Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
@sksandhu.bsky.social
💁🏽♀️ Co-founder of Fat Liberation London and proud fat liberation advocate
🌈 queer as hell
📚 Editor at The Novelry and Storymix
😇 Views entirely my own
🌈 queer as hell
📚 Editor at The Novelry and Storymix
😇 Views entirely my own
Pinned
You can find more information about Fat Liberation London on Insta and Meetup - we have coffee meet-ups, drinks socials, fat lib book club at The British Library, film club, karaoke, picnics and so much more!
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
I asked a child what their fave book from last year was and their answer was a series that was published about a decade ago. A good reminder that a book is always new to a child who hasn't read it. The constant publishing hustle for novelty has nothing to do with what children want. #KidLitUK
January 4, 2025 at 9:51 AM
I asked a child what their fave book from last year was and their answer was a series that was published about a decade ago. A good reminder that a book is always new to a child who hasn't read it. The constant publishing hustle for novelty has nothing to do with what children want. #KidLitUK
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
Thinking about that new ranking system for editors and honestly my heart goes out to editors at the moment - they're under so much pressure, without enough support (in terms of numbers of editors, in terms of staffing in other teams) and adding a system of direct comparisons into that feels HARSH.
December 17, 2024 at 8:28 AM
Thinking about that new ranking system for editors and honestly my heart goes out to editors at the moment - they're under so much pressure, without enough support (in terms of numbers of editors, in terms of staffing in other teams) and adding a system of direct comparisons into that feels HARSH.
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
In light of the findings in the CLPE Reflecting Realities report, in 2025 I’m going to be starting regular free Ask Me Anything Zoom sessions for UK children’s writers of colour and BookTrust will host the first in March to help reach more writers! 📚
December 9, 2024 at 2:41 PM
In light of the findings in the CLPE Reflecting Realities report, in 2025 I’m going to be starting regular free Ask Me Anything Zoom sessions for UK children’s writers of colour and BookTrust will host the first in March to help reach more writers! 📚
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
"I appreciate the allure of 'safe', but I am not prepared to leave kids of colour off the bookshelves. Nor am I prepared to leave creators of colour out in the cold."
Jasmine Richards discusses the launch of micro-indie press Storymix 👇 www.thebookseller.com/features/jas... #BookSky
Jasmine Richards discusses the launch of micro-indie press Storymix 👇 www.thebookseller.com/features/jas... #BookSky
Q&A with Jasmine Richards
Storymix c.e.o. Jasmine Richards on the industry’s “breathtakingly swift rollback” on its commitment to diverse stories and her inclusive children’s fiction studio’s move into publishing.
www.thebookseller.com
November 29, 2024 at 9:54 AM
"I appreciate the allure of 'safe', but I am not prepared to leave kids of colour off the bookshelves. Nor am I prepared to leave creators of colour out in the cold."
Jasmine Richards discusses the launch of micro-indie press Storymix 👇 www.thebookseller.com/features/jas... #BookSky
Jasmine Richards discusses the launch of micro-indie press Storymix 👇 www.thebookseller.com/features/jas... #BookSky
Post a pic you took to add some calm to the timeline!
November 30, 2024 at 10:24 AM
Post a pic you took to add some calm to the timeline!
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
I don't believe in "good reading" & "bad reading". Comic books, graphic novels, manga, picture books, joke books, sports reports, all kinds of poetry & prose: it's all reading, and it's all good! Let kids read for pleasure - and they'll be readers FOREVER! #reading #literacy
(Art: Bill Watterson)
(Art: Bill Watterson)
November 29, 2024 at 9:44 PM
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
On the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, we call on the government to end its participation in genocide.
We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, today and every day, until there is a free and independent Palestine.
We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, today and every day, until there is a free and independent Palestine.
November 29, 2024 at 3:12 PM
On the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, we call on the government to end its participation in genocide.
We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, today and every day, until there is a free and independent Palestine.
We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, today and every day, until there is a free and independent Palestine.
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
Repeat after me: representation matters 👇🏽
![Screenshot from The Bookseller:
Neglecting realities: CLPE reports 'stark' drop in
representative children's books
NEWS NOV 29, 2024 BY CAROLINE CARPENTER
CLPE has revealed that the percentage of racially-minoritised characters and protagonists in children's titles dropped in 2023 for the first time since reporting began.
in
[photo of Farrah Serroukh with the caption: Farrah Serroukh has called on publishers to take this opportunity to stop and reflect]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6rvguai2k4c4ambguugtoxb7/bafkreiglqng7bmsimo26uk7bqnh7xtxbnud6ikew4jcgcza22mcu3jnaze@jpeg)
![Screenshot from the article:
“Every year, the Reflecting Realities report includes recommendations for the industry to consider. This year's recommendations are less concerned with the content of books And instead focus on the publishing process.
[the next section is highlighted in blue:]
'If you're invested in producing inclusive literature, then it's not sufficient to be solely invested in the idea of it," said Serroukh.
"There has to be consideration around the journey of a book. You have to back that investment at every stage through time, through money, through infrastructure and through promotion."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6rvguai2k4c4ambguugtoxb7/bafkreicaibmaoaaohtbksky4igtzb4sqtcffz3q47iaycjobpowfisrhce@jpeg)
![Screenshot from the article:
Serroukh hoped that publishers reading the report would not "become despondent or disheartened by the figures, but actually take the time to use this as point of reflection".
. She continued:
[the next section is highlighted in blue:]
"It would be a real shame for the industry to roll back, because I think it would ultimately compromise the literary quality of what we're seeing. People might view representative literature as an additional or niche thing-something that you wheel out for Black History Month or a particular festival-but what the last seven years has shown us through the exemplary titles that have come through is that if you invest in inclusive and representative literature, it transforms the creative space in a profound and very sophisticated way."
•
Ultimately, she said of the potential response to the survey: "I think it's really important that we use this as an opportunity to stop and take stock, and then think more deeply about what we're doing and how we're doing it."
Read the report in full on the CLPE website.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6rvguai2k4c4ambguugtoxb7/bafkreihg33aivq4wabsdcuh2c7henli2kxz6knj64fone7eyanjyjqgx54@jpeg)
November 29, 2024 at 10:27 AM
Repeat after me: representation matters 👇🏽
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
This is something lots of us talk about all the time. Who gets to be the hero of their story? Whose stories matter? Whose stories are considered “universal” enough to “sell”? And the promises publishers make - how long do they last? #ReflectingRealities
November 29, 2024 at 10:56 AM
This is something lots of us talk about all the time. Who gets to be the hero of their story? Whose stories matter? Whose stories are considered “universal” enough to “sell”? And the promises publishers make - how long do they last? #ReflectingRealities
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
I can never understand why children's books get left out of "great book" lists. The books we call "children's books" are really books written for an audience that includes children, but excludes no-one. They are books for EVERYONE - and if you exclude them, you miss the most important books of all!
November 28, 2024 at 9:03 PM
I can never understand why children's books get left out of "great book" lists. The books we call "children's books" are really books written for an audience that includes children, but excludes no-one. They are books for EVERYONE - and if you exclude them, you miss the most important books of all!
Friends, I don’t think anyone is remotely surprised at the findings that rep in kidlit has almost HALVED in the last year. This is a reflection of the world around us (because books are political, even kid ones) and how publishing in general has learned nothing and will do less if they can.
Important reading for the #KidlitUK gang today: the reflecting realities survey: booksforkeeps.co.uk/2024-clpe-re...
2024 CLPE Reflecting Realities survey – Books For Keeps
booksforkeeps.co.uk
November 29, 2024 at 8:57 AM
Friends, I don’t think anyone is remotely surprised at the findings that rep in kidlit has almost HALVED in the last year. This is a reflection of the world around us (because books are political, even kid ones) and how publishing in general has learned nothing and will do less if they can.
For anyone wondering what we do at Fat Liberation London, here’s a little explainer! More than happy to answer any questions! 🥰
Absolutely! So we’re a social group that creates events for fat folks to meet other fats with an aim to help as many of us as possible to find community, hear about fat liberation and how it goes much further than body positivity could, and to connect us to each other so none of us feels alone.
November 28, 2024 at 10:13 AM
For anyone wondering what we do at Fat Liberation London, here’s a little explainer! More than happy to answer any questions! 🥰
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
You can find more information about Fat Liberation London on Insta and Meetup - we have coffee meet-ups, drinks socials, fat lib book club at The British Library, film club, karaoke, picnics and so much more!
November 26, 2024 at 5:48 PM
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
Thin privilege is buying clothes off the rack at a brick-and-mortar store.
This is one of the areas where the spectrum of privilege is really easy to see. The larger your body, the more limits there are on where you can buy clothing, and the options diminish really rapidly. ⟡ 1
This is one of the areas where the spectrum of privilege is really easy to see. The larger your body, the more limits there are on where you can buy clothing, and the options diminish really rapidly. ⟡ 1
November 25, 2024 at 8:02 PM
Thin privilege is buying clothes off the rack at a brick-and-mortar store.
This is one of the areas where the spectrum of privilege is really easy to see. The larger your body, the more limits there are on where you can buy clothing, and the options diminish really rapidly. ⟡ 1
This is one of the areas where the spectrum of privilege is really easy to see. The larger your body, the more limits there are on where you can buy clothing, and the options diminish really rapidly. ⟡ 1
Fat friends, what are your wishes for fat community? We’re spending some time this evening imagining what other things we can be doing, so would be so helpful!
November 26, 2024 at 9:29 AM
Fat friends, what are your wishes for fat community? We’re spending some time this evening imagining what other things we can be doing, so would be so helpful!
The reading for Dec’s Fat Lib Book Club is a classic fat text ‘Shadows on a Tightrope’ - we chose it because we felt we needed to connect with our history and the liberationists who came before us with the world feeling so much harder. Here’s the dedication 💜
November 24, 2024 at 8:04 PM
The reading for Dec’s Fat Lib Book Club is a classic fat text ‘Shadows on a Tightrope’ - we chose it because we felt we needed to connect with our history and the liberationists who came before us with the world feeling so much harder. Here’s the dedication 💜
Fat friends- yesterday I was buying oat milk and a school girl looked at me CV and then said to her friend to not buy oat milk because she doesn’t want to get fat. How should I have handled this? I wanted to suggest some reading but these were like 15 yr olds and I didn’t think that would help 😂
November 23, 2024 at 1:44 PM
Fat friends- yesterday I was buying oat milk and a school girl looked at me CV and then said to her friend to not buy oat milk because she doesn’t want to get fat. How should I have handled this? I wanted to suggest some reading but these were like 15 yr olds and I didn’t think that would help 😂
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
if you've heard that fat liberationists are trying to steal anyone's right to try intentional weight loss, you've heard wrong.
there's nobody more invested in body autonomy than fat liberationists.
but it's to literally everyone's benefit if crit, analysis, & discernment are part of all decisions.
there's nobody more invested in body autonomy than fat liberationists.
but it's to literally everyone's benefit if crit, analysis, & discernment are part of all decisions.
November 21, 2024 at 9:16 PM
if you've heard that fat liberationists are trying to steal anyone's right to try intentional weight loss, you've heard wrong.
there's nobody more invested in body autonomy than fat liberationists.
but it's to literally everyone's benefit if crit, analysis, & discernment are part of all decisions.
there's nobody more invested in body autonomy than fat liberationists.
but it's to literally everyone's benefit if crit, analysis, & discernment are part of all decisions.
You can find more information about Fat Liberation London on Insta and Meetup - we have coffee meet-ups, drinks socials, fat lib book club at The British Library, film club, karaoke, picnics and so much more!
November 21, 2024 at 6:49 PM
You can find more information about Fat Liberation London on Insta and Meetup - we have coffee meet-ups, drinks socials, fat lib book club at The British Library, film club, karaoke, picnics and so much more!
London/UK fats! Things have been reverting and we’re all feeling the pressure,so now is the time to find safety in fat community and start organising! Fat Club Brighton are amazing, say hey at Fat Lib London, there are groups in Leeds and Nottingham and online too! We’re here and you’re not alone 💜
November 21, 2024 at 4:12 PM
London/UK fats! Things have been reverting and we’re all feeling the pressure,so now is the time to find safety in fat community and start organising! Fat Club Brighton are amazing, say hey at Fat Lib London, there are groups in Leeds and Nottingham and online too! We’re here and you’re not alone 💜
Reposted by Simran Kaur Sandhu (she/they)
a starter pack for fat liberationists and activists - a work in progress.
give us a message if you’d like to be included or have any suggestions, as people join bsky go.bsky.app/KyQs5JL
give us a message if you’d like to be included or have any suggestions, as people join bsky go.bsky.app/KyQs5JL
November 15, 2024 at 10:05 PM
a starter pack for fat liberationists and activists - a work in progress.
give us a message if you’d like to be included or have any suggestions, as people join bsky go.bsky.app/KyQs5JL
give us a message if you’d like to be included or have any suggestions, as people join bsky go.bsky.app/KyQs5JL