Sara Norja
@saranorja.bsky.social
Tietokirja: Alkemian historia ☆ PhD in English ☆ Speculative fiction & poetry ☆ Historical linguistics ☆ History of alchemy ☆ Manuscript studies ☆ English/suomi ☆ Queer ☆ She/her ☆
Pinned
Sara Norja
@saranorja.bsky.social
· Nov 21
Hi hello new people! Time for a new intro I think. I'm Sara, a queer, bilingual writer and researcher! I write SFF stories and poetry in Fin & Eng as well as nonfiction in Fin, and I study the history of English (mainly through alchemical manuscript texts).
Reposted by Sara Norja
35% suomalaisista on fasisteja
January 8, 2026 at 8:56 AM
35% suomalaisista on fasisteja
Reposted by Sara Norja
I’m so exhausted that it took a white US citizen for this kind of outcry. It’s disgusting and embarrassing. Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was killed three months ago the same exact way and 85% of the country don’t even know he existed because he was brown and a migrant.
January 8, 2026 at 5:24 AM
I’m so exhausted that it took a white US citizen for this kind of outcry. It’s disgusting and embarrassing. Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was killed three months ago the same exact way and 85% of the country don’t even know he existed because he was brown and a migrant.
Reposted by Sara Norja
Shout-out to everyone who's tired as fuck of only seeing the first four lines of this poem shared around.
January 8, 2026 at 3:00 AM
Shout-out to everyone who's tired as fuck of only seeing the first four lines of this poem shared around.
Oh hi new followers! Historical linguist + author stuff on this account, skewing writerwards. I'm currently entering deadline mode for a new nonfiction book (in Finnish) so will probably be a bit scarce for the next weeks. Hate genAI, love human rights and the planet.
January 8, 2026 at 6:27 AM
Oh hi new followers! Historical linguist + author stuff on this account, skewing writerwards. I'm currently entering deadline mode for a new nonfiction book (in Finnish) so will probably be a bit scarce for the next weeks. Hate genAI, love human rights and the planet.
Reposted by Sara Norja
I know there are a lot of
speculative fiction readers among you. If you haven’t tackled @older.bsky.social Infomocracy series, it is horribly relevant. We played with some of the same ideas in the Leverage S3 finale, political perception as reality.
speculative fiction readers among you. If you haven’t tackled @older.bsky.social Infomocracy series, it is horribly relevant. We played with some of the same ideas in the Leverage S3 finale, political perception as reality.
in Infomocracy, an incompletely post-national cyberpunk elections book, one of the plotlines involves a political party promising revanchist revenge fantasies to a bunch of different voters. when they win, it turns out they don't deliver bloodshed but rather the media experience of victory.
January 4, 2026 at 7:21 PM
I know there are a lot of
speculative fiction readers among you. If you haven’t tackled @older.bsky.social Infomocracy series, it is horribly relevant. We played with some of the same ideas in the Leverage S3 finale, political perception as reality.
speculative fiction readers among you. If you haven’t tackled @older.bsky.social Infomocracy series, it is horribly relevant. We played with some of the same ideas in the Leverage S3 finale, political perception as reality.
Reposted by Sara Norja
I don't want to promote or profit from books that feature generative AI on the inside or the outside.
A Short Comment About Generative AI | Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
smartbitchestrashybooks.com
January 4, 2026 at 8:16 PM
I don't want to promote or profit from books that feature generative AI on the inside or the outside.
This was such a fun interview! Talking with Julia is always a pleasure 💖 Getting to read this long poem out loud was also a joy!
A gorgeous fairy tale poem and a discussion about writing in English and Finnish with Sara Norja! www.juliarios.com/in-winter-a-...
In Winter, A Wedding: a poem and an interview with Sara Norja
I invited Sara Norja to read her Worlds of Possibility poem, "In Winter, a Wedding" and to talk to me about her creative process.
www.juliarios.com
January 3, 2026 at 11:21 PM
This was such a fun interview! Talking with Julia is always a pleasure 💖 Getting to read this long poem out loud was also a joy!
Reposted by Sara Norja
Kibble? Slurry? Digi-mass?
How about “ecocidal twaddle Microsoft has bet on heavily“?
How about “ecocidal twaddle Microsoft has bet on heavily“?
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says people should move beyond calling AI 'slop'
"We need to get beyond the arguments of slop vs sophistication and develop a new equilibrium ... that accounts for humans being equipped with these new cognitive amplifier tools as we relate to each other"
"We need to get beyond the arguments of slop vs sophistication and develop a new equilibrium ... that accounts for humans being equipped with these new cognitive amplifier tools as we relate to each other"
January 3, 2026 at 9:55 AM
Kibble? Slurry? Digi-mass?
How about “ecocidal twaddle Microsoft has bet on heavily“?
How about “ecocidal twaddle Microsoft has bet on heavily“?
Reposted by Sara Norja
Kidnapping the leader of a foreign state without any declaration of war and announcing it via social media is full-on rogue state stuff. From the world’s number one superpower.
January 3, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Kidnapping the leader of a foreign state without any declaration of war and announcing it via social media is full-on rogue state stuff. From the world’s number one superpower.
Reposted by Sara Norja
Maduro is a brutal and oppressive dictator of Venezuela.
Trump has no legitimate legal basis for military action against Venezuela under United States or international law.
Both of those facts are simultaneously true.
Trump has no legitimate legal basis for military action against Venezuela under United States or international law.
Both of those facts are simultaneously true.
January 3, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Maduro is a brutal and oppressive dictator of Venezuela.
Trump has no legitimate legal basis for military action against Venezuela under United States or international law.
Both of those facts are simultaneously true.
Trump has no legitimate legal basis for military action against Venezuela under United States or international law.
Both of those facts are simultaneously true.
Reposted by Sara Norja
My thoughts on the current discussions in the SF/F genre over writers using generative AI (LLMs). In particular, I love the essays shared by @chuckwendig.bsky.social and @fozmeadows.bsky.social. 1/
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
Genre Grapevine on Two Secrets about LLM Usage Every Writer Must Remember | Jason Sanford's Genre Grapevine
Get more from Jason Sanford's Genre Grapevine on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:18 PM
My thoughts on the current discussions in the SF/F genre over writers using generative AI (LLMs). In particular, I love the essays shared by @chuckwendig.bsky.social and @fozmeadows.bsky.social. 1/
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
Reposted by Sara Norja
Whew, here it is, the last 🪶 @bafflingmag.bsky.social 🪶 issue of the year! A DOUBLE ISSUE on the theme of STRANGE FORMS.
Cover by the incomparable @gnarlyghost.bsky.social
Check it out here:
www.bafflingmag.com/issue-twenty...
Cover by the incomparable @gnarlyghost.bsky.social
Check it out here:
www.bafflingmag.com/issue-twenty...
December 31, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Whew, here it is, the last 🪶 @bafflingmag.bsky.social 🪶 issue of the year! A DOUBLE ISSUE on the theme of STRANGE FORMS.
Cover by the incomparable @gnarlyghost.bsky.social
Check it out here:
www.bafflingmag.com/issue-twenty...
Cover by the incomparable @gnarlyghost.bsky.social
Check it out here:
www.bafflingmag.com/issue-twenty...
Reposted by Sara Norja
Always worth a post
December 31, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Always worth a post
Reposted by Sara Norja
Palestinians are freezing to death because Israel has blocked all the aid. There are thousands of caravans and portable housing ready for 11 months to go into Gaza but Israel is blocking them.
December 28, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Palestinians are freezing to death because Israel has blocked all the aid. There are thousands of caravans and portable housing ready for 11 months to go into Gaza but Israel is blocking them.
Reposted by Sara Norja
Dear bluskeeters!
I'm doing research with a friend.
If you're a Black Author with a speculative book publishing in 2026, could you please pitch and link me, please? This a difficult to sus intersection.
Please add your friends' work. Please tag people. Please share
I'm doing research with a friend.
If you're a Black Author with a speculative book publishing in 2026, could you please pitch and link me, please? This a difficult to sus intersection.
Please add your friends' work. Please tag people. Please share
December 29, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Dear bluskeeters!
I'm doing research with a friend.
If you're a Black Author with a speculative book publishing in 2026, could you please pitch and link me, please? This a difficult to sus intersection.
Please add your friends' work. Please tag people. Please share
I'm doing research with a friend.
If you're a Black Author with a speculative book publishing in 2026, could you please pitch and link me, please? This a difficult to sus intersection.
Please add your friends' work. Please tag people. Please share
Reposted by Sara Norja
My wife reading a joke from a cracker: why do they call it the Dark Ages?
Me: they don’t
Her: because there were lots of knights.
Everyone: hahaha
Me: ok let me stop you there. Number one…
Me: they don’t
Her: because there were lots of knights.
Everyone: hahaha
Me: ok let me stop you there. Number one…
December 27, 2025 at 9:33 AM
My wife reading a joke from a cracker: why do they call it the Dark Ages?
Me: they don’t
Her: because there were lots of knights.
Everyone: hahaha
Me: ok let me stop you there. Number one…
Me: they don’t
Her: because there were lots of knights.
Everyone: hahaha
Me: ok let me stop you there. Number one…
Reposted by Sara Norja
If you're wondering whether the "open letter about AI" on file 770 is worth reading and engaging, it is not. The whole thing is rhetorical mush so it was no surprise when I got to the end and she admitted "her" letter was itself written by AI. Useless bait.
December 28, 2025 at 4:02 PM
If you're wondering whether the "open letter about AI" on file 770 is worth reading and engaging, it is not. The whole thing is rhetorical mush so it was no surprise when I got to the end and she admitted "her" letter was itself written by AI. Useless bait.
Reposted by Sara Norja
This recent prose poem of mine is what I have to say about today's SFWA/AI essay in File770.
My anti-GenAI prose poem, "The Ghosts of me are in your machine," is up at @strangehorizons.bsky.social
Thanks to @cafenowhere.bsky.social for editing, and @bogiperson.bsky.social for being the first reader for this.
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
Thanks to @cafenowhere.bsky.social for editing, and @bogiperson.bsky.social for being the first reader for this.
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
The ghosts of me are in your machine
My obsidian shadows knifed the moon, drank moonblood until my wandering mouth filled to bursting
strangehorizons.com
December 28, 2025 at 8:00 PM
This recent prose poem of mine is what I have to say about today's SFWA/AI essay in File770.
Reposted by Sara Norja
Translators work hard to make sure that the translated words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, etc, not only convey the author's meaning, but also the author's *style.*
Translators are alchemists. They are artists, and poets, and researchers, and editors. They are magicians and wizards.
Translators are alchemists. They are artists, and poets, and researchers, and editors. They are magicians and wizards.
December 28, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Translators work hard to make sure that the translated words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, etc, not only convey the author's meaning, but also the author's *style.*
Translators are alchemists. They are artists, and poets, and researchers, and editors. They are magicians and wizards.
Translators are alchemists. They are artists, and poets, and researchers, and editors. They are magicians and wizards.
Reposted by Sara Norja
I LOVED this and its two sequels. Timely, insightful, clever, and unputdownable. Bleak without being hopeless, sometimes very funny, excellent characters, all around cracking reads.
(I realise most of you aren't in the US, but if you are, grab it, and if you're not, it's worth full price imo)
(I realise most of you aren't in the US, but if you are, grab it, and if you're not, it's worth full price imo)
Farthing, my alternate history mystery novel about why good people do bad things is $1.99 as an ebook right now in the US www.amazon.com/Farthing-Sto...
Farthing: A Story of a World that Could Have Been (Small Change Book 1)
Farthing: A Story of a World that Could Have Been (Small Change Book 1) - Kindle edition by Walton, Jo. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Farthing: A Story of a World that Could Have Been (Small Change Book 1).
www.amazon.com
December 28, 2025 at 8:07 PM
I LOVED this and its two sequels. Timely, insightful, clever, and unputdownable. Bleak without being hopeless, sometimes very funny, excellent characters, all around cracking reads.
(I realise most of you aren't in the US, but if you are, grab it, and if you're not, it's worth full price imo)
(I realise most of you aren't in the US, but if you are, grab it, and if you're not, it's worth full price imo)
Reposted by Sara Norja
Why is it that tech and AI boosters keep saying "you can't put the genie back in the bottle" when making arguments about AI's supposed inevitable dominance? Did they not read the story? The genie does, indeed, go back in the bottle. Maybe we should start there.
December 28, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Why is it that tech and AI boosters keep saying "you can't put the genie back in the bottle" when making arguments about AI's supposed inevitable dominance? Did they not read the story? The genie does, indeed, go back in the bottle. Maybe we should start there.
Reposted by Sara Norja
I don't know how many times it needs to be said that you absolutely should not let fucking "AI" anywhere near your legal contracts, either in creating them or evaluating them, but apparently it needs to be said at least one more time, so allow me to say it again, here, right now
December 28, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I don't know how many times it needs to be said that you absolutely should not let fucking "AI" anywhere near your legal contracts, either in creating them or evaluating them, but apparently it needs to be said at least one more time, so allow me to say it again, here, right now
Reposted by Sara Norja
All else aside, I ALSO dispute the idea that non-fiction &/or communications writing is not "artistic creation."
Writing is creation, whether emotional lyrics, an engrossing novel, a taut screenplay, a rich science/history/non-fic book, a deft memo, a snappy ad, or an effective announcement.
Writing is creation, whether emotional lyrics, an engrossing novel, a taut screenplay, a rich science/history/non-fic book, a deft memo, a snappy ad, or an effective announcement.
Erin Underwood: Open Letter to the Science Fiction Writers Association and Community on AI
file770.com/erin-underwo...
Erin's core thesis is "There are responsible ways to use AI that support creators without replacing creative labor."
file770.com/erin-underwo...
Erin's core thesis is "There are responsible ways to use AI that support creators without replacing creative labor."
Erin Underwood: Open Letter to the Science Fiction Writers Association and Community
Hi Friends, Erin Underwood After writing the letter below, I thought rather than sending it to SFWA only, I’d share it with Mike at File 770 along with a note that read: “Am I crazy? Will this blow…
file770.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:33 PM
All else aside, I ALSO dispute the idea that non-fiction &/or communications writing is not "artistic creation."
Writing is creation, whether emotional lyrics, an engrossing novel, a taut screenplay, a rich science/history/non-fic book, a deft memo, a snappy ad, or an effective announcement.
Writing is creation, whether emotional lyrics, an engrossing novel, a taut screenplay, a rich science/history/non-fic book, a deft memo, a snappy ad, or an effective announcement.
Reposted by Sara Norja
I highly recommend people read @chuckwendig.bsky.social's response to that open letter to SFWA about AI that's making the rounds. Chuck hits it out of the ballpark with this essay.
Apparently I'm doing this -- my open letter to that open latter about AI in writing and publishing. I emerged from Hibernation Week to write it, so god only knows how much sense it makes. But at least a human wrote it, so that's nice.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
My Open Letter To That Open Letter About AI In Writing And Publishing
The tl;dr before you get into this post is this: the SFWA came out, said that some AI usage was okay enough in books for the authors of those books to not to be disqualified from winning a Nebula a…
terribleminds.com
December 28, 2025 at 8:26 PM
I highly recommend people read @chuckwendig.bsky.social's response to that open letter to SFWA about AI that's making the rounds. Chuck hits it out of the ballpark with this essay.
Pidän alkemiaesitelmän Helsingin Tieteiden yössä torstaina 22.1.2026! ⚗️
Puhun aiheesta "Kullan kiiltoa ja transmutaatiokieltoja: Keskiajan alkemia tieteenalana" Tieteiden talon Lisa Hagman -juhlasalissa klo 18.30-19. Luento myös striimataan!
Puhun aiheesta "Kullan kiiltoa ja transmutaatiokieltoja: Keskiajan alkemia tieteenalana" Tieteiden talon Lisa Hagman -juhlasalissa klo 18.30-19. Luento myös striimataan!
December 22, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Pidän alkemiaesitelmän Helsingin Tieteiden yössä torstaina 22.1.2026! ⚗️
Puhun aiheesta "Kullan kiiltoa ja transmutaatiokieltoja: Keskiajan alkemia tieteenalana" Tieteiden talon Lisa Hagman -juhlasalissa klo 18.30-19. Luento myös striimataan!
Puhun aiheesta "Kullan kiiltoa ja transmutaatiokieltoja: Keskiajan alkemia tieteenalana" Tieteiden talon Lisa Hagman -juhlasalissa klo 18.30-19. Luento myös striimataan!