Erica Wagner's Avatar

Erica Wagner

@ericawgnr.bsky.social

Writer, reader, cook, friend, lover. Contributing Editor, Observer. Contributing Writer for the New Statesman, Consulting Lit Ed for Harper's Bazaar. Podcaster, various. www.ericawagner.co.uk

1,797 Followers  |  238 Following  |  450 Posts  |  Joined: 22.09.2023
Posts Following

Posts by Erica Wagner (@ericawgnr.bsky.social)

πŸ™πŸŒŸ

01.03.2026 09:54 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I hate them too. But I think Sam makes a good distinction between them and rigour β€” thin on the ground, to say the least.

28.02.2026 10:58 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Terrific piece. Thank you, Sam.

28.02.2026 10:38 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
26.02.2026 15:26 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This is really tremendous.

24.02.2026 14:42 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Home - Queen of Swords Press Queen of Swords is an independent small press specializing in swashbuckling tales of derring-do, bold new adventures in time and space, mysterious stories of the occult and arcane and fantastical tale...

#Booksky 1/3 Okay, real small press talk for a minute here: we depend on book sales to keep publishing cool and fun books for our lovely readers. Jan & Feb are generally not great for sales and locally (Minneapolis/St. Paul), most event organizing is in emergency mode. queenofswordspress.com

20.02.2026 12:49 β€” πŸ‘ 30    πŸ” 24    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 3

Still true...

18.02.2026 23:58 β€” πŸ‘ 110    πŸ” 15    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1

hahahaha. Long week!!!

19.02.2026 14:06 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

... and, I know there's a lot going on the world, but hey, it's Friday, and so it's the LAST DAY to preorder my book from @waterstones.bsky.social for 25% off! 😜

19.02.2026 12:54 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Can we start a political party on a single issue: KNOBS KEYS SWITCHES

18.02.2026 14:01 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

.... would love to know the name and sing. great cover designers deserve it! rare skill. really is great

17.02.2026 09:51 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Wash by Erica Wagner | Waterstones Buy Wash by Erica Wagner from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over Β£25.

Ruthless self promotion! Okay, I’m really proud of Wash, my novel coming from @saltpublishing.com in May… and this week there’s a preorder deal from @waterstones.bsky.social ! Till Friday only! Roll up! www.waterstones.com/book/wash/er...

17.02.2026 08:31 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
Post image

Join us for an Observer Book Club evening with @naomialderman.bsky.social, award-winning author, as she discusses her latest book, Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today.

Book your tickets here:
https://bit.ly/4adkMqg

Have a question about our events? Reach out to us at events@observer.co.uk

16.02.2026 12:24 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

... I despair of the term 'paywall', which I think in itself does a lot of damage. Sainsbury's doesn't have a 'paywall'. It sells goods which ought to be paid for. Has always seemed to me.

16.02.2026 09:43 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Yikes! I’m so sorry!

12.02.2026 20:23 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

My hygienist once said β€œYou keep a nice mouth” and OBVIOUSLY it is the greatest thing anyone has ever said to me

12.02.2026 14:14 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Everywhere we look in the press we read of violence, degridation and corruption.
Kindness, thoughtfulness, and moral courage doesn’t make good copy.
Happily I see humanity, compassion and good friendship all around me and I never take that forgranted.

11.02.2026 11:24 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Ken Burns: β€˜Things don’t work out for tyrants in the end’ On a short, freezing walk through New York’s streets, the film-maker discusses the power of narrative, the importance of facts and his own history of telling America’s story to itself

"I think we should call it the Minneapolis massacre, and Paul Revere should come back from the dead and do an engraving showing our guy being shot" β€” how fortunate I was to talk to the great Ken Burns for @theobserveruk.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/interna...

11.02.2026 08:58 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Farewell to the Backlisted pod, where I have discovered so many great books & had my eyes opened onto ones I thought I knew. It was such a joy going on to discuss Werner Herzog's On Walking In Ice live at End Of The Road festival many moons ago, tune in thus:

www.backlisted.fm/episodes/101...

10.02.2026 12:57 β€” πŸ‘ 29    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

You could start here. And there is great grandeur in this episode. But you could also start anywhere. @backlisted.bsky.social is a real national treasure, I don't say that lightly. If you need inspiration to read, you'll always find it here. Bravo Andy, and all the team. Heroic, heroic stuff.

10.02.2026 08:00 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

How about a go-to Cary film?

09.02.2026 16:58 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

🀠

09.02.2026 16:40 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Hello from 58. I know that PE horror. It feels like an active triumph to have shed it. And: whatever you feel like.
Dancing in your kitchen counts!

09.02.2026 09:35 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The point of the AI project is to provoke despair in creative people. They haven’t produced profits or anything anyone wants, just a steady stream of articles about how us artistic types can’t do the thing we’re already doing, making art. Jokes on them, we’re even better at despair than they are.

08.02.2026 18:24 β€” πŸ‘ 4764    πŸ” 1243    πŸ’¬ 79    πŸ“Œ 45
Preview
Happy 50th, Muppets! As aΒ child, answering their fan mail... My extraordinarily lucky childhood spent sorting mailbags helped me understand the power of creativity and kindness

You might enjoy the piece I wrote in @theobserveruk.bsky.social Claire…

Happy 50th, Muppets! As aΒ child, answering their fan mail taught me so much observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

08.02.2026 16:34 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ™

08.02.2026 14:40 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I hope my dear colleagues at @theobserveruk.bsky.social will forgive me if I say, it's so much fun working at the paper, but nothing, nothing, compares to my Muppet days... πŸ˜‰

07.02.2026 17:18 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

The DLR, known in our house as 'Mum's roller coaster'. Love it.

07.02.2026 15:08 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Book extract showing excerpt from a letter: β€œI am still just as frightened of bombs, & guns going off, as I was at the beginning. I turn bright red and my heart hammers, in fact I’m a beastly coward but I do believe that a lot of people are, so I don’t mind! Well darling I must stop, and I do feel sure that all your present work is useful, and if you can put in a little refresher in nursing – well all the better. 
Tinkety tonk old fruit, & down with the Nazis 
always your loving 
Peter

Book extract showing excerpt from a letter: β€œI am still just as frightened of bombs, & guns going off, as I was at the beginning. I turn bright red and my heart hammers, in fact I’m a beastly coward but I do believe that a lot of people are, so I don’t mind! Well darling I must stop, and I do feel sure that all your present work is useful, and if you can put in a little refresher in nursing – well all the better. Tinkety tonk old fruit, & down with the Nazis always your loving Peter

That splendid sign-off of the Queen Mother’s – β€œTinkety tonk old fruit, & down with the Nazis” – celebrates its 85th anniversary today

07.02.2026 10:50 β€” πŸ‘ 177    πŸ” 75    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 10

The Washington Post will shut down and refurbish for two years while Kid Rock writes most of the op/eds

05.02.2026 13:27 β€” πŸ‘ 120    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 2