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Jon Courtenay Grimwood

@joncg.bsky.social
4.2K followers 634 following 1.4K posts

Maltese born, Edinburgh novelist. ASD. Lapsed journalist. PhD St Andrews. Writes as Jonathan Grimwood, Jack G & Jon Courtenay G. Owns cat that’s a drug addict. he/him ‘Triumphant…’ FT jonathangrimwood.com jackgrimwood.com j-cg.co.uk

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Reposted by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Eric Pazdziora @ericpazdziora.bsky.social · 11h
"Opera doesn't make money. Opera’s what you spend money *on*.” “But . . what do you get out of it?” “You get opera. You put money in, you see, and opera comes out,” said Salzella wearily. --Terry Pratchett, 'Maskerade'
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 18h
Excellent! Stirling's good, and near enough Edinburgh and Glasgow to nip through to either...
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The Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org.uk · 05/10/2026
Congratulations to the ten poets shortlist for this year's T.S. Eliot Prize! Find out more: poetrysociety.org.uk/uncategorize...
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the pickwicker man @pickwick.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I wish they wouldn't pretend they've never heard of "the principle of universality" or indeed "the cost of administering means testing"
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
And I have twenty books ripped for AI, of which only a handful were US copyrighted, because the US publishers had been too lazy to bother registering copyright for the rest.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I think it a combination of the utter gutlessness of all recent UK govts in the face of what 'the Market' wants, and a greedy belief that they play nice with the oligarchs they too will be allowed a share of the AI cake.
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The Edinburgh Bookshop @edinburghbookshop.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
#Edinburgh peeps! We have the hometown gig for @ianrankin1.bsky.social 's upcoming The Heights on October 14th! You can book tickets here www.tickettailor.com/events/theed... #books #livres #BookSky
Poster advertising the launch of Ian Rankin's new novel with the Edinburgh Bookshop
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
You think he'd remember what happened the last time he let a hot dog seller arm himself and start a private army...
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The Past and other Places @pastandotherplaces.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Damian Barr "...hopes the Colquhoun and MacBryde families – who will gather together in Kilmarnock for the first time in 60 years – can at last have pride in their brilliant boys." The Two Roberts. Free exhibition, Kilmarnock, #Ayrshire. #art www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
'More will turn up' - Work by Scottish artists unearthed for homecoming exhibition
Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde were among the most celebrated figures in British art.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Aye, late Harrison at his best. (Sunken Lands inverted mirror.)
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Great to see M John Harrison's End of Everything on the Booker shortlist, and also glad to see Rebecca Perry's May We Feed the King...
Photograph of the booker shortlist announcement, showing a wooden bench in a wood against trees. 
The list reads.
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The shortlist

The End of Everything
M. John Harrison

The Disappearers
Marlon James

Black Bag
Luke Kennard

May We Feed the King
Rebecca Perry

The Things We Never Say
Elizabeth Strout

John of. John
Douglas Stuart
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M a r c u s 🏳️‍🌈🇧🇧 @marcusjdl.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The Guardian is calling giving pensioners £13,000 a year - one of the lower state pensions in Europe - unaffordable
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I think the becoming a tree does happen, but that because the BBC execs had a fit it's now v oblique. At the end there is a tree where Craven was. That's it. No other clues.
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Iain Clark But In The Fog @iainjclarkart.com · 19/09/2026
"While parking my car on a hill with the handbrake off it went rogue and autonomously rolled down the hill. We've informed the owners of the vehicles it crashed into. "We bear no responsibility for this incident which just highlights the need to teach cars the Highway Code."
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Euan Healey @euanhealey.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Edinburgh University created the first ever Chair in Celtic in Scotland in 1882 (Donald Mackinnon of Colonsay). This is a cultural retreat happening before our eyes where there was once leadership.
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Chris Bertram @crookedfootball.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"RNLI crew members had been forced to take their permits off their cars after their tyres have been repeatedly slashed. Most of them have been pilloried at the school gates or turned away from local pubs. One man who worked in search and rescue had been beaten unconscious and hospitalised"
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is absolutely brutal.
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Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
in every photo I've seen so far of this new cat, it's like 'excuse me, did I ASK to be identified????' I love its annoyed face
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It takes a special skill to make your first contribution on an actual "culture" issue in 11 months and have it be defending Ed Sheeran.
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Rich @rich-bryant.uk · 13/09/2026
Sorry to be lazy and crap but if I’ve forgotten anyone’s #RNLIrecipes, please remind me.
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J @jaseomcn.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A dapper elderly gentleman I met in work years ago when I asked him if he golfed, leaned closer to me and said quietly and sincerely “Golf…is for wankers.”
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
In terms of post grad research free from commercial pressure to arrive at a pre determined answer, possibly. (Although there's probably less of that recently.)
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Um... Not sure 'positive' and 'negative' are really answers to a historical what impact question.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
And I think 20+ years in the same gig would exhaust anyone's ability to be original or even stay awake. (I always remember Coren saying snappily in reply to something that he didn't have the option of not having an opinion.)
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I guess her recent, 'Q. Who would you pick as prime minister? A. JK Rowling' application to the Times worked then...
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
If only she was wearing a balaclava, blocking roads and shouting at the waves...
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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
If you feel like donating to the RNLI, here’s a link. I just have. Their minimum donation is £2: I think it might be nice for them to receive a lot of donations this week, even if they’re mostly very modest. Just so they know a lot of people out here appreciate their work. rnli.org/support-us/g...
rnli.org
Donate to the RNLI and help save lives at sea
Your donations really make a difference. We depend on your generosity to educate people to stay safe and prevent tragedies on and offshore. Donate here.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
there are fascists pretending to be humanitarians like cannibals on a health kick eating only vegetarians [Roger McGough]
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I have a feeling we will be coming back to this moment at some point in the next couple of years. They are trying to walk it back but I don't think it can be walked back because it is the only logical position given the current UK constititional crisis that has been playing out over the last decade.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Aye, undoubtedly. Never not mentioned in class. (Although also applies to Fettes, the Academy, etc. Or did, certainly.)
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Matthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I've read to full houses at festivals such as StAnza (Scotland's biggest poetry festival) and Poetry in Aldeburgh, and I'm now booking slots for 2027...
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I'm sorry. Astonishing hard, even when expected.
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I want the Prime Minister to look into a TV camera and say the RNLI are heroes, that we do not change policy by street violence in this country, and that he expects any criminal action to face the full force of the law. That's it. That's all he has to do.
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Dr. Sandra Duffy Golden @sandraduffy.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I don't know if it's just that this UK government missed the context of growing up in Ireland in the 90s, but they should probably be aware that gangs of lads in balaclavas don't have the best intentions for the public.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I suppose having sainted ancestors might make a change from lighting candles for the very unsainted ones.
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Grumpy Philosopher @stevecooke.org · 04/09/2026
Lee Anderson has just told the BBC that the Channel 4 report on Reform’s deliberate law-breaking story is the work of far left agitators & the party is investigating how it was funded. Amazing stuff, primary school level response.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Good point. Thanks.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
It would two separately edited and slightly different English language novels, and a French translation of the UK version.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Hive mind. Anthropic deal. If the book is claimed by three different publishers (say UK, US, France), is that three claims, or one claim with three publishers having filed for a cut? I'm finding all this unnecessarily complicated!
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Thanks.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Has anyone else had a couple of these emails recently? 'Anthropic Copyright Settlement: Action Required - Update Your Claim' It's asking me to log on and I'm wondering if it's legitimate.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Get well soon, if possible. Glad you avoided the bypass.
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Have a good day. Looking suitably authorial...
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
He’s running. www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/excl...
camdennewjournal.co.uk
Exclusive: Green Party leader Zack Polanski tells CNJ he WILL go for Holborn and St Pancras
Green leader lays out hopes for by-election
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
:-)
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Slightly predictable take on an alternate history of pre conquest England?
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
She's not going to be happy! (Again.)
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Okay, didn't know that in-flight refuelling had made it into a song...! (Decades ago, I had a friend who worked on the design for it.)
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Jon Courtenay Grimwood @joncg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Half of that list is obvious, and half outrageous!
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