@judecook.bsky.social
Novelist (Byron Easy, Jacob's Advice) & critic. Words Guardian, TLS, Literary Review. Radio plays BBC R3. Associate lecturer in Creative Writing Westminster University. judecook.com https://judecook.substack.com/
The reviews are starting to come in for Shaun Wilson's incredible debut novel #MalcsBoy and we are over the moon with these words from the award-winning author of #Saltwater, Jessica Andrews
A son’s struggle and friendship with his father amidst a legacy of toxic masculinity and violence.
23.04.26
An atmospheric & moving essay about 1970s horror movies (but really so much more) by @judecook.bsky.social. I recommend his Substack.
02.03.2026 19:43 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
A February Substack essay from me. I wrote about 70s horror movies & broken families in Trust Exercise: The Horror Movie. Read for FREE here: judecook.substack.com/p/trust-exer...
27.02.2026 11:19 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
New event alert: Do come along to the @owlbookshop.bsky.social in Kentish town on Thursday 23rd April to hear Shaun Wilson and Sam Mills talk about his brilliant debut novel MALC'S BOY (it's publication day too so should be great!) @conduitbooks.bsky.social Tickets: owlbookshop.co.uk/product/shau...
26.02.2026 10:31 — 👍 3 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0Having played a gig to just a soundman & his dog before (just the dog when the soundman went for a leak), 15 paying punters to see the fabulous, fierce Stu Hennigan is a pretty good start. Do please swell the throng & see me & Stu in conversation at Bàrd Books on 12th March 7pm (tickets below).
25.02.2026 20:52 — 👍 5 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
Mark Ronson’s memoir is a hoot. He makes 90s NYC sound even more exciting than 90s London. My review for this week’s @thetls.bsky.social www.the-tls.com/lives/autobi...
24.02.2026 19:03 — 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Thrilled to announce the launch of Conduit Books' first title, MALC'S BOY, the brilliant debut novel by @smwwriting.bsky.social will be held at @thesociallondon.bsky.social on Tuesday 21st April, 7-midnight.
FREE ENTRY! - reserve a place here: thesocial.seetickets.com/event/condui...
Thrilled to announce the launch of @conduitbooks.bsky.social's first title, MALC'S BOY, the brilliant debut novel by @smwwriting.bsky.social will be held at @thesociallondon.bsky.social on Tuesday 21st April, 7-midnight.
FREE ENTRY! - reserve a place here: thesocial.seetickets.com/event/condui...
Only another 24-hours to get 25% off RRP on pre-orders of
@conduitbooks.bsky.social's launch title, MALC'S BOY, the stunning debut novel by Shaun Wilson!
@smwwriting.bsky.social
Link: www.waterstones.com/book/malcs-b...
Use code FEB26
Offer must end tomorrow at midnight, Friday 20th Feb!
🚨 25% OFF PRE-ORDERS 🚨
The February pre-order offer is LIVE at @waterstones.com! Get 25% OFF RRP on these 8 incredible upcoming titles.
🎟️ Use code: FEB26
🛒 Shop here: www.waterstones.com/campaign/feb...
⏳ Offer ends Friday 23.59.
(1/2) #WPreorder #Books #NewBooks
Places are selling fast for my course on 11/03 from 6.30-8.30 pm GMT with the extraordinary @saloneurope.bsky.social ! Join us if you're writing narrative nonfic or memoir, and are inspired by landscape, setting and time: where are we standing? What in this place makes us feel alive?
All welcome!
So happy that my next book - & debut novel - will be published by @manillapress.bsky.social in July 2026. A TINY SPECK OF BLACK AND THEN NOTHING, set in Japan in the early 2000s, is the story of two young friends - a nightclub hostess & a school teacher - & what happens when one of them disappears.
16.02.2026 18:40 — 👍 9 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0
25% off preorders at Waterstones until midnight Friday!!!! use code FEB26 xx #wpreorder
17.02.2026 08:43 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
As of today, you can get 25% off RRP on pre-orders of @conduitbooks.bsky.social's launch title, MALC'S BOY, the stunning debut novel by Shaun Wilson! @smwwriting.bsky.social
Follow the link here: www.waterstones.com/campaign/feb...
Use code FEB 26
Offer must end Friday 20th Feb!
Fascinating discussion around class on Radio 4's Free Thinking feat. @adellestripe.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Happy publication day to the deep, dark, beautiful ride that is Keshed by Stu Hennigan.
We’re incredibly proud to be publishing this bold, uncompromising novel.
Congratulations @stuhennigan.bsky.social, and thanks to @turnarounduk.bsky.social, Jack Smyth, Tom and Jaime Witcomb and Alex Billington.
🔊 OUT NOW!
"Amis's talent was to put words to things in ways both unobvious and inevitable."
David Szalay and @jackaldane.bsky.social discuss:
✒️The first Amis novel David ever read
✒️The lessons for all writers in The Information
✒️Why Amis was right about style
🔗 www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTrz...
📣IN THE NEW YEAR…
David Szalay, winner of the 2025 Booker Prize for his latest novel 🏆📚Flesh📚🏆, tells @jackaldane.bsky.social how #MartinAmis spurred him to deal with sordidness, how it made him a better writer, and the story behind his favourite Amis work. @thebookerprizes.com @thetls.bsky.social
A glimpse into the (near) future... My debut novel MALC'S BOY will be hitting the shelves on 23rd April ✨
"A stunning, hilarious depiction of northern working-class violent masculinity conveyed - in a skewed way - through the form of experimental literary fiction."
Chris Kraus
Looking forward to the Keshed book launch this Thursday (publication day!) at Waterstones Leeds.
@stuhennigan.bsky.social will be in convo with Terri White.
You can still grab a ticket here:
www.waterstones.com/events/book-...
Bluebell Magazine is open for submissions again (until 1 March): bluebellmagazine.substack.com/p/february-s...
09.02.2026 15:00 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
A late-January Substack essay from me. Read In Plain Sight: The Dark Side of the 70s for FREE here: judecook.substack.com/p/in-plain-s...
30.01.2026 10:28 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
I wrote about John Davidson’s moving, courageous memoir 'I Swear: My Life With Tourette’s' for this week’s TLS. @thetls.bsky.social www.the-tls.com/lives/autobi...
26.01.2026 12:24 — 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0Yes! And maybe more than one. But that’s the way of these things. At least there are some (relatively) smaller publishers on there as well as Weatherglass.
25.01.2026 12:16 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
A very strong line-up of debut novelists in the Observer's 2026 list. Great to see @weatherglassbooks.bsky.social on there with Lucy Apps' Gloria Don't Speak. #smallpresses observer.co.uk/culture/book...
25.01.2026 11:37 — 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0"Keshed is original, difficult and revelatory. There are echoes of James Kelman and Hubert Srlby Jr but Hennigan's voice is entirely his own."
23.01.2026 13:07 — 👍 19 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 1
London event for Keshed with @stuhennigan.bsky.social and @judecook.bsky.social at the brilliant Bard Books by Victoria Park.
March 12th. This’ll be a good one - get your tickets before they go!
Who wants to #GetKeshed with me and @judecook.bsky.social at Bard Books in London on 12th March? Cos tix are onsale as of this afternoon 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
www.wearebardbooks.co.uk/event-detail...
Post-winter break, I'm still working through the contents of my inbox and finding some great things to read. I enjoyed this piece by @judecook.bsky.social, which asks if 'politics and fiction make for uneasy bedfellows? Does one, as it were, fatally undermine the other?'
07.01.2026 19:49 — 👍 6 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0The online launch for Keshed is only a month away 😱 Anyone wanting to join the fun, pls email GetKeshed@gmail.com and I'll get you on the list for when the email invites are sent out. @ortacpress.bsky.social @davidcollard.bsky.social @regretteruane.bsky.social in the house, don't miss it 👍
05.01.2026 22:00 — 👍 37 🔁 13 💬 5 📌 1