Nicola Pitchford
@npitchford.bsky.social
Immigrant. Winner of the inaugural Nature Chronicles Prize (2022). She/her. In Northern California on unceded Coast Miwok land.
Pinned
Nicola Pitchford
@npitchford.bsky.social
· Mar 19
‘She worked on the Harrier, the Concorde. She had a love of speed and freedom. Sports cars. Like the one in which she fled. Flew. From marriage and family. From us.’
Stunning piece by @npitchford.bsky.social for the decade-long collective #BirdsOfFirle project…
selkiepress.com/2025/03/18/b...
Stunning piece by @npitchford.bsky.social for the decade-long collective #BirdsOfFirle project…
selkiepress.com/2025/03/18/b...
Birds of Firle: She Was Always in Flight by Nicola Pitchford
Aerodynamics was her chosen field of engineering. She worked on the Harrier, the Concorde. She had a love of speed and freedom. Sports cars. Like the one in which eventually she fled. Flew. From ma…
selkiepress.com
Honoured to be part of the beautiful, fragile collective work #BirdsOfFirle, created & curated by Tanya. An ongoing project of 100 writers responding with objects & online to a single physical manuscript, circulated by post over the course of a decade. On grief & hope as the things with feathers...
I'm very glad Sami Hamdi is free. But this should never have happened.
Wow: Per Hamdi's legal team, his only charge was a visa overstay — after Trump revoked his visa.
Despite DHS tweeting that Hamdi supported terrorism, they never charged him with any criminality.
In other words: Trump revoked a journalist's visa, so agents could arrest him for overstaying his visa.
Despite DHS tweeting that Hamdi supported terrorism, they never charged him with any criminality.
In other words: Trump revoked a journalist's visa, so agents could arrest him for overstaying his visa.
NEW: British journalist Sami Hamdi is being released from US detention.
Trump administration agents detained him two weeks ago at the San Francisco airport — hours after he addressed an event, where he urged US leaders to take an “America First” approach rather than “Israel First.”
Trump administration agents detained him two weeks ago at the San Francisco airport — hours after he addressed an event, where he urged US leaders to take an “America First” approach rather than “Israel First.”
November 11, 2025 at 1:36 AM
I'm very glad Sami Hamdi is free. But this should never have happened.
And then there’s the view from my (lovely) office. Just perfect autumn light & colour today.
(Please do not expect me to get work done.)
(Please do not expect me to get work done.)
November 10, 2025 at 6:02 PM
And then there’s the view from my (lovely) office. Just perfect autumn light & colour today.
(Please do not expect me to get work done.)
(Please do not expect me to get work done.)
One of the good things about moving is that it gives you the excuse to discard those houseplants you’ve always secretly disdained.
November 10, 2025 at 4:23 PM
One of the good things about moving is that it gives you the excuse to discard those houseplants you’ve always secretly disdained.
Or walking into a room when you’re leaving soon
November 10, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Or walking into a room when you’re leaving soon
That moment on the threshold of leaving a room.
November 10, 2025 at 2:46 PM
That moment on the threshold of leaving a room.
The morning sky is feeding me.
November 10, 2025 at 2:39 PM
The morning sky is feeding me.
Well that’s it, I have the ultimate reason for the ultimate earworm.
50th anniversary of this Great Lakes tragedy, the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Its fascinating, and adds to the lore, that there are still multiple freighters of the same type (some of which were with the Fitz on that night, and helped in the initial search) still plying the lakes. More below.
Its fascinating, and adds to the lore, that there are still multiple freighters of the same type (some of which were with the Fitz on that night, and helped in the initial search) still plying the lakes. More below.
Folks around the Great Lakes: today is the anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
“…That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early…”
youtu.be/9vST6hVRj2A?...
“…That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early…”
youtu.be/9vST6hVRj2A?...
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Well that’s it, I have the ultimate reason for the ultimate earworm.
Windy & golden on the big hill this morning. The sickle (or scimitar) shape of a small hawk hangs immobile above me, partner in blue to the receding moon. Where the trees lean close to the trail, clusters of tiny bushtits squeaking.
November 9, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Windy & golden on the big hill this morning. The sickle (or scimitar) shape of a small hawk hangs immobile above me, partner in blue to the receding moon. Where the trees lean close to the trail, clusters of tiny bushtits squeaking.
I never grew deeply attached to this generous-but-always-temporary house, yet I do keep thinking of how these beautiful views over the garden filled my mother’s final weeks. And I’m grateful.
(Those are the garden steps where I broke my wrist.)
(Those are the garden steps where I broke my wrist.)
November 9, 2025 at 2:40 PM
I never grew deeply attached to this generous-but-always-temporary house, yet I do keep thinking of how these beautiful views over the garden filled my mother’s final weeks. And I’m grateful.
(Those are the garden steps where I broke my wrist.)
(Those are the garden steps where I broke my wrist.)
Well, I’ve gone & registered for a (non-refundable) ultramarathon. The special incentive this year is that I’ll be the youngest in my new age bracket! Dear god how my idea of fun has transformed over the years….
November 8, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Well, I’ve gone & registered for a (non-refundable) ultramarathon. The special incentive this year is that I’ll be the youngest in my new age bracket! Dear god how my idea of fun has transformed over the years….
Thanks for reposting! The found link is in the replies.
Writer pals, I saw a re-post on here earlier today about a yearlong online memoir-writing course/group. Now I can't find it. Any leads?
November 8, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Thanks for reposting! The found link is in the replies.
Writer pals, I saw a re-post on here earlier today about a yearlong online memoir-writing course/group. Now I can't find it. Any leads?
November 8, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Writer pals, I saw a re-post on here earlier today about a yearlong online memoir-writing course/group. Now I can't find it. Any leads?
“What we have is each other and our will to remake the world.”
— Kelly Hayes @mskellymhayes.bsky.social
— Kelly Hayes @mskellymhayes.bsky.social
November 8, 2025 at 3:51 PM
“What we have is each other and our will to remake the world.”
— Kelly Hayes @mskellymhayes.bsky.social
— Kelly Hayes @mskellymhayes.bsky.social
“These days, wins and losses unfold rapidly, and pivoting from one feeling to the next can be a challenge. When you’re living in a state of emergency—hypervigilant and raging against injustice—feelings of bitterness, rage, grief, and anxiety can feel all-consuming.”
My latest is a love letter to Chicago. "I see you stumbling through the stubborn, awkward rhythm of showing up, again and again. I see you fighting alongside people who sometimes frustrate and confuse you, and defending neighbors you may have never met, because you know they’re all your people."
In Chicago, We Run Toward Danger Together
"Faced with unrelenting state violence, Chicagoans have refused to be cowed," says Mariame Kaba.
organizingmythoughts.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:48 PM
“These days, wins and losses unfold rapidly, and pivoting from one feeling to the next can be a challenge. When you’re living in a state of emergency—hypervigilant and raging against injustice—feelings of bitterness, rage, grief, and anxiety can feel all-consuming.”
Reposted by Nicola Pitchford
Trump’s aid cuts are killing far more Nigerian Christians than Islamic terrorists are. Independent monitors in Nigeria report 33 deaths this year in attacks against Christians (fewer than the 88 Muslims killed). But Trump cut off aid that helped save 270,000 lives a year in Nigeria. 270,000 > 33.
Opinion | Trump Aid Cuts Kill More Christians Than Jihadists Do
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Trump’s aid cuts are killing far more Nigerian Christians than Islamic terrorists are. Independent monitors in Nigeria report 33 deaths this year in attacks against Christians (fewer than the 88 Muslims killed). But Trump cut off aid that helped save 270,000 lives a year in Nigeria. 270,000 > 33.
Reposted by Nicola Pitchford
DAILY REMINDER: Donald Trump is starving 42 MILLION Americans by withholding SNAP benefits.
November 8, 2025 at 11:06 AM
DAILY REMINDER: Donald Trump is starving 42 MILLION Americans by withholding SNAP benefits.
Saw JBNC in conversation with Rebecca Solnit a week or two ago & he was dynamic, irreverent, lovely. I'm really looking forward to reading the book.
(At the risk of sycophancy, I've seen Solnit in conversation with several writers now & really admire how sensitively she adapts to the needs of each)
(At the risk of sycophancy, I've seen Solnit in conversation with several writers now & really admire how sensitively she adapts to the needs of each)
NBCC member Paul Wilner interviewed Julian Brave NoiseCat about "We Survived The Night" for the Nob Hill Gazette:
Julian Brave Noisecat’s Literary Debut Makes a Striking Statement
“What any writer of nonfiction wants is to influence the world, which seems so immovable these days,” says Julian Brave NoiseCat, whose new book, We Survived the Night, comes to grips with his Native…
buff.ly
November 7, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Saw JBNC in conversation with Rebecca Solnit a week or two ago & he was dynamic, irreverent, lovely. I'm really looking forward to reading the book.
(At the risk of sycophancy, I've seen Solnit in conversation with several writers now & really admire how sensitively she adapts to the needs of each)
(At the risk of sycophancy, I've seen Solnit in conversation with several writers now & really admire how sensitively she adapts to the needs of each)
A grey, drizzly, thoroughly British morning. But there are coyotes whooping somewhere on the hill, the roadsides are glowing with fiery leaves & the California buckeye trees have hung out their bright baubles.
November 7, 2025 at 3:28 PM
A grey, drizzly, thoroughly British morning. But there are coyotes whooping somewhere on the hill, the roadsides are glowing with fiery leaves & the California buckeye trees have hung out their bright baubles.
Reposted by Nicola Pitchford
Book Cover of the Day:
November 7, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Book Cover of the Day:
Reposted by Nicola Pitchford
Mamdani: "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant."
SAY. THAT. SHIT!
SAY. THAT. SHIT!
November 5, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Mamdani: "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant."
SAY. THAT. SHIT!
SAY. THAT. SHIT!
Reposted by Nicola Pitchford
you can win without billionaires supporting you
you can win without party leadership endorsing you
you can win unapologetically standing with every persecuted minority pundits say are too politically toxic to touch
we could do everything about this process differently if we wanted to
you can win without party leadership endorsing you
you can win unapologetically standing with every persecuted minority pundits say are too politically toxic to touch
we could do everything about this process differently if we wanted to
Can’t stop thinking about all the robber baron fucks that held secret meetings and spent MILLIONS AND MILLIONS in bribes and campaign investments and attack ads and media manipulation trying to tank Mamdani currently having the dawning realization that their money is completely and utterly useless.
November 5, 2025 at 3:03 AM
you can win without billionaires supporting you
you can win without party leadership endorsing you
you can win unapologetically standing with every persecuted minority pundits say are too politically toxic to touch
we could do everything about this process differently if we wanted to
you can win without party leadership endorsing you
you can win unapologetically standing with every persecuted minority pundits say are too politically toxic to touch
we could do everything about this process differently if we wanted to
Goddammit, this feels like hope.
November 5, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Goddammit, this feels like hope.
Maybe there’s a little bit of magic in the air tonight.
November 5, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Maybe there’s a little bit of magic in the air tonight.
Also playing dress-up for the day.
C’mon CA & NYC let’s go.
C’mon CA & NYC let’s go.
November 4, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Also playing dress-up for the day.
C’mon CA & NYC let’s go.
C’mon CA & NYC let’s go.
I am an immigrant & I vote. Fear me.
(Privileged to be a citizen also.)
(Privileged to be a citizen also.)
November 4, 2025 at 3:12 PM
I am an immigrant & I vote. Fear me.
(Privileged to be a citizen also.)
(Privileged to be a citizen also.)