One of my favourite things about Germany is their coffee and cake afternoon ritual

“The Motability scheme was set up to protect the most vulnerable. Not to subsidise the lease on a Mercedes Benz,” Reeves says. Misleading and nasty in equal measure.

SHUTTERS #photo Francis H Powell #photoshare #WindowsOnWednesday

How "Christian" all this hate is, to be sure. Reminds me of the Spanish Inquisition...

Really chuffed to be shortlisted for the Wigtown Book Festival's Anne Brown prize again. I love non-fiction essays, reading them & writing them, & the award provides a rare opportunity to have a go. Good luck to everyone.

'I thought I'd never see my kids grow up - a stranger's kindness led to a miracle' www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol...

This man will not be fired for calling for the murder of American citizens, yet multiple journalists/reporters/teachers lost their job for accurately reporting things Charlie Kirk actually said and stood for. But it’s the “violent left” that’s the problem

Detail: Railings of The Glasgow School of Art. Charles Rennie Mackintosh. c.1907.

Marie Maynard Daly: First Black Woman PhD Chemist Who Unlocked Cholesterol's Deadly Secrets voxmeditantis.com/2025/09/13/m... #WomenInSTEM #STEM #Biochemistry #Cardiology #Cholesterol

"Such pictures increase in power as the years go by. The people who took us pass away, and we ourselves grow up and change, but the stones stay the same." Peter Ross tries to solve the mystery of a fuzzy childhood photograph.

If we’re serious about lifting indie lit, we need systems that work. That’s what #PIL is. Submit today. #PromoteIndieLit 🔗

nice project by young Scottish artists, covers of Joy Division songs in aid of the CALM charity - please have a listen! 👍 #CALM #charity #JoyDivision #ScottishArtists #music #health soboringband.bandcamp.com/track/24-hours

Cafe Writers is tomorrow night - Monday 8th - and features tow excellent poets: Amanda Dalton and Kathy Pimlott - seriously not to be missed. Still time to book a free ticket! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cafe-write...

Remembering the dark period of witchcraft accusations in Ayrshire secretscotland.wordpress.com/2025/09/05/r...

know it's not Glasgow, but I love this knitted postbox topper I came across in the village of Failford in Ayrshire yesterday. #postboxtopper #ayrshire #streetart #yarnbombing #tractor #fieldmouse #postbox #failford

By chance, I met this ancient oak near Mauchline, Ayrshire. My hiking pole on the right gives an idea of girth. Trees this age and size are so rare in Ireland that this would be celebrated. But in Scotland, they seem no big deal. Irish nature is a mere shell of what it once was. Time to rewild!! 🌏

Still life with blue tit, Georg Flegel, 1629.

Today is #NationalReadABookDay which we firmly believe should be celebrated every day! Whether you've borrowed from the #library, treated yourself to something new at a #bookshop, or have curled up on the sofa with a dog-eared favourite, happy reading!

In Hope Bowdler churchyard lies Francis Phillips (1657); his gravestone is one of the oldest in Shropshire. On the stone, it wishes for "an untroubled mold" which expresses his desire to lie in the grave undisturbed. It is an incredible piece of history and reminds us how special churchyards can be.

Our in-person 'Writing Time & Place in Fiction' in Glasgow today has sold out. However, our online version tomorrow (Sun 7 Sept, 1.30-5.30pm BST) still has a couple of place. Book here: www.thi-wurd.com/product/writ...

Winner of the @hedgehogpress.co.uk first pamphlet competition 2023, 'Close-Up' is a 'carefully structured' collection that is built on 'built on close observation of the world, of nature and human experience, and how we relate to and respond to it.' inksweatandtears.co.uk/chris-hardy-... #Reviews

“Nigel Farage says….” has been the headline of the decade. Look at what he does, ffs. Look at his tax affairs. Look at his grifting. Look at his lies. Look at his prejudice. Look at his allies. Look at his manifesto. Look at his Brexit. He is the embodiment of personal greed and national failure.

Due to planned transport strikes, on Monday 8 September – Thursday 11 September our St Pancras site will open 09:30 – 18:00. Reading Rooms and Reader Registration will open at 10.00 and close at 17.00. Plan your visit: bit.ly/BLPlanVisit

By @poetalicewhite.bsky.social:

I am absolutely thrilled to have five pieces published & beautifully presented on the splendid @lothlorienpoetryj.bsky.social site, edited by that great member of the #poetrycommunity @stridermarcusjones.bsky.social #poetsonbluesky #poetry #writingcommunity #booksky

The emotional significance of objects sends ripples through our lives, which is why this is often my final poem when I give a reading. It's taken from my second full collection, Whatever You Don't, Just Don't. If you fancy a signed copy, drop me a DM and I'll sort one out for you...

You had your chance to remove and bar him from the presidency after Jan 6. And you chickened out.

Attending a writing retreat can be a great way to start or advance a project. Have you ever been on a retreat? I love looking at these listings and daydreaming a little. So many inspiring possibilities! #writingcommunity writingretreatdirectory.com/find-a-retre...

#IndieAuthor #authorsky #indiebook #indiepub #selfpublishing inventingrealityediting.com/2...

All are welcome to contribute to the non-themed October Anthology of The Starbeck Orion. Be great to see some spooky stuff, though this is not essential. Here are the contribution details: open.substack.com/pub/the880/p...

Nigel Farage looks uncomfortable as Jamie Raskin uses his opening statement to absolutely demolish him

And now for something completely different… Sofie Amalia Ribbing 1835 – 1894 Swedish painter of the Düsseldorf School. She specialized in portraits and genre scenes, often placed in family settings Boys Drawing (aka Drawing Boys), 1864 Oil on canvas 91.5 cm 79 cm Gothenburg Museum of Art

Yes. And the first recorded black community in England lived in Burgh by Sands in Cumbria 1,800 years ago. They were originally African soldiers in the Roman army, but many of them stayed on after their service. They married local women and raised families there, in what would later become England.

2 places left Dilston Physic Garden Writing your Life’s Journey near Corbridge. Gentle writing workshop to access your wealth of experiences in a positive & affirming way. Sunday 7 Sept, 10am-4pm. Only £65. Booking details: www.writingforwellbeing.co.uk/therapy-and-... #WritingforWellbeing #writing

Trump threatening members of Congress not to sign the Epstein files discharge petition saying it would be a “hostile act” against him is definitely something an innocent person would do. And scheduling a military flyover in the middle of the survivor press conference is also totally normal behavior.

Cult Challenge: September 2025: “A Pocket Full of Christmas” Last year we had our first Christmas Annual, and it went down so well that I thought it would be daft, even by my standards, not to make it an err, annual Annual. So this month's Challenge is to write a wee Christmas poem that has a…

children are invited to write poems about the classic British vegetable the pea www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/2529497...

The Poetry Collection: Langston Hughes, an icon of the Harlem Renaissance theboar.org/2025/06/the-...

IMPORTANT INFO!

William Butler Yeats, born on this day in 1865

Edinburgh's Makar: 'I still feel Scott Hutchinson's gargantuan absence' #frightenedrabbit www.heraldscotland.com/news/2521607...

Ann Fisher-Wirth and the urgency of poetry in today’s world magnoliatribune.com/2025/06/01/a...

“Peacock Spine Debut Collection Competition #2” – A Poetry Pamphlet Competition Deadline: 31st July 2025 “Peacock Spine Debut Collection Competition” - A Poetry Pamphlet Competition Win the chance to see your Debut collection of  poems, published beautifully in one of our rather lovely pamphlets…

“Pocket Hedgehog Micro Collection Competition #3” – A Poetry Pamphlet Competition Deadline: 31st July 2025 “Pocket Hedgehog Micro Collection Competition” - A Poetry Pamphlet Competition Win the chance to see your Micro collection of  poems, published beautifully in one of our rather lovely…

What then is beauty A patch of brightness Ammonite spirals #Paisleypattern #mandala #everydaysketchbook #sketchbookrevival #micropoetry #haiku

Doctor Zhivago: The banned book the CIA smuggled across the Iron Curtain cherwell.org/2025/06/01/o...

The Salt Path saved my life in 2020/21 when so many awful things happened one after the other on top of Covid. Enforced homelessness Heartbreaking illness Six hundred and thirty miles Walking the salt path One step at a time #raynorwinn #thesaltpath #collage #mixedmedia #chaiku #poem