Benjamin Myers

Look at this terrible photo of Richard Dawson making the hairs on my neck stand up.

Congrats to all the authors on the Gordon Burn Prize shortlist last night, and winner Maria Reva.

A fine bash in Newcastle, catching up with some bona fide legends including the inimitable Sarah Hall and Richard Dawson.

That's it.....for now!

Watch this space etc etc

Join us as we reveal the 2026 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction longlist on Wednesday 4 March at 2pm GMT. The 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction longlist!

We are thrilled to reveal the 2026 #WomensPrize for Fiction longlist. 16 titles that showcase the profound force, resonance and scale of fiction writing: from tackling turbulent global issues to examining the intensely intimate. Discover the longlist here: youtu.be/fyPfDaHddLg

‘The world is still as bent and corrupt’: Our Friends in the North returns to the stage Two Thatcher-years episodes of Peter Flannery’s award-winning TV series to be adapted for Newcastle stage

Excellent things are happening in Newcastle.

(Side note: Creative Director Jack McNamara produced a one-off dramatic reading of CUDDY starring Toby Jones, Samantha Neale and The Shining Levels.)

www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/f...

Had the biggest tooth in my head pulled out yesterday.

Next stop: trepanning.

That said: politics today seems to mainly involve people screaming CAN A WOMAN HAVE A PENIS, PRIME MINISTER? at them as they leave the house.

An interesting read, this.

British fascism circa 1926 was facilitated by wealthy aristocrats, right-wing papers & defecting Tory agitators, who all cajoled proles into hating anyone deemed 'other' (coming over here, stealing their jobs etc.)

Conclusion: the 2030s are shaping up be like the 1930s.

An expat in Dubai has a startling revelation: the Stephen Collins cartoon Reality check …

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Good news: GB News lost £21,000,000 last year.

#StopFundingHate

"Come friendly bombs and fall on Dubs / It isn't fit for English mugs..."

While doing that contrived closed hand gesture that no sane person does in real life.

It beats golf.

Episode 6 - Under the Rock, Poetry of a Place

open.spotify.com/episode/1c1A...

Been up all night worrying about the toads I displaced into a neighbours' pond while relining mine yesterday.

Forgive me, lads. Your palatial new spread awaits.

A man with neither chin nor sock.

Just remembered the bassist from The Damned once had a No. 1 hit with a Rodgers & Hammerstein show tune.

Truly, the past is a foreign country.

Thank you for your order.

Your order has been received.

Your order is being prepared.

Your order is on the move.

Track your order.

Your order will arrive today.

Your order will arrive 8am-10am

Your order will arrive 9.24am.

Order cancelled.

YouTube video by Talk Talk - Topic New Grass

It's spring.

youtu.be/VkcBQCFp4NE?...

Home | Matt Owen | Freelance Writer | Speech Writer I offer a broad and diverse range of writing services. Get in touch!

My husband @mjowen174.bsky.social is very down and it’s difficult to see.
He had a thriving writing business until AI came along but now he’s struggling to find work.
Please repost this far and wide in the hope that he can find some writing work.
www.mathew-owen.co.uk

I definitely find GoodReads reviews way more toxic than anything any broadsheet/literary journal runs.

I'd say the majority would be rejected upon submission.

Writing a novel is not necessarily difficult.

Finding the time and money to be able to write a novel, however, is very difficult.

Great stuff.

I now demand to be a judge on the cake programme. Which I don't watch.

(Not arsed about the dancing one though.)

"Culture should be a knife fight..."

God keeps watch over my office.

Screen Two - The Firm Drama about Bex, an estate agent with a seemingly respectable family life who is also a football hooligan leading a vicious 'firm' of thugs.

This aired 37 years ago today.

Gary Oldman is untouchable in it.

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

I'm sorry to hear this, but this is a lovely remembrance. I credit Cliff (RIP) for his positive influence on a large chunk of my writing career.

Sirius the dog. Literary superstar. Friend. Bringer of joy.

A sad newsletter this time, in memory of our best boy, and literary superstar, Sirius:

www.galleybeggar.co.uk/campaigns/vi...

I think I shall read this.

‘We’re a pub friendship – with songs attached’: deadpan dazzlers Black Box Recorder return, thanks to Billie Eilish Their unnerving songs about car crashes and suburban ennui, sung in a sparkling yet unemotional RP, stood out from the Britpop bloat. Now, thanks to a certain singer taking their streams stratospheric...

A lovely read by @luketurner.bsky.social on Black Box Recorder, who seemed to lurk spiv-like in the corner of every London pub when I worked at Melody Maker in the late 90s.

(And why have I not heard of Rotting Hill - best title ever - by Wydham Lewis?)

www.theguardian.com/music/2026/f...