Aliya Vasylenko

Sci-fi fans get annoyed when a lit-fic author tries their hand at sci-fi with another "What if there was a robot?" book.
But if a sci-fi author wrote about their divorce no one would mind.
Double standards

“I asked Chat GPT” “I asked Grok”

Ok well I asked Sappho and she said

…….
…….
..[b]osom

Psychedelic sci-fi book cover. A giant bright pink face with long blue-green ombre hair stares out over an alien landscape with brightly coloured mushroom-like plants. Also there is a weird chubby faceless grey body floating about.

Next book for #WomenInTranslationMonth is Roadkill by Amil, translated by Archana Madhavan. The cool cover illustration is by Sangho Bang. #WITmonth

As I should have expected from a book about a woman falling in love with a talking statue of Venus, this was very weird (in a good way)! The surreal vibes reminded me of Hiroko Oyamada.

It’s not only that trans people are not an issue or debate. It’s that the Polari Prize is meant to be for LGBTQ+ people. If the Jhalak Prize, for writers of colour, longlisted someone who was Islamophobic then that too would be inappropriate for the prize specifically as well as for being ethical

I will be asking to remove 'Queer As Folklore' from the long list for the Polari Prize 2025.

an annoying thing about my profession is, psychologically speaking, i need to be told i'm a very clever boy every three weeks, but my professional activities result in being told i'm a very clever boy only every six weeks

Vibrant yellow, pink and aqua illustrated book cover. In the foreground is a statue of Venus shown from behind. Text mentions that Emi Yagi is also the author of Diary of a Void.

Endpapers look like a bento box with a black background and lots of colourful graphic foods.

Hopefully I'll have more success with my second #WomenInTranslationMonth book! When the Museum is Closed by Emi Yagi, translated by Yuki Tejima. Love the endpapers on this! #WITmonth

I'll remember to avoid that 😅

There's no way to prepare you for this. "Kindle edition now complete with cover!! Raphael, a young man in his mid-thirties, returns to the rustic coastal village of Hopetown, where he spent the last few days with his son, Clay, before his son suffers an unfortunate, near-sudden death in a devastating car crash, and during which he, the father, was driving.  Join him as he relives the anguish, the blatant incredulity, the consequent meltdown and intermittent pangs of guilt, and which are then followed by an unfathomable void alternating with a sudden surge of emotion, all in that order, on realising that things had forever changed. While reviving memories, he also crosses paths with a roaming woman spirit of the sea, who claims that he needs her and that she knows Clay's whereabouts, and who is continuously transforming as the relationship grows.  The story also teases a complex interplay of emotions and secrets, as some friends also introduce him to Celine, another young woman, who initially seems to be the perfect antithesis of the other woman, and yet is vaguely similar to the other woman in some ways, also setting the stage for an unpredictable narrative in subsequent parts." Actually sobbing and it's like the ninth time I've read this lol

I got served this incredible advert over on twitter. It's a book summary written by AI but I bet the book is AI too. It's just so incredibly stupidly funny and every time I read it I start WHEEZING

A wrapper that reads "Vampire's Deadly Secret" in red and white gothic-style font, with the appearance of "blood" being drained from it. There is an image of a green vampire with a pompadour and black cape, wearing a badge with a red "V" on it. He has a look of annoyance on his face

There was also a variant sold individually, exclusively through ice cream trucks, as "Vampire's DEADLY Secret". These were about double the size of the ones sold in boxes, with a vampire who looked more mildly inconvenienced

Alex on twitter writes: "Someone on Twitter writes: "You’re a menswear writer. You don’t know anything about manufacturing in America, or steel mills, or metallurgy, or CNC machining, or how anything is produced from raw material into a finished product in this country or anywhere. Stick to writing about “men’s fashion."" I reply: "i actually had a career in knifemaking before this. the reason why you can't avoid tariffs in knifemaking is because everyone relies on Gobelin machinery. are you aware of this?" Alex replies: "Gobelin machinery? What exactly are you referring to?" I reply: "you Gobelin DEEZ NUTS!"

"stick to menswear"

car license plate that says RATTA2EE

saw something pretty incredible the other day

There are living survivors of school shootings you could interview, and it would really be their words and thoughts instead of completely made up.

I think I'm gonna have to give up on this one. I feel like I'm avoiding reading so I don't have to hear any more about people being burned alive. It's probably really good- I nearly gave up on Slum Virgin for the same reason (!) and I really liked that overall. And China Iron was amazing.

Unfortunately the Electoral Commission's rules say that party names must be entirely in Roman script so for example "The Left ☭aЯty" would not be allowed

Book cover- an illustration of Antonio de Erauso is partially obscured by jungle leaves and flowers, there is also a hummingbird and a snake

First up for #WomenInTranslationMonth I'm reading We are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Robin Myers. It sounds pretty wild www.penguin.co.uk/books/462232... #WITmonth

Started collecting found haikus yesterday; here's one from a Wetherspoon's food menu:

8am–noon
Vegetarian breakfast
£4.99

One huge tomato, one that requires zooming in to identify.

Two yellow courgettes, unalike in dignity. The smaller one is ridiculously tiny.

One other thing I was told is that the committee "keep it evolving, but keep it the same".

The "little and large" category is a neat new twist on the usual giant veg, and has the added advantage of looking ridiculous.

31 Short Stories for Women in Translation Month I had so much fun reading along with RJL supporters for January in Japan, that I hope you’ll join me again for #WomeninTranslation Month. #WITMonth an annual event each August that has played its o…

Hope some of y'all will read along with me for #WITMonth!

I've got stories queued up by some of Japan's best-known women writers (+ some you've likely never heard of), translated by some of my favorites—Balistrieri, Bergstrom, H Kawai, M Powell, Nieda, Takemori, Wilson, Yoneda...

Starts Friday!

I blame Fitzcarraldo

I agree but they seem to be trying a new thing! Must be the fashion I guess

Remember #JanuaryinJapan? We'll tune in on Friday, because RJL will have #WomeninTranslation month stories for you to read along with, too!

ROOMMATE: Have you seen my sock puppets?

ME: *muffled screams from my shoes* why

Plain red book cover with black text reading Tilted Axis Press / Capitalists Must Starve a novel by Park Seolyon translated by Anton Hur

Yet another book cover that I assumed was a placeholder but apparently this is all we are getting 😤 @causticcovercritic.bsky.social

Starmer is the kind of guy who’d watch someone choke to death because the polls said Reform voters think the Heimlich manoeuvre sounds both German AND French

1. In a dark police squad room, a tech sits in front of a monitor and keyboard. "Sergeant!" he says. "We have security camera footage from the crime scene!" The sergeant leans over his shoulder. "Show me," he says. 2. Close on the monitor: grainy footage of a parking garage. The sergeant points at a small, dark silhouette of a figure walking. "There's our perp," he says. "Enhance!" 3. The footage zooms in 200% on the silhouette. Not much more detail. "Enhance again!" the seargant says. 4. The footage zooms in to 400%. A little contrast in the figure, but still not enough. "Enhance using generative A.I.!" the sergeant commands. 5. The footage transforms into a purple-haired anime waifu with… a rather large chest. She winks and throws up the "peace" sign. 6. Back to the tech and the sergeant. "Nice," the sergeant says, smiling.

Enhance!

I’m glad Rose left him to die.

Darkly funny: signs appearing across central London, protesting Starmer’s use of anti-terror laws against peaceful pro-Palestine protesters.