Have been reading Virginie Despentes' new novel and keep returning to her blistering King Kong Theory brought to us by @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social. When things feel stale or stuck I recommend Despentes

By coincidence, alongside thinking about and teaching Publishing Then and Now, I have been reading Elif Shafak's latest novel - a Big Book in all senses, expansive and important (and long!) and among many other things a beautiful story of how the written word has evolved through the ages

For the Bluesky crowd: my article 'A Common Countryside: Rewriting the English Rural in Common People' which was published last year 🧵

Hello Bluesky (please share)! As we approach the 5th anniversary of @kitdewaal.bsky.social's Common People and the completion of the Common People research study, I was interviewed for Saturday's Yorkshire Post on the perennial problems of class and regional diversity in literature and publishing