Louise Kenward
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louisekenward.bsky.social
Louise Kenward
@louisekenward.bsky.social
6.1K followers 810 following 790 posts
Writer, Artist, Psychologist
MOVING MOUNTAINS
PhD candidate at Centre for Place Writing, Manchester Met Uni.
Exploring the Romney Marshes & its coastline through post-viral illness. https://louisekenward.substack.com
Rep'd by @portyliterary.bsky.social
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Louise Kenward @louisekenward.bsky.social · Nov 16
MOVING MOUNTAINS: Writing Nature Through Illness & Disability launches in paperback on 6th March 2025!

You can preorder now from the usual places & do ask your local bookshop/library for a copy too. Available as an ebook/hardback now.

📚💚 #NatureWriting #Disability
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/movi...
Reposted by Louise Kenward
handle.invalid
This is your chance to vote for Oxford’s Word of the Year.

corp.oup.com/word-of-the-....
Oxford Word of the Year 2025 - Oxford University Press
Voting is now open for Oxford Word of the Year 2025! Discover our shortlist and have your say by Thursday 27 November.
corp.oup.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
davidjoffe64.bsky.social
Long C-19 is not your friend.

"Conclusions: Long COVID affects over one-fifth of SARS-CoV-2 survivors, with fatigue and dyspnoea persisting in many. Female sex and severe acute infection increase risk. Standardized definitions and longer follow-up are needed."

www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/13...
www.mdpi.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
easlce.bsky.social
#CFP: "The Ocean of Life. Humanities and the Ocean"
International seminar, 3 July 2026, University of the Ryukus, Japan.

Deadline for submissions: 19 December 2025

Info: international-seminar-ocean.my.canva.site

#envhum #envhist #ecolit #bluehumanities
Poster for the seminar, featuring a ocean waves on a blue background.
November 25, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
centreplacewriting.bsky.social
From Broken Sleep Books - We are open for poetry pamphlet/chapbook submissions until 30th November.
@brokensleepbooks.bsky.social @dcahf-met.bsky.social #poetry #writingopps

www.brokensleepbooks.com
Welcome | Broken Sleep Books
A working-class indie publisher putting access to the arts at the forefront of what we do. Authors include J H Prynne, Gillian Clarke, Fiona Benson, Luke Kennard, Andre Bagoo, Andrew McMillan, Pádraig...
www.brokensleepbooks.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
brokensleepbooks.bsky.social
We didn’t get Books Council Wales funding, it would've meant 5 years of stability. It’s a blow, and it means a rockier road ahead, but our commitment to ambitious, inclusive, working-class publishing stays firm. If you want to help: buy a book, spread the word, or donate:

ko-fi.com/brokensleepb...
Dear friends, I’m writing with some difficult news. We recently applied for long-term revenue funding through the Books Council of Wales, support that would have secured stability for Broken Sleep Books for the next five years and helped us continue publishing the ambitious, risk-taking, inclusive work we believe in so deeply. Unfortunately, we were not successful. It’s disappointing, of course. We put forward a strong application, had a positive interview, and genuinely believed our publishing programme where we champion low socio-economic status authors, working-class authors, and marginalised authors, while widening access to the arts and degentrifying the arts, reflected the cultural values Wales should be proud to support. Clearly, our idea of cultural value doesn’t fully match the Books Council’s. Sometimes decisions go another way. What hasn’t changed is our commitment. Broken Sleep Books will carry on publishing with the same determination, ambition, and care that has always sustained us, just with fewer resources and a much harder road ahead. If you value what we do, there are meaningful ways you can help us weather this moment: 📚 Buy a book, or a few Every purchase directly supports the press. Browse the catalogue here: https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/books 🎁 Consider our books as gifts With the holidays approaching, this makes a real difference. 💬 Spread the word Tell a friend, share our books online, recommend us to a bookshop, or forward this newsletter. ❤️ Make a donation (if you’re able) Some readers have asked how they can help directly. If you’d like to support our work with a small donation, we’ve set up a simple option here: https://ko-fi.com/brokensleepbooks (Please only give if you’re in a position to do so, we know times are hard for many.) Broken Sleep has always been a community effort, powered by readers, writers, booksellers, and supporters who believe in literature that takes risks and makes space for voices that don’t always find a home elsewhere. Thank you, sincerely, for sticking with us. Your support means everything, especially right now.
November 20, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
royalhistsoc.org
Applications are now invited for the Society's 2026-27 Centenary PhD Fellowships for early career historians completing a doctorate bit.ly/48pWB72

Fellowships provide support of £8500 per award for 6 months and are held jointly with @ihr.bsky.social. Closing date: 31 January 2026 #Skystorians
Applications invited for the Society's Centenary PhD Fellowships, 2026-27 - RHS
Applications are now invited for the Royal Historical Society’s Centenary PhD Fellowships to support postgraduate historians to complete a doctorate. Two Fellowships, of six months each, are offered f...
bit.ly
November 20, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
centreplacewriting.bsky.social
TONIGHT at Manchester Poetry Library & ONLINE.

Celebrating Jean Sprackland's new book, Night Vision.
centreplacewriting.bsky.social Centre for Place Writing @centreplacewriting.bsky.social · 11d
We're very excited for the book launch of Jean Sprackland's new book, Night Vision, this week at Manchester Poetry Library.

Online and in-person tickets.

#BookSky #NightSky #Darkness

www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
Night Vision: Book Launch with Karen Solie and Jean Sprackland, 20 Nov 2025
Reading, Manchester Poetry Library
www.mmu.ac.uk
November 20, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
tomkindlon.bsky.social
(UK) Recording of Westminster Hall debate: "Government support for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis" (i.e. in the Houses of Parliament)

www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

This 4:30pm debate was led by Tessa Munt MP @tessamunt.bsky.social

#MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #PwME #MEcfs #CFS
Westminster Hall Wednesday 19 November 2025 Meeting started at 2.30pm, ended 5.34pm screenshot of video
November 19, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
chenchenwrites.bsky.social
Poetry is a matter of life, not just a matter of language.

—Lucille Clifton
September 21, 2025 at 9:46 PM
louisekenward.bsky.social
Another great article from the brilliant work of @catherinehale.bsky.social & Chronic Illness Inclusion - paper from Catherine, Ana Bê & Anna Ruddock.

#DisabilitySky International Journal of Disability & Social Justice.

www.scienceopen.com/hosted-docum...
Introducing “Energy Limiting Conditions”: The Emergence and Evolution of a New Impairment Concept
<p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class="first" dir="auto" id="d1540804e129">The terms “energy limiting condition” (ELC) and “energy impairment”locate the embodied e...
www.scienceopen.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
thellpsx.bsky.social
lithub.com/remembering-.... read this achingly beautiful piece by @thrasherxy.bsky.social I keep thinking, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social was irreplaceable but she nurtured a whole-ass huge forest (or series of forests). No one can replace her, except for all of us doing the work she nurtured in us.
Remembering Alice Wong: Writer, Advocate, Friend
Though we were in frequent conversation for a decade, I only got to meet my friend Alice Wong in person just once. And when I did, I  was a bundle of nerves—and that was before she cussed me out wi…
lithub.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
centreplacewriting.bsky.social
We're very excited for the book launch of Jean Sprackland's new book, Night Vision, this week at Manchester Poetry Library.

Online and in-person tickets.

#BookSky #NightSky #Darkness

www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
Night Vision: Book Launch with Karen Solie and Jean Sprackland, 20 Nov 2025
Reading, Manchester Poetry Library
www.mmu.ac.uk
November 16, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
sussexornitholo.bsky.social
We are searching for that special person to take over the prestige role of Sussex Bird Report editor!🖊️

Have you or anyone you know got the time to help us?

Current editor Mark Mallalieu wrote a short piece about the role here; www.sos.org.uk/archives/6643

Please read and share 🙏
November 16, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
alexanderchee.bsky.social
One way I have found to mourn someone is to set up a monthly sustaining donation to a mutual aid effort they cared about. If you can join me in honoring Alice Wong, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social with a sustaining donation today, please do. Thank you Alice, and I will not let the bastards grind me down.
November 15, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
reallandsend.bsky.social
When we talk about disability ancestors, we’re not talking about some distant, abstract lineage. We’re talking about people who fought, organized, wrote, dreamed, and survived alongside us. People who left us tools, strategies, jokes, tenderness, and a politic were responsible for carrying forward.
November 16, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
histoftech.bsky.social
Here is an obituary for Alice Wong from The Sick Times, a publication aligned with disability rights and disability activism, if you are looking for an alternative to reading the nyt one: thesicktimes.org/2025/11/15/a...
Alice Wong, disability activist and luminary, dies at 51 - The Sick Times
Alice Wong platformed and uplifted people with Long COVID in her final chapter as a lifelong disability advocate and storyteller.
thesicktimes.org
November 16, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
thrasherxy.bsky.social
“With so many marginalized communities, we’re basically the oracles…we’re the ones who see shit before it happens.” In June 2020, I interviewed Alice Wong for TVU before she lost her ability to speak. I asked her how she’d first learned of SARS-CoV-2. She began with the 2016 election of Trump:
November 15, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
nightmarefixer.bsky.social
web.archive.org/web/20241122...

Alice Wong's Teen Vogue articles were archived before their removal, for anyone looking.
Disability Visibility - Latest
Get the latest on Disability Visibility from Teen Vogue. Find articles, slideshows and more.
web.archive.org
November 15, 2025 at 9:01 AM
louisekenward.bsky.social
Waking up to this news and utterly lost for words.
Alice was amazing and will leave such a hole in the world. With love to all her friends and family. Such a legacy she has left for us xx
longcovidadvoc.com Long Covid Advocacy @longcovidadvoc.com · 13d
🧵 Rest in power, Alice Wong. @sfdirewolf.bsky.social A trailblazer, a fierce advocate, and a relentless voice for disability rights. Her work changed the landscape for so many. /1
Woman with dark hair and bright red lipstick, wearing a royal blue cardigan over a black shirt and shiny black puffer pants, seated in a motorized wheelchair with tubing from medical equipment visible, holds up a copy of "Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life" by Alice Wong.
November 15, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
poetrybusiness.bsky.social
Only a few days left to enter the 2026 International Book & Pamphlet Competition and the 2026 New Poets Prize.
Enter your poems for a chance to have your pamphlet published by Smith|Doorstop! 📚

Deadline 16 November 2025

Enter on our website - poetrybusiness.co.uk/competitions/
November 13, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
pollyrowena.bsky.social
Online poetry reading tomorrow evening UK time from the Wordsworth Trust - @kimmoorepoet.bsky.social hosting Josie Giles. Next month is Sarah Howe! I keep missing these but they're such great events. Do share and come along! www.trybooking.com/uk/events/la...
&#39;Go to the poets&#39;: Harry Josephine Giles
Curated and hosted by poet Kim Moore, our online contemporary poetry reading series continues throughout 2025. We will be listening to what poets...
www.trybooking.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
npitchford.bsky.social
Just caught up with Polly’s tawny owls — her radio-perfect voice & gorgeous owl accompaniment. 🦉
pollyrowena.bsky.social Polly Atkin @pollyrowena.bsky.social · 18d
Owl alert! You can listen back to my little snippet on #TawnyOwls now. Thanks agains so much to Sophie Anton for asking me to do this and to being so flexible so we could get it recorded easily and accessibly for me, and to Caz Graham for coming to do the recording.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Tweet of the Day - Polly Atkin on the Tawny Owl - BBC Sounds
For writer Polly Atkin the nighttime calls of tawny owls mean company and community.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
thebrokenspine.co.uk
#PoemsAbout #Desire starts Friday. Write toward the want. The mouth, the mirror, the hunger that hums. Draft now. Share from Friday. Tag your post. Use Alt Text. Sign up for prompts: shorturl.at/0Xm7A
A halved papaya lies open on a dark, wet surface. Its glistening red interior, filled with pomegranate seeds and dripping juice, carries a sensual, sexually suggestive tone. Scattered berries surround it. The Broken Spine logo, shaped like a black fountain pen nib, appears top left. "@thebrokenspine.co.uk" is written top right in white. At the bottom right, bold white text reads: "Read Repost Reply #POEMSABOUT #DESIRE".
November 11, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
tomkindlon.bsky.social
🧵
Contested and neglected: Social and medical marginalization in severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

"Severe ME/CFS patients face deep social, medical, and structural exclusion."

#SevereME #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MEcfs #CFS #PwME

1/
Highlights • Severe ME/CFS patients face deep social, medical, and structural exclusion. • Delegitimation of illness leads to isolation, distress, and denied support. • Gendered stigma shapes how women's pain is dismissed in health care. • Twitter (now X) offers access to the voices of an otherwise unreachable patient group. • This study urges reforms in care, disability access, and illness recognition.
November 11, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Reposted by Louise Kenward
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Alton Melvar M Dapanas speaks to @mailbykite.bsky.social on how her latest book ANNAH, INFINITE reshapes speculative nonfiction, and disputes the racial, gendered, and ableist biases of fraught literary and artistic spaces.

Read now: buff.ly/YrKYEPD
Alton Melvar M Dapanas and Khairani Barokka in front of an Indonesian landscape painting, title text, and Wasafiri logo
November 10, 2025 at 4:02 PM