Reposted by Elen CaldecottLeaf Journal: On Writing for Young People @leafjournal.bsky.social · 12/10/2026On 5th & 6th November, our online conference returns. In the run up, we will be sharing some of our speakers, panellists and workshop leaders. Minaz Ansari will deliver a paper, 'Picturebooks as a reflection of growing up in urban India'. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/on-writing... 022
Reposted by Elen CaldecottLeaf Journal: On Writing for Young People @leafjournal.bsky.social · 11/10/2026On 5th & 6th November, our online conference returns. In the run up, we will be sharing some of our speakers, panellists and workshop leaders. Lola Chavez Rodriguez will present her paper on 'The Mental Health of Latine Boys in YA Literature'. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/on-writing... 032
Reposted by Elen CaldecottFred Connelly @brendonconnelly.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Happy 40th birthday to Berk, Drutt, Boni and The Thing Upstairs. I might have to reopen that Trap Door. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCii...youtube.comThe Trap Door (in 4K) - S01E01 - Breakfast TimeYouTube video by M Grayl1983 3389
Reposted by Elen CaldecottLeaf Journal: On Writing for Young People @leafjournal.bsky.social · 05/10/2026On Writing for Young People Conference 2026. Online. 5-6 Nov. Speakers include Karen Sands-O'Connor on the panel 'Writing Black British History for Children' with Yinka Olusoga, J. T. Williams and Aneesh Barai. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/on-writing... 055
Reposted by Elen CaldecottLeaf Journal: On Writing for Young People @leafjournal.bsky.social · 03/10/2026On Writing for Young People Conference 2026. Online. 5-6 Nov. Speakers include Aneesh Barai on the panel 'Writing Black British History for Children' with Yinka Olusoga, J. T. Williams and Karen Sands-O'Connor. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/on-writing... 0155
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 03/10/2026A packed beer garden and not a coat in sight. 2nd October. This is fine. 120
Reposted by Elen CaldecottThe Great Pumpkin Papers 🎃🎃🎃 @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 29/09/2026As a professor, most of what I do is log in to things 471432195
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Saw this news and mentally raised a glass to Jade Goody, the reason so many women my age kept their smear test appointments. Deeply glad young women today have one less fear. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukHPV vaccine means young women now have 'close to zero' risk of cervical cancer deathA new study finds that hundreds of lives have been saved since school-age girls were offered the HPV jab in 2008. 150
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 23/09/2026This week, I had a massage. There was a form to fill in: current medications, illnesses etc. One of the questions was, 'Silent massage, or do you want to chat?' Obviously I chose silent. But I also feel I learned a new symptom of psychopathy. 020
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 22/09/2026RFK Jr and Rogan described as 'dumbass on dumbass violence'. I laughed more times than was seemly given the subject matter. 000
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Saw a 2026 Tesla on the M6 today. First time I've been certain that I know what eco-fascism looks like. 000
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Off to welcome the new intake of postgrads at Bath Spa today. Back to school!! Such an exciting feeling. 😍🎉🏫 030
Reposted by Elen CaldecottSpooky Old Mark Monro | He/Him 🌈 @thatidiotmonro.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Need to harness the power of Bluesky, so reposts are appreciated. If anyone here, or anyone you know attends Bangor University (the Welsh one) and needs a room for the upcoming year, get in touch. One of my son's housemates has dropped out at the last minute, so their house is one short. 3139329
Reposted by Elen CaldecottXero now with 100% more 🎃 @artificer-ind.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Still patiently waiting to be "left behind" by AI rather than it chasing me across every damn space like a slasher in a low budget flick. 2120913416
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Horror in the hillsides, according to Skynet. 020
Reposted by Elen CaldecottGita Ralleigh @gitaralleigh.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Excited to be running this workshop on September 29th with Rishika Williams! We'll trace the ghazal from its Arabic and Persian origins, explore the rules and experiment with ghazals in English. Also discounted for students: code STUDENT #ukpoets #poetrysky www.tickettailor.com/events/sindh...tickettailor.comBuy Tickets – Conversing with the Ghazal: Gita Ralleigh & Rishika Williams – The Club for Acts and ActorsConversing with the Ghazal: Gita Ralleigh & Rishika Williams – The Club for Acts and Actors, Tue 29 Sep 2026 - Conversing with the Ghazal is a practical, generative workshop for absolute beginners and... 066
Reposted by Elen CaldecottFT @fucktheory.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Imagine being talented and beautiful and rich and famous and still the most noteworthy thing about you is how good a person you are. 99267996330
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Just watched 'Devil Wears Prada 2'. My ice cold take is that the film-makers are cowards. They should just have done what they clearly wanted to do: get Hathaway, Streep, Blunt and Tucci to take a load of mushrooms and remake 'The Great Beauty'. 020
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 21/08/2026I know I do not have the power to indoctrinate my students because I don't even have the power to get them to read the handbook. 030
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 18/08/2026I am going to buy knee pads and wrist guards tomorrow. I fear I will snap like a twig if I go down... 011
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Just bought a weekend pass to rollerdisco. This could all quite literally go tits-up. 380
Reposted by Elen CaldecottArthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Good luck to everyone getting their A levels today and remember, if you don’t get the grades you’d hoped for, all is not lost. For example, Prince Edward got a C and 2 Ds and was immediately accepted by Cambridge University. 251528279
Reposted by Elen CaldecottAbigail Thorn @theabigailthorn.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Bindependence Day 927130
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 07/08/2026My brother got married to his husband. I got to see my bemused, but delighted, 80-year-old Dad clap along to a drag queen singing Pink Pony Club. Genuine Core Memory. 050
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Scrolled for ages, but didn't find a flyer for a local pizzeria which also - unwisely - offers chicken wings and kebabs also. It must be in here somewhere... 030
Reposted by Elen CaldecottFleur Hitchcock @fleurhitchcock.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Oh Lordy, just realised I've a book out next month. If you've ever been a fan of Malory Towers, or you know a young person who is, you can pre-order it. I'm pretty darn proud of it! #ukkidlit www.waterstones.com/book/malory-...waterstones.comMalory Towers Mystery Club: Kidnap at Midnight by Fleur Hitchcock | WaterstonesBuy Malory Towers Mystery Club: Kidnap at Midnight by Fleur Hitchcock from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25. 12914
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 05/08/2026This is nightmarish twice over. Both in actual policy terms, and in 'I dreamed last night that I went on national news in a high wind without doing any basic prep' way. 051
Reposted by Elen CaldecottSusie Day @susieday.bsky.social · 05/08/2026On this shameful day for equality and human rights in the UK, please add safe-to-access toilets this list, and share widely. openlavs.comopenlavs.comMap / Open LavsFind a unisex loo near you. 11111
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 05/08/2026'Colleague' is a fig leaf description of our relationship. She was a permanent fixture of the building, like panto and ice creams. I was a student gad-fly she had to put up with. I learned a lot under her tutelage. 110
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 05/08/2026... said, "If a trans woman [not the word she used, it was the 90s after all] can't piss in a theatre loo, the world has gone to hell in a handcart". I was ashamed of my reaction then. And I'm ashamed of the UK today. 140
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 05/08/2026So. I first (to my knowledge) met a trans woman in a bathroom in 1997. I had a very part-time job at a theatre in Birmingham. I clocked her and I went to ask my boss what I should do. My boss, a female cloakroom attendant, pushing 70, who could remember when people left actual cloaks with us... 1/ 150
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Said while looking at someone's outfit: "Pretty agricultural looking." New chefs-kiss insult just dropped, courtesy of Patrick Grant. 010
Reposted by Elen CaldecottLeaf Journal: On Writing for Young People @leafjournal.bsky.social · 31/07/2026'On Writing for Young People' Conference returns with a stellar line-up. The Call for Papers is open, and tickets are on sale now. 100% online, 5-6 Nov. For children's and YA writers to come together and share insights. ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/conference 111
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 24/07/2026What if Charlton Heston started an amateur dramatics society in a 1970s brothel, Grok? 030
Reposted by Elen CaldecottMat Tobin @mattobin.bsky.social · 21/07/2026I have written a piece on nurturing lifelong readers inspired by the wonderful Aidan Chambers (pages 4-5) booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/u... @booksforkeeps.bsky.social 01910
Reposted by Elen CaldecottLeaf Journal: On Writing for Young People @leafjournal.bsky.social · 16/07/2026Our 2026 Conference, 'On Writing for Young People' is on sale! Join us, 5-6 Nov to hear a keynote from the Carnegie-award winning Beth O'Brien on disability in literature, and many other panels and workshops. 100% online. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/on-writing...eventbrite.co.ukOn Writing for Young People: Conference 2026On Writing for Young People: a 2-day online conference. Ideas & insights in the academic field of creative writing for kids & YA. 5-6 Nov. 022
Reposted by Elen CaldecottMarie Vibbert @reasie.bsky.social · 16/07/2026No science fiction could have prepared us for just how stupid the end of the world can be. "The environment was on the brink of collapse, and so, rather than deal with that, we burned what fuel we had left getting computers to scam each other for money." 299127283822
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Ah, yes. Fair. Though there must be Argentinean fans about, no? 110
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Join @cellmorphosero.bsky.social and me working it out from the sounds of the neighborhood. Like Eye Spy Books but with potential hooliganism. 110
Elen Caldecott @elencaldecott.bsky.social · 15/07/2026My street is making little pewpewpew noises and dogs are barking. I think they are happy sounds. 110
Reposted by Elen CaldecottLeaf Journal: On Writing for Young People @leafjournal.bsky.social · 14/07/2026As Volume 4 of 'Leaf Journal' is out, we now get to shout about the articles! Noah Weisz reflects on the ‘literary magic’ of re-readability with particular focus on Frances Hardinge’s ‘Cuckoo Song’. ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/article/v... 011
Reposted by Elen CaldecottFaber Books @faberbooks.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Do you want to help produce outstanding experiences for our readers in person and online? We're advertising for a new Events and Website Assistant. Apply by 26 July. www.faber.co.uk/careers/even... 031
Reposted by Elen CaldecottLeaf Journal: On Writing for Young People @leafjournal.bsky.social · 13/07/2026As Vol 4 of 'Leaf Journal' is out, we now get to shout about the articles! Inc the thoughtful analysis of 'Crossing the Line: Considering the Dual Accessibility of the Verse Narrative...' by Edward Davies ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/article/v... 011
Reposted by Elen CaldecottLeaf Journal: On Writing for Young People @leafjournal.bsky.social · 07/07/2026As Volume 4 of 'Leaf Journal' is out, we now get to shout about the articles! Writer and emetophobia sufferer George Purves offers creative techniques to produce realistic and transformative depictions of the condition in this wonderfully helpful article: ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/article/v...ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk Towards True Sick Lit: How to Write a Productive YA Novel about Emetophobia: Writer and emetophobia sufferer George Purves offers creative techniques to produce realistic and transformative depict... 001
Reposted by Elen CaldecottLeaf Journal: On Writing for Young People @leafjournal.bsky.social · 11/07/2026As Volume 4 of 'Leaf Journal' is out, we now get to shout about the articles! Including the thoughtful 'How to Write Queer Antagonists in YA Fiction Without Making Queerness a Signifier for Evil' by Jo Baker. ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/article/v... 111
Reposted by Elen CaldecottLeaf Journal: On Writing for Young People @leafjournal.bsky.social · 12/07/2026As Volume 4 of 'Leaf Journal' is out, we now get to shout about the articles! Including the sharp insight of 'Time-Play: Slipping the Bounds of a Classic Children’s Genre' by @ruthmoore.bsky.social Read it here: ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/article/v... 012