Zena Barrie
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zenabarrie.bsky.social
Zena Barrie
@zenabarrie.bsky.social
Author & co-director of Camden Fringe
Writes things, reads things, goes to watch things
www.zenabarrie.com
Reposted by Zena Barrie
I suspect it's the same kind of privilege misconception that makes men think a group containing 17% women is 50-50 and one containing 33% women is mostly women.
October 27, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
as a keen sceptic, I put in over 27 mins of research into erasure of white faces in ads - due to this scrutiny, I discovered that there are SOME black faces in adverts - not all, not most - in fact there were almost as many vampires - no further discussion necessary
October 27, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
We’re looking forward to this latest #authorinterview by @womenwritersnet.bsky.social with our very own @brethertonwords.bsky.social who will be discussing her writing journey and her award-winning novel The Fire In Their Eyes. Come and join in on Bluesky this Thursday at 6pm BST.
The fourth #AuthorInterview in our @womenwritersnet.bsky.social series takes place on Thur 23 Oct. Can’t wait to interview @brethertonwords.bsky.social about her new novel, The Fire In Their Eyes. Come and join us - you are welcome to ask the author your questions!
@breakthroughbook.bsky.social
October 20, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
This is impressive - solidarity with those women who performed the citizens arrest

www.citizensarrestnetwork.org/press/2025/1...
BREAKING NEWS: Citizens arrest of Anglian Water CEO, Mark Thurston, made in London for Public Nuisance - CAN - Citizen’s Arrest Network
www.citizensarrestnetwork.org
October 16, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
🎉🎉🎉 Huge congratulations to @brethertonwords.bsky.social for being recognised by the Chanticleer Global Thriller Awards and for winning the Medical Thriller category in the NYC Big Book Awards! Needless to say we are… thrilled! 🥳🍾
#NYCBigBookAward #GabbyBookAwards #AwardWinningPublisher #SmallPress
September 16, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
How A Publisher Almost Killed The Book I Waited My Whole Life To Write: a thread

My novel Villager came out in 2022. It was published by Unbound, who had little marketing/sales power. But I was excited & proud, since I worked so f-ing hard on it.

Here's an extract: www.tom-cox.com/the-village-...
October 10, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
To mark the first #bookbirthday of The Portrait Girl by Nicole Swengley, the e-book is now at the very special price of 99p (on both Amazon and our own website) for a limited time! Why not help us celebrate and load your #Kindle with what the FT described as “a thoroughly engaging mystery”!
October 9, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
This should be a lot of fun!
Book lovers in and around the Rugby area, do not miss the Rugby Literary Festival this weekend, but especially the spoken word evening hosted by Word Of Mouth this Friday. A range of fantastic performers will be on stage including our own @zenabarrie.bsky.social!

#Books #LiteraryFestival
October 2, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
Book lovers in and around the Rugby area, do not miss the Rugby Literary Festival this weekend, but especially the spoken word evening hosted by Word Of Mouth this Friday. A range of fantastic performers will be on stage including our own @zenabarrie.bsky.social!

#Books #LiteraryFestival
October 2, 2025 at 4:24 PM
I went to Rochdale Comedy Festival on Tuesday to see @robinince.bsky.social and Dave Williams in the beautiful town hall. What an amazing place. They do tours and there is a very nice looking restaurant in there, deffo worth a ride on the tram.
October 2, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
Talking about my book in West Kirby tomorrow - tickets here

www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/wir...
www.ticketsource.co.uk
September 25, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
Fresh off the back of being recommended by @robinince.bsky.social, today’s #BookQW is taken from the short story anthology Two Similar Looking Men With Umbilical Hernias by @zenabarrie.bsky.social, and is a prime example of her ability to combine the absurd and the existential to masterful effect.
September 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
My brilliant friend @josielong.bsky.social is on tour - she is in Milton Keynes on Wednesday - her show is so funny and she has created so much that has changed comedy world for the better - tickets here

stables.org/event/josie-...
Josie Long: Now Is The Time of Monsters | The Stables
Josie Long: Now Is The Time of Monsters
stables.org
September 23, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
Congratulations to @robinince.bsky.social for his thoroughly deserved award. And thank you ever so much for once again recommending the hilarious Two Similar Looking Men With Umbilical Hernias by @zenabarrie.bsky.social. We would love to see it in more independent bookshops.
Thank you so much to the Booksellers Association for awarding me Author of the Year for a second time - love you all - what remains of my career is about to go through a drastic change, so this means a lot - here is my acceptance speech @lucia-oc.bsky.social @zenabarrie.bsky.social
September 24, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
Congrats to the marvellous Robin, richly deserved… and how generous to share the love! Couldn’t agree more about his rec for @zenabarrie.bsky.social ‘s hilarious Two Men With Similar Looking Umbilical Hernias! Yes, buy books, support authors, support bookshops!
Thank you so much to the Booksellers Association for awarding me Author of the Year for a second time - love you all - what remains of my career is about to go through a drastic change, so this means a lot - here is my acceptance speech @lucia-oc.bsky.social @zenabarrie.bsky.social
September 23, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
Thank you so much to the Booksellers Association for awarding me Author of the Year for a second time - love you all - what remains of my career is about to go through a drastic change, so this means a lot - here is my acceptance speech @lucia-oc.bsky.social @zenabarrie.bsky.social
September 23, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
Morning gang,
Fancy buying my book? Help me raise some money for a damp proof course.
www.breakthroughbookcollective.com/product/two-...
@breakthroughbook.bsky.social
September 8, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
Do buy this book! Here's my review:
September 8, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Morning gang,
Fancy buying my book? Help me raise some money for a damp proof course.
www.breakthroughbookcollective.com/product/two-...
@breakthroughbook.bsky.social
September 8, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
The Observer takes on the collapse of Unbound - some truly shocking allegations, almost all of which I have seen compelling evidence of as a member of the Unbound author WhatsApp group and through my own experience of being published by them observer.co.uk/news/busines...
Death of a publishing dream: how the Unbound revolution b...
The literary disrupters enjoyed great success with their crowdfunding model, signing authors that other publishers overlooked. And then the money ran out…
observer.co.uk
August 9, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
Ha ha! (There are several pages of this)
July 26, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
My review of "Two Similar Looking Men with Umbilical Hernias" by @zenabarrie.bsky.social

"Has the same kind of addictive quality as a packet of biscuits" ★★★★★
Chris Limb's review of Two similar looking men with umbilical hernias
5/5: This book made me laugh out loud, appealed to my sense of the bizarre and made me question the meaning of life all within pages of each other. A collection of 49 loosely-linked short (sometimes v...
www.goodreads.com
July 26, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
I've just reviewed @brethertonwords.bsky.social's "The Fire in Their Eyes" (Breakthrough Books), a novel of gripping storytelling, literary substance, and lasting insight. Read about it here: valeriavescina.com/2025/07/03/s... #reading #NewBooks #womenwriters
Stephanie Bretherton’s “The Fire in Their Eyes”
Re-blogged from Goodreads The Fire in Their Eyes by Stephanie Bretherton (Breakthrough Books, 2025) My rating: 5 of 5 stars”The Fire In Their Eyes” is a breath of fresh air: a thriller …
valeriavescina.com
July 3, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Zena Barrie
Currently reading and very much enjoying Two Similar Looking Men With Umbilical Hernias by @zenabarrie.bsky.social -surreal and funny, with great illustrations by Claire Robinson.
@breakthroughbook.bsky.social
July 25, 2025 at 8:59 AM