Penny Kiley
@pennykiley.bsky.social
850 followers 950 following 720 posts
Oxford-based writer and editor, working mostly in digital and mostly for non-profits. Former music journo. Autistic. #NUJ member. Memoir 'Atypical Girl' published by Polygon February 2026. https://linktr.ee/pennykiley
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Reposted by Penny Kiley
katebevan.com
You don't actually give a shit about my privacy, do you?
Reposted by Penny Kiley
qdrew.bsky.social
I'm on a panel talking about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Leicester Cathedral next week, to mark the 75th anniversary of publication. Anyone doing anything to mark this? Anyone got any comments on the impact the book had on them? (Tickets from Leicester Cathedral if you're interested)
Reposted by Penny Kiley
whenisbirths.bsky.social
There's a priceless Julian Cope quote in my book, #IntoTheGroove, but I won't spoil it. #totp
Reposted by Penny Kiley
biggreenbooks.bsky.social
Today I'm launching a Crowdfunder with the incredible Grace Quantock.

The aim of this is to get Grace's book "Living Well with Chronic Illness" into health centres across the UK.

We be so grateful for your support.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/86e1e73e29...
The front cover of Grace's book "Living Well with Chronic Illness" Here's Grace with her very cute medical alert and response assistance dog Wilfie.
pennykiley.bsky.social
"Cozy"? "Romantasy's"? @waterstones.bsky.social, a lot of people who like books notice grammar.
A notice in a Waterstones bookshop advertising "Romantic reads". These include "cozy" reads (with a Zed) and "romantasy's (with apostrophe S). Grrr.
pennykiley.bsky.social
One day in autumn 1980, I got the train from Liverpool to Manchester and interviewed the #Buzzcocks for the Melody Maker. It was awkward. Not long after, they split up. Never meet your heroes.
This week's Substack: pennykiley.substack.com/p/buzzcocks-...
Buzzcocks, 1980
A different kind of tension
pennykiley.substack.com
Reposted by Penny Kiley
maggie162.bsky.social
I take it back, AI should replace exactly one writer
pennykiley.bsky.social
"Educated."🤣
andrewmale.bsky.social
“An endless cycle of nonsensical conversation between characters who seemed trapped in their own madness.”

Nailed it.
luxalptraum.com
TFW you paid $1400 to see Beckett’s most famous work without knowing anything about it
pennykiley.bsky.social
Blog post: "Old ladies to the front: in praise of unglamorous bands". I'm not sure whether the new BBC series Riot Women will be any good, but the real-life bands behind it are. olderthanelvis.blogspot.com/2025/10/old-... #Unglamorous #RiotWomen
Old ladies to the front: in praise of unglamorous bands
The Unglamorous Music project has inspired older women around the country to form punk bands. Women like me are finding their voices.
olderthanelvis.blogspot.com
pennykiley.bsky.social
Today's Nice Thing.
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
This - which I explored today - is the kind of thing I live for on walks in the deep countryside: a 200+-year-old abandoned walled garden, totally overgrown and teeming with wildlife and ghosts.

Finding lost magic places like this, untouched and undeveloped, always fills me with weird kind of hope.
The entrance to the walled garden I found today, with its broken door and big ivy hat. An interdimensional portal in the walled garden I found today A hole in the wall of the walled garden I found today, leading to 1785. Ruined potting sheds in the walled garden I found today.
Reposted by Penny Kiley
joannechocolat.bsky.social
The reason the Right are so invested in the myth that the arts have no value isn’t because the arts don’t generate wealth (they do); it’s that studying the arts teaches people to imagine better ways of judging the value of an idea than by counting how much money it makes…
pennykiley.bsky.social
I've been annoyed by him for a LONG time.
pennykiley.bsky.social
I did my degree in English language and literature, because I was (am) interested in it. I've never earned more than the average salary. But that wasn't the point.
stephenkb.bsky.social
Something grimly predictable about the way that the conversation about 'ripoff degrees' in the UK is always about degrees that aren't rip-offs, but are instead fairly obvious 'this student has chosen something unlikely to pay off economically' rather than the short tail of crap business degrees:
Everyone needs educating in the fight over university degrees
Political confusion over the purpose of these institutions means the obvious fixes are being neglected
www.ft.com
pennykiley.bsky.social
Excellent workshop at @societyofauthors.bsky.social this morning on "confident communication for authors". I've got a lot of homework to do before my book launch next year.
pennykiley.bsky.social
Today's Nice Thing
nicktankard.bsky.social
A Hopperish moment in a London theatre earlier this week.
A theatre usher standing with her arms folded as she leans against a brown wooden wall, red curtains that lead to boxes on the right, a black sign with silver art deco typeface points to the “boxes”. A green exit sign above the red curtains. The girl is wearing a black uniform and white shirt, she looks bored.
pennykiley.bsky.social
Thanks. And, ouch. She was a bit like that too.
pennykiley.bsky.social
I haven't seen that. What did he say?
Reposted by Penny Kiley
whenisbirths.bsky.social
Two such thoughtful reviews, ICYMT, for #IntoTheGroove:

First: @dreamcargoes.bsky.social wrote about it here:
maysbritain.home.blog/2025/09/19/b...

Secondly: @bernardhughes.bsky.social reviewed it for @theartsdesk.bsky.social, here: theartsdesk.com/books/justin...
Cover of my new book:
INTO THE GROOVE: THE 1980s:
THE ULTIMATE DECADE IN MUSIC HISTORY
by Justin Lewis

'A treasure chest of pop riches... I loved this book!'
SAMIRA AHMED
pennykiley.bsky.social
I interviewed her once. She was bad tempered then as well.
Reposted by Penny Kiley
meandmybigmouth.bsky.social
Any of my bookworld friends – agents, authors, freelancers – having problems getting paid by @canelobooks.bsky.social?

I'm supposed to get a small commission payment off them every six months, but they are over a year late and not acknowledging or replying to emails.
Reposted by Penny Kiley
durutti74.bsky.social
Happy birthday to David Balfe.

I'll always been grateful for him taking the time to write about "Strange house in the snow" for my Exploding The Teardrops blog. A fascinating insight into the creative process and so much more.

explodingteardrops.blogspot.com/2022/10/stra...
Strange House In The Snow EXTRA
When I published my post on Strange House In The Snow last week, Dave Balfe got in touch to say it was one of his favourite Teardrop Explode...
explodingteardrops.blogspot.com