June Caldwell

Can we have a special #PoetLaureate moment for Sarah Clancy, perhaps? Not only is her poetry always gorgeous, ultra real, on message, but putting her heart on the earth's sleeve like she's just done deserves a mark of respect. Welcome home @sarahmaintains.bsky.social www.facebook.com/share/v/1EFi...

Budget 2026: Basic income for artists to become permanent The Basic Income for the Arts scheme will be put on a permanent footing in the Budget tomorrow.

The Basic Income for the Arts scheme will be put on a permanent footing in the Budget tomorrow

Cherishing for Beginners by Sarah Clancy, a brilliant poem charting the leylines of calm hypocrisy, brutal misogyny and institutional smarm. share.google/9AJ9vdYzP3bd...

Background image shows an open notebook and pen on a wooden table. The text reads: Publishing Your Work - October 2025, Poetry & Writing Submissions - Journals, Competitions, Bursaries, Residencies. www.thisiswordbox.com

Over 160 calls for literary competitions & submissions including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art, photography, & more - contests, literary journals, residencies, bursaries etc - open or with deadlines in October 2025. Please share & best of luck!
www.thisiswordbox.com/wordbox-blog...

For a visiting friend on an autumn day 🍂 ... baked vanilla cheesecake with a chocolate digestive base ❤️

Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish? Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and ...

"The platform has turned into a pile of shit, and we’re at the bottom of it"

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

If you want to do something fun this Halloween month:

Watch Rosemary's Baby and then *immediately* read the novel.

(or vicey versey, but I think the experiment resonates better if you watch the movie first)

Keeper of Stones | Buythebook.ie Keeper of Stones, published by Tribes Press, is inspired by the magical Tuatha de Danaan and the mystical monuments of Newgrange. It draws on myths and legends to imagine the world of ancient Ireland ...

KEEPER OF STONES by Ger Moane, a gorgeous novel inspired by the magical Tuatha de Danaan and mystical monuments of Newgrange. It draws on myths and legends to imagine ancient Ireland as a land of abundance where people lived in harmony with nature & #FluidSexuality www.buythebook.ie/product/keep...

Our friend, poet and activist @sarahmaintains.bsky.social has been illegally detained by the IDF and is being held in an Israeli jail. There are reports of mistreatment and human rights violations. Please keep pressure on the Irish government and embassy to secure the release of Sarah and others. 🇵🇸🇮🇪

Debut author Colwill Brown wins BBC short story award for ‘heartbreaking’ tale – read an extract here Brown’s story of a teenage life ‘critically damaged in a moment’ was the ‘unanimous’ pick for the £15,000 prize

Debut author Colwill Brown wins BBC short story award for ‘heartbreaking’ tale – read an extract here

Keeper of Stones | Buythebook.ie Keeper of Stones, published by Tribes Press, is inspired by the magical Tuatha de Danaan and the mystical monuments of Newgrange. It draws on myths and legends to imagine the world of ancient Ireland ...

KEEPER OF STONES by Ger Moane, a gorgeous novel inspired by the magical Tuatha de Danaan and mystical monuments of Newgrange. It draws on myths and legends to imagine ancient Ireland as a land of abundance where people lived in harmony with nature & #FluidSexuality www.buythebook.ie/product/keep...

Global Sumud Flotilla Statement - Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann 2 October August 2025 Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann is gravely concerned about the abduction of poet Sarah Clancy, one of several Irish citizens taking part in the Global Sumud Flotilla. The flotilla was ...

Please read and reshare our statement on the Global Sumud Flotilla. We at Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann offer solidarity in this time of crisis.

irishpen.com/2025/10/02/g...

Thinking of Sarah Clancy, always so good at capturing small bytes of humanity, ever moreso now as she's literally sticking up for humanity, while most of us nod off. A great person, hugely kind. 🙏

October is #Pumpkin cooking season. I overdose on the mofos this time of year and then ignore again for 11 months. This was stuffed with sage leaves from the garden, mild goat's cheese & chilli flakes. Green salad on the side with wild garlic dressing. 😋

Very much felt for this lady seagull in the story below, such a great character!

The editors of West Trade Review seek creative nonfiction that engages with the ideas of mental health and mental wellness.

Submit today!

Details at the link below:

buff.ly/2RsvBtt

#writingcommunity

Giving this a boost. Lots of entries so far. Thank you. Hope there are plenty more people working on something to get in by November too. Everyone welcome!

The International Debut Novel Competition 2025 Competition deadline: 14th September 2025 The International Debut Novel Competition (IDNC) is a revamped version of Novel Fair, whose sole mission is to continue to find the newest voices of literature. The competition has helped launch dozens of writing careers over the past fourteen years as 12 selected winners get to bypass the slush pile and pitch their debut novels directly to top publishers and literary agents, either in person or online during a two-day hybrid event.

The International Debut Novel Competition 2025

Competition deadline: 14th September 2025 The International Debut Novel Competition (IDNC) is a revamped version of Novel Fair, whose sole mission is to continue to find the newest voices of literature. The competition has helped launch dozens of…

Next up, this #WritingGhostStories course I'm facilitating @irishwriterscentre.bsky.social in September: irishwriterscentre.ie/courses/writ...

Dreaming of Dead People by Rosalind Belben review – rivals anything by Virginia Woolf More than 40 years on from its first publication, this exploration of one woman’s thoughts and fantasies is a gem worthy of rediscovery

‘If this novel is as confessional as it seems, it is truly fearless: death, ageing, anorgasmia, loneliness, despair and madness are all here, jostling for attention, just as they do for many of us, for all we may seek to tune them out’

Dreaming of Dead People is @theguardian.com's Book of the Day!✨

Very sad to hear of the death of Sean Rocks, a total gentleman: calm, funny, smart, ultra professional; I always felt so at ease on #Arena thanks to how he'd make you feel. He always took the time to chat beforehand (and after) no matter how hectic his schedule. What a loss to arts journalism. #RIP

The Inheritance by Cauvery Madhavan - read an extract It's 1986 and 29-year-old Marlo O'Sullivan of London-Irish stock has just found out that his sister is his mother. To steady his life, he moves to Glengarriff, to a cottage he has inherited, in the st...

We love this novel by our West Cork neighbour @cauverymadhavan.bsky.social. Cauvery will be chatting about The Inheritance in #BantryBookshop on Sat 12 July at 11.30am as part of WCLF. #FreeEvent @hoperoadpublish.bsky.social
www.rte.ie/culture/2024...

'My award-winning book was ignored by 60 agents' Margaret McDonald has won the the prestigious book prize for her debut novel Glasgow Boys.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Yep! There's another here that literally made a career out of it, sanctioned and watched on by the very best stock around.

One creepy older dude on lit scene here told me it was a rite [tempted to pun on passages] that a teacher chooses one particular darling for 'deeper' learning. It's glaringly S&M, I feel. Anyone who 'went there' in the past felt complicit by their decision. The scam relies on low self-esteem esteem.

Always exceptions, yes. But it should be a hard "no" instead of a hard-on. Even when it's not with younger students, the power dynamic is too weighted on the teacher/tutor and that's used by nefarious narcissists. I've had friends crushed by this and had an experience myself on a postgrad yeses ago.

At 21, Madison Griffiths dated her university tutor. It was legal, consensual – and a messy grey area The author’s new book Sweet Nothings follows four women who, like her, dated their professors – and explores how even a consensual pedagogical relationship can result in ‘a unique harm’

Creepy predator tutors riding the hierarchy of power abuse. There could be an entire genre dedicated to just this, from multiple "the same narcissist" perspectives in fiction. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

I can't wait to return to this fabulous writer's retreat in France this October. Just three days left to enter #TheMoth short story prize, which offers as 2nd place a week at Circle of Missé, including a travel stipend from anywhere in the world. 🖊 www.themothmagazine.com/a1-page.asp?...

It's a bakery...