Clare Pollard

These are the 4 things AI can do well:

•Clean up your email inbox (badly)
•Give my shittiest neighbor (Alan) something to talk about at a party
•Tell a 12 yr old to kill himself
•Incinerate a school at 10:16 AM on a Tuesday

You can see why we need to base our economy around it

DONALD TRUMP KILLED 170 CHILDREN IN MINAB, IRAN AND THEN POSTED A SIZZLE REEL DECLARING "FLAWLESS VICTORY"

We are the bad guys.

We are the rogue nation we grew up being taught to fear and despise.

I don’t think I’ll get over the rage I feel that we traded relative prosperity, security, scientific advancement, the possibility of upward mobility, and somewhat functional democracy for the protection of a felon child-rapist. Incandescent, unending rage.

Hope you enjoy!

All the goodies that arrived in their box with the lid open.

Blue tote bag bearing the legend ‘I went to Colchis and all I got was this golden fleece’ superimposed on a yellow sheepskin shape, the wrapped-up book, bookmark, badge, sticker and scratch card.

The unwrapped book, the cover of which carries the title and names of the author and illustrator, and its press release.

The Othernauts by @poetclare.bsky.social, illustrated by Macha Yao, is one of the upcoming titles listed on my blog that I’m most excited about so I’m thrilled to have been sent a proof copy.

Out 04/06 for 8-13 readers, the most enormous thanks go to Pippa @piccadilly-press.bsky.social 😀

The moral of the story is that you can steal as much as you like, but don’t spend $200 million on an ad campaign that upstages the boss.

Ah yes this has the real flavor of Orwell via brainyquote - also attributed to Churchill but actually from a Washington Times film critic in a column titled ‘The Perils of Passive Sex’

Asylum policy shouldn’t be about “appealing to people who feel that we’ve lost control.” It shouldn’t be about appealing to anyone. It should be about doing what is best and safest for the people who are here seeking protection.

Happy World Book Day everyone! As The Othernauts isn’t out until June I’m having a low-key one but next year I’ll be expecting my friends’ kids to dress up as sirens, centaurs, the Golden Fleece or BARE MINIMUM wear a black dress and snake round their neck to be Phoebe, you’ve been warned. 🌊🏛️🐉🏺💛

FT comments section this morning - saying what everyone else is thinking, right?

A man asked me last night what publishing needs to do for literary fiction to begin appealing to men again. I said, as nicely as I could, that, with over 2,000 books published every Tuesday, of which many would appeal to men, it’s not a publishing problem, it’s a men problem.

Greens Most Popular Party Among Voters Under 65 The Green party is the most popular among all UK voters under the age of 65, new polling from YouGov shows.

Extraordinary figures

A joy to unbox copies of March's glorious Cherry Blossom at Nightbreak by @betarish.bsky.social

"These poems froth with ideas and formal daring" - thank you @poetclare.bsky.social

Let us parcel up a copy for you to savour.
ninearchespress.com/publications...

Residential Writing Course: Poetry | Arvon Many of us look to those who have come before us for inspiration, whether they are poets, musicians, artists or activists. How might we draw on their courage and creativity to find our own ways forwar...

ICYMI residential course in May w/ Richard Scott @troycabida.bsky.social @arvonfoundation.bsky.social 🌸🌱

www.arvon.org/writing-cour...

Quit ChatGPT: right now! Your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism | Rutger Bregman As a historian, I’ve studied the major consumer boycotts of history. We can take down ChatGPT and send a powerful signal to Silicon Valley, says author and historian Rutger Bregman

Quit ChatGPT: right now! Your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism | Rutger Bregman

The Othernauts by Clare Pollard, illustrated by Macha Yao The Othernauts is a fast moving Greek myth retelling with in jokes and surprises as Phoebe stows away on the Argo.

The Othernauts by Clare Pollard, illustrated by Macha Yao. 📚👍🏼
schoolreadinglist.co.uk/childrens-bo...
#kidlit
The Othernauts is a fun retelling of Jason and the Argonauts where Phoebe stows away on the talking Argo, battles self-doubt, and finds friends throug...

Does all this caramel *want* to salted?

The Folklore Society mistletoe logo

The Folklore Society’s Katharine Briggs Prize 2026 has opened for entries! Open to books in English having their initial publication in the UK & Ireland in the period from 1 June 2025 to 31 May 2026. Deadline for entries 31 May 2026. More info and rules: www.folklore-society.com/awards/the-k...

Good lord. What an abject failure the Blue Labour strategy has been.

First, the FBI “directed” New York law enforcement to cease their Epstein investigations in 2019. Now, it has been revealed the state of New Mexico was also investigating Jeffrey Epstein’s ranch in 2019, but the DOJ intervened and closed the case. trib.al/JcP71rc

a man is holding a rabbit 's skull on his head . ALT: a man is holding a rabbit 's skull on his head .

The next episode of the Folklore Podcast is the deepest of dives into that classic folkloric children’s tale THE BOX OF DELIGHTS

I’ll be joined by the playwright of the stage adaptation, @pierstorday.bsky.social , BBC documentary maker Chris Chapman and Masefield biographer Phil Errington

Refugee status to be temporary as Shabana Mahmood rips up rules on UK asylum Home secretary announces 30-month protection limit, with refugees required to leave if their home countries are later judged safe

This stinks at every level. What refugees desperately need after their claims are accepted is the stability to rebuild their lives. This change will cause immeasurable stress and anxiety to some of the most vulnerable people in the country

The US is not a 'partner'. It's in their National Security Strategy to support far right parties that oppose multicultural liberal democracy here. They are behaving lawlessly at home and abroad, summarily executing their own citizens, and now bombing Iran with no coherent rationale or plan.

Absolutely this !!!!

War in the Middle East over something something Epstein, or...

lower health care costs so you don't have to skip your insulin.

Which.

Just another massive impact of climate change that most of us can’t see.

I got to write about the original ‘black bag’ experiment for the Observer

I think about this Tony Benn speech much more than I used to

Black and white photo of Marjane Satrapi with the quote: "The world is not divided between East and West. You are American. I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same."

Once again.

Residential Writing Course: Poetry | Arvon Many of us look to those who have come before us for inspiration, whether they are poets, musicians, artists or activists. How might we draw on their courage and creativity to find our own ways forwar...

Excited to be the guest reader for an Arvon poetry course that will be run by Clare Pollard and Richard Scott this coming May on Summoning our Ancestors. Sign up below!

www.arvon.org/writing-cour...

At least 63 children were killed when joint US/Israel strikes hit a girl’s school in Iran

92 others are injured, while still more are trapped beneath the ruins

Trump has evolved from a dictator to a monster