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Jason Okundaye @jaseokundaye.bsky.social · Aug 15

I wrote about the decision myself and other authors took to withdraw from the longlist of the Polari Book Prizes for LGBTQ+ writers www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Why I withdrew my book from an LGBTQ+ literary prize | Jason Okundaye

The Polari first book prize claims to promote trans rights and trans voices. But when I saw the longlist, I had to act, says Guardian writer Jason Okundaye

www.theguardian.com

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Sachaaaargh Coward 👻 @sachacoward.bsky.social · Aug 15

I am one of the 14 authors who chose to leave the Polari Prize, and I find myself frustrated and saddened at the way this entire story has been represented. 1/

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Aug 14

John Boyne says LGBTQ+ fiction prize backlash brought him ‘close to the edge’

Gender critical novelist urges writers to reenter prize they boycotted and may ask judges not to shortlist his novella The gender critical Irish novelist John Boyne has said he has been brought “very close to the edge” by the backlash to his inclusion on the longlist for a literary prize for LGBTQ+ authors. Ten authors and two judges withdrew from the Polari prize and more than 800 writers and publishing industry workers signed a petition calling on Polari to remove Boyne’s novella Earth from its longlist. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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And Other Poems @andotherpoems.bsky.social · Aug 10

Extract from 'Thingamajiggied' by @hettycliss.bsky.social , published in Issue Seven. Read the full poem here: andotherpoems.com/2025/08/04/t...

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Hetty Cliss @hettycliss.bsky.social · Aug 5

Big thanks to Tom Bailey and Laurie Ogden for including me in an issue with poets whose work I adore and others I’m excited to discover. Check out the whole issue!

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Hetty Cliss @hettycliss.bsky.social · Aug 5

My poem ‘Thingamajiggied’ is out now in @andotherpoems.bsky.social It’s one that means a lot to me. Through it I was able to articulate big thoughts and emotions, the experience of loving and losing someone with dementia, that felt beyond language.

andotherpoems.com/2025/08/04/t...

Thingamajiggied

Hetty Cliss When my grandmother dignified, I couldn’t spook italoud. Not even when a colleague asked three timesif I was ostr…

andotherpoems.com

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And Other Poems @andotherpoems.bsky.social · Aug 4

Issue Seven is now live! We are so excited to share this brilliant issue with you all. Thank you to all the poets who submitted. Read the full issue here: andotherpoems.com/issue-seven/ #poetry #poems

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Clare Pollard @poetclare.bsky.social · May 9

New poem in www.aftershockreview.com edited by @maxwallis.bsky.social 💜

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Em Taylor @emwrote.bsky.social · Apr 27

Beyond hyped for this one, the first in our summer event series! Join us for an incredible pride poetry night with @carolinebirduk.bsky.social, Richard Scott, Sophie Robinson and Roberto Salvador Cenciarelli ❤️

www.outsavvy.com/event/27015/...

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Out-Spoken Press @outspokenpress.bsky.social · Apr 18

🟢 NEW PAMPHLET 🟢

Haia Mohammed, The Age of Olive Trees

Pre-order now / All proceeds to author

www.outspokenldn.com/shop/haia

In 2023, Joelle Taylor read the work of Haia, a young poet in Gaza, at the fundraiser we did. We stayed in contact

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Cover of The Age of Olive Trees by Haia Mohammed
Off-white background with title text in serif font, green and black block-print style outline of olive leaves

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Magma Poetry @magmapoetry.bsky.social · Mar 11

CALL OUT FOR SUBMISSIONS!

Editors Isabelle Baafi @timtimtmi.bsky.social & @sohinibasak.bsky.social can't wait to receive your submissions for Magma 93: The Liberation Issue.

What does ‘liberation’ mean to you?

📷 Luizph/Pexels

More info and to submit: magmapoetry.com/call-for-sub...

A person rides a bicycle down a long, straight road bordered by green fields and a blue sky with fluffy clouds.

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Hetty Cliss @hettycliss.bsky.social · Mar 10

The cover for my debut poetry pamphlet just dropped!! 🏡 You can order (In)Habit in all its red and pink beauty here: www.fourteenpoems.com/shop/inhabit...

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Maya C. Popa @mayacpopa.bsky.social · Mar 7

What’s more exciting to me as an editor than under 30 debut lists? A poet who returns with something exquisite after a decade of silence. Books that take years to discover their shape, not more-of-the-same sequels to best sellers. Poets who reinvent themselves because life has reinvented them.

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Em Taylor @emwrote.bsky.social · Feb 22

I’m losing the will to post on all these social media accts but this is an important one. @queer-poetry-co.bsky.social are hosting our first ever FLINTA* open mic fundraising for @thecommonpress.bsky.social on 26 Feb. I am beyond excited for this one 🥹

www.outsavvy.com/event/24804/...

FLINTA* Poetry Night @ Goldie Saloon Tickets - London - OutSavvy

We're BACK for a night of queer poetry and community. Join us for our first FLINTA* Poetry Night at Goldie Saloon on 26 February 2025 @ 19:30 withticket proceeds donated to The Common Press' fundrais...

www.outsavvy.com

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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · Feb 5

It's not a demolition site it's a mass grave. It's not a demolition site it's a crime scene. It's not a demolition site its a homeland. It's not a demolition site it's Palestine. It's not a demolition site it's a genocide.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Feb 4

Trump, with Netanyahu sitting next to him, says "Gaza maybe is a demolition site right now ... you can't live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location."

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eff-able anthology @eff-able.bsky.social · Nov 21

Since we’re new to BlueSky and so many of you are too, we’ve decided to extend our submissions window to 10th December. 10 more days to send your queer crip erotic poetry!

Info here and below 👇🏼
effable.uk

#PoetsOnBlueSky #poetry #disabled #queer #neurodivergent

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · Dec 6

god i love books. yes, reading them. but sometimes, just holding them. and i wish they could hold me. and then i see (again) that they do.

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Maya C. Popa @mayacpopa.bsky.social · Dec 3

Sharing my own new poem from the Invisible Strings anthology. 🫶🏼✨

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Hetty Cliss @hettycliss.bsky.social · Dec 4

“let me map you to oasis. / let me show you where / the weapons are.”

From Danez Smith’s ‘Bluff’

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Pascale Petit 🌿🐅🌱🐆🌿🦜 @pascalepetit.bsky.social · Nov 29

If I listened to the critics I’d never write a word. Keep the vision for yourself, never mind what they want. Trust your instinct. Your gut. There is no other way to write. Follow your excitements. Perhaps no one has charted this route? Lead the fashion, don’t follow fashion.

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Hetty Cliss @hettycliss.bsky.social · Nov 29

Wrote a new poem yesterday. Every time this happens after a fallow period and I’m reimmersed in the mysterious attention poems call on, I feel present, contented and excited all at once. I love it. 💫

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Anthony Anaxagorou @aanaxagorou.bsky.social · Nov 28

The wonderful @propelmagazine.bsky.social has now joined Bluesky.

An online and physical poetry magazine launched in 2022 that features poetry from the U.K. and Ireland exclusively from poets who are yet to publish a full collection.

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Hetty Cliss @hettycliss.bsky.social · Nov 26

“It’s not the bad people who are brave / I fear, it’s the good people who are afraid.”

Revisiting Terrance Hayes’ American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin.

AMERICAN SONNET FOR MY PAST AND FUTURE ASSASSIN by Terrance Hayes

Suppose you could speak nothing but money And acrimony. Suppose all the sunflowers Van Gogh destroyed, all the stones in Virginia's Pockets & all the stones Georgia painted as vaginas Were simply a matter of making something greater Than money. Prince taught us a real man has A beautiful woman in him. Suppose we cannot Forget what happened in Money. Suppose You're someone who celebrates Thomas Jefferson's Birthday. Suppose he was someone whose love For a black woman was blinded by blackness, Hers & his, yours & mine. I ain't mad at you, Assassin. It's not the bad people who are brave I fear, it's the good people who are afraid.

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