Kat Lister
@katlister.bsky.social
Stay afraid, but do it anyway / words: Guardian, Observer, i paper, the Quietus / lecturing: City University / agent: http://blakefriedmann.co.uk/kat-lister / book: https://blakefriedmann.co.uk/news/kat-lister-fragile-bodies-auction-weidenfeld
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Kat Lister
@katlister.bsky.social
· Jul 4
Kat Lister’s beguiling exploration of art, FRAGILE BODIES, won at auction by Weidenfeld & Nicolson — Blake Friedmann
Kat Lister’s new non-fiction book FRAGILE BODIES: Art Born of Bodily Trauma, exploring the impact of physical adversity on the lives of seven extraordinary artists who confronted and transformed their...
blakefriedmann.co.uk
Hello everyone, I have exciting news! (📣):
Wow, an artist who could have joined the other seven artists in my upcoming book, Fragile Bodies. If only I could afford the flight to Switzerland, this exhibition looks extraordinary:
‘I had to plunge the knife into the canvas’: Edita Schubert wielded her scalpel like other artists wield a brush
In her day job, the ‘first lady of Croatian avant garde’ sliced up cadavers at Zagreb’s anatomical institute. In her studio, she used the same medical instruments to make art that surprises to this da...
www.theguardian.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Wow, an artist who could have joined the other seven artists in my upcoming book, Fragile Bodies. If only I could afford the flight to Switzerland, this exhibition looks extraordinary:
Bluesky, I need your expertise! I am looking for an enticing book to buy for my 9 year old goddaughter, perhaps something that’s been published this year that she might not already know about. I know diddly squat about contemporary children’s books – help!
December 18, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Bluesky, I need your expertise! I am looking for an enticing book to buy for my 9 year old goddaughter, perhaps something that’s been published this year that she might not already know about. I know diddly squat about contemporary children’s books – help!
Just wrote "title-less" as "tit-less" and please god can I break for xmas now...
December 17, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Just wrote "title-less" as "tit-less" and please god can I break for xmas now...
Many thanks to the Royal Ballet’s Mayara Magri for being such a good sport, putting up with my pedantic qs about what it takes to dance the Sugar Plum Fairy role at xmas. I am also DELIGHTED that her post-performance steak frites (“I am Brazilian, after all”) made the standfirst, what a winner:
I'm the star of The Nutcracker - here's how I survive December
From steak frites to protein shakes, Royal Ballet's principal shares her backstage secrets
inews.co.uk
December 17, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Many thanks to the Royal Ballet’s Mayara Magri for being such a good sport, putting up with my pedantic qs about what it takes to dance the Sugar Plum Fairy role at xmas. I am also DELIGHTED that her post-performance steak frites (“I am Brazilian, after all”) made the standfirst, what a winner:
Thinking about one of my favourite scenes in When Harry Met Sally when Billy Crystal ad libs his pecan pie skit. There’s a moment where Meg Ryan’s eyes dart to her right (at Rob Reiner) & he signals for her to keep going. She does. It’s magic. That scene is “it” for me, the purest comedy there is.
December 15, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Thinking about one of my favourite scenes in When Harry Met Sally when Billy Crystal ad libs his pecan pie skit. There’s a moment where Meg Ryan’s eyes dart to her right (at Rob Reiner) & he signals for her to keep going. She does. It’s magic. That scene is “it” for me, the purest comedy there is.
Reposted by Kat Lister
Rob Reiner was a good guy. He made a lot of movies about good guys, in worlds where not everyone was good and you didn’t have to be good. He made movies about people trying. He was angry, as many hopeful people are. He knew the world could be better and he wanted it to be. His death is devastating.
December 15, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Rob Reiner was a good guy. He made a lot of movies about good guys, in worlds where not everyone was good and you didn’t have to be good. He made movies about people trying. He was angry, as many hopeful people are. He knew the world could be better and he wanted it to be. His death is devastating.
I’m quite speechless after reading this nuanced exploration of Oliver Sacks’ embellishments & fabrications – “half-report, half-imagined, half-science, half-fable, but with a fidelity of their own,” he once confided to his brother. Very clever on the nature of empathy & projection. But boy, oh boy…
Oliver Sacks Put Himself Into His Case Studies. What Was the Cost?
The scientist was famous for linking healing with storytelling. Sometimes that meant reshaping patients’ reality.
www.newyorker.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
I’m quite speechless after reading this nuanced exploration of Oliver Sacks’ embellishments & fabrications – “half-report, half-imagined, half-science, half-fable, but with a fidelity of their own,” he once confided to his brother. Very clever on the nature of empathy & projection. But boy, oh boy…
Reposted by Kat Lister
I think it’s also true that loneliness among women has historically been treated as an individual problem, while loneliness among men is treated as a societal problem. That, in turn, comes from an assumption that women are supposed to earn the company of others while men are entitled to it.
men’s loneliness gets “more airtime”?
baby I have lived the past three decades of my life witnessing corporate media elevate men’s loneliness into a full-blown balls-to-the-wall CRISIS once every 4-5 years
“more airtime” is hilarious
baby I have lived the past three decades of my life witnessing corporate media elevate men’s loneliness into a full-blown balls-to-the-wall CRISIS once every 4-5 years
“more airtime” is hilarious
December 12, 2025 at 3:03 AM
I think it’s also true that loneliness among women has historically been treated as an individual problem, while loneliness among men is treated as a societal problem. That, in turn, comes from an assumption that women are supposed to earn the company of others while men are entitled to it.
Reposted by Kat Lister
I guess it's fitting that it's a reimagined, worse version of someone else's artwork
December 12, 2025 at 4:00 AM
I guess it's fitting that it's a reimagined, worse version of someone else's artwork
I can’t say I’ve ever had the norovirus come on in public before. Throwing up at the Barbican was quite special. But hurling my guts up at the top of the underground escalator at London Bridge station was a real memory maker. A perfect way to end the year.
December 10, 2025 at 9:11 AM
I can’t say I’ve ever had the norovirus come on in public before. Throwing up at the Barbican was quite special. But hurling my guts up at the top of the underground escalator at London Bridge station was a real memory maker. A perfect way to end the year.
Bluesky minds, is it possible to read archival pieces from Ms Magazine (I'm talking 1973)? And if so, how might I go about it? (I have tried the Ms website itself and it's not there)...
December 8, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Bluesky minds, is it possible to read archival pieces from Ms Magazine (I'm talking 1973)? And if so, how might I go about it? (I have tried the Ms website itself and it's not there)...
There's a point in this fortifying two-parter (a mix of documentary and lengthy interview) where Orson Welles describes Shakespeare as "profoundly against the modern age" – as he was, he's quick to add. & that's just one juicy bite. This is a dazzling piece of journalism – well worth your time:
BBC Four - Arena, The Orson Welles Story, Episode 1
First of a two-part film profile of Orson Welles, which goes as far as Touch of Evil.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 10:38 AM
There's a point in this fortifying two-parter (a mix of documentary and lengthy interview) where Orson Welles describes Shakespeare as "profoundly against the modern age" – as he was, he's quick to add. & that's just one juicy bite. This is a dazzling piece of journalism – well worth your time:
This is extraordinary:
I hope someone draws this wonderful story about Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the power of the arts to help us see things differently, to the attention of our Education Secretary. Do read it, it will lift your spirits.
December 2, 2025 at 12:08 PM
This is extraordinary:
Time whips by, doesn’t it? It’s been exactly a year since I wrote about my health woes. Ditto a year since my book, Fragile Bodies, was sold – which I hope will open up the conversation around the body, expression & autonomy. It’s been quite a ride, but draft one is nearly there! I think? I think…
‘I felt like a bystander in my own internal recovery’: one woman’s battle for health after a life-changing diagnosis
Facing an enormous decision about her health filled Kat Lister with wonder at her body’s ability to fight for her
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Time whips by, doesn’t it? It’s been exactly a year since I wrote about my health woes. Ditto a year since my book, Fragile Bodies, was sold – which I hope will open up the conversation around the body, expression & autonomy. It’s been quite a ride, but draft one is nearly there! I think? I think…
I am fascinated by the continued wrangling over Hilma af Klint’s legacy & this raises so many Qs about art scholarship in general. Firstly, who gets to steward it & why? Added to the mix, how best to define authorship when it was subject to outside collaboration?
The Strange Afterlife of Hilma af Klint, Painting’s Posthumous Star
As af Klint’s fame has grown, so have the questions—about what she believed, whom she worked with, and who should be allowed to speak in her name.
www.newyorker.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:05 AM
I am fascinated by the continued wrangling over Hilma af Klint’s legacy & this raises so many Qs about art scholarship in general. Firstly, who gets to steward it & why? Added to the mix, how best to define authorship when it was subject to outside collaboration?
Another characteristically niche Q from yours truly but does anyone know of any writers/thinkers who have explored the symbolism of the window? I'm keen to dive into its meaning in particular art works that I'm writing about atm & wondering if I'm missing anything...
November 28, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Another characteristically niche Q from yours truly but does anyone know of any writers/thinkers who have explored the symbolism of the window? I'm keen to dive into its meaning in particular art works that I'm writing about atm & wondering if I'm missing anything...
Reposted by Kat Lister
I love commissioning these for our supporters and this was a particular joy – absolutely rammed with bangers. Have also just read next month's essay, Tariq Goddard brilliant on the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes. @thequietus.com would be dead without subscribers & I hope these perks are a fine reward.
In the fiftieth Organic Intelligence, Anu Shukla explores the influence of Bappi Lahiri on Indian music both at home and as an inspiration to British Asian artists including M.I.A.
Organic Intelligence L: The Legacy of #Bollywood Disco Legend, #BappiLahiri
buff.ly/FlBG7lg
Organic Intelligence L: The Legacy of #Bollywood Disco Legend, #BappiLahiri
buff.ly/FlBG7lg
November 27, 2025 at 1:04 PM
I love commissioning these for our supporters and this was a particular joy – absolutely rammed with bangers. Have also just read next month's essay, Tariq Goddard brilliant on the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes. @thequietus.com would be dead without subscribers & I hope these perks are a fine reward.
Tried to wave at my boyfriend from the organ loft but he wasn’t having any of it. The Clientele sounding wonderful last night at St Pancras Old Church, what a beautiful night:
November 27, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Tried to wave at my boyfriend from the organ loft but he wasn’t having any of it. The Clientele sounding wonderful last night at St Pancras Old Church, what a beautiful night:
Reposted by Kat Lister
We are playing two sets at both shows this week. In the second set we’ll concentrate on songs from the violet hour LP
Times:
Doors: 7.30pm
First set: 8:15pm - 9pm
Interval - 15 mins
Second set: 9:15pm - 10:15pm
curfew 10:30pm
Times:
Doors: 7.30pm
First set: 8:15pm - 9pm
Interval - 15 mins
Second set: 9:15pm - 10:15pm
curfew 10:30pm
November 25, 2025 at 9:48 AM
We are playing two sets at both shows this week. In the second set we’ll concentrate on songs from the violet hour LP
Times:
Doors: 7.30pm
First set: 8:15pm - 9pm
Interval - 15 mins
Second set: 9:15pm - 10:15pm
curfew 10:30pm
Times:
Doors: 7.30pm
First set: 8:15pm - 9pm
Interval - 15 mins
Second set: 9:15pm - 10:15pm
curfew 10:30pm
Reposted by Kat Lister
Jimmy Cliff had one of the sweetest voices in popular music of all time.
It was a pleasure to speak to him a dozen years ago for this profile. Rest in peace sir.
thequietus.com/interviews/j...
It was a pleasure to speak to him a dozen years ago for this profile. Rest in peace sir.
thequietus.com/interviews/j...
Many Rivers Crossed: Jimmy Cliff Interviewed | The Quietus
Jimmy Cliff was born James Chambers on April’s Fool’s Day, 1948 in the Somerton District of St. James near Montego Bay, Jamaica. He reputedly chose the stage name Cliff to reflect the heights he inten...
thequietus.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Jimmy Cliff had one of the sweetest voices in popular music of all time.
It was a pleasure to speak to him a dozen years ago for this profile. Rest in peace sir.
thequietus.com/interviews/j...
It was a pleasure to speak to him a dozen years ago for this profile. Rest in peace sir.
thequietus.com/interviews/j...
I had to sit very quietly after reading this otherworldly essay by Tatiana Schlossberg, it will stay with me for a very long time. I wish she could, too:
A Battle with My Blood
When I was diagnosed with leukemia, my first thought was that this couldn’t be happening to me, to my family.
www.newyorker.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:57 AM
I had to sit very quietly after reading this otherworldly essay by Tatiana Schlossberg, it will stay with me for a very long time. I wish she could, too:
Can I also just say that this is brilliant reporting by my pal Jude, questioning not only where Westminster's priorities lie but how we consume our news & what that means when things like this get ignored:
I also write about how little the floods have been covered in national newspapers, and how appalled I am that the Prime Minister has said nothing to the people of Monmouthshire directly. Please read and share. www.thenerve.news/p/storm-clau...
Storm Claudia puts Wales under water – why did these record-breaking floods barely make the news?
On the frontline of a deluge on the Welsh borders, Jude Rogers heard local stories of devastation and heroism – but incredibly the disaster was hardly referred to in Westminster and the national press
www.thenerve.news
November 23, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Can I also just say that this is brilliant reporting by my pal Jude, questioning not only where Westminster's priorities lie but how we consume our news & what that means when things like this get ignored:
As Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s story is dramatised tonight, on the BBC, I am reminded of this piece I wrote about Richard Ratcliffe’s unwavering campaign when she was finally released. I first interviewed Richard in a car park outside the Iranian Embassy in 2017 & this is what followed:
The story of Richard Ratcliffe’s unwavering love for wife Nazanin
Six years, two hunger strikes and a tireless campaign to free his beloved wife from a Tehran prison — as Richard and Nazanin are finally reunited, Kat Lister reflects on a modern love story
www.standard.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 8:27 AM
As Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s story is dramatised tonight, on the BBC, I am reminded of this piece I wrote about Richard Ratcliffe’s unwavering campaign when she was finally released. I first interviewed Richard in a car park outside the Iranian Embassy in 2017 & this is what followed:
Reposted by Kat Lister
Extraordinary reporting
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
As Esau Lopez was asphyxiated for the first 17 minutes of his life on Earth, the atmosphere in the room remained serene, even ecstatic. Acoustic music crooned from a speaker in a modest two-bedroom apartment in a suburb of Pennsylvania. “You are a queen,” murmured one of three friends in the room.
Only Esau’s mother, Gabrielle Lopez, felt something was wrong. She was pushing hard, but her son would not be born. “Can you help [him] out?” she asked, as Esau crowned. “Baby is coming,” the friend replied. Four minutes later, Lopez asked again, “Can you grab [him]?” Another friend murmured, “Baby is safe.” Six minutes passed. Again, Lopez asked, “Can you grab [him]?” Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Extraordinary reporting
The sheer delight of discovering a
"new" author for the first time…I'm not sure how – or why – it's taken me as long as it has but l am so grateful to have found William Maxwell…in an airport WH Smiths no less!
"new" author for the first time…I'm not sure how – or why – it's taken me as long as it has but l am so grateful to have found William Maxwell…in an airport WH Smiths no less!
November 21, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The sheer delight of discovering a
"new" author for the first time…I'm not sure how – or why – it's taken me as long as it has but l am so grateful to have found William Maxwell…in an airport WH Smiths no less!
"new" author for the first time…I'm not sure how – or why – it's taken me as long as it has but l am so grateful to have found William Maxwell…in an airport WH Smiths no less!