Paul Leyland
@paul51.bsky.social
Insect photographer & bibliophile
Reposted by Paul Leyland
You could start here. And there is great grandeur in this episode. But you could also start anywhere. @backlisted.bsky.social is a real national treasure, I don't say that lightly. If you need inspiration to read, you'll always find it here. Bravo Andy, and all the team. Heroic, heroic stuff.
False modesty is bullshit. So this is an exceptional episode of the podcast I have poured my heart, soul and brain into for ten years. It was a privilege to discuss C.S. Lewis with Rowan Williams, knowing a) you'd get to hear it and b) nobody does it like we do. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/257...
257. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis — Backlisted
Dr Rowan Williams, theologian, poet and former Archbishop of Canterbury, joins Andy and John for a thoughtful and moving discussion of Till We Have Faces (1956), the last novel by C.S. Lew...
www.backlisted.fm
February 10, 2026 at 7:59 AM
You could start here. And there is great grandeur in this episode. But you could also start anywhere. @backlisted.bsky.social is a real national treasure, I don't say that lightly. If you need inspiration to read, you'll always find it here. Bravo Andy, and all the team. Heroic, heroic stuff.
Reposted by Paul Leyland
New on the blog today I've written about STORIES FOR MOTHERS & DAUGHTERS, another excellent anthology from the @blpublishing.bsky.social Women Writers series.
Featuring stories by Maeve Brennan, A.S. Byatt, Jeanette Winterson & more! #BookSky #ReadIndies 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/02/08/s...
Featuring stories by Maeve Brennan, A.S. Byatt, Jeanette Winterson & more! #BookSky #ReadIndies 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/02/08/s...
Stories for Mothers and Daughters – Maeve Brennan, A. S. Byatt, Jeanette Winterson & more!
Over the past few years, the British Library has been doing sterling work with its excellent Women Writers series, reissuing lesser-known 20th-century novels by female authors for modern-day reader…
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
February 8, 2026 at 7:17 AM
New on the blog today I've written about STORIES FOR MOTHERS & DAUGHTERS, another excellent anthology from the @blpublishing.bsky.social Women Writers series.
Featuring stories by Maeve Brennan, A.S. Byatt, Jeanette Winterson & more! #BookSky #ReadIndies 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/02/08/s...
Featuring stories by Maeve Brennan, A.S. Byatt, Jeanette Winterson & more! #BookSky #ReadIndies 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/02/08/s...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Can’t wait for it to be like this. Spring scene with insects, from ‘Brehms Tierleben’ (Leipzig, 1892). Waddleton.b.1.146 @theul.bsky.social
February 7, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Can’t wait for it to be like this. Spring scene with insects, from ‘Brehms Tierleben’ (Leipzig, 1892). Waddleton.b.1.146 @theul.bsky.social
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Humans continue to poison the species that sustain planetary ecosystems. We are so very stupid....
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
Nature is under threat from rapidly rising pesticide use | Natural History Museum
An international target to slash pesticide use by 2030 is unlikely to be met.
www.nhm.ac.uk
February 6, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Humans continue to poison the species that sustain planetary ecosystems. We are so very stupid....
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
"Riddley Walkers ben to show
Riddley Walkers on the go
Dont go Riddley Walkers track
Drop Johns ryding on his back
Stil I wunt have no other track."
Happy birthday Russell Hoban.
Riddley Walkers on the go
Dont go Riddley Walkers track
Drop Johns ryding on his back
Stil I wunt have no other track."
Happy birthday Russell Hoban.
February 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM
"Riddley Walkers ben to show
Riddley Walkers on the go
Dont go Riddley Walkers track
Drop Johns ryding on his back
Stil I wunt have no other track."
Happy birthday Russell Hoban.
Riddley Walkers on the go
Dont go Riddley Walkers track
Drop Johns ryding on his back
Stil I wunt have no other track."
Happy birthday Russell Hoban.
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Please see A Personal Anthology by @polyscribe70.bsky.social
for an insightful analysis of his fave #shortstories inc. Celia by
@grahammort.bsky.social and Helium by
@david-bevan.bsky.social from Fictive Dream. Courtesy of
@jonathangibbs.bsky.social
apersonalanthology.substack.com/p/a-personal...
for an insightful analysis of his fave #shortstories inc. Celia by
@grahammort.bsky.social and Helium by
@david-bevan.bsky.social from Fictive Dream. Courtesy of
@jonathangibbs.bsky.social
apersonalanthology.substack.com/p/a-personal...
A Personal Anthology, by Mike Fox
‘The Quiet’ by Carys Davies (First published in The Stinging Fly 2014, then in the collection The Redemption of Galen Pike, Salt 2014.
apersonalanthology.substack.com
February 2, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Please see A Personal Anthology by @polyscribe70.bsky.social
for an insightful analysis of his fave #shortstories inc. Celia by
@grahammort.bsky.social and Helium by
@david-bevan.bsky.social from Fictive Dream. Courtesy of
@jonathangibbs.bsky.social
apersonalanthology.substack.com/p/a-personal...
for an insightful analysis of his fave #shortstories inc. Celia by
@grahammort.bsky.social and Helium by
@david-bevan.bsky.social from Fictive Dream. Courtesy of
@jonathangibbs.bsky.social
apersonalanthology.substack.com/p/a-personal...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
An interesting coincidence. This morning I took down from a shelf a book that's been there for a few years: Stories from the New Yorker 1950-1960. I'd decided to do something I'd intended for a while: read it cover to cover, with perhaps a reading thread to accompany it.
January 31, 2026 at 11:43 PM
An interesting coincidence. This morning I took down from a shelf a book that's been there for a few years: Stories from the New Yorker 1950-1960. I'd decided to do something I'd intended for a while: read it cover to cover, with perhaps a reading thread to accompany it.
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Murmuration - by Scottish artist and printmaker, Babs Pease
We loved this one so much that we have a copy hanging on our wall!
More of this artist's fabulous work, here: www.babspeasedesign.com
#art #printmaking #linocut #hares #birds
We loved this one so much that we have a copy hanging on our wall!
More of this artist's fabulous work, here: www.babspeasedesign.com
#art #printmaking #linocut #hares #birds
January 24, 2026 at 8:16 PM
Murmuration - by Scottish artist and printmaker, Babs Pease
We loved this one so much that we have a copy hanging on our wall!
More of this artist's fabulous work, here: www.babspeasedesign.com
#art #printmaking #linocut #hares #birds
We loved this one so much that we have a copy hanging on our wall!
More of this artist's fabulous work, here: www.babspeasedesign.com
#art #printmaking #linocut #hares #birds
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Yay! And So Did I (Boiler House Press, 2025) is now on the dedicated Malachi Whitaker stand at Waterstones, Bradford. Alongside The Journey Home & Other Stories (Persephone, 2017) and Benighted by JB Priestley (who went to the same Bradford school).
January 20, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Yay! And So Did I (Boiler House Press, 2025) is now on the dedicated Malachi Whitaker stand at Waterstones, Bradford. Alongside The Journey Home & Other Stories (Persephone, 2017) and Benighted by JB Priestley (who went to the same Bradford school).
Reposted by Paul Leyland
'Share' if you agree!
January 19, 2026 at 10:30 AM
'Share' if you agree!
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Book Review - Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor whatcathyreadnext.co.uk/2026/01/19/b...
Book Review – Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor
About the Book It is 1938 and for Manod, a young woman living on a remote island off the coast of Wales, the world looks ready to end just as she is trying to imagine a future for herself. The omin…
whatcathyreadnext.co.uk
January 19, 2026 at 8:16 AM
Book Review - Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor whatcathyreadnext.co.uk/2026/01/19/b...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
I loved Sylvia Townsend Warner's stunning, funny, richly imagined historical novel, THE CORNER THAT HELD THEM. My thoughts:
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/t...
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/t...
January 17, 2026 at 6:25 AM
I loved Sylvia Townsend Warner's stunning, funny, richly imagined historical novel, THE CORNER THAT HELD THEM. My thoughts:
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/t...
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/t...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Jake Thackray - The Unsung Writer explains his approach.
January 16, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Jake Thackray - The Unsung Writer explains his approach.
Reposted by Paul Leyland
And off it goes, Mike Fox’s Personal Anthology, stooping at the bathroom sink in stripy pyjamas to wash, filling its smelly pipe with minute pinches of tobacco from a pouch in its cracked sheepskin waistcoat, going through the moor gate and following the path along the drainage dyke...
A Personal Anthology, by Mike Fox
‘The Quiet’ by Carys Davies (First published in The Stinging Fly 2014, then in the collection The Redemption of Galen Pike, Salt 2014.
apersonalanthology.substack.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:11 PM
And off it goes, Mike Fox’s Personal Anthology, stooping at the bathroom sink in stripy pyjamas to wash, filling its smelly pipe with minute pinches of tobacco from a pouch in its cracked sheepskin waistcoat, going through the moor gate and following the path along the drainage dyke...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
After 41 years at the Guardian, Martin Kettle has written his last column. This is it. (I have read him since I was a politics sixth-former, and his wisdom and ability to see the big picture is immense.) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The world of today looks bad, but take hope: we’ve been here before and got through it – and we will again | Martin Kettle
As I write my last regular column for the Guardian, my thoughts turn to the lessons and hope we can take from history, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:25 PM
After 41 years at the Guardian, Martin Kettle has written his last column. This is it. (I have read him since I was a politics sixth-former, and his wisdom and ability to see the big picture is immense.) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Grace Gillespie, contemporary printmaker #Womensart
January 12, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Grace Gillespie, contemporary printmaker #Womensart
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Happy birthday to us!
Our founders – Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley – believed that nature, beauty and history were for everyone. On this day in 1895, they set up the National Trust and we're proud to continue their work today.
Thank you to all those who support what we do.
Our founders – Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley – believed that nature, beauty and history were for everyone. On this day in 1895, they set up the National Trust and we're proud to continue their work today.
Thank you to all those who support what we do.
January 12, 2026 at 8:21 AM
Happy birthday to us!
Our founders – Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley – believed that nature, beauty and history were for everyone. On this day in 1895, they set up the National Trust and we're proud to continue their work today.
Thank you to all those who support what we do.
Our founders – Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley – believed that nature, beauty and history were for everyone. On this day in 1895, they set up the National Trust and we're proud to continue their work today.
Thank you to all those who support what we do.
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Winter Moon - by Chinese contemporary woodblock printer, Shi Yi, who is celebrated for his technically stunning designs of village life and rural China.
#art #woodblock #printmaking
#art #woodblock #printmaking
January 12, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Winter Moon - by Chinese contemporary woodblock printer, Shi Yi, who is celebrated for his technically stunning designs of village life and rural China.
#art #woodblock #printmaking
#art #woodblock #printmaking
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Some thoughts on Joan O'Donovan's 1959 novel The Visited (and why she should really have picked one genre) www.stuckinabook.com/the-visited-...
The Visited (1959) by Joan O’Donovan
The Visited (1959) by Joan O’Donovan is yet another book that I’ve read because of a post by Brad. Well, if he starts a post by talking about ‘misfit spinsters’, you know I&…
www.stuckinabook.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:38 PM
Some thoughts on Joan O'Donovan's 1959 novel The Visited (and why she should really have picked one genre) www.stuckinabook.com/the-visited-...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Want to help nature thrive in 2026? Here are our top 5 tips:
🐝 let dandelions grow
🐞 avoid pesticides and weedkiller
🌻 grow nectar-rich flowers
🐸 provide water
🪲 make a log pile
More:
littlegreenspace.org.uk/features/5-t...
🐝 let dandelions grow
🐞 avoid pesticides and weedkiller
🌻 grow nectar-rich flowers
🐸 provide water
🪲 make a log pile
More:
littlegreenspace.org.uk/features/5-t...
January 10, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Want to help nature thrive in 2026? Here are our top 5 tips:
🐝 let dandelions grow
🐞 avoid pesticides and weedkiller
🌻 grow nectar-rich flowers
🐸 provide water
🪲 make a log pile
More:
littlegreenspace.org.uk/features/5-t...
🐝 let dandelions grow
🐞 avoid pesticides and weedkiller
🌻 grow nectar-rich flowers
🐸 provide water
🪲 make a log pile
More:
littlegreenspace.org.uk/features/5-t...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Immediate pre-order this afternoon. Go go go, said the bird. @claypipemusic.bsky.social @andrewwasylyk.bsky.social @backlisted.bsky.social
We're thrilled to introduce Irreparable Parables, the new LP by @andrewwasylyk.bsky.social, out 6th March. Pre-orders for the Dinked Edition are open now; ffm.bio/andrewwasylyk Hear the full album at our Bandcamp listening party on 14th Jan—early-bird pre-orders available during the event.
January 7, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Immediate pre-order this afternoon. Go go go, said the bird. @claypipemusic.bsky.social @andrewwasylyk.bsky.social @backlisted.bsky.social
Reposted by Paul Leyland
(1/) Although it is pretty chilly across much of the UK at the moment, many of our resident bird species are already singing! Listen out for the loud, repeated phrases of Song Thrush, especially on sunny days. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology
January 7, 2026 at 8:48 AM
(1/) Although it is pretty chilly across much of the UK at the moment, many of our resident bird species are already singing! Listen out for the loud, repeated phrases of Song Thrush, especially on sunny days. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology
Reposted by Paul Leyland
“After my fellows are done with them, these bastards will salute you by shitting their pants when you pass by.”
Hired muscle, corrupt police, a boy made of good luck and more combine in Daniyal Mueenuddin's terrific novel of Pakistan's haves and have-nots:
Me on This is Where the Serpent Lives:
Hired muscle, corrupt police, a boy made of good luck and more combine in Daniyal Mueenuddin's terrific novel of Pakistan's haves and have-nots:
Me on This is Where the Serpent Lives:
Expect to see this epic novel all over prize lists in 2026
This Is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin is a tale full of human emotions and lovingly created characters with big personalities
www.thetimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 9:53 PM
“After my fellows are done with them, these bastards will salute you by shitting their pants when you pass by.”
Hired muscle, corrupt police, a boy made of good luck and more combine in Daniyal Mueenuddin's terrific novel of Pakistan's haves and have-nots:
Me on This is Where the Serpent Lives:
Hired muscle, corrupt police, a boy made of good luck and more combine in Daniyal Mueenuddin's terrific novel of Pakistan's haves and have-nots:
Me on This is Where the Serpent Lives:
Reposted by Paul Leyland
“I wish to God you could pay more money.”
I wrote about F Scott Fitzgerald’s Christmas wish, and how his difficult final year led him to produce some of his best work: the irresistible, cynical, revealing and very funny Pat Hobby stories.
I wrote about F Scott Fitzgerald’s Christmas wish, and how his difficult final year led him to produce some of his best work: the irresistible, cynical, revealing and very funny Pat Hobby stories.
When F Scott Fitzgerald’s Christmas wish came true
The Pat Hobby stories about a washed-up writer in Hollywood were written to make money fast — they are also the final flowering of Fitzgerald’s eccentric genius
giftarticle.ft.com
December 22, 2025 at 12:12 PM
“I wish to God you could pay more money.”
I wrote about F Scott Fitzgerald’s Christmas wish, and how his difficult final year led him to produce some of his best work: the irresistible, cynical, revealing and very funny Pat Hobby stories.
I wrote about F Scott Fitzgerald’s Christmas wish, and how his difficult final year led him to produce some of his best work: the irresistible, cynical, revealing and very funny Pat Hobby stories.