Richard Beard

'The unarguable lucidity of genius.' That's what I thought, so that's what I said.

Following Chloe Hadjimatheou’s exposé of The Salt Path in the Observer, I will be in discussion with Chloe and Julian Baggini at Julian's Philosophy salon in Bristol on Sunday 22 Feb at 4:30pm. Does truth matter in this case and others? www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk/whats-on/phi...

Aeon publishes hard-won knowledge from real people who have grappled deeply with their subjects. And everything is free to access – a commitment that we can make only because of the small percentage of our readers who donate. Will you join those generous supporters? Donate here: aeon.co/donate

I wrote about the Salt Path – and why it's a problem for authors, and publishing more widely – for the Sunday Times

BBC Radio 4 - Drama of the Week - Available now Available episodes of Drama of the Week

Forgive me banging on about this story again - but should you wish to download it, today's the last day (from link below, or Spotify, Apple, etc) - then it's only available on BBC Sounds

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

This is a brilliant reading of my piece in @aeon.co - and much more succinct.

'When Turing was deep in thought, according to his biographer Andrew Hodges, he used to scratch his side-parted hair and make a squelching noise with his mouth.'

Some thoughts for @aeon.co on Alan Turing, and other creative artists.

Goldsmiths Prize 2015 shortlistee, @richbeard.bsky.social, on 'the miracle of human artistic selection' and much more in @aeon.co

aeon.co/essays/sure-...

"Familiar word combinations are assembled into almost convincing sentences, a tired use of language formerly called out as cliché. LLMs are cliché machines, trained on a resilient human weakness for generating maximum content with minimum effort." aeon.co/essays/sure-...

#llm #writing

@aeon.co asked me to write about the incursion of AI into the creative arts, and why my memoir project The Universal Turing Machine stands up for all that is good and right. I'll do what I can, I said.
aeon.co/essays/sure-...

Sure, AI can ‘do’ writing. But memoir? Not so much | Aeon Essays As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer

Can AI be creative? Machine learning mechanisms are based on predictability and following instructions – anathema to making truly great art, which at its core is ‘an affirmation of human existence’, as Richard Beard argues in this passionate Essay

BBC Radio 4 - Short Works, A Whole Giant's Daughter Quest Thing by Jo Lloyd An original short work for radio by Jo Lloyd. Read by Alexander Vlahos.

I have a new story on BBC Radio 4 - Friday 23 Jan - and then on catchup

Elevator pitch - a comedy about love, entropy and a ceremonial badger

I’d love for you to give it a listen www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

'Eton Avenue from a Window' Belsize Park by William Ratcliffe (1870-1955)

(Private collection)

Thanks so much to library book borrowers for borrowing my books especially Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths (taken out 2000 times) and Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu (1000 times). PLR public lending rights is amazing! Please use your local libraries!

Looking to write a memoir in 2026?

Look no further than 'Into being' by @lilydunn.bsky.social, a new book that shares the secrets of writing a new, transformative kind of memoir.

Available from all good bookshops, and currently 40% off in our January Sale!
#amwriting #writing #booksky

Or not on the flyer. RSVP: hello@themewscoachworks.com

London, next Wednesday, will be discussing and demonstrating the Universal Turing Machine, then inventing a bingo/literary quiz using the squares. Unmissable. RSVP details on flyer.

The works of Keith Ridgway: Dooneen, A Shock, Hawthorn & Child, Animals, The Parts, Standard Time, Horses, The Long Falling

Keith Ridgway’s ‘Dooneen’ is an engrossing queer-in-all-ways thriller, an insurgent near-future haunting of our present, a vivid reimagining of Dublin, and a love and a loss story. Published @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social and @ndbooks.bsky.social June 2026.

Catherine Fox on Ian Marchant.

A misty dawn at Diggers

keeping warm in the boat

I started reading _George Perec’s Geographies: Material, Performative and Textual Spaces_ — and it’s not working out right, I am highlighting or bookmarking every page.

Pig by Andrew Cowan

Thirty years ago, in December 1995, I was reading Pig by Andrew Cowan which I remember being quite impressed by. I went on to read Common Ground but nothing since.

Anti AI writing project.
universalturingmachine.co.uk

Decided instead of promoting my own crap today I’d like to help others instead. Feel free to share your newsletters and independent gigs or even some story you wrote and I’ll repost some

Ian Marchant obituary Writer, performer and broadcaster with a talent for being interested in everything and a particular fascination with British counterculture

I wrote an obituary for my friend Ian Marchant, despite his resistance to ever being contained. I miss him.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...

Ian Marchant obituary Writer, performer and broadcaster with a talent for being interested in everything and a particular fascination with British counterculture

I wrote an obituary for my friend Ian Marchant, despite his resistance to ever being contained. I miss him.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...

Just downloaded a video-making app, so here’s my first effort with it…

Tonight. Ten quid. Bargain.
cockpitdirect.gn.apc.org/show/the_lur...

Get your tickets in advance for 'The Lure of Class' on November 10th (once again at London's Cockpit Theatre) here: tickets.thecockpit.org.uk/sales/shows/...