A K Blakemore
@akblakemore.bsky.social
drinking spider, author of peasantcore
Reposted by A K Blakemore
The Polari Prize last week longlisted John Boyne, who only recently wrote a piece saying how much he admired JK R*owling and is a 'proud terf' - book pals: there's an open letter here that you can read + sign to show your solidarity with our trans community #booksky
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Author statement on the Polari Prize longlist
We are writers, editors, publishers and booksellers who stand in solidarity with the trans community. We are profoundly disappointed by the Polari Prize’s decision to include John Boyne on the longlis...
docs.google.com
August 8, 2025 at 8:15 AM
The Polari Prize last week longlisted John Boyne, who only recently wrote a piece saying how much he admired JK R*owling and is a 'proud terf' - book pals: there's an open letter here that you can read + sign to show your solidarity with our trans community #booksky
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by A K Blakemore
Tickets now on general sale!
🔥 The Manningtree Witches
A Mercury Original
Sat 28 Feb - Sat 14 Mar 2026
Adapted by Ava Pickett
Based on the novel by A. K. Blakemore
Directed by Natasha Rickman
🎟 mercurytheatre.co.uk/event/the-manningtree-witches/
#MercuyTheatre #Essex #TheManningtreeWitches
🔥 The Manningtree Witches
A Mercury Original
Sat 28 Feb - Sat 14 Mar 2026
Adapted by Ava Pickett
Based on the novel by A. K. Blakemore
Directed by Natasha Rickman
🎟 mercurytheatre.co.uk/event/the-manningtree-witches/
#MercuyTheatre #Essex #TheManningtreeWitches
June 27, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Tickets now on general sale!
🔥 The Manningtree Witches
A Mercury Original
Sat 28 Feb - Sat 14 Mar 2026
Adapted by Ava Pickett
Based on the novel by A. K. Blakemore
Directed by Natasha Rickman
🎟 mercurytheatre.co.uk/event/the-manningtree-witches/
#MercuyTheatre #Essex #TheManningtreeWitches
🔥 The Manningtree Witches
A Mercury Original
Sat 28 Feb - Sat 14 Mar 2026
Adapted by Ava Pickett
Based on the novel by A. K. Blakemore
Directed by Natasha Rickman
🎟 mercurytheatre.co.uk/event/the-manningtree-witches/
#MercuyTheatre #Essex #TheManningtreeWitches
Reposted by A K Blakemore
My new big TERFism explainer is now online and unpaywalled at Lux magazine, and the physical version in the print issue (#11-12) looks incredible. I do recommend buying it or subscribing. Thanks to Sarah Leonard & all the Lux comrades for wonderful editing. lux-magazine.com/article/terf...
October 21, 2024 at 9:48 PM
My new big TERFism explainer is now online and unpaywalled at Lux magazine, and the physical version in the print issue (#11-12) looks incredible. I do recommend buying it or subscribing. Thanks to Sarah Leonard & all the Lux comrades for wonderful editing. lux-magazine.com/article/terf...
'In the UK, FFB has been viewed in a vacuum, anomalous and bafflingly disconnected from similar movements around the world. Last year 1000 American writers boycotted all PEN America programming... for failing Palestinian colleagues.'
www.thebookseller.com/comment/on-s...
www.thebookseller.com/comment/on-s...
On sponsorship and conscience
Last year's activism against Baillie Gifford is part of a long and valuable tradition of literary protest.
www.thebookseller.com
February 18, 2025 at 12:29 PM
'In the UK, FFB has been viewed in a vacuum, anomalous and bafflingly disconnected from similar movements around the world. Last year 1000 American writers boycotted all PEN America programming... for failing Palestinian colleagues.'
www.thebookseller.com/comment/on-s...
www.thebookseller.com/comment/on-s...
Reposted by A K Blakemore
The great David Johansen of the NY DOLLS has been battling stage 4 cancer for the past few years, unable to work. This being America, he is having a hard times paying for medical care. A fundraiser has been set up through Sweet Relief; more info below. www.sweetrelief.org/davidjohanse...
Sweet Relief
Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians and music industry workers who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-rela...
www.sweetrelief.org
February 13, 2025 at 7:58 PM
The great David Johansen of the NY DOLLS has been battling stage 4 cancer for the past few years, unable to work. This being America, he is having a hard times paying for medical care. A fundraiser has been set up through Sweet Relief; more info below. www.sweetrelief.org/davidjohanse...
Reposted by A K Blakemore
Once more with feeling: the govt does not do this out of goodwill. PLR was organised, agitated for & activated by Maureen Duffy and Brigid Brophy. Borrow their books, especially Maureen's, and give them their 💐
Happy PLR Day to everyone who celebrates! And readers, remember that not only do libraries give you access to a wide selection of books for free, the Government also pays authors a small sum for every time one of their books is borrowed from a public library... #ThisWritingLife
January 21, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Once more with feeling: the govt does not do this out of goodwill. PLR was organised, agitated for & activated by Maureen Duffy and Brigid Brophy. Borrow their books, especially Maureen's, and give them their 💐
Reposted by A K Blakemore
one of the weird violences of literary culture - the way we are
(a) vilified for doing/writing about the things which might make a broken world better
(b) SIMULTANEOUSLY: constantly asked, by the same people, to gesture to/perform hope, in what we write and say
(a) vilified for doing/writing about the things which might make a broken world better
(b) SIMULTANEOUSLY: constantly asked, by the same people, to gesture to/perform hope, in what we write and say
January 16, 2025 at 9:09 AM
one of the weird violences of literary culture - the way we are
(a) vilified for doing/writing about the things which might make a broken world better
(b) SIMULTANEOUSLY: constantly asked, by the same people, to gesture to/perform hope, in what we write and say
(a) vilified for doing/writing about the things which might make a broken world better
(b) SIMULTANEOUSLY: constantly asked, by the same people, to gesture to/perform hope, in what we write and say
cute feature in the guardian this morning about one of my favourite bands of all time:
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...
‘They were inventing a new definition of sexy’: stars and scenesters on the New York Dolls’ riotous rock
Fifty years on from their dissolution, admirers from Joan Jett to Dave Vanian explain the appeal of a band who ripped up rock’n’roll in high heels – and pointed towards punk
www.theguardian.com
January 10, 2025 at 8:54 AM
cute feature in the guardian this morning about one of my favourite bands of all time:
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...
if i was a wilting victorian lady, i simply would not summon an eldritch erotic entity with my thwarted yearnings
January 9, 2025 at 11:06 PM
if i was a wilting victorian lady, i simply would not summon an eldritch erotic entity with my thwarted yearnings
Reposted by A K Blakemore
📣 In 2022, the UK publishing industry made RECORD revenues of £7bn+
📣 Richard Osman’s last advance was £10m, enough to fund all 9 BG festivals for a DECADE
📣 BG are investing in arms companies supplying Israel
📣 FFB are not the reason writers are poor!
📣 Richard Osman’s last advance was £10m, enough to fund all 9 BG festivals for a DECADE
📣 BG are investing in arms companies supplying Israel
📣 FFB are not the reason writers are poor!
January 6, 2025 at 9:37 AM
📣 In 2022, the UK publishing industry made RECORD revenues of £7bn+
📣 Richard Osman’s last advance was £10m, enough to fund all 9 BG festivals for a DECADE
📣 BG are investing in arms companies supplying Israel
📣 FFB are not the reason writers are poor!
📣 Richard Osman’s last advance was £10m, enough to fund all 9 BG festivals for a DECADE
📣 BG are investing in arms companies supplying Israel
📣 FFB are not the reason writers are poor!
Reposted by A K Blakemore
1 - literary festivals contribute fuck all to author incomes
2 - fans? What happened to critically engaged readers
3 - books expand yr inner life but do not apply to real world situs eg fossil fuels/ gaza ?!
4 - ‘we need books to propagate & pay for the empire’ = creative economy discour$e
😷
2 - fans? What happened to critically engaged readers
3 - books expand yr inner life but do not apply to real world situs eg fossil fuels/ gaza ?!
4 - ‘we need books to propagate & pay for the empire’ = creative economy discour$e
😷
January 5, 2025 at 7:50 PM
1 - literary festivals contribute fuck all to author incomes
2 - fans? What happened to critically engaged readers
3 - books expand yr inner life but do not apply to real world situs eg fossil fuels/ gaza ?!
4 - ‘we need books to propagate & pay for the empire’ = creative economy discour$e
😷
2 - fans? What happened to critically engaged readers
3 - books expand yr inner life but do not apply to real world situs eg fossil fuels/ gaza ?!
4 - ‘we need books to propagate & pay for the empire’ = creative economy discour$e
😷
Reposted by A K Blakemore
Can’t put enough emphasis on what the words “last medical facility” mean in the context of this genocide. It’s pretty simple to understand what happens when there’s no hospital available.
Fires broke out in parts of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, after the Israeli military ordered medical staff and patients to evacuate northern Gaza’s last medical facility, according to the report.
🔴 LIVE updates ⤵️ aje.io/7zkxmc
🔴 LIVE updates ⤵️ aje.io/7zkxmc
‘End of humanity’ in north Gaza as Israel empties last hospital
Doctor in Gaza says deaths expected among over 70 remaining patients as they flee Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya.
aje.io
December 27, 2024 at 3:14 PM
Can’t put enough emphasis on what the words “last medical facility” mean in the context of this genocide. It’s pretty simple to understand what happens when there’s no hospital available.
Reposted by A K Blakemore
‘Tiny broken bodies, rotting babies, flattened corpses, mass graves, levelled neighbourhoods.
It is a spectacle of slaughter. All unfolding in plain sight, livestreamed and posted by Palestinian citizens and journalists, witnessed by outsiders, and described by Israelis themselves.’
It is a spectacle of slaughter. All unfolding in plain sight, livestreamed and posted by Palestinian citizens and journalists, witnessed by outsiders, and described by Israelis themselves.’
A consensus is emerging: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Where is the action? | Nesrine Malik
A consensus is emerging: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Where is the action? | Nesrine Malik
It may feel hopeless to see supportive states continue to back Israel, but bearing witness matters for future reckoning
A consensus is building. On 5 December, Amnesty International concluded after an investigation that “Israel has committed and is…
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2024 at 6:41 AM
‘Tiny broken bodies, rotting babies, flattened corpses, mass graves, levelled neighbourhoods.
It is a spectacle of slaughter. All unfolding in plain sight, livestreamed and posted by Palestinian citizens and journalists, witnessed by outsiders, and described by Israelis themselves.’
It is a spectacle of slaughter. All unfolding in plain sight, livestreamed and posted by Palestinian citizens and journalists, witnessed by outsiders, and described by Israelis themselves.’
'Patriarchy does not mean that men cannot act decently, and kindly, indeed that the men in our lives may not sometimes be better and more reliable than the women. But it does mean that there are no men, no people, who can ever claim to be entirely beyond its reach.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Sophie Smith · Sleeping Women: On the Pelicot trial
Gisèle Pelicot doesn’t conceive of her now ex-husband or the other men who raped her as ‘bad apples’, aberrations...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 20, 2024 at 9:18 AM
'Patriarchy does not mean that men cannot act decently, and kindly, indeed that the men in our lives may not sometimes be better and more reliable than the women. But it does mean that there are no men, no people, who can ever claim to be entirely beyond its reach.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
RIP Richard II you would've loved chewing gum loudly
December 19, 2024 at 2:49 PM
RIP Richard II you would've loved chewing gum loudly
✨
Hello Bluesky, who are we and what do we want? 👋🏽👋🏾👋🏿
Well, let us introduce ourselves. We are a collective of workers across all areas of the books and publishing industry.
For over a year, we have been organising in solidarity with Palestine and against fossil fuel finance and investment.
Well, let us introduce ourselves. We are a collective of workers across all areas of the books and publishing industry.
For over a year, we have been organising in solidarity with Palestine and against fossil fuel finance and investment.
December 16, 2024 at 5:32 PM
✨
it's sort of like a sexual harrassment advent calendar, isn't it?
December 3, 2024 at 6:33 PM
it's sort of like a sexual harrassment advent calendar, isn't it?
i'll be running an online workshop on writing historical horror for @writersandartists.bsky.social & Book Aid in january. tickets here, if that sounds like a you thing;
www.writersandartists.co.uk/events-and-c...
www.writersandartists.co.uk/events-and-c...
Writing Historical Horror | Writers & Artists
Do you want to bring horror into your historical fiction?
www.writersandartists.co.uk
December 2, 2024 at 12:27 PM
i'll be running an online workshop on writing historical horror for @writersandartists.bsky.social & Book Aid in january. tickets here, if that sounds like a you thing;
www.writersandartists.co.uk/events-and-c...
www.writersandartists.co.uk/events-and-c...
look i love emily, i love her so much, but this is very big chat for a trailblazing bedrotter
November 27, 2024 at 11:27 AM
look i love emily, i love her so much, but this is very big chat for a trailblazing bedrotter
Reposted by A K Blakemore
Today is publication day for 'this too is a glistening' (Bitter Melon Press) by me, Pratyusha, Nina Mingya Powles & @jessicajlee.bsky.social 💜
Thanks to @jaygao.bsky.social for this amazing blurb!
Last copies of our first print run are avail at bookstores & bittermelon.weebly.com/store/p13/th...
Thanks to @jaygao.bsky.social for this amazing blurb!
Last copies of our first print run are avail at bookstores & bittermelon.weebly.com/store/p13/th...
November 27, 2024 at 10:12 AM
Today is publication day for 'this too is a glistening' (Bitter Melon Press) by me, Pratyusha, Nina Mingya Powles & @jessicajlee.bsky.social 💜
Thanks to @jaygao.bsky.social for this amazing blurb!
Last copies of our first print run are avail at bookstores & bittermelon.weebly.com/store/p13/th...
Thanks to @jaygao.bsky.social for this amazing blurb!
Last copies of our first print run are avail at bookstores & bittermelon.weebly.com/store/p13/th...
in which i am confused by murakami
www.theguardian.com/books/2024/n...
www.theguardian.com/books/2024/n...
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami review – a labour of love
On his third attempt, the author finally sets down a story that has haunted him for decades
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2024 at 11:20 AM
in which i am confused by murakami
www.theguardian.com/books/2024/n...
www.theguardian.com/books/2024/n...