Happy International Translation Day! A big thank you to the translators that have helped us publish well over 100 translations at Clarkesworld. Your work is valued here.

I agree with Professor Nicky Marsh. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Duality is knowing that a) I would really enjoy having a device that could record my inner monologue so I could review it later for interesting nuggets and equally, b) I would NEVER trust a government or private entity with that kind of data about myself.

Honestly, Educating Yorkshire brings me so much joy. It’s the accents, I want more Yorkshire on my screen, always.

Just moved house to discover the kitchen sink isn’t connected properly, rendering it entirely useless for its intended purpose, so I’ve been washing up in the bathroom LIKE A SIM and I’m not thrilled about it.

If you’re in driving distance of the Central Coast, join me for one or both of these lively in-person workshops! It’s ridiculously cheap ($8??? Thank you Central Coast Council! 🙏🏻) Let me know if I will see you there! libraries.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/whats-on?tit...

This, from the Quakers, is a pretty good example of how to resist pressure from bigot lobbying groups. Effectively “we legally can allow trans people to use the loo, we morally should, and we tried it and nothing bad happened”

Just discovered a diary of sorts I wrote about 6/7 years ago, and I am reminded that I am SO FUNNY but also I can’t prove it because if I showed any of this to anyone else I’d have to immediately destroy at least one of us.

Update:

This is a big reasom why students are increasingly living at home and commuting to their local university — and why we need good strong local universities in all regions of the UK.

Speaking as an English Lit graduate, I find the sentence “there’s no need to be accurate, it’s just a book” deeply funny on approximately 62 levels.

Found this article infuriating but illuminating. Infuriating they managed to say all of this without push back, and unfortunately illuminating on the way so many are STILL claiming they’re the wronged parties.

With "writers" embracing the mediocrity of AI-produced slop, it's on us to fight back. And by fight back I mean be feral in your writing, be deeply weird and vulnerable and obsessive and human. Let the predictive text write its anodyne MoR bs. Spill your wild and your strange onto the page.

God, the number of people who were willing to believe that the South Yorkshire police were too woke to prosecute sexual abuse cases, when in fact the police force was itself an instrument of patriarchal sexual violence. It’s like a case study in the worst excesses of the British press.

Every AI company, loudly: “we’re gonna replace teachers.” Every university admin: we’re gonna build a responsible partnership with AI to support not replace.” Who to believe? I wonder …

Infancy, illness, and death ...

Today's Annual Event interview is with Amanda Addison and Jess Popplewell @jesspopps.bsky.social @neemtreepress.bsky.social @chickenhousebooks.bsky.social #UKYA #UKYASpotlight ukyaspotlight.co.uk/2025/07/12/a...

Over on @ukyaspotlight.bsky.social, we have annual event interviews with Amanda Addison and Jess Popplewell @jesspopps.bsky.social @neemtreepress.bsky.social @chickenhousebooks.bsky.social #UKYA #UKYASpotlight ukyaspotlight.co.uk/2025/07/12/a...

Here I am, being, I think, pretty thoughtful and nuanced about Generative AI and the state of YA publishing in the UK generally. ukyaspotlight.co.uk/2025/07/12/a...

Private Eye hits the nail on the head

Finished this current round of edits at 23:57 on a Sunday night thanks to lots of support today from Charlie at the Urban Writers Retreat. It feels good, I like this “having written” lark.

I am not convinced I’ve EVER seen a more quotable TV programme than Such Brave Girls. What a HORRID little piece of television, I LOVE it!!!!! 🖤

Funny how “I use AI to write, but it’s my prompt and I edit it a bit after” is morphing into “What do you mean AI could take my office job?!”

Did I mention that WITHERED HILL is a finalist for Best Horror Novel in the British Fantasy Awards…? Book info and purchase links here www.canelo.co/books/wither...

The link in this paragraph is to this excellent @wired.com piece from earlier today, 'The AI Backlash Keeps Growing Stronger' www.wired.com/story/genera...

This new class of error is being introduced everywhere. Every system you interact with is starting to only show stochastic behavior and fabrications. With massively damaging results

schoolreadinglist.co.uk/new-book-rel... New YA books by for Summer term 2025 with titles by Tasneem Abdur-Rashid, Nathanael Lessore, Elle McNicoll, Geraldine McCaughrean, Kenechi Udogu, Alexia Casale, Alex Wheatle, Leah Osakwe, Calum McSwiggan & Josh Silver. #KidLit #TeachersofX

Life hack

I'm very unimpressed by this article's failure to mention the AI companies scraped 'online data' from pirate websites, knowing this was in clear breach of copyright. Plus the recurrent failure to interrogate what the promised 'AI jobs and investment' might be in reality.

This petition is asking women to stand in solidarity with trans people. Already it’s grown to 19,573 signatures. Please sign & share. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity.

I see the Times is on “academic writing is too difficult and it’s a con” again. Some thoughts…

Roses are redde Noble are the manatees Yf we wante a bettir future Teach artes & humanityes

(It’s not really a challenge, it’s not like I keep it a secret how much I love this place)

If you think for a SECOND I’m not going to binge watch the new Walking with Dinosaurs series on iplayer this fine evening you are WRONG. What bliss, to be an adult with my own mind and TV license.

i know writers who use internal consistency and they're all cowards

It’s Mary Anning’s birthday, so time to share @katebeaton.bsky.social’s brilliant cartoon again.

2025: Keir Starmer suggests that pressure on housing and public services is because of migrants 2020: Keir Starmer, "Poor housing, poor public services are not the fault of the migrants, they're political failure"

In the days of lovely Twitter I often put out a call for help with research in writing my books. So here goes, Bluskiers. I'm looking for a social worker (adoption/fostering preferably) and a probation officer who worked between 2008 and 2012, the more senior the better. Please share :)

Everything this government is doing is disgusting and - even though I expected the worst from them - they're even worse than I expected.

Not the Pope???

Alex came up with cool ideas that really added to the worldbuilding. And he really understood the social anxiety and awkwardness of the character. The way he walks and moves in the suit is perfect.

Every day, a new reason to hate this government.

Yesterday lunchtime I had the absolute pleasure of attending a virtual assembly at the Baines School, where THE DARK WITHIN US was voted the WINNER of the James Baines book award for 2025. I love it more than anything when kids who were the target audience read and enjoy the thing I wrote for them.

The existence of sacred geometry implies the existence of profane geometry blasphemous geometry heretic geometry whoreful geometry we should look into that

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/a... This is such a good headline to be about… 5ive.