Graham Palmer

Blind research can be so serendipitous! While investigating a crime, I've found its female victim living in a posh North London Asylum along with TS Eliot's first wife...the same place that Stevie Smith was to write a poem about. @balhnews.bsky.social @poetrysociety.org.uk #writingcommunity

We are all Butlers - Graham Palmer I caught up with Kazuo Ishiguro in 1995. Six years earlier The Remains of the Day had won the Booker prize and it was two years since Merchant Ivory’s adaptation had hit the big screen. He had just pu...

Congrats to David Szalay on his 2025 Booker Prize (an interesting chat on BBC Today)...not the first émigré caught between worlds to win. I've dusted off an archive piece about Kazuo Ishiguro's early days. #writing @thebookerprizes.com
@faberbooks.bsky.social

grahampalmer.co.uk/we-are-all-b...

Rise and silencing of the East End’s pioneering paper “That’s the way to do it!” Toby, a paper named after Punch’s dog bit back at power – until satire, scandal and love brought it to heel

In 1886, Francis and Pollie Parsons printed Toby from the heart of London’s East End. They mocked corruption, defended workers and refused to be silenced. Graham Palmer tells their tale of satire, scandal and courage – worth rediscovering today.

eastangliabylines.co.uk/lifestyle/hi...

In East Anglia Bylines this week I track down Toby, the Victorian ‘watchdog’ whose bark would land its owner in prison... eastangliabylines.co.uk/lifestyle/hi... @balhnews.bsky.social @historyworkshop.org.uk @britishlibrary.bsky.social @thebhp.bsky.social @bho.bsky.social

I was sad to hear that the inspirational music teacher Adrian Jacobs has passed away. A keystone of the original 1980s iteration of Royston Arts Festival, he is acknowledged by the the world-renowned trumpeter Alison Balsom as a seminal influence on her early days. @classicfm.com

'I had thought it was about writing what I knew, but after a time I discovered the more I acknowledged all that I didn't know, the closer to some truth I seemed to get.' - Richard Flanagan (First Person, 2017) @writerscentre.bsky.social @thebookerprizes.com

Act of ratification of the Treaty of Corbeil by Robert the Bruce, 12 July 1326 in Stirling (National Archives AE/III/10).

730 years ago, on the 23rd of October 1295, the kingdoms of France and Scotland formed the Auld Alliance against England. If either country were attacked by England, the other would invade English territory in turn. It was renewed in 1326 by Robert the Bruce but never formally revoked. #otd 🗃️

YouTube video by HoneyboyWalter Brian Patten - So Many Different Lengths Of Time

Forget the Beatles, the Liverpool poets told it as it was. Brian Patten may have shuffled off yesterday, but his 'length of time' lives on... @writerscentre.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEoB...

@roystonmuseum.bsky.social This might be useful to you... bsky.app/profile/brit...

My new best friend...

Library books dumped on Croydon pavement 'unacceptable' - BBC News Croydon mayor apologises after books were discovered outside a library being cleared by contractors.

Is this how much we value knowledge? www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc....

Pupil who invented device to help homeless named 'girl of the year' Rebecca Young, 12, was recognised for designing a solar-powered backpack with an electric blanket inside.

Fantastic and heartfelt idea. This young woman should get a gong on the New year's honours list..
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I always knew Royston had its witches, but I don't think the locals memorialised them. 😀(Spotted on the Herts Memories website). @balhnews.bsky.social @roystonmuseum.bsky.social

American musical satirist Tom Lehrer dies at 97, US media report - BBC News Lehrer, a Harvard-trained mathematician, wrote darkly humorous songs, often with political connotations.

A great lyricist and song writer. The pigeons finally got their own back. www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc....

Cleo Laine: Acclaimed jazz singer dies aged 97 She was the first British singer to win a Grammy in a jazz category and performed with all the greats.

I was lucky enough to hear this lady scat when she was well into her 80s and she blew me away. She will be missed.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Last year I gave a talk at @roystonmuseum.bsky.social about an c18th proto sci-fi novel. The gist of 'Dr Who's Sea Legs' is now online. grahampalmer.co.uk/dr-whos-sea-...

Something to put a breeze under your wings this morning...

New to @bsky.app 👋🏾
No better time to join than to share this news:

#TwelfthNight coming to #ShakespearesGlobe this summer. 🌦️

Also, a great set by @katerusby.bsky.social‬

Brilliant performance by @janandjon.bsky.social at @folkbytheoak.bsky.social in Hatfield yesterday. Thanks guys!

It's always nice (and a surprise) to be featured in a
Creative Hertfordshire newsletter. 😃

Building a Cathedral - Graham Palmer Graham Palmer talks to Jo Browning Wroe (author of the bestseller, A Terrible Kindness) in the first of his new blog-series 'Book Talk'.

Jo Browning Wroe (bestselling author of 'A Terrible Kindness') shares thoughts on writing, the second book and the myth of the solitary author. #writingcommunity @faberbooks.bsky.social @societyofauthors.bsky.social
@cambridgeindy.bsky.social
@theul.bsky.social grahampalmer.co.uk/building-a-c...

Begs the question, who do I go to if don't want to be cremated but reincarnated instead?

Can't wait!

Greenbelt at 50: a festival like no other Along with 11,500 others, Graham Palmer drops into one of the UK’s most eclectic festivals and finds inspiration, imagination and inclusivity.

If you're still wondering who Greenbelt is for...its for anybody who wants to be challenged (and you might find this helpful. centralbylines.co.uk/lifestyle/mu...)

With my eyes, I quite agree!

NHS plans to DNA test all babies in England to assess disease risk Scheme is part of the government's 10-year plan for the NHS in England aimed at easing pressure on services.

I understand the potential benefits. but this is deeply worrying given concerns about data protection, the rights of the individual and the uses third parties might make of the information.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

King’s Birthday Honours 2025: Gary Oldman and Strictly hosts Tess and Claudia join David Beckham Teenage world darts champion Luke Littler, Love Island’s Georgia Harrison and singer Elaine Paige are also recognised by the King.

It would be truly refreshing if the media focused on the everyday people who get gongs for their hours of selfless service in their communities rather than 'named' who are just good at their jobs. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It's a tool from extracting bungs that have accidentally been pushed into demijohns while wine making.

If I go on Dragon's Den with this, will it make my fortune?