Duc Dau

Square black and white graffiti image with a woman's face painted on a door. Below it is the Bywater Books logo. In green font, it reads: We Won't Back Down.

🏳️‍🌈📚 Queer books are resistance.
👀 Read them.
📝 Review them.
👊 Support queer writers & publishers.

#SapphicBooks #LGBTQBooks #QueerLit #QueerWriters #QueerPublishers #BookSky

“In Shadow, Who Made These Words,” a Poem by Bianca Stone “All poets are liars,” my play begins. Plato was probably right. With this enfeebled mind my only recourse is poetry. Behind my head, heads begin to nod. They doze in the surgical amphitheater behi…

“‘All poets are liars,’ my play begins. / Plato was probably right. With this enfeebled mind / my only recourse is poetry.” Read “In Shadow, Who Made These Words,” a poem by @biancatherosestone.bsky.social from the collection The Near and Distant World.

Observation: ChatGPT is the new Viagra. But for most, it softens the brain instead of making it robust.

If you’re wondering why your friends in academia are a little on edge right now, it’s because an eighteen-year-old who hasn’t done the reading, doesn’t look at the assignment, and has does no critical thinking skills more complex than “because I think it’s in the Bible” can literally end your career

I received an international scholarship for WA1 and found a warm and supportive community. What’s more, I was paired with the legendary J.J. Arias as my mentor and learned so much from her!

I am several hours into Middlemarch—30.5 hours left to go. (Mostly doing Audible, cos who the fuck has time to read all the pages these days.)

Summary so far:

Dorothea’s reaction to a Casaubon: 😍😍😍
Everyone else in relation to Dorothea’s reaction to Causaubon:🤢🤢🤢

Every new word in this sentence is worse than the last

It’s time for my annual thread of Australian poetry books you should buy ppl for Xmas. No one buys poetry partly cos it’s intimidating. It rarely makes xmas book guides. But poetry is an ethical gift that: supports underfunded writers; wins brownie points with gift receiver; improves the human soul

I tripped on the weekend and found myself in a bookshop 😅

Sapphic Book Advent Calendar at jae-fiction.com. Depicted are the branches of a Christmas tree with Pride-/rainbow-colored baubles hanging on them.

The Sapphic Book Advent Calendar has started!

jae-fiction.com/sapphic-book...

From today until December 25, you get to open a new door every day, revealing:

🎁 a free ebook
🎁 a book giveaway
🎁 or a book on sale

by one of the 110 participating authors!

CSIRO 350 job cuts a damning indictment on Government priorities, misses 'golden opportunity' on research The announcement this week that CSIRO are to cut 350 research jobs is another damning indictment on Australia’s ongoing failure to prioritise research and development.

I seriously cannot get over how stupid it is to be cutting back on research right now #ThePoint
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

Cover of This Means War. Second Chance / Enemy to Lovers / Small town tension / Irresistible Chemistry / Pride Versus Vulnerability / Western Vibe. Available everywhere from 17 February 2026, through Bywater Books

Alum publication! Go, Benna 😍

One night of perfect passion years ago supercharges an epic battle between two headstrong women, each determined to get what they want in this feisty enemies-to-lovers Sapphic romance.

More details in the comments.

#gclswa #BywaterBooks

Lost in the plot: how would-be authors were fooled by AI staff and virtual offices in suspected global publishing scam Book publishing websites in Australia, the UK and New Zealand appear to be using fake testimonials and AI staff pages to lure aspiring writers into handing over their money

I have an assignment where I ask my students to identify a potential real trad publisher for their work. No matter how clear I am on which direction the money should flow, some invariably identify pay-to-players. Sounds like I'm also going to have to add a scam awareness component to that class...

edgar allan poe meme

By Alicia Gael If the scene isn't moving your story forward, you probably don't need it. WA2: Scene structure matters

Writing tip of the day

#gclswa #sapphicwriting #sapphicwritingprograms

Text: Support Sapphic authors by donating to SWAG4GCLS Background image: rainbow colors and the arms of a person writing in a notebook.

Support Sapphic authors by donating to SWAG4GCLS

#SWAG4GCLS #gclswa #sapphicwriting

Happy #aceweek 🖤🤍💜

“Does the Asexual Headquarters award you a toaster oven if you convert a certain quota of women into cuddle bugs?”

~ Jae. Perfect Rhythm

#lesfic #sapphicfiction #wlwbooks

Cover of A Language of Limbs. An orange background against a photo of two people embracing in front of a blue sky. One person is topless while the other wears a long-sleeve white shirt.

Loving this.

"Sometimes I think, I cannot love her more. But then I see her put down her paintbrush and scoop up a wad of paint with her hand, turn to the canvas, and flesh out an ocean with her palm, and I feel the edge of my love expanding."

Dylin Hardcastle. A Language of Limbs

#sapphicbooks

Twinless | Rotten Tomatoes Discover reviews, ratings, and trailers for Twinless on Rotten Tomatoes. Stay updated with critic and audience scores today!

Rotten Tomatoes link.

www.rottentomatoes.com/m/twinless

Catch Twinless when it comes out in Oz later this month. Such a great film about longing and loss. I felt the loneliness of losing a twin/soulmate, whether a biological sibling, a friend, or an amorphous relationship. And it's also extremely funny, often in a dark way.

More details in the comments

@stephenarussell.bsky.social I would love to hear your thoughts on Twinless some time. Will you have a review?

Jarrow ladies fire brigade, 1916 (Tyne & Wear Archives & Museum).

Protecting Sapphic Stories. As book bans rise across the US, GCLS stands with readers and writers to ensure these stories are recognized, celebrated, and never erased from our shelves.

At the Golden Crown Literary Society, we uplift sapphic and women-loving-women voices so they’re seen, celebrated, and never erased.

GCLS is excited to partner with SASS to promote protecting Sapphic Stories.

#SapphicsWithTheBanned #SapphicLit #BookBans #LGBTQAuthors #WLWStories #GCLS

🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations to the 2025 Lambda Literary Award Winner for Bisexual Nonfiction: You're Embarrassing Yourself by Desiree Akhavan! 🎉🎉🎉
#Lammys2025 #LammyAwards

🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations to the 2025 Lambda Literary Award Winner for Lesbian Fiction: The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden! 🎉🎉🎉 #Lammys2025 #LammyAwards

🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations to the 2025 Lambda Literary Award Winner for Bisexual Poetry: Interrogation Records by Jeddie Sophronius! 🎉🎉🎉
#Lammys2025 #LammyAwards

🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations to the 2025 Lambda Literary Award Winner for LGBTQ+ Studies: When Monsters Speak: A Susan Stryker Reader by Susan Stryker, edited by McKenzie Wark! @susanstryker.bsky.social @mckenziewark.bsky.social @dukepress.bsky.social 🎉🎉🎉
#Lammys2025 #LammyAwards

🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations to the 2025 Lambda Literary Award Winner for LGBTQ+ Anthology: Swagger: A Celebration of the Butch Experience by Rae Theodore, Nat Burns! @flannelfiles.bsky.social @flashpointpub.bsky.social 🎉🎉🎉
#Lammys2025 #LammyAwards

The world is healing. The best news notification I’ve seen in a while

Happy bi+ visibility day 🥳