an owl: More than 30,000 years ago, someone skillfully scratched the figure of a long-eared owl (Asio otus) into the soft outer layer of the walls of Chauvet Cave, France. The owl is looking backward over their wings, head turned 180 degrees carnegiemnh.org/ancient-owl-...

Spent today in an archive of 19th-century diaries. I know people have commented on how the frequency of mail in e.g. 19th-century London made letters like emails, bouncing back & forth multiple times per day. But I realized today that they were actually more like social media posts, because ... 1/2

Every month in Our Human Story, I explore archaeology and human evolution, and try to make sense of all the latest findings. Sign up now, in time to get the next edition. @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/sign-up/our-human-story/

“Music and books are both about finding your voice. We are all made of stories – they define who we are.”

“You only get a few months of rest in the summer. When the winter comes, you’re just waiting for disaster. He said his insurance was “astronomical”, but that he was lucky to get any cover at all.

Spring Tree No. 1, 1945 #georgiaokeeffe #precisionism

My last @backlisted.bsky.social (for the moment!) and I think it’s an absolute belter. Ian Patterson is just incredible; I could listen to him talk about books all day. The rest of us are pretty good too.

So pleased to see ALSTON MOOR on this great list. Many of the recs on my own TBR! 📚📚📚 @abigailnussbaum.bsky.social @goldsmithspress.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @sarahsuch.bsky.social

I’m a big fan of Sean Scully. Fascinating interview. “Abstract painting goes straight into your soul. So I think it has to believe in some kind of spiritual power. I mean, that’s its function, because it’s pre-verbal, isn’t it? It goes bang, straight inside.”

I’m thrilled to reveal the stunning cover art for my novel, ALSTON MOOR. Coming 29 September! I’m so grateful to cover designer Heather Ryerson and the team at @goldsmithspress.bsky.social @goldsf.bsky.social. 📚@unamccormack.bsky.social @sarahsuch.bsky.social More: annecharnock.com/alston-moor/...

A lovely early shout-out for ALSTON MOOR, coming September 2026. 📚🥰📚 Thank you! (I’m also eager for the new Ben Tufnell) @solarisbooks.bsky.social

My festive season in Narnia (Bavaria). 💚 ⛄️ 🥶

My best reads of 2025. That is, a broad selection from a good reading year 📚📚📚 annecharnock.com/end-of-year-...

“[It] shows just how important the weather can be; this is particularly for young birds that are less well insulated and less experienced at finding food in difficult conditions.”

Tis the season, so, some great books I read in 2025: ejswift.co.uk/2025/12/28/y...

A few of my favourite wildlife and landscape photos in 2025, shot on the Isle of Bute. 💚 More in the comments 🙂

A hoar frost for the festive season 💚🥶💚

Early ferry! Lovely start to the day.

Oooh this tide calendar is interesting. I need to think it through but at a glance I think it relies on knowing the local "age of the tide". That is, it would work only at a specific location. Did they have them for different ports? Or get told a local correction to apply?

Beautiful book post; coming soon from @goldsf.bsky.social! @darusha.ca

For Monday: a wren! 💚 Isle of Bute.

‘Taking the guesswork out of farming’. Exciting stuff. Fingers crossed, @georgemonbiot.bsky.social 💚 Measuring peat depth too!

Happy to see eco-fiction When There Are Wolves Again on this intiguing list. More for the book pile! 📚💚📚 @catamaroon.bsky.social @adamroberts.bsky.social

Oh, my favourite wading bird: a bar-tailed godwit 💚 Isle of Bute

For Monday: a little egret lifting off from Ettrick Bay. Isle of Bute 💚

A curlew! Snacking on the shore of Scalpsie Bay.

“The younger generation is the most ecologically informed ever." They are also “the most emotionally involved in [nature loss], have contributed the least to [its] causing, and are going to suffer most as a result.” The power of rewilding to transform our own lives, as well as nature.

Reach for the stars... New @backlisted.bsky.social, LAST AND FIRST MEN by Olaf Stapledon, with @mdeabaitua.bsky.social!

Guest Lesley Glaister admires Jane Rogers' climate-themed short story collection, FIRE READY: "Marvellously eclectic ... fuelled by anger about climate change but shot through with light & hope." reviewsbywriters.blogspot.com/2025/11/gues... #clifi #shortstories @commapress.bsky.social #greatreads

For Monday: An oddly robotic looking robin redbreast.

Many thanks to Gus Gresham for this fab review of Maybe the Birds 💛 everybodysreviewing.blogspot.com/2025/11/revi... @goldsf.bsky.social @goldsmithspress.bsky.social

We are very sad to learn of the death of our friend Rachel Cooke. In addition to being a wonderful writer and a superb critic, she loved books to her core. She kept us on our toes and it was a joy and a privilege to spend time with her, on and off the show. RIP. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

The best hour of my week! @backlisted.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social

“The most we tend to hear from István himself is a bland, noncommittal “OK”. It’s a risky strategy, but this narrative flatness hugely pays off: it entices the reader into the yawning gaps”

For Monday: two harbour seals at Scalpsie Bay, Isle of Bute. 💚

Congratulations to Nina Allan! What an achievement! www.livreshebdo.fr/article/le-p...

Back on the Isle of Bute! Sunset stroll on Scalpsie Bay. 🙂

Still blown away by the fact that Heartwood won a World Fantasy Award last night. Such a fantastic weekend at the World Fantasy Convention, topped off in spectacular style. Wonderful to meet @joe-hill.bsky.social and @ericlarocca.bsky.social too. Now, back to work!

“a beautiful, moving story. Neither cosy nor dystopian, hopeful but not punk; it offers a future with as many setbacks and tragedies as there are joys and steps forward.” Well said, @niallharrison.bsky.social @catamaroon.bsky.social