Pippa Goldschmidt

Penelope Fitzgerald is one of my favourite authors, so I'm really looking forward to this novel about her:

I'm doing some sewing, then finishing a job application, then writing a book review. Whilst trying not to be distracted by the storm outside...

Willa Muir: a Shetland Translator in Prague - The Bottle Imp In her archive at St Andrew’s, Willa Muir stored a clipping from The Scotsman, dated 24 May, 1947. “It was something of a shock, writes a colleague from Prague, to hear a Czech choir singing Ho Ro, mo...

“Had a fit of the scunners: heart withered up”

August is Women in Translation Month. Willa Muir’s translations of Kafka solidified his reputation in English, & then internationally. Prof Michelle Woods looks at Willa Muir – a Shetland translator in Prague
1/2
www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2020/12/will...

New Writing Scotland Submission Manager New Writing Scotland publishes works by writers resident in Scotland or Scots by birth, upbringing, or inclination. Prose (fiction and nonfiction); poetry; drama; screenplays; and graphic artwork (mon...

#WritingCommunity!
Submissions invited to NEW WRITING SCOTLAND 44! We want poetry & prose in English, #Gaelic, & #Scots from writers who are Scottish by residence, birth, or inclination. All successful contributors are paid – deadline 31 Oct!

Submit free via Submittable 👇
nws.submittable.com/submit

My story "Lord of the Fruit Flies" (first broadcast on Radio 4 last year) is included in this fab anthology! Thanks to the editor @nicholasroyle.bsky.social!

Presenting the #BookerPrize2025 longlist.

Find out more about the books and authors that make up this year's Booker Dozen: thebookerprizes.com/bp2025

Issue 46 | Summer-Autumn 2025 | Northwords Now New writing, fresh from Scotland and the wider North

The latest issue of NORTHWORDS NOW is available free online – poems, short stories, articles & book reviews, in English, Gaelic & Scots

New writing, fresh from Scotland and the wider North
Sgrìobhadh ùr à Alba agus an Àird a Tuath
www.northwordsnow.co.uk/Issue46

📚🏞️ Scotland's Geomythography by Stuart McHardy is coming this November! Discover the fascinating links between folklore, history, and Scotland's landscapes through this innovative approach.

A must-read for anyone interested in Scotland’s cultural heritage!
buff.ly/inZkoi4

Definitely read all of them. Honest.

A display of travel books for the deserts of Sudan, Japan, Yucatan, Milan, Bordeaux and Borneo

From the deserts of Sudan
to the gardens of Japan.
From Milan to Yucatan,
or the wilds of Borneo
to the vineyards of Bordeaux.

Hit me with your library card. Hit me. Hit me.

Book cover of "The Human Front" by the SF author Ken Macleod

Spotted (and bought!) at @otherlandberlin.bsky.social this week, to add to my @amendlocke.bsky.social collection

Mass starvation spreading across Gaza, aid agencies warn, as pressure on Israel grows – Middle East crisis live More than 100 aid agencies, including Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children and Oxfam, say ‘our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away’

I'm in despair this morning, the situation in Gaza is so horrific. What can we do? What pressure can we put on our governments to stop this? www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

An image of Earth from space with the title “This week on…” followed by the Planetside magazine logo. Featured article: “Poetry in Print: Shaping Your Own Chapbook” by Wendy Van Camp Teaser: Design and publish a chapbook that honors your voice and opens doors for discovery. Series name: Speculative Poetics

This week on Planetside…

“Poetry in Print: Shaping Your Own Chapbook” by Wendy Van Camp guides poets through title, tone, order, and intention. Learn how to create yours at www.sfwa.org/2025/07/22/p...

Part of SPECULATIVE POETICS. @indigoskye.bsky.social

I review books! Mainly for Sky At Night magazine and the Times literary supplement

A Home in Space Edwin Morgan Laid-back in orbit, they found their minds. They found their minds were very clean and clear. Clear crystals in swarms outside were their fireflies and larks. Larks they were in lift-off, swallows in soaring. Soaring metal is flight and nest together. Together they must hatch. Hatches let the welders out. Out went the whitesuit riggers with frames as light as air. Air was millions under lock and key. Key-ins had computers wild on Saturday nights. Nights, days, months, years they lived in space. Space shone black in their eyes. Eyes, hands, food-tubes, screens, lenses, keys were one. One night – or day – or month – or year – they all – all gathered at the panel and agreed – agreed to cut communication with – with the earth base – and it must be said they were – were cool and clear as they dismantled the station and – and gave their capsule such power that – that they launched themselves outwards – outwards in an impeccable trajectory, that band – that band of tranquil defiers, not to plant any – any home with roots but to keep a – a voyaging generation voyaging, and as far – as far as there would ever be a home in space – space that needs time and time that needs life.

Larks they were in lift-off, swallows in soaring.
Soaring metal is flight and nest together…

—Edwin Morgan, “A Home in Space”
A #poem for astronauts, in CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS, @carcanet.bsky.social 2020

#OTD, 20 July, 1969, Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon
#MoonLandingDay

NEW WRITING SCOTLAND ASL is seeking applications to be a co-editor of New Writing Scotland, from writers currently based in Scotland. Applicants should have a strong publishing record of their own, with a focus on prose; previous editorial experience would be an advantage. The post will run for up to three years from 2026, for volumes 44, 45, and 46, publishing in 2026, 2027, and 2028 (dependent on funding). Our editors jointly select approximately 50 pieces – poetry and prose – from the English- and Scots-language submissions we receive each year. The submissions are anonymised, and we provide editors with paper copies to read. As an editor, we’d ask you to attend launches in Edinburgh and Glasgow (travelling expenses would be paid). Editors receive an annual £1500 stipend and full editorial credit. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from people who are under-represented within the sector, including from BPOC applicants (Black people and People of Colour), disabled people, LGBTQIA+ applicants and those from a low socioeconomic background. Please send a CV and a one-page application letter, outlining your qualifications for the position, to admin@asls.org.uk by midnight on Monday 4 August 2025. Submission to New Writing Scotland is free and open to all. You can find our submission instructions here.

WRITERS!
New Writing Scotland seeks a new co-editor for English- & Scots-language work. Applicants should be currently based in Scotland & have a strong publishing record, with a focus on prose. Post is up to 3 years: stipend £1500 per issue.
#writers #writing
Pls RT 👇
asls.org.uk/new-writing-...

I received some old microscopy slides from the 1800s, when at-home microscopes made it possible to look at hidden worlds of diatoms, polycystina, and other teeny tiny things.

I made this website so people today can take a look too: microspeci.men

Enjoy! #scienceisforeveryone #microscopy #HistSci

Edwin Morgan Siesta of a Hungarian Snake s sz sz SZ sz SZ sz ZS zs ZS zs zs z

Today is #WorldSnakeDay, so here’s Edwin Morgan’s “Siesta of a Hungarian Snake”, published in COLLECTED POEMS, @carcanet.bsky.social 2012 🐍

Studies in Expectation: Jocelyn Bell-Burnell and the Discovery of Pulsars. Sometimes the hardest thing about living in the universe is knowing about it. There is real and true terror to be faced in the indifferent march of the universe towards its inevitable dark close, and it takes a special type of person to stare into the void of our cosmic destiny on a daily basis and contemplate the mechanics of the vast machinery cooly plotting the complete demise of us, everything we’ve ever done, and everything we shall ever do. Psychologically, astronomers of the modern era ha

Wishing a happy 82nd birthday to astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell. In 1967, while still a research student, she discovered the first pulsar, though she was left out of the 1974 Nobel Prize awarded for the discovery. Here is her story.

tinyurl.com/yv27yfyd

#WomenInSTEM #HistSci #AstroSky 🔭

Disabled people want to live a full life. Instead, we’re forced to scrap over our right to food and a wash | Frances Ryan Britain’s political and media class advocate policies that leave disabled people hungry and dirty. Why are we expected to settle for this, asks Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

“When the political and media class wish to leave disabled people hungry and dirty, the disabled community must explain why we should be allowed to eat and be clean.”

Today’s col. reflects on a tough month and what it all means for disability in the U.K. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A picture of the cover of my book, which says "it's time: a chronomemoir" "tania hershman" in the bottom right corner. The background is cream coloured and there is what looks like a flow chart with images of apples, teeth, seeds and seeds growing and a tree.

Delighted that my 10th book, ‘It’s Time: A Chronomemoir‘ - an eclectic, playful hybrid creative non-fic book on Time - will be published on July 17 by @guillemotpress.bsky.social! taniahershman.com/its-time-a-c... Grab a free ticket to my Zoom launch to hear more www.tickettailor.com/events/tania...

Difficult to think of a greater waste of police time

Es war so schön, letzte Samstag mit Zoë Beck und Claudia Kramatschek über meinem Buch "Deutschstunden" zu plaudern! Vielen Dank an Jagoda und #Feelit für die Gelegenheit!

I don't like milk either, and use grated apple and yoghurt. Much nicer!

Strange Horizons 2026 A free weekly speculative fiction magazine with a global perspective.

Do you want to see Strange Horizons do special issues on SFF and Fungi and SFF and the Working Class in 2026?

Three days (and a bit) to make that a reality!

Donate here to help us achieve these two stretch goals in our annual fund-drive:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/str...

The German physicist Max Planck had twin daughters. One of the daughters, Grete, got married, had a baby daughter and died in childbirth. The second daughter, Emma, married the same man, also had a baby daughter and also died in childbirth. All whilst the first world war was raging.

Climate breakdown tripled death toll in Europe’s June heatwave, study finds Heat caused 2,300 deaths across 12 cities, of which 1,500 were down to climate crisis, scientists say

Compared to the very strong public reactions to deaths from flooding, deaths from heatwaves don't get a fraction of the response, even though they are at least as big a problem and only getting worse

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

SMHAF 2025: Writing Competition Now Open | Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival Enter the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival's 2025 Writing Competition with new writing inspired by mental health and our theme of 'Comfort & Disturb'.

SMHAF 2025: Writing Competition – open for entries
Enter the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival’s 2025 writing competition with new writing inspired by mental health & the theme of “Comfort & Disturb”

Free to enter & open to all
Deadline 4 August
www.mhfestival.com/2025/05/smha...

Poetry & Writing Competitions & Submissions - July 2025 — WORDBOX Over 160 calls for literary competitions and submissions including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art, photography, and more - contests, literary journals, residencies, bursaries etc - open or ...

Over 180 opportunities for poetry submissions in July

please share this :)

www.thisiswordbox.com/wordbox-blog...

and

authorspublish.com/39-themed-su...