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Laura Jean McKay

@laurajeanmckay.bsky.social
2.2K followers 2.1K following 59 posts

Writer. THE ANIMALS IN THAT COUNTRY winner of The Arthur C Clarke Award and The Victorian Prize for Literature. Latest collection GUNFLOWER. She/her. Views mostly other people's. laurajeanmckay.com.au On Meeanjin - Turrbal and Jagera Country. Anti gen AI

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Postcard From The Past @pastpostcard.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
I will use the money for some Talcum Powder which I need at the moment.
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Sue Hall Pyke @suzimez.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Beautiful time learning from the confer kaleidoscope that is animal studies with @animalstudies.bsky.social. Especially special to have @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social virtually present through the astute readings of @cbayes.bsky.social et al.
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Actusf, le site ! @actusf.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Un nouveau prix littéraire : le prix Gargantua ! buff.ly/rBNN8OB #Gargantua #sciencefiction #fantasy #prixGargantua
buff.ly
Un nouveau prix littéraire : le prix Gargantua !
Votre attention s'il vous plait, un nouveau prix littéraire d'imaginaire vient d'être lancé !Il s'intitule le prix Gargantua et a pour but de décerner un prix a
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AASA Australasian Animal Studies Association @animalstudies.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
The AASA 2025 conference will be our 20th anniversary! 🎊That's why we are excited to announce the opening session of our conference: a conversation between founder Yvette Watt and past chairperson Dinesh Wadiwel. Read more about it in our blog: animalstudies.org.au/archives/13306
animalstudies.org.au
Second Announcement of Keynote Session for AASA Conference 2025! | Australasian Animal Studies Association
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AASA Australasian Animal Studies Association @animalstudies.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Only two weeks until our conference! Read more about what our delegates can expect in our latest blogpost, and how the creative arts are embedded in the cross disciplinary conference: animalstudies.org.au/archives/13341
animalstudies.org.au
Looking Ahead to AASA 2025 | Australasian Animal Studies Association
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Tina Adcock @tinaadcock.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
I've just applied! You should too! And if you apply by October 28th, you're entered into a draw for a $250 book prize 🤩
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
I'm so happy to be doing another fiction workshop, this time with the wonderful @munsterlitcentre.bsky.social in Ireland - online, join from anywhere (timezones permitting)! munsterlit.ie/fiction-work... 7 pm IST, 2 pm EDT, 9 am PDT, 1 am WIB / 4 am AEST / 6 am NZST (for the keenest beans 😍)
munsterlit.ie
Online Fiction Workshop with Laura Jean McKay – Munster Literature Centre
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Josephine Browne, PhD, MA @drejosephine.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
This article means a huge amount to me. Furthering earlier work on @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social's award-winning novel, it explores the post-colonial invoking of @margaretatwood.bsky.social as a way to advance Animal Sociology #research #postcolonial #SpeculativeFiction #sociology #animals #futures
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
'Who are the people actively living for the end times? Are sovereign citizens the same as survivalists? Are survivalists different from preppers? And what precisely do people mean when they talk about “The End of the Word as We Know It”?' Tom Doig, Jordan McKenzie theconversation.com/what-is-prep...
theconversation.com
What is prepping – and how does it work in Australia?
Prepping in Australia is distinctive: less about guns and militias; more about food, water and community. While anti-government preppers are a problem, they’re rare.
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Jonathan Green @greenj.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
The little Meanjin collection that I helped bring into the world as editor. Just a fragment of its 85-year catalogue. What an act of bone-stupid arrogance to kill it.
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AASA Australasian Animal Studies Association @animalstudies.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
The early bird registration for our 2025 conference closes 10 September. 🦆 This year's conference will be extra special as we celebrate AASA's 20th anniversary year. Come join us for this fabulous milestone! 🎊 Register here: animalstudies.org.au/aasa2025-cen...
animalstudies.org.au
AASA 2025: Centring Animals Across The Disciplines | Australasian Animal Studies Association
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AASA Australasian Animal Studies Association @animalstudies.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
Early bird registration is now open for the AASA 2025 conference: Centring Animals Across The Disciplines! The conference asks us to pause, reorientate, and engage our imagination, intellect, and practice to place non-human animals at the centre. Register here! animalstudies.org.au/aasa2025-cen...
animalstudies.org.au
AASA 2025: Centring Animals Across The Disciplines | Australasian Animal Studies Association
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AASA Australasian Animal Studies Association @animalstudies.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
The AASA Activity Fund round is open and welcomes submissions! The fund stimulates activities that improve, enhance, or facilitate AASA members in undertaking activities that could not otherwise proceed without this financial support. Closes 20 September 2025 animalstudies.org.au/activity-fun...
animalstudies.org.au
Activity Fund 2025-26 Guidelines | Australasian Animal Studies Association
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AASA Australasian Animal Studies Association @animalstudies.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Abstract submissions for our conference 'AASA 2025: Centring Animals Across The Disciplines' close on 4 August! We're particularly seeking non-traditional research abstracts in art and literature, and warmly encourage First Nations perspectives. #academicsky animalstudies.org.au/aasa2025-cen...
animalstudies.org.au
AASA 2025: Centring Animals Across The Disciplines | Australasian Animal Studies Association
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Literary Animal Quotes @literaryanimals.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
The swirl of fur and dust and the smell of cat shit both acrid and sweet—the smell of life, for us. The felines appeal through the bars as I waddle through the caged aisles. @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social, ‘Cats at the Fire Front’ (newsroom.co.nz/2023/02/24/s... )
newsroom.co.nz
Short story: Cats at the Fire Front, by Laura Jean McKay
The first of four consecutive weekly short stories about cats
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AASA Australasian Animal Studies Association @animalstudies.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
A fantastic new edition of Animal Studies Journal - 'Dairy issue to honour Deidre Wicks' - is out now! www.uowoajournals.org/asj/issue/14...
uowoajournals.org
Animal Studies Journal | Issue: Issue: 1(14) Dairy Issue (2025)
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AASA Australasian Animal Studies Association @animalstudies.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Thrilling conference news from AASA: abstract submissions for the AASA 2025 conference Centring Animals Across The Disciplines have been extended until 4th August! Find out more about submissions, registration and the beautiful location here animalstudies.org.au/aasa2025-cen...
animalstudies.org.au
AASA 2025: Centring Animals Across The Disciplines | Australasian Animal Studies Association
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Zoei Sutton @zoei.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Animal Studies folks!! You can still sneak in an abstract (I hear we’ll still take them on the 30th of June). Come join us in beautiful Toowoomba, it is our 20th anniversary after all 😻
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Congratulations to the shortlisted authors of this beautiful prize! #animals #books #academicsky
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AASA Australasian Animal Studies Association @animalstudies.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Huge congratulations to the shortlisted authors for the 2025 AASA Siobhan O'Sullivan Book Prize: Yamini Narayanan, Mother Cow Mother India, Josh Milburn, Food, Justice and Animals and Doris Schneeberger, Envisioning a Better Future for Nonhuman Animals! animalstudies.org.au/book-prize
animalstudies.org.au
Book Prize | Australasian Animal Studies Association
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I am so thrilled to be judging the Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition this year - entries are now open! Send in your words xx munsterlit.ie/ofaolain-com...
munsterlit.ie
Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition – Munster Literature Centre
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Bid for a signed copy of Gunflower plus a 30-minute online chat about short stories for #authorsartistsforpalestine! Bidding closes Wednesday. airauctioneer.com/authors-and-...
airauctioneer.com
30-minute zoom call about short stories PLUS a signed copy of Gunflower with award-winning author Laura Jean McKay
Gunflower is award-winning author Laura Jean McKay's second short story collection, a book that offers glimpses of places where dreams subsume reality, where childhood restarts, where humans embrace t...
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Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
We must not forget the situation of the women of Afghanistan, in a situation we played a big part in making #HumanRights #WomensRights www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
theguardian.com
‘Whipped in front of everyone’: three women on being flogged by the Taliban
Hundreds of women forced to confess to ‘moral crimes’ they did not commit have been publicly lashed in Afghanistan
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
This perfect workshop! Writing History with Pre-Loved Objects events.humanitix.com/writing-hist...
events.humanitix.com
Writing History with Pre-Loved Objects
Writing History with Pre-Loved Objects
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Postcard @postcardlit.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Started in August 2023. Postcard has published 30 poems by 30 incredible poets. Issues 2 and 3 are still available, and we’re currently reading for Issue 4 and beyond. Issues and guidelines can be found at www.postcardlit.com.
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I am so thrilled to be judging the Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition this year - entries are now open! Send in your words xx munsterlit.ie/ofaolain-com...
munsterlit.ie
Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition – Munster Literature Centre
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
This dangerous daggy dickhead www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Gina Rinehart urges Liberals to stick with Trump-like policies in the wake of election loss
Billionaire tells Daily Mail ‘left media’ frightened party away from ‘anything Trump’ and calls on Liberals to adopt ‘commonsense and truth’ principles
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AASA Australasian Animal Studies Association @animalstudies.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
We're so excited to see proposals coming in for the next AASA Conference, "Centring Animals Across the Disciplines"! Join us in beautiful regional Australia for this anniversary year of AASA. #academicsky #animals
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Toubib @toubib.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Imaginez une Apocalypse où vous pouvez tout d'un coup comprendre et parler aux animaux qui vous entourent ! C'est ce pari fou que fait l'Australienne Laura Dean McKay et c'est renversant ! 🙏 @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social
justaword.fr
Les Animaux de ce pays : Quand les bêtes se mettent à causer !
Dingo et Joan vers le grand Sud
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Come along to this beautiful online panel I'm hosting for GetLit Festival, featuring Ashley Hay, Sulari Gentill, James Bradley, Ann-Marie Te Whiu, Kyra Geddes, and Melanie Cheng! 8 am Monday 14th April AEST / 4:30 pm Sunday 13 April PDT getlitfestival2025.sched.com/event/1v9vd/...
getlitfestival2025.sched.com
Get Lit! Festival 2025: Creativity Down Under: A Reading and Con...
View more about this event at Get Lit! Festival 2025
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Welcome back, extinct species! We've ruined your home! (Calm down, we didn't really drag a creature back to life just in time to watch the world implode; we just experimented on and genetically messed with an existing species! What else would we do with all this science?) apnews.com/article/dire...
apnews.com
Scientists genetically engineer wolves with white hair and muscular jaws like the extinct dire wolf
A company that aims to bring back lost species say they have genetically engineered wolves with white hair and muscular jaws like the extinct dire wolf.
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Posthuman @posthuman.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
I'm not on twitter anymore, but this tweet from 2 years ago is sadly more accurate than ever
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Premee Mohamed @premeemohamed.com · 02/04/2025
Also, since I just mentioned this in a meeting: you still have time to apply for the first ever Banff Literary Arts Science Fiction Residency! Come hang with me and @aijiang.bsky.social and @amalelmohtar.com ! www.banffcentre.ca/programs/lit...
a glowing elk standing on a typewriter. probably not comfortable, but maybe it is, because he is a: SCIENCE FICTION ELK. text reads BANFF CENTRE SCIENCE FICTION RESIDENCY. YOU MUST APPLY. Application deadline: April 16, 2025. DO NOT DISAPPOINT SCIENCE FICTION ELK. THE CONSEQUENCES ARE UNIMAGINABLE. look at him there going clack clack with his hooves.
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Andrea Ritchie @dreanyc123.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Please join me in welcoming @policingblack.bsky.social to where skies are blue! And read her book Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present before you get too excited about Canada…updated edition due out in October!
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Love @animalstudies.bsky.social Updates!
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AASA Australasian Animal Studies Association @animalstudies.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
It's AASA Update day and we don't think we've ever seen such a packed newsletter! Members receive our Update every fortnight, along with our thrice-yearly magazine, discounts to our conference and more animalstudies.org.au/membership #HAS #animalstudies #academia #activism #art #animals
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FIYAH Literary Magazine @fiyahlitmag.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Subs for our next THEMED issue are now open! Read more about "Black Isekai" on our submission page: fiyahlitmag.com/submissions/
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SpokaneHappens @spokanehappens.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
#Spokane #author #appearance #GetLit #LauraJeanMcKay
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Laura Jean McKay @laurajeanmckay.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Authors published in Aus and NZ who have found their work stolen to train generative AI, here are some practical actions, with great advice from the Australian Society of Authors and NZ Society of Authors: Look up your book to see if it has been stolen: www.theatlantic.com/.../search-l... then ...
theatlantic.com
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
1. Against my own political instincts, I’ve taken what feels like a drastic step, and started stockpiling food. This week’s column explains why. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Plus a brief thread.
theguardian.com
Britain’s food supply is precarious – and Trump’s chaos is spreading. I have a plan. Do you? | George Monbiot
I’ve started a stockpile, but that isn’t the answer. If crisis strikes, the government needs a strategy to protect us all, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Tom Doig @tomdoig.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Absolutely insane environmental destruction about to commence in Brazil's northeast Amazon: dredging and dynamiting 500kms of the Araguaia-Tocantins rivers. Why? Shipping channels. But there hasn't even been a feasibility study!!! @georgemonbiot.bsky.social www.braziloffice.org/en/articles/...
braziloffice.org
Blasting the Amazon: The Araguaia-Tocantins Shipping Channel’s Data Holes and Erasure of Traditional Peoples — Washington Brazil Office
In the coming months, Brazil may begin blasting a river in the Amazon to create an industrial shipping channel. The Hidrovia Araguaia-Tocantins, largely unknown outside Brazil, could span over 3,000 k...
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ArtsHub @artshub.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
'In This Together' is the apt theme of this year's @SydneyWritersFest as local and international authors gather to discuss and provoke. #sydneywritersfest #swf2025 #inthistogether #writersfestival #writers #author #books #reading #whatsonsydney
artshub.com.au
Highlights of Sydney Writers' Festival 2025 program
'In This Together' is the apt theme of this year's Sydney Writers' Festival (SWF) as local and international authors gather to discuss and provoke.
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Kerry C. Byrne @kercoby.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Let me tell you I was not prepared for HOW CRINGE A mediocre sex scene Becomes in audiobook format 🙀🙀🙀
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Palm Oil Detectives | #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Endearing and sweet-faced Irrawaddy #Dolphins face serious threats from #palmoil #pollution, fishing bycatch, tourism in S.E #Asia. Just 90-300 remain alive in the wild. Fight for them and be #vegan, #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife 💙🐬 @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8Pk
palmoildetectives.com
Irrawaddy Dolphin Orcaella brevirostris
Intelligent and social Irrawaddy dolphins, also known as the Mahakam River dolphins or Ayeyarwady river #dolphins have endearing faces. Only 90 to 300 are estimated to be left living in the wild. Their rounded and expressive looking noses liken them to a baby beluga whale or the Snubfin dolphin of Australia. These shy #cetaceans are found in coastal and freshwater habitats across #SoutheastAsia, they live in small groups. Tragically, Irrawaddy dolphins face many human threats, from entanglement in fishing gear to dam construction. Palm oil deforestation, and #pesticide run-off in rivers is another major threat to their survival. Protecting the Irrawaddy dolphin is paramount. As a keystone species, they maintain biodiversity in their fragile home. These beautiful animals are classified as endangered on IUCN Red list but are critically endangered in some ecosystems. Fight for their survival when you boycott palm oil and go vegan. Support the Boycott4Wildlife movement by using the hashtags #BoycottPalmOil and #Boycott4Wildlife on social media!
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STEAMLORD @exoplanetdinosaur.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
They broke the ceasefire. just report it like a grown up news org
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Jane Caro @janecaro.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
And here are the ‘Lyrebird’ tour dates around NSW. Love to see you at the event nearest you.
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DJP @djperry1973.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
I am working out of a public library and there are a good number of people who seem to be on hard times using the facilities for various reasons like job searching, entertainment, charging peripherals, using the bathroom, etc., and I am struck by how important it is that libraries continue to exist
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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Australians need six-figure income to afford average rental, report finds www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...
abc.net.au
Even on a $100,000 salary, Australians struggle to afford average rent
A new report from campaign group Everybody's Home finds that Australian renters now need to earn at least $130,000 a year to comfortably afford the national weekly asking rent for a typical unit.
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