Jess Traynor
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jesstraynor.bsky.social
Jess Traynor
@jesstraynor.bsky.social
Poetry and other bits of writing | Pit Lullabies with Bloodaxe Books and The Quick and Liffey Swim with Dedalus Press | Essays in Tolka, The Stinging Fly and The Dublin Review | Poetry editor at Banshee | New Arcana forthcoming Sept 25 from Bloodaxe Books.
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Hello new followers, I am a poet and this is my new collection coming September 2025 from @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social
🔥🔥🔥
Reposted by Jess Traynor
February 1, 2026 at 6:27 PM
I will be emerging from hibernation for these two launches! Come see us in Dublin or Belfast ✨️
January 23, 2026 at 1:31 PM
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This is really good.

"and if they hurt you, write your curses onto them / till they shrivel like salted slugs."
January 13, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Back on for the briefest of minutes to share this lovely review of New Arcana from the latest issue of The Alchemy Spoon. ✨️
@bloodaxebooks.bsky.social
January 12, 2026 at 9:57 AM
Going offline to meet some book deadlines in the next 6 months. Will be back on later in the spring to publicise upcoming workshops and New Arcana readings. If you need me, email is best as I won't see DMs. Happy new year all ✨️
January 4, 2026 at 11:37 PM
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Starting the New Year in the company of @rosamundtaylor.bsky.social’s compelling novel in verse ‘Filly’ from @bansheepress.bsky.social 🤩
January 2, 2026 at 11:33 AM
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You don’t ban aid groups, unless you want people to suffer.
December 31, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Really interesting reflections on poetry collection as concept album here, alongside some great recommendations (delighted to be among them)
@bloodaxebooks.bsky.social
👀🪅 Poetry recommendations 2025. Free to read here. open.substack.com/pub/letthede...
December 31, 2025 at 7:39 PM
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Sorry but we literally debunked this like last month when he did this dog whistle. Fintan O'Toole literally did the maths, in the Times no less, that showed that this isn't true.

Why are we bothering to publish such an obvious lie when we know it's a lie?
December 31, 2025 at 11:14 AM
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And at the end of it all I wrote this piece about what I came away thinking about the whole thing (also, that's the baby that chewed my notebook in the previous piece about the women's centre in the Adre camp): www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Patrick Freyne: Returning home from Chad, I feel there’s a glitch in western empathy
The Sudan war is the world’s biggest humanitarian disaster, but it seems our human compassion is taken up by other conflicts
www.irishtimes.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Jess Traynor
Heba Muraisi, on day 54: “[I]can feel myself get weaker as each day passes" with "bruising on her arm and constant body ache"…is losing the ability to "form sentences, and struggling to maintain conversation".

She vows to continue until their demands are met.

www.thenational.scot/news/2572535...
Hunger strikers on day 54 of protest 'losing ability to speak and stand'
PALESTINE Action protesters on hunger strike in prison are "losing the ability to speak and stand", according to Prisoners for Palestine
www.thenational.scot
December 28, 2025 at 6:43 PM
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There is no ceasefire.
There never was a ceasefire.
December 25, 2025 at 9:27 AM
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At dawn today, Israeli occupation forces stormed the home of Palestinian writer and political researcher Sari Orabi in Rafat, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, and abducted him.
December 25, 2025 at 8:40 AM
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Many of the remaining churches across Gaza either scaled back or cancelled Christmas activities altogether.
‘No true sense of celebration' as Israeli bombs drown out Christmas in Gaza
Many of the remaining churches across Gaza either scaled back or cancelled Christmas activities altogether.
www.aljazeera.com
December 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM
For the day that's in it, my poem Midwinter from my third collection Pit Lullabies performed by Ayesha Ostler & recorded by the lovely folks at @brinkerhoffpoetry.bsky.social

@bloodaxebooks.bsky.social
youtu.be/eE1DSoRfrck?...
Ayesha Ostler reads Jessica Traynor's "Midwinter"
YouTube video by Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation
youtu.be
December 21, 2025 at 3:20 PM
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Louise Glück for the day that is in it.
December 20, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Knew about this guy since, years ago, he was employed in an Irish theatre by another renowned sex pest. Both were allowed to continue for years, because society (women included) are happy to prop these people up if they're benefitting from their success.
December 19, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Design team briefing: 'we really want to emphasise that this is a premium burger'
December 19, 2025 at 5:42 PM
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Poem-a-day advent calendar 🎁 Day 17 is 'I Hear the Rocks and Stones' from 'Harbour Doubts' by @bebeashley.bsky.social @bansheepress.bsky.social 😍✨
December 17, 2025 at 8:18 PM
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Looking at my old photoshop folders and...
December 17, 2025 at 9:53 AM
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December news: shorturl.at/jj7Ip

#GeorgeSzirtes & #SelimaHill presented with King's Gold Medal for Poetry; @poetpatriciasmith.bsky.social wins the US #NationalBookAward for Poetry 2025; Bloodaxe titles on #BooksoftheYear lists; @jesstraynor.bsky.social on RTE Radio 1's Arena; & much more!
December 17, 2025 at 10:57 AM
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Finally, a subscription to Banshee was recommended as a great Christmas present for literature lovers in @irishtimes.com 🎁

www.irishtimes.com/culture/book... (3/3)
Beyond books: Christmas gifts for the literature lover in your life
Sometimes the hardest thing to buy for a bookworm is a regular novel, biography or history book. Here's a selection of bookish gift ideas that go beyond the norm
www.irishtimes.com
December 16, 2025 at 2:38 PM
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@jackflag.bsky.social's cover for Claire-Lise Kieffer's Tenterhooks was also cited by Jack's fellow designers as one of the best covers of the year in @literaryhub.bsky.social 🫴

lithub.com/the-173-best... (2/3)
The 173 Best Book Covers of 2025
Per Literary Hub tradition, I am pleased to present the best book covers of the year—as chosen by some of the industry’s best book cover designers. This year, I asked 52 designers to share their fa…
lithub.com
December 16, 2025 at 2:38 PM