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Reposted by Tawseef Khan

Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · 18h

Spent a month eating at nearly every Afghan restaurant in Manchester and then wrote about it here:

hyphenonline.com/2025/10/08/m...

Afghan food is revolutionising Manchester’s culinary scene

From standout rice dishes to fragrant stews and crispy stuffed flatbreads, the flavours of Kabul and beyond have found a new northern home

hyphenonline.com

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Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · 18h

Spent a month eating at nearly every Afghan restaurant in Manchester and then wrote about it here:

hyphenonline.com/2025/10/08/m...

Afghan food is revolutionising Manchester’s culinary scene

From standout rice dishes to fragrant stews and crispy stuffed flatbreads, the flavours of Kabul and beyond have found a new northern home

hyphenonline.com

1 6 42

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BSonblast @bsonblast.bsky.social · 11d

I’m actually reeling. They are literally walling people inside Elfashir, so they can exterminate them.

And we’re all just watching it happen.

The helplessness is soul crushing 😭😭😭

#KeepEyesOnSudan

BSonblast @bsonblast.bsky.social · 11d

- Per a report by Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab, RSF has nearly completed building walls around the besieged city.

- The berms now stretch "for over 68km around Elfashir, leaving only a 3-4km gap before the city is fully enclosed". (Sudan Tribune)

#KeepEyesOnSudan

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Rafi @rafil.bsky.social · 12d

I have approximately zero following on this app, sharing in the hopes it can get in front of the right person. A man I went to college with’s wife was kidnapped by ICE at a green card hearing, and he’s trying to find a reporter who will speak to him about the situation

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Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 13d

The success of the far right is not only measured in votes and seats but in its impact on rhetoric, policy and ideology. The fact that a (nominally) social democratic head of government with a huge majority choses to say and do this is maybe the biggest success of the far right in Europe yet.

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Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · 11d

Oh, thank you for reading Osbert! I’m glad it’s resonating with you - sadly, the message of the book feels more timely than ever.

Reposted by Tawseef Khan

Jo McMillan @jomcmillan.bsky.social · Aug 26

A vital novel whose complex characters struggle against their own and their family’s expectations, against a society that doesn’t see or value them, and against the random cruelties of the UK immigration system. A thoughtful and touching must-read.

@tawseefkhan.bsky.social
shorturl.at/topdh

Determination

‘A compassionate, beautifully told portrait’ Guy Gunaratne ‘Absorbing, witty, eloquent fiction, as well as a trenchant political critique’ Tom Benn’A hymn to empathy, …

shorturl.at

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Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · Aug 31

Ah, thank you, Jo! Sorry it’s taking me a while to see this! 🥰

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Reposted by Tawseef Khan

Dr Panti Bliss-Cabrera @pantibliss.bsky.social · Aug 14

John Boyne lives in Ireland where we’ve had self-ID for trans people for over ten years and Boyne (who, just for the record, is vocally anti-trans and supports the views of anti trans hate groups) can’t point to a single instance where this has caused conflict with women’s rights

Jay Hulme @jayhulmepoet.bsky.social · Aug 14

Polari prize update: John Boyne has now made a statement. I'm putting it below.

For 6 years, since the publication of My Brother's Name is Jessica I've been the focus of an extraordinary amount of bullying and intimidation not just at the hands of trans activists but also by a small group of toxic novelists

My views on trans rights have never changed and they're quite simple: All human beings should have the same rights, but if the rights of trans women come into conflict with the rights of what you call 'cis' women, then the latter must take precedence. There's 4 billion of them, after all, and it took them 2,000 years to achieve even a semblance of equality. That's pretty much my only thoughts on the subject

To the organisers and judges of the Polari Prize: thank you for standing strong in the face of extraordinary intimidation

To the writers who withdrew from the prize and those who organised petitions, I say this: You may have meant well. You may have thought you were doing an honourable thing. But you forgot one crucial fact. That the novelist you're protesting, and the novel you tried to exclude, is part of a sequence about sexual abuse from a gay man who endured that very trauma at school, was denied justice because my abuser died in the months leading up to the trial, and is still coping with not getting my day in court. And how do I cope?

When I published my debut novel in 2000, I would have given my left arm to find myself on a prize list. The attention it brings to a new writer - or, more importantly - a writer's work is terrific. You sell more copies, your publisher starts thinking about your next contract, and you get to continue doing the job you love. It seems absurd and wrong to me that so many debut writers are losing their opportunity for this either through misguided ideas about who I am or as I'm aware has happened in some cases because you too were bullied or intimated into withdrawing. I love fiction I love literature and I've always supported new writers through reviews and blurbs so this and this alone weighs on me.

So, I propose the following. I have shelves full of awards at home and my book sales are extremely healthy. I would encourage all the debut writers on the Polari Longlist to return to the list, to look forward to the shortlist announcement and, in time, the fun and excitement of the ceremony. One of you gets to win the prize, and that's as it should be. The organisers stood firm and didn't expel me from the longlist, which I appreciated. And I am not withdrawing from the longlist. However, should the debut writers all return, I would respectfully ask the judges not to consider Earth for the shortlist. I don't think I can say any fairer than that.

I came very close to the edge this week because of endless harassment at the hands of both strangers and fellow writers. I remained silent throughout but there's been a few moments where I thought it would be easier not to go on. There's really only so much abuse one person can take. However, I'm still here. Because I have too many books in me that I still want to write. And so do all of you.

The Elements, the combined edition of the novellas Water, Earth, Fire, and Air, will be published on September 9th in the US and September 25th in the UK and Ireland. I hope you get a chance to read it. I'm very proud of the book. But then I'm proud of all my books and of the fact that I've spent my 33-year career helping other writers, elevating them, and finding opportunities to promote them, rather than trying to tear them down.

Online bullying has has to stop.
John Boyne

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Reposted by Tawseef Khan

So Mayer @suchmayer.bsky.social · Jul 24

What you're normalising by doing photo age verification:

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Controversial AI technology will assess disputed ages of UK Asylum seekers

New system could be problematic, a watchdog says, especially where a child is denied rights and protections

www.independent.co.uk

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Noreen Masud @noreenmasud.bsky.social · Aug 9

By my count this makes 5 out of 12 authors on the Polari First Book longlist who have withdrawn. It's hard to understate the moral courage this involves, esp for folk launching their first book into the world. As so often, those with the most to lose end up showing the most moral fibre. Solidarity x

Sachaaaargh Coward 👻 @sachacoward.bsky.social · Aug 9

Here is my statement about the Polari award with alt text. Sorry for missing this the first time. X

This really sucks. I was overjoyed to be put on the Polari long list alongside other incredible LGBTQ+ authors. Absolutely over the moon in fact!

But an author, who has called themselves Trans Exclusionary, and has equated cis women who support trans folk with sexual abusers, has been included. I simply cannot continue with this in good faith.

The quality of his work is irrelevant. This is supposedly an award for ALL LGBTQ+ folk. Celebrating inclusion. Not exclusion and division.

My book is about ALL queer folk, it was supported by trans people and read by trans people. After the recent statement from Polari I find myself unsatisfied. I have to go with my integrity here just to be able to look myself in the mirror.

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Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · Jul 30

Wrote my latest substack around a question I get asked a lot at literary events: ‘what can we do?’ It’s about voting better, how we can support refugees, and appraising Labour’s record on immigration one year in. It’s also full of food/film/music/book recs!

tawseefkhan.substack.com/p/why-you-di...

Why You Didn't Necessarily Vote Better

On the Labour party and its track record on immigration.

tawseefkhan.substack.com

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Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · Jul 30

Wrote my latest substack around a question I get asked a lot at literary events: ‘what can we do?’ It’s about voting better, how we can support refugees, and appraising Labour’s record on immigration one year in. It’s also full of food/film/music/book recs!

tawseefkhan.substack.com/p/why-you-di...

Why You Didn't Necessarily Vote Better

On the Labour party and its track record on immigration.

tawseefkhan.substack.com

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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · Jul 30

God, the number of people who were willing to believe that the South Yorkshire police were too woke to prosecute sexual abuse cases, when in fact the police force was itself an instrument of patriarchal sexual violence. It’s like a case study in the worst excesses of the British press.

Five survivors of Rotherham grooming gangs say they were also raped by police officers

Three former South Yorkshire police officers arrested in investigation into claims by the women, as young as 12 at the time

www.theguardian.com

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Jo McMillan @jomcmillan.bsky.social · Jul 23

Just arrived in Berlin!

Determination by @tawseefkhan.bsky.social

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Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · Jul 15

Some personal news…

@roxanegay.bsky.social and @debbiemillman.bsky.social are relaunching @therumpus.net!!! And I’m excited to be joining their team as poetry editor! 🤓 WEEEEE!!! You can submit your poetry for consideration here: therumpus.submittable.com/submit

The Rumpus Submission Manager

The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, essays, book reviews, and interviews with authors and artists of all kinds. Founded in 2009 and independent from the star...

therumpus.submittable.com

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So Mayer @suchmayer.bsky.social · Jul 15

2 book year for me – BAD LANGUAGE (Peninsula) in Nov & this amazing compendium I've had the honour to edit w/ Sarah Shin @silver-press.bsky.social in Oct!

More Le Guin, this time w/ added Bhanu Kapil, @davidnaimon.bsky.social, @unamccormack.bsky.social & more!

uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

The Word for World: The Maps of Ursula K. Le Guin a book by Ursula K. Le Guin, Sarah Shin, and So Mayer.

When Ursula K. Le Guin started writing a new novel, she would begin by drawing a map. The Word for World is the first publication focusing on maps by the celebrated author, publishing many for the fir...

uk.bookshop.org

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Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · Jul 9

Link to my second newsletter about pride month and reading lists:

tawseefkhan.substack.com/p/why-ive-ta...

Why I've Taken Against Reading Lists

On Pride Month, Queerness and Exclusion

tawseefkhan.substack.com

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Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · Jul 9

Just posted my second newsletter over at the place beginning with ‘S’. It’s about Pride month and reading lists, and the kinds of books and authors they end up excluding. Ignore the fuzzy picture, it’s a good read! 🥰

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Helen Rye @helenrye.bsky.social · Jul 9

Another interesting read from my buddy @tawseefkhan.bsky.social’s new substack. This week: on being a queer writer whose work isn’t considered ‘queer enough’ for reading lists…
open.substack.com/pub/tawseefk...

Why I've Taken Against Reading Lists

On Pride Month, Queerness and Exclusion

open.substack.com

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Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · Jul 9

Just posted my second newsletter over at the place beginning with ‘S’. It’s about Pride month and reading lists, and the kinds of books and authors they end up excluding. Ignore the fuzzy picture, it’s a good read! 🥰

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Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · Jun 26

I like teas A LOT! ^_^

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Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · Jun 26

In case you missed it: my first newsletter!

Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · Jun 25

Published my first newsletter today, over at the place beginning with ‘S’. 👀 It’s about getting over my shyness and discomfort with sharing personal things on social media. Can be found under my government name! (Or reply and I’ll send you the link!)

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Tawseef Khan @tawseefkhan.bsky.social · Jun 26

I’m thinking of some sort of cream soda / soda floats / aperitifs!

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