Simon Okotie
@simonokotie.bsky.social
Essayistic novelist (and vice versa). The Absalon novels are published by Salt: ‘Fiction as original as this deserves a long shelf life.’ (London Review of Books). The Future of the Novel is published by Melville House.
IT WORKED!!! I’m going to have to wear that shirt for the rest of the season now!
October 23, 2025 at 9:39 PM
IT WORKED!!! I’m going to have to wear that shirt for the rest of the season now!
Reposted by Simon Okotie
Nicholas Royle ends his much appreciated comments on A Personal Anthology by saying that, like a favourite bar or secondhand bookshop, it shouldn't be allowed to close.
I agree! But it can only go on as long as there are contributors, so if you'd like to take part, please get in touch!
I agree! But it can only go on as long as there are contributors, so if you'd like to take part, please get in touch!
October 16, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Nicholas Royle ends his much appreciated comments on A Personal Anthology by saying that, like a favourite bar or secondhand bookshop, it shouldn't be allowed to close.
I agree! But it can only go on as long as there are contributors, so if you'd like to take part, please get in touch!
I agree! But it can only go on as long as there are contributors, so if you'd like to take part, please get in touch!
I told Her Majesty that I had to leave to be with my mum (before realising she was no longer with us). It was definitely some sort of monarchical/matriarchal dream.
August 19, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I told Her Majesty that I had to leave to be with my mum (before realising she was no longer with us). It was definitely some sort of monarchical/matriarchal dream.
She was. (Will await a punchline.)
August 19, 2025 at 2:42 PM
She was. (Will await a punchline.)
What I actually say in the book is that there is no sign as yet that the machine might be capable of cleansing 'its own cliché-clogged circuits' and producing something truly innovative. I think it will continue to be incapable of this. What do you think?
August 6, 2025 at 8:33 AM
What I actually say in the book is that there is no sign as yet that the machine might be capable of cleansing 'its own cliché-clogged circuits' and producing something truly innovative. I think it will continue to be incapable of this. What do you think?
Which is not to say that we should all surrender our copyright - far from it!
August 2, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Which is not to say that we should all surrender our copyright - far from it!
In other words, the ability of AI to isolate instantaneously all that is most conventional in the novel will be of great benefit to those novelists who are attempting to innovate. The novel has always (to my mind) written against conventionality, and the technology will help accelerate that process.
August 2, 2025 at 10:26 AM
In other words, the ability of AI to isolate instantaneously all that is most conventional in the novel will be of great benefit to those novelists who are attempting to innovate. The novel has always (to my mind) written against conventionality, and the technology will help accelerate that process.
And if artificial intelligence is a misnomer for what is actually ‘applied statistics’ (as the sci-fi writer Ted Chiang said, also in the FT), then what AI provides is a direct, accelerated route to all that is most commonplace in the novel.
August 2, 2025 at 10:26 AM
And if artificial intelligence is a misnomer for what is actually ‘applied statistics’ (as the sci-fi writer Ted Chiang said, also in the FT), then what AI provides is a direct, accelerated route to all that is most commonplace in the novel.