I wrote about a very ancient love on my Substack:
open.substack.com/pub/samj/p/a...
New on the blog today, my thoughts on two excellent stories from @galleybeggars.bsky.social's Pocket Ghosts series.
THE SIGNALMAN by Charles Dickens & THE OLD NURSE'S STORY by Elizabeth Gaskell - two atmospheric ghost stories to chill the bones. #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/03/12/g...
National treasures.
More about my Rebecca West blue plaque obsession, with thanks to @samjordison.bsky.social of @galleybeggars.bsky.social for being my first and much appreciated proactive supporter.
Find out how you can help! 💙
open.substack.com/pub/autumnin...
"The thing is, it’s an unmatchable feeling when writing is good... But it doesn’t matter when it’s shit. No one dies. You just throw it away and write something else."
Read our 10 Questions with GBP Short Story Prize nominee Kate Ansell: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/prize
A few more words about our beloved Sirius here - as well as an interview with Álvaro Enrigue, a serious writer.
Hope you enjoy. He was great to talk to.
Oh Enrigue has a new book? That’s exciting. Will give the podcast a listen.
A few more words about our beloved Sirius here - as well as an interview with Álvaro Enrigue, a serious writer.
Apparently buying the French translation of your favourite novel (that you already own 6 copies of including the CD set) when you don't even understand French is "a crime" and I "should be jail" but I happen to think it's a perfectly sensible way to spend my final civil service paycheck actually.
Money well spent.
shortsighted decision to cut classical languages at UIowa Petition here c.org/ZVhdNSckD8
Thank you!
Terrific piece. Thank you, Sam.
"Culture should be a knife fight..."
I wrote about the decline of the book world on my substack: open.substack.com/pub/samj/p/t...
Another great longlist from @galleybeggars.bsky.social
#indiepress #shortstory #booksky link takes you to 25/26
www.galleybeggar.co.uk/prize
A sad newsletter this time, in memory of our best boy, and literary superstar, Sirius:
www.galleybeggar.co.uk/campaigns/vi...
❤️
always in the weft
A sad newsletter this time, in memory of our best boy, and literary superstar, Sirius:
www.galleybeggar.co.uk/campaigns/vi...
With apologies again for the IT meltdown, hoping that people will be receiving our newsletter right now, and with links to all stories to follow - we're delighted to announce the 2025/26 GBP Short Story Prize longlist:
Big congrats to @kinnesonlalor.bsky.social's #story Clean Sheet on @galleybeggars.bsky.social longlist. I THINK I was the 1st to read it - awe-struck, admiring & answering the question: should I read it at the conference? with MAYBE!? or no - YES. www.galleybeggar.co.uk/07-ssp-clean...
"At school the next day, I print out an A4 picture of Cindy ... I show the picture to my hairdresser. He looks at the photo, looks at me, looks at the photo, frowns and says, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’"
Read Chris Williams's 'All About Cindy' here: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/09-ssp-cindy...
"Her father won't read a short story she likes. ... He says it's because it's probably sad. Everything the girl reads is sad. He wants a story where love and justice prevail."
Read Evie Quet's 'Pulp' here: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/10-ssp-pulp?...
"The party rises over two days into a crescendo then implodes after a séance gone terribly wrong. They unlocked something from the otherworld. Sunlight comes up over smashed human bones."
Read David McGrath's 'Making an Album with Morrissey' here: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/new-page-32?...
"The lasting impression I have from that morning was his back turned to me. I curled around it, more than once, but he did not respond. Was he asleep or was he telling me that spooning was not part of the contract?"
Read Kinneson Lalor's 'Clean Sheet' here: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/07-ssp-clean...
"One of the monks is pregnant again. Brother C came to tell me as I was ringing the dawning bell. That sickness is upon us once more. We must search the beds and put an end to this pestilence of babies."
Read Annie Hayter's 'A Devil's Alphabet' here: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/06-devils-al...
"Metal was never some teen-rebellion thing for Liam. ... It was more a kind of coming to life, a coming to consciousness. He could suddenly hear thoughts he hadn’t quite understood he was having..."
Read Alan Gray's 'Extended Play' here: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/05-extended-...
"Cael looked lovely in the dappled light. Like a sleeping angel. She’d only done one night soaking his neck stump in the solution, but she already felt like there was a bloom to his cheeks."
Read Lynda Clark's 'Head Babies' here: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/new-page-78?...
