Ali McGrane

Despite what you hear from fossil fuel-funded politicians, the U.K has just generated a record amount of clean, domestic wind energy.

Enough to power 23 million homes!

U.K decarbonisation policy is a recipe for energy security.

new new: "Jeopardy," by Allison Field Bell: wigleaf.com

A pile of SIGNED books.

IT'S THE BIG GREEN BOOKS CHRISTMAS RAFFLE!

Tickets are just £2 each!

You can win all these SIGNED books + £50 to spend.

More importantly, every ticket you buy will help buy books for two amazing schools.

JUST TWO POUNDS.

More here.

www.biggreenbookshop.com/big-green-ex...

Please share.

Our garden approaching the Winter Solstice, the heart of winter and the start of the growing year. A few bulb and flower shoots are starting to appear in preparation for the lengthening days. All seems dead and dormant but if you look closely the natural world is alive.

A pile of nine books, all signed. These are the books you can win on the Big Green Books Christmas Raffle

CHRISTMAS RAFFLE (soft launch)

I'm doing a raffle.

Tickets are just £2 each!

You can win all these SIGNED books + £50 to spend.

More importantly, every ticket you buy will help buy books for two amazing schools.

TWO POUNDS.

More here.

www.biggreenbookshop.com/big-green-ex...

Please share.

Photo of a row of five smiling Bolivian women in colourful tops and skirts holding mountajn climbing equipment while standing on ice with a mountain ridge behind them

In 2019 a group of Bolivian indigenous women aka the “Climbing Cholitas” summitted Mount Aconcagua, Argentina (highest point - Southern Hemisphere) The women had previously worked for years as cooks for mostly rich male mountaineers. They climbed in traditional dress #WomensArt

‼️ Contest details are up!! 👇🏼👇🏼

I hope someone draws this wonderful story about Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the power of the arts to help us see things differently, to the attention of our Education Secretary. Do read it, it will lift your spirits.

100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025 The idea of 100 Notable Small Press Books was born November 2024, after The New York Times’s annual 100 Notable Books list featured eighty-two books from the Big Five publishing houses (Pengu…

If you love a small press, check out these 100 notable small press books from 2025!

For context the 'Middle England' referred to here is the 0.5% of households living in homes worth more than £2 million

I started a thing called The Big Green Books 500 Club on July 25th (my birthday!).

I'm asking people to chip in £1 each week so we can get books into schools.

Every time we reach £500, I send £500 of books to a different school.

Details HERE.

www.biggreenbookshop.com/big-green-bo...

a painting of a bridge over a river with a horse drawn carriage ALT: a painting of a bridge over a river with a horse drawn carriage

Submissions open tomorrow to our anthology (up to 500 words on the theme of bridges) & to our micro fiction comp (up to 100 words, no theme). You can read more here: www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk

After COP30, what now? It’s actually good news It’s the shape of story across all ages and human cultures. You’re in a hole. Then you get out

So often the story on climate leaves us in despair.

But for Prof Jules Pretty, there's plenty of good news after COP30. Solar costs are plunging, EV adoption is soaring and countries choosing renewables are saving billions. The story is turning. Read the good news here ⤵️

@eastangliabylines.co.uk

Kind of crazy we’re already on our 5th one! 👇🏼👇🏼

This Natural Life - Sarah Perry - BBC Sounds The writer takes Martha Kearney to the rook and jackdaw roost at Buckenham Carrs, Norfolk

Really enjoyed this discussion between Sarah Perry and Martha Kearney, in which Perry talks about her connection to the natural world.

She sounds so thoughtful and enthusiastic, I could listen to her all day. (via R4's This Natural Life.) #BookSky 💙📚 #Nature

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Autumn woodland floor

Ancient English Woodland - Still Life Art, the English Oak Project 2025

We. Are. A. Go.

The @welkinprize.bsky.social is open for another year, bigger and better (hopefully!) than ever before.

Can't wait to read what gets sent in. Always such a pleasure.

Primordial - Sarah McPherson — Bulb Culture Collective Bull leads, cow follows.

The light is on for Sarah McPherson! @summermoth.bsky.social💡

“Primordial” is a beautiful and beguiling flash fiction that’ll bring you face to face with the ancient past.

Check out Sarah’s incredible writing over at the site!

Yay! Lovely to see this one out in the world again, Sarah. 🥰

Me on Dartmoor with baby Rowan wrapped in a pink blanket with a green dinosaur jumper. Couple of ponies in the distance

I'm on shared parental leave for three months after this weekend 🎉 (Once I've covered Your Party conference)

Very excited & lucky to have the opportunity.

Shared parental leave is a right in the UK for employees but not many people use it, in large part because it's unpaid. If you have Qs, do ask.

Pictorial textile artwork featuring a stream in a lush mossy forest with trees and ferns

Alison Holt, contemporary textile artist who creates machine and hand embroidered artworks #WomensArt

an illustration of a bridge over a river ALT: an illustration of a bridge over a river

Not long now till subs to our anthology & microfiction comp open on 1 Dec. The theme for our anthology this year is BRIDGES. There is no theme for the micro comp. More details here: www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk

Photo featuring two sculptures of horses created with driftwood, side view facing each other on a beach in shallow water with reflections in blue sand under a pale blue sky

Heather Jansch, British sculptor who was known for creating life-sized sculptures of horses from driftwood #womensart

We are OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS! 💡

We want to read your previously published wonders!

Fiction, CNF, Poetry! We've even given a home to previously published visual art in the past!

Full Guidelines can be found Here:

THE WELKIN MINI. For micros up to 100 words. Free to enter. Deadline = 2nd January 2026. 1st prize = £75, 2nd prize = £40, 3rd prize = £25, HC = £10.

There are now just eight maids-a-milking until the #WelkinWritingPrize is open for entries once again. Hope you're busy scribbling your stories.

www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...

Print in black and white of a tabby cat, front half, lying down in a relaxed way on a seat cushion

'By the Fireside' by contemporary printmaker Ann Tout #ReframingWomenPrintmakers

Coming soon (4 December), another issue of Gone Lawn, this one puffed up with fiction. Great stuff! We can't wait to show it to you all. In the meantime, send us you stuff, especially if you have novel/novella excerpts (≤200 words) you think we'd love, for #63

gonelawn.net/journal/glj_...

I’ll never forget the horror of the Covid wards | The Observer

"My NHS colleagues & I weren’t willing to let the bodies pile high in their thousands. Boris no longer mentions them at all."

My piece on the responses to the UK Covid-UK Inquiry report that try to airbrush the dead away.

Sincere thanks, @theobserveruk.bsky.social.

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

A spider web between thin branches.

What is emotional resonance? How do you portray it in writing? ICYMI, our staff gave insightful answers on what it means to convey emotion & connection. Find WHAT CONNECTS PEOPLE TO ANYTHING, ANYWAY? A DEEP DIVE INTO EMOTIONAL RESONANCE on our blog 🥰: buff.ly/OWG6FGa

We’re thrilled to announce that the judges for our microfiction comp are: Joanna Campbell, Emily Devane, Debra A Daniel & David Swann! The comp opens on 1 Dec for micros up to 100 words. www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/index.php/co...