Emily Midorikawa

'Most intriguing of all were Mary’s salons held just for women, where topics of discussion ranged from science and literature to solving social ills of the day.' Fascinating overview of the life & work of scientist Mary Somerville by @oliviacampbell.bsky.social.

When Persistence Pays Off: On Translating and Publishing the Work of Kanako Nishi This is one of those publishing stories where the author—and in this case the translator too—waited for years, certain that their work deserved a wider audience, and was forced to stand patiently b…

'I often say that a book getting published in translation is like capturing lightning in a bottle.' Japanese-to-English translator Allison Markin Powell on literary translation & bringing the work of Kanako Nishi to English-reading audiences. @literaryhub.bsky.social tinyurl.com/43jtw79e

Thank you, Vicky! I love it too. The designer, Will Speed, did a great job.

'My mouth was open, trembling a little. Words were coming out, I knew. But not the words I had prepared, the ones I’d wanted to say. These words were conveying information I wasn’t supposed to know.' From haunting short story ' The Key' by Kaori Fujino (trans. by Laurel Taylor), pub. in Guernica.

An atmospheric & moving essay about 1970s horror movies (but really so much more) by @judecook.bsky.social. I recommend his Substack.

Many congratulations to @oliviacampbell.bsky.social, author of SISTERS IN SCIENCE, out in paperback yesterday (& also the equally fascinating WOMEN IN WHITE COATS)!

The Bishop's wife Louise Creighton 1850–1936

@akennedysmith.bsky.social on author & historian Louise Creighton. This bit alone has me in awe: 'As well as balancing the pastoral work of vicar’s wife and that of home-educating their six children ... Creighton published a series of historical biographies under her own name'. tinyurl.com/mr2ww3pf

Joe Kennedy obituary Other lives: Plant breeder who created new varieties of primula based on rare Irish primroses

A wonderful piece by @akennedysmith.bsky.social about her father Joe Kennedy:

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Possible AI use leads to end of senryu competition after 20 years The organizers decided to end the contest as it has become difficult for the works to be judged fairly given the emergence of artificial intelligence.

Possible AI use leads to end of senryu competition after 20 years www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/02...

“Such Friends”:  100 Years Ago, February, 1926, 52 Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury, London This year hasn’t started off great for novelist Virginia Woolf, 44. Tavistock Square Her sister, Vanessa Bell, 46, has taken off with her partner and fellow painter Duncan Grant, 41, to a villa the…

For several years, Kathleen Dixon Donnelly has been writing 'literary news of the day' posts focusing on the 1920s. They can be the perfect antidote to today's often depressing news cycle. Added bonus (maybe): this one contains a recipe for Canary Pudding. suchfriends.wordpress.com/2026/02/24/s...

Thank you so much to @katemayfield.bsky.social, author of THE PARENTATIONS & THE UNDERTAKER'S DAUGHTER, for these very generous thoughts on my debut novel, to be published by @manillapress.bsky.social in July #atinyspeckofblackandthennothing

A much needed morning cup of coffee (with a fancy bird on it), and a reminder that until 23.59 today (UK, GMT) you can save 25% on preorders for my debut novel, A TINY SPECK OF BLACK AND THEN NOTHING, @waterstones.bsky.social. Enter 'FEB26' at checkout: tinyurl.com/253mmf2m #WPreorder

Thank you! That's all very kind. X

'The two women turned what was little more than a collection of old sheds into a purpose-built, stylish studio and shop...' @akennedysmith.bsky.social on the creative & entrepreneurial collaboration between friends & photographers Lettice Ramsey & Helen Muspratt.

A Tiny Speck of Black and Then Nothing by Emily Midorikawa | Waterstones Buy A Tiny Speck of Black and Then Nothing by Emily Midorikawa from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

Link to preorder: www.waterstones.com/book/a-tiny-...

Thank you so much, Ann! Your support means so much to me. Hope it lives up to expectations!

From today until Friday (17 Feb), @waterstones.bsky.social is offering 25% off preorders for my debut novel, A TINY SPECK OF BLACK & THEN NOTHING. Set in Osaka in the early 2000s, it's the story of 2 young friends - a nightclub hostess & a schoolteacher - & what happens when one of them disappears.

So happy that my next book - & debut novel - will be published by @manillapress.bsky.social in July 2026. A TINY SPECK OF BLACK AND THEN NOTHING, set in Japan in the early 2000s, is the story of two young friends - a nightclub hostess & a school teacher - & what happens when one of them disappears.

This episode of the @readjapaneseliterature.com provides some really interesting historical & literary context for those only acquainted with the later filmic versions of these kaiju.

'When I was a child, my father recounted tales about our ancestors, and his stories were so fantastical they seemed like fairy tales.' As a fellow author who's worked elements of family stories & research-based history into their books, I was fascinated by this Lit Hub essay by Janie Chang.

February Submission Call: The Day that Changed Everything Bluebell looks to showcase new talent from around the world. After graduating from UEA's Creative Writing Master’s Program, we were inspired to build an international community that uplifts new perspe...

Bluebell Magazine is open for submissions again (until 1 March): bluebellmagazine.substack.com/p/february-s...

Photos of dinosaurs Or why bookselling is a calling for ontologists, bibliognosts and know-it-alls

This brought back some comparable memories of my own past days as a bookseller & library assistant. I'm really enjoying these insights by @ruppin.bsky.social on the new Substack for Little Goat Barn writing retreats & mentoring services: open.substack.com/pub/littlego...

On being an industrial hazard Or why some jobs are best left to people who actually know what they're doing

I enjoyed this glimpse of the country life in this piece by @ruppin.bsky.social - one half of the team behind the Little Goat Barn writing retreats in North Wales, which will be opening in the Vale of Clywd later this year: open.substack.com/pub/littlego...

A Cambridge Love Letter February 2026: celebrating love and other imperfections

I was very happy to spot a copy of A Secret Sisterhood, my group biography about female literary friendship (cowritten with Emma Claire Sweeney), in @akennedysmith.bsky.social's shelfie accompanying her essay on love, literature & cultural highlights for February: tinyurl.com/4673erpz

Read as part of @readjapaneseliterature.com's #JanuaryinJapan season: I enjoyed the creepy open-endedness of 'The Farside' by Hideo Furukawa & translated by @ginnytkmr.bsky.social.

@akennedysmith.bsky.social is so good at shedding light on often overlooked episodes in the history of female scholars at Cambridge, and placing them within their social & cultural context. This essay from her Substack 'Locked out of the Library' is no exception.

From ‘senpai’ to ‘love hotel’: 11 new Japanese words enter the Oxford dictionary Japanese culture keeps reshaping the English language — sometimes in unexpected ways.

Over the years I've been writing, I've been fascinated by the no of Japanese words, once unfamiliar to English-reading audiences, that have become widely recognisable (no longer requiring clarifications on the page). On this note, I enjoyed @wheatfu.bsky.social's article: tinyurl.com/yzmewfca

Post-winter break, I'm still working through the contents of my inbox and finding some great things to read. I enjoyed this piece by @judecook.bsky.social, which asks if 'politics and fiction make for uneasy bedfellows? Does one, as it were, fatally undermine the other?'

A Cambridge Letter on Twelfth Night January 2026, going forward

Great seasonal historical and cultural roundup from @akennedysmith.bsky.social. I look forward to another year of her excellent Substack essays: open.substack.com/pub/akennedy...

I enjoyed this New Year essay by @samanthaellis.bsky.social with its focus on training & recovery, rereading & rewriting. And I completely agree with Samantha about this: 'I’m a huge advocate of rereading and how books change for you when you go back to them, and what that can give you.'