Jonathan Walker
@newishpuritan.bsky.social
Ex-historian of Venice, writer, editor. Author of The Angels of L19, Push Process (a novel with photographs), and other books. (Banner image by Dan Hallett.)
jonathanwalkerwriter.uk
jonwalkereditorial.co.uk
jonathanwalkersblog.blogspot.com
jonathanwalkerwriter.uk
jonwalkereditorial.co.uk
jonathanwalkersblog.blogspot.com
Pinned
Besides my several books, I've also created a number of zines and a photobook. Details in this part of my website: 650749c57a329.site123.me/publications...
Although these are not commercially available, I have some samples. DM me if you'd like to buy copies of any of them.
Although these are not commercially available, I have some samples. DM me if you'd like to buy copies of any of them.
Yes! I absolutely believe this!
this is similar to what I've come to think of as the "reverse turing test"
when people find synthetic text is "good enough" to complete a task (homework, business report, email) it doesn't mean the machine is smart. it means they were asked to produce something that didn't matter
it's diagnostic
when people find synthetic text is "good enough" to complete a task (homework, business report, email) it doesn't mean the machine is smart. it means they were asked to produce something that didn't matter
it's diagnostic
So similarly, when we see people who prefer ChatGPT or a similar synthetic text extruding machine as a source of medical information, that means those are people who are under-served in the current system.
December 9, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Yes! I absolutely believe this!
Reposted by Jonathan Walker
Martin Parr has died & this grimmest gloomiest greyest, Sundayest of Sundays is the perfect day to watch Signs of the Times.
All four extraordinary episodes are full of pathos, beauty & humour, life & love stories told through relationships with interiors & objects
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
All four extraordinary episodes are full of pathos, beauty & humour, life & love stories told through relationships with interiors & objects
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Signs of the Times - That Little Bit Different
Terry and Sue quite like Austrian blinds but feel they're common. And just why do Ray and Jane change their three-piece suite twice a year? (1992)
www.bbc.co.uk
December 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Martin Parr has died & this grimmest gloomiest greyest, Sundayest of Sundays is the perfect day to watch Signs of the Times.
All four extraordinary episodes are full of pathos, beauty & humour, life & love stories told through relationships with interiors & objects
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
All four extraordinary episodes are full of pathos, beauty & humour, life & love stories told through relationships with interiors & objects
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Reposted by Jonathan Walker
Great piece by Dani. Without immigration, Scotland would be in an event worse economic position due to the death rate being higher than the birth rate - without young people working, who will pay the tax that pays the pensions, fund public services etc?
A wee bit I wrote about the hammerblow of watching people from the country that gave us the Glasgow girls and Kenmure Street turn to the right. And about the opportunism of Farage as he heads north. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Nigel Farage was once run out of Edinburgh. Now Scottish voters are embracing his rabble-rousing | Dani Garavelli
The Reform leader is exploiting growing resentment towards migrants and hosting a sold-out event - something unimaginable just a few years ago, says freelance columnist Dani Garavelli
www.theguardian.com
December 6, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Great piece by Dani. Without immigration, Scotland would be in an event worse economic position due to the death rate being higher than the birth rate - without young people working, who will pay the tax that pays the pensions, fund public services etc?
If you see this, quote with your model of positive masculinity:
December 5, 2025 at 4:48 PM
If you see this, quote with your model of positive masculinity:
Reposted by Jonathan Walker
We're currently engaged in the most brutal local dispute I've witnessed.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
University of Sheffield staff 'intimidated' by pay forfeit warning
University of Sheffield to withhold pay if staff do not make up for teaching missed while striking.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 10:22 AM
We're currently engaged in the most brutal local dispute I've witnessed.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Jonathan Walker
If you're looking for books this Friday, may I recommend one of my favourite small bookshops? Portal in York! They specialise in queer literature of all varieties and there are so many great reads available for delivery!
the-portal-bookshop.square.site/about
the-portal-bookshop.square.site/about
About | The Portal Bookshop
the-portal-bookshop.square.site
November 28, 2025 at 3:59 PM
If you're looking for books this Friday, may I recommend one of my favourite small bookshops? Portal in York! They specialise in queer literature of all varieties and there are so many great reads available for delivery!
the-portal-bookshop.square.site/about
the-portal-bookshop.square.site/about
Reposted by Jonathan Walker
Indies are reputed to take publishing risks, and do, even though financially they're in the worst possible financial position to do it. @ortacpress.bsky.social are one of the most eclectic and interesting presses around and i've said that since they started. Delighted to be working with him 🙏💪🖤
You're going to hear me say this a LOT, but props to Henry @ortacpress.bsky.social for taking on such a fucked up and dark book at a time when the market is as safe as its ever been. Maximum respect due.
November 28, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Indies are reputed to take publishing risks, and do, even though financially they're in the worst possible financial position to do it. @ortacpress.bsky.social are one of the most eclectic and interesting presses around and i've said that since they started. Delighted to be working with him 🙏💪🖤
Film is great. The novel is even better:
Billy Wilder’s multi Academy Award winning 🇺🇸American drama “THE LOST WEEKEND” starring Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard da Silva, Doris Dowling and Frank Faylen premiered #OnThisDay in 1945 at the Paramount Theatre, Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles
🎬 Paramount Pictures
🎞 #Noirvember
🎬 Paramount Pictures
🎞 #Noirvember
November 29, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Film is great. The novel is even better:
Reposted by Jonathan Walker
UNBOUND AUTHORS: Leftover copies of your books in the UK (MacMillan) warehouse will be pulped within the next week or two. DM me for a link to the warehouse stock list and contacts.
If you have no dosh, another publisher (Wilton Sq) is willing to buy the books & distribute on a 50/50 profit split
If you have no dosh, another publisher (Wilton Sq) is willing to buy the books & distribute on a 50/50 profit split
November 27, 2025 at 3:25 PM
UNBOUND AUTHORS: Leftover copies of your books in the UK (MacMillan) warehouse will be pulped within the next week or two. DM me for a link to the warehouse stock list and contacts.
If you have no dosh, another publisher (Wilton Sq) is willing to buy the books & distribute on a 50/50 profit split
If you have no dosh, another publisher (Wilton Sq) is willing to buy the books & distribute on a 50/50 profit split
Reposted by Jonathan Walker
Looking forward to taking part in the BBC Radio 4 book club discussion of Leonard and Hungry Paul on 17th December in Glasgow.
If anyone would like to attend the recording, the details are in the link below.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/a...
If anyone would like to attend the recording, the details are in the link below.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/a...
BBC Radio 4 - Bookclub - Come to a Recording
Join the audience for an edition of Bookclub
www.bbc.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Looking forward to taking part in the BBC Radio 4 book club discussion of Leonard and Hungry Paul on 17th December in Glasgow.
If anyone would like to attend the recording, the details are in the link below.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/a...
If anyone would like to attend the recording, the details are in the link below.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/a...
I am just going to keep reposting this every month or so:
Is there no enterprising UK-based law firm willing to pursue this on behalf of UK authors?
I have two novels and about ten academic articles on the Anthropic list, but I’m not going to get a penny because nothing is registered with the US copyright office (academic articles seem to be entirely excluded from the settlement). What a bummer.
November 23, 2025 at 6:10 PM
I am just going to keep reposting this every month or so:
Sale from my publisher, including my novel with photographs Push Process and many other great titles!
We are running our first ever Ortac sale, with 30% off all books in our online shop.
Simply enter the code WINTER30 at checkout to receive your discount.
The sale begins today, and will run for one month.
www.ortacpress.com/shop
Simply enter the code WINTER30 at checkout to receive your discount.
The sale begins today, and will run for one month.
www.ortacpress.com/shop
SHOP | Ortac Press
Browse and purchase all books from Ortac Press.
www.ortacpress.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Sale from my publisher, including my novel with photographs Push Process and many other great titles!
Reposted by Jonathan Walker
I do not want to “Do my own research.” I want to pay trained accredited experts to do the research, trained accredited experts to report on findings, and trained accredited experts to make policy based on them.
I am busy af with my own job, I don’t need to do eight zillion more.
I am busy af with my own job, I don’t need to do eight zillion more.
November 15, 2025 at 1:11 PM
I do not want to “Do my own research.” I want to pay trained accredited experts to do the research, trained accredited experts to report on findings, and trained accredited experts to make policy based on them.
I am busy af with my own job, I don’t need to do eight zillion more.
I am busy af with my own job, I don’t need to do eight zillion more.
Relevant as always:
“Forget the myths the media has created about the White House. The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.”
1972/2025
1972/2025
November 13, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Relevant as always:
Please God, not Wes Streeting.
November 13, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Please God, not Wes Streeting.
Okay.
‘We had never read anything quite like it. It is, in many ways, a dark book but it is a joy to read’
We're delighted to announce Flesh by David Szalay as the winner of the #BookerPrize2025.
We're delighted to announce Flesh by David Szalay as the winner of the #BookerPrize2025.
November 10, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Okay.
This is a great discussion:
KIDNAPPED, by Robert Louis Stevenson
For @lrb.co.uk’s NOVEL APPROACHES, Clare Bucknell, Andrew O’Hagan & Tom Crewe explore Stevenson’s startlingly modern handling of perspective & pacing, his approach to the art of fiction, & the value of being ‘betwixt & between’
💙📚
www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and...
For @lrb.co.uk’s NOVEL APPROACHES, Clare Bucknell, Andrew O’Hagan & Tom Crewe explore Stevenson’s startlingly modern handling of perspective & pacing, his approach to the art of fiction, & the value of being ‘betwixt & between’
💙📚
www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and...
Podcast: Andrew O’Hagan, Tom Crewe and Clare Bucknell · Novel Approaches: ‘Kidnapped’ by Robert Louis Stevenson
www.lrb.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM
This is a great discussion:
Reposted by Jonathan Walker
Is there no enterprising UK-based law firm willing to pursue this on behalf of UK authors?
I have two novels and about ten academic articles on the Anthropic list, but I’m not going to get a penny because nothing is registered with the US copyright office (academic articles seem to be entirely excluded from the settlement). What a bummer.
September 30, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Is there no enterprising UK-based law firm willing to pursue this on behalf of UK authors?
I fucking love him for this:
“I basically tailored the part for Rhea," Gilligan says. "I wanted her to be a star, I figured it was long past time for her to be number one on the call sheet, and I wanted to be the person to get her there.”
Pluribus’ Vince Gilligan on making shows that ‘attract really smart viewers’
It starts streaming in November.
www.theverge.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:11 PM
I fucking love him for this:
I always have a moment of thinking they're talking about Lana Del Rey.
Del Rey has acquired The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance, an "uplifting and heart-warming" fantasy adventure by Scottish debut author and academic Chiara Bullen. The book will publish globally in July 2026 👇 #BookSky
Del Rey snaps up Chiara Bullen's 'uplifting and heart-warming' fantasy adventure
ebx.sh
November 7, 2025 at 12:46 PM
I always have a moment of thinking they're talking about Lana Del Rey.
The exponential growth of scam emails from fake book marketers and people posing as famous writers makes something depressingly clear. The real money is to be made, not by trying to sell books to readers, but by exploiting would-be authors.
November 7, 2025 at 12:10 PM
The exponential growth of scam emails from fake book marketers and people posing as famous writers makes something depressingly clear. The real money is to be made, not by trying to sell books to readers, but by exploiting would-be authors.
Reposted by Jonathan Walker
Today dear ones, last call, all aboard, won’t you join us please?
Glasgow loves please join me & @benpester.bsky.social at Mount Florida Books on the 6th of November to talk about the marvel that is The Expansion Project.
Everyone* is saying it’s going to be the real fireworks night
*No one is saying that. But it will be good
mountfloridabooks.com/products/the...
Everyone* is saying it’s going to be the real fireworks night
*No one is saying that. But it will be good
mountfloridabooks.com/products/the...
November 6, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Today dear ones, last call, all aboard, won’t you join us please?
Rectify the anomaly! Rectify the anomaly!
November 4, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Rectify the anomaly! Rectify the anomaly!
Not only one of the great voices in popular music, but also one of the great songwriters:
NEW post: Sandy Denny ... "Her voice and vision still resonate: a reminder that the most profound melancholy can also be luminous, alive and simply beautiful."
@mikepress.bsky.social picks 10 from the ‘solo’ records of #SandyDenny (photo Keith 'Keef' MacMillan)
www.toppermost.co.uk/denny-sandy/
@mikepress.bsky.social picks 10 from the ‘solo’ records of #SandyDenny (photo Keith 'Keef' MacMillan)
www.toppermost.co.uk/denny-sandy/
October 29, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Not only one of the great voices in popular music, but also one of the great songwriters:
Reposted by Jonathan Walker
ICYMI yesterday we had to ask #booksky for help. Our bank had an admin error and drained our account.
📚 In 24h you ordered £750 of books – here’s 2/3 of them! Overwhelmed, relieved, hugely grateful. Thank you. 🧡
🍌 Banana, as is custom, for scale. Fairtrade, ofc. 💚🐸
📚 In 24h you ordered £750 of books – here’s 2/3 of them! Overwhelmed, relieved, hugely grateful. Thank you. 🧡
🍌 Banana, as is custom, for scale. Fairtrade, ofc. 💚🐸
October 26, 2025 at 2:42 PM
ICYMI yesterday we had to ask #booksky for help. Our bank had an admin error and drained our account.
📚 In 24h you ordered £750 of books – here’s 2/3 of them! Overwhelmed, relieved, hugely grateful. Thank you. 🧡
🍌 Banana, as is custom, for scale. Fairtrade, ofc. 💚🐸
📚 In 24h you ordered £750 of books – here’s 2/3 of them! Overwhelmed, relieved, hugely grateful. Thank you. 🧡
🍌 Banana, as is custom, for scale. Fairtrade, ofc. 💚🐸