Lauren J Joseph
@lauren-j-joseph.bsky.social
Writer, critic, occasional movie star
"At Certain Points We Touch" out now on Bloomsbury UK/US and DTV Verlag (Germany)
"At Certain Points We Touch" out now on Bloomsbury UK/US and DTV Verlag (Germany)
Does anyone know where Ursula Kenny formerly of The Observer works now?
October 12, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Does anyone know where Ursula Kenny formerly of The Observer works now?
US cover for Lean Cat, Savage Cat =}
👁️ COVER ANNOUNCEMENT 👁️ We're thrilled to share the cover of @lauren-j-joseph.bsky.social's LEAN CAT, SAVAGE CAT, designed by Sarah Brody with art direction by @nlcaputo.bsky.social!
LEAN CAT, SAVAGE CAT hits bookstores and libraries on 2/17/26 and is available to preorder now! buff.ly/VnQhVPw
LEAN CAT, SAVAGE CAT hits bookstores and libraries on 2/17/26 and is available to preorder now! buff.ly/VnQhVPw
August 4, 2025 at 10:15 AM
US cover for Lean Cat, Savage Cat =}
Wait, what so the UK's new age verification laws mean you can't DM other users if you haven't uploaded yr ID?
July 29, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Wait, what so the UK's new age verification laws mean you can't DM other users if you haven't uploaded yr ID?
Making my debut for @autostraddle.bsky.social this wk with a piece about il papa. What a busy month!
www.autostraddle.com/pope-francis...
www.autostraddle.com/pope-francis...
Pope Francis Invited Me Back to Catholicism
Growing up queer and Catholic my childhood was one defined by tension.
www.autostraddle.com
April 29, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Making my debut for @autostraddle.bsky.social this wk with a piece about il papa. What a busy month!
www.autostraddle.com/pope-francis...
www.autostraddle.com/pope-francis...
Reposted by Lauren J Joseph
If you're a UK writer wanting to show solidarity with the trans community, please do sign and share this. Thanks 🧡
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
An Open Letter of Solidarity With the Trans Community from UK Writers
An Open Letter of Solidarity With the Trans Community from UK Writers The UK Supreme Court ruling of 16th April 2025 was the result of a coordinated and privately funded attack on the human rights an...
docs.google.com
April 23, 2025 at 11:30 AM
If you're a UK writer wanting to show solidarity with the trans community, please do sign and share this. Thanks 🧡
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Wrote what is shaping up to be my most successful substack so far.... laurenjohnjoseph.substack.com/p/s-t-a-u-n-...
S-T-A-U-N-C-H women
The Supreme Court are horrid, horrid girls.
laurenjohnjoseph.substack.com
April 23, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Wrote what is shaping up to be my most successful substack so far.... laurenjohnjoseph.substack.com/p/s-t-a-u-n-...
Making my debut for Vittles this wk =} www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/break-my-f...
Break My Fast Oh Lord, But Not Yet
Lauren J Joseph on Lenten fasting as a grounding constant in a life lived erratically. Illustration by Sing Yun Lee.
www.vittlesmagazine.com
April 15, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Making my debut for Vittles this wk =} www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/break-my-f...
I wrote about attending an audience with Pope Francis for my substack this week. There's audio and it's free so why not TRY SOME???
laurenjohnjoseph.substack.com/p/goin-banan...
laurenjohnjoseph.substack.com/p/goin-banan...
Goin' bananas for il papa
How I (narrowly) avoided getting slapped by the pope
laurenjohnjoseph.substack.com
April 2, 2025 at 2:29 PM
I wrote about attending an audience with Pope Francis for my substack this week. There's audio and it's free so why not TRY SOME???
laurenjohnjoseph.substack.com/p/goin-banan...
laurenjohnjoseph.substack.com/p/goin-banan...
I reviewed STAGE DANCE this week, one of my fave reads so far this year.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
Stag Dance by Torrey Peters review – genre games and gender mischief
The follow-up to Detransition, Baby is a collection of short works ranging from dystopia to romance that delight in complicating identity politics
www.theguardian.com
March 23, 2025 at 10:05 AM
I reviewed STAGE DANCE this week, one of my fave reads so far this year.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
Reposted by Lauren J Joseph
West Papua’s Indigenous people have called for a boycott of KitKat, Smarties and Aero chocolate, Oreo biscuits & Ritz crackers, and the cosmetics brands Pantene and Herbal Essences, over alleged ecocide in their territory.
All are products that contain palm oil.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
All are products that contain palm oil.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
West Papuan Indigenous people call for KitKat boycott over alleged ecocide
Thousands of acres of rainforest is being cleared to produce palm oil, used in popular Nestlé and Mondelēz brands
www.theguardian.com
March 21, 2025 at 9:29 AM
West Papua’s Indigenous people have called for a boycott of KitKat, Smarties and Aero chocolate, Oreo biscuits & Ritz crackers, and the cosmetics brands Pantene and Herbal Essences, over alleged ecocide in their territory.
All are products that contain palm oil.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
All are products that contain palm oil.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
Is Chimamanda Adichie stil transphobic?
March 21, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Is Chimamanda Adichie stil transphobic?
It's Purim and things are getting LIT in Stamford Hill. The klezmer bangers and the jazzy hats, plus all the little ones dressed up in the streets.
March 14, 2025 at 1:43 PM
It's Purim and things are getting LIT in Stamford Hill. The klezmer bangers and the jazzy hats, plus all the little ones dressed up in the streets.
I saw Cate Blanchett in The Seagull recently and she was so good I had to share this! laurenjohnjoseph.substack.com/p/cate-blanc...
Cate Blanchett's Face
in celebration of Blanchett's star turn in "The Seagull"
laurenjohnjoseph.substack.com
March 13, 2025 at 9:22 AM
I saw Cate Blanchett in The Seagull recently and she was so good I had to share this! laurenjohnjoseph.substack.com/p/cate-blanc...
Each step of publishing feels like the worst, until you come to the next whip *really* is the worst. Currently copy editing. What a horror.
March 7, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Each step of publishing feels like the worst, until you come to the next whip *really* is the worst. Currently copy editing. What a horror.
Overheard two baristas yesterday describing themselves as "two bisexual queens in their straight era, unfortunately." Felt very life imitating art, with the art here being TikTok comedians doing skits on communicating with Gen Z .
March 7, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Overheard two baristas yesterday describing themselves as "two bisexual queens in their straight era, unfortunately." Felt very life imitating art, with the art here being TikTok comedians doing skits on communicating with Gen Z .
I wrote about Soft Core for the Observer this wk. I loved it, and you will too =} www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
Soft Core by Brittany Newell review – highly strung strippers and cranky madams
The writer’s impressive second novel about an erotic dancer and newbie dominatrix straddles thriller and satire in its depiction of desire and longing
www.theguardian.com
March 3, 2025 at 10:43 AM
I wrote about Soft Core for the Observer this wk. I loved it, and you will too =} www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
Nigella's on Bluesky, how fab, I'll stay! @nigella.bsky.social
February 18, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Nigella's on Bluesky, how fab, I'll stay! @nigella.bsky.social
How many more decades of fucking ABRACADABRA OOOH LALA are we to suffer through?
February 18, 2025 at 10:25 AM
How many more decades of fucking ABRACADABRA OOOH LALA are we to suffer through?
This wk I wrote a 4k substack, two book reviews, filled out a 5 page author questionnaire and recorded two scripts for the Royal Literary Fund's podcast. Sometimes it can feel like you are achieving nothing as a writer, but often when you look at what you've actually achieved it's pretty impressive.
February 14, 2025 at 7:20 PM
This wk I wrote a 4k substack, two book reviews, filled out a 5 page author questionnaire and recorded two scripts for the Royal Literary Fund's podcast. Sometimes it can feel like you are achieving nothing as a writer, but often when you look at what you've actually achieved it's pretty impressive.
Quite often when you pick up a novel written say before the 1990s characters might converse or quote in foreign languages - a bit of Latin or a few lines of French. Now if you use a word that you wouldn't hear on an episode of RHOBH you'll be shredded so hard for being pretentious.
February 14, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Quite often when you pick up a novel written say before the 1990s characters might converse or quote in foreign languages - a bit of Latin or a few lines of French. Now if you use a word that you wouldn't hear on an episode of RHOBH you'll be shredded so hard for being pretentious.
Writing so much rn, book reviews, a new novel and my substack, that I hardly have time for my real work of scrolling through social media alternately scaring myself silly and crushing on all the t-boys.
February 12, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Writing so much rn, book reviews, a new novel and my substack, that I hardly have time for my real work of scrolling through social media alternately scaring myself silly and crushing on all the t-boys.
I'm reviewing for the Guardian and the Observer pretty regularly these days. So if you have a title for May '25 on plz lmk. Particularly interested in queer/trans literary fiction, not genre or YA. Thanks!
February 11, 2025 at 9:33 AM
I'm reviewing for the Guardian and the Observer pretty regularly these days. So if you have a title for May '25 on plz lmk. Particularly interested in queer/trans literary fiction, not genre or YA. Thanks!
Body doubling is real!
January 31, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Body doubling is real!
Gatsby but from the perspective of the swimming pool.
January 30, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Gatsby but from the perspective of the swimming pool.