alex orr 🌷

A detailed and heartbreaking report on how Israel systematically destroyed Gaza’s bookstores, printing presses, and publishing houses. It turned centers of learning and knowledge production into ruins and ashes.

Please share widely.

404 Ink: closure announced ahead of 10th anniversary When Heather McDaid and Laura Jones-Rivera made the decision to sunset their labour of love, 404 Ink, going out on a high was paramount.

what a great shame for the Scottish publishing landscape. Laura and Heather are literary legends who made such an impact in their ten years. so glad to see 404 Ink finds a home with Saraband
404 Ink announces closure ahead of 10th anniversary www.thebookseller.com/news/404-ink...

my hand holds Saou Ichikawa’s The Hunchback, Ibtisam Azem’s The Book of Disappearance, and Omar El Akkad’s One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

a graphic of Nussaibah Younis’ Fundamentally. top left reads ‘my listening supports Argonaut Books’ and top right reads ‘Libro.fm’

March reads 🌷

reread the Hunchback. read — and wept over — The Book of Disappearance and One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. necessary, profound, painful reading

listened to Fundamentally — darkly funny and wickedly sharp

(thanks to @canongate.co.uk for the One Day ARC)

The Bodley Head to publish memoir from Gisèle Pelicot The Bodley Head, an imprint of Vintage, is set to publish a memoir from Gisèle Pelicot, "in her words, to offer solace and hope, and make a positive contribution to changing the conversation around sh...

so looking forward to this - it will be a privilege to hear more of Pelicot's voice. no doubt A HYMN TO LIFE will take its place alongside Chanel Miller's KNOW MY NAME as one of the most vital reads of a post-MeToo world
www.thebookseller.com/rights/the-b...

absolutely stunning novel. really hoping to see it make the shortlist!

my hand is holding Alice Franklin’s Life Hacks for a Little Alien, Lucy Rose’s The Lamb, Wendy Erskine’s The Benefactors, Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume, Saou Ichikawa’s Hunchback. the background is bookshelves

a graphic showing Sunbhrn by Chloe’s Howarth’s cover. top right reads Libro.fm and top left reads My listening supports Argonaut Books

starting a log of my monthly reads (ignore the fact that it’s March!)

two reads following the International Booker, two weird girl reads, a queer Irish audiobook, and an upcoming @sceptrebooks.bsky.social by @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social — BRILLIANT

congratulations!!!!

congratulations! (:

congratulations!!

Presenting the #InternationalBooker2025 longlist.

Find out more about all the books, authors and translators: thebookerprizes.com/ibp2025

From fresh voices to a fifth-time nominee, here's everything you need to know about the #InternationalBooker2025 longlist.

thebookerprizes.com/IBP2025longl...

Nicola Sturgeon owes no apology for her commitment to women’s and trans rights ANOTHER week, another opportunity for Nicola Sturgeon’s critics to reduce nearly nine years as First Minister to just three letters: GRR ...

Headlines have again been focused on whether Sturgeon let “gender politics” dominate as FM.

Loud voices are rewriting history to fit their agenda.

The facts on Sturgeon’s record on gender equality & the impact of supporting trans rights are very different 🪡

www.thenational.scot/news/2494619...

A hardback copy of Between Two Rivers laid against a map of ancient Mesopotamia

Published today, #BetweenTwoRivers by @moudhy.bsky.social breathes new life into the stories left behind when the people of ancient Mesopotamia began writing things down for the very first time... ✨

Get your copy here: lnk.to/BetweenTwoRivers

yeeeees!!!! although i’m only the Russian empire — some time before i catch up!

a list of faces and names under ‘Meet the 2025 Pride Committee’

thrilled to be joining the 2025 committee of Hachette’s Pride network as secretary and Edinburgh office rep 🌈

Kicking off our #SceptreSalon25 by remembering our amazing 2024 publishing with @mrfeditor.bsky.social, before looking ahead at some of the fantastic books ahead 📚

it was such a pleasure to hear you speak — cannot wait for everyone to read and love WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE 💛

a dark room with chairs facing a screen which reads ‘welcome to Sceptre Salon 2025’ followed by social media handles and hashtags

Leah Davis sits across from Gabriel Flynn and Leon Craig in front of a screen bearing their names and pictures of their books, Poor Ghost! and The Decadence

Wendy Erskine stands in front of a screen bearing her name and a picture of her books, The Benefactors

Leah Davis sits across from James Cahill and Jenny Mustard in front of a screen bearing their names and pictures of their books, The Violet Hour and What a Time to Be Alive

pics from Sceptre Salon!

we heard from the wildly talented authors on their 2025 list, including superstars below:

@wednesdayerskin.bsky.social, @jennymustard.bsky.social, @gabrielflynn.bsky.social, @arifa.bsky.social, @elfodongo.bsky.social & @jennashworth.bsky.social

@sceptrebooks.bsky.social

exciting!! congrats (:

Multi-Year Funding Outcome Announcement A record number of cultural organisations to receive stable, year-on-year funding to deliver culture and creativity for Scotland’s people.

The Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding outcome is here and relieved to see some familiar faces continuing to be supported: www.creativescotland.com/news-stories...

solvej balle’s ‘on the calculation of volume’ sits on a table surrounded by two candles and a glass of red wine

storm Éowyn caused a power cut in the East Neuk of Fife — there’s worse ways to spend a friday evening, i guess 💙📚

my hand is holding a proof copy of Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume. the wall in the background has printing on it saying Hachette Edinburgh

my hand is holding a proof copy of Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume. the wall in the background has printing on it saying Hachette Edinburgh

mega exciting book post from @faberbooks.bsky.social 📙

Tara Selter has slipped out of time — with nobody believing her, she is approaching her 365th morning of waking up on the 18th of November

Barbara J. Haveland translates the first in the septology from Danish

can’t wait to dive in !

been drooling over this cover since i first saw it! would love one!

congratulations, Hennah!

sooooo good right!!

socially conscious horror with a dash of Chinese mythology — my fave horror read of last year 🧡💙

content note: anti-East Asian racism and gore are central to the plot. the MC is a germaphobe. a description of sexual torture, a description of child neglect

my hand is holding a copy of Kylie Lee Baker’s Bat Eater with bookshelves behind it

this *excellent* book published yesterday

horror/thriller about a crime scene cleaner — whose sister was murdered by a man calling her a ‘bat eater’ — uncovering a serial killer targeting East Asian women. oh, and it’s got hungry ghosts!

femgore at its finest!

this is really brilliant - independent publishers have the opportunity to gain funding to run traineeships! hoping to see lots of regional publishers or publishers in Scotland/Wales/Ireland securing this funding 🤞

read this over the break! absolutely weird and wonderful + a delightfully wretched unreliable narrator — LOVED!