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Marina Benjamin

@marinabenjamin.bsky.social
850 followers 437 following 462 posts

Writer. Editor at Aeon. Midlife trilogy (Middlepause, Insomnia, A Little Give) &c. Essays in Granta, Aeon, Paris Review. New work cooking. Rep Rebecca Carter

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Reposted by Marina Benjamin
Katie da Cunha Lewin @kdclewin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Sharing again this essay I published last year - amazingly edited by the wonderful @marinabenjamin.bsky.social for @aeon.co. One of the bits of writing of which I’m most proud psyche.co/ideas/moving...
psyche.co
Moving through the world pregnant, my body became everyone’s | Psyche Ideas
And I knew that, once I became a mother, I would be only more visible, more public, more available for scrutiny
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Becoming a father is a poetical moment. Down the years male poets have harnessed its creative inspiration to make bold new work. Daniel Swift makes the case for the creativity of paternity. aeon.co/essays/when-...
aeon.co
When a man becomes a father and a poetic revolution follows | Aeon Essays
The notion that fatherhood and creativity are at odds is plain wrong, as both poetry and neuroscience are showing us
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Reposted by Marina Benjamin
Keith Kahn-Harris @keithkahnharris.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Really pleased to see that this personal memoir of my complicated relationship has now been published. (This isn't a book extract - all new material). Thanks to @marinabenjamin.bsky.social for commissioning and editing. psyche.co/turning-poin...
psyche.co
His frailty made Ozzy’s final gig true heavy metal | Psyche Turning Points
Watching a seated Ozzy play his final gig, my ankle broken, I’m in tears – this couldn’t be more metal
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Keith Kahn Harris on the softness of metal psyche.co/turning-poin...
psyche.co
His frailty made Ozzy’s final gig true heavy metal | Psyche Turning Points
Watching a seated Ozzy play his final gig, my ankle broken, I’m in tears – this couldn’t be more metal
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
RIP Bonnie Greer. A brilliant playwright, a social justice warrior and all-round lovely soul. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Bonnie Greer, writer and cultural commentator, dies aged 77
The British-American novelist and playwright who regularly appeared on current affairs shows will be remembered for her ‘warmth, humour and generosity’, says her husband
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The Italian diaspora longs for Italy, but sometimes Italy turns its back. Ben Faccini explores loyalty and longing in a moving essay for @aeon.co aeon.co/essays/itali...
aeon.co
Italianness is a state of travelling in both directions | Aeon Essays
Homecomings, fantasies, food and ghosts – how the myth of eternal return keeps the Italian diaspora in a state of longing
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
If you think play is about keeping score, then think again. Justin Neuman's thoughtful essay finds that free play is far more creative. aeon.co/essays/play-...
aeon.co
Play is doing its work even if we’re not keeping score | Aeon Essays
We are most human when we play freely, imaginatively, pointlessly. Gamification risks atrophying that most precious capacity
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Another chance to read Martin Park's wonderful essay on the important of collabortative innovation and 'grands projets', celebrating monumental collective achievement. aeon.co/essays/super...
aeon.co
Superlative projects are made possible by great collective efforts | Aeon Essays
Superlative things were done in the past century by marshalling thousands of people in the service of a vision of the future
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Starts tomorrow! A couple of places are left on my Faber Academy course. If you are someone, or know someone, who needs to get serious about writing personal essays please sign up or repost. 🙏
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Reposted by Marina Benjamin
Susanna Crossman @susannacrossman.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Join us tonight, for the online launch of @markbowles.bsky.social brilliant new novel How Do People Stay The Same. I’ll be in conversation with Mark talking about the self and time and novels and more. for info contact @galleybeggars.bsky.social . All details below.
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Excited about this. Oz lit is so distinctive and often brilliant. www.thebookseller.com/news/ozlit-u...
thebookseller.com
OzLit unveils inaugural festival line-up
OzLit, the new London festival spotlighting Australian writing and ideas, has unveiled its inaugural line-up, including Tim Winton, Alexis Wright, Santilla Chingaipe, Heather Morris, Evie Wyld and Kat...
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
When and why is the right time to do freeze your eggs? And what are the emotional costs of doing so? Matilda Hay decided to freeze her eggs when she was 34. Here she explains why. psyche.co/turning-poin...
psyche.co
The grief and fragile hope of deciding to freeze my eggs | Psyche Turning Points
When the future I’d been planning lay shattered at my feet, freezing my eggs offered a fragile hope
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
It's 5 years now since the Taliban marched back into Kabul, toting guns and insane laws against women. This is how one disabled writer has survived! aeon.co/essays/one-w...
aeon.co
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The next step ....After the Democratic left victories of Mamdani and el Sayed, politicians considered too 'out there' are now serious contenders for party leader. Move over Gavin Newson, and welcome AOC. www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
theguardian.com
Is the US ready for President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
The New York congresswoman’s power is in the spotlight as people wonder if the stars are finally aligning for her to run for US president in 2028
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
What an arse www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
theguardian.com
Polls open in Clacton, where Farage spent more than £10,000 in byelection against Count Binface – UK politics live
The Reform UK leader resigned as the MP for Clacton at the start of July and forced a byelection
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Mecca has been commercialised to extremes, with ancient buildings knocked down to make way for malls. But how has this affected the spiritual experience for pilgrims. Azania Imtiaz Patel describes her journey. aeon.co/essays/my-pi...
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I loved teaching this essay writing course for Faber Academy last year so I'm doing it again. Come and flex your life writing skills, road-test a longer memoir project, or give yourself space to write about what's important to you. It's hard and worthwhile work. faberacademy.com/product/craf...
faberacademy.com
Crafting the Personal Essay | Online Writing Courses | Faber Academy
In stories, as in life, making sense of yourself and the world go hand in hand. This course will give you an opportunity for reflection, invention, and furnish you with all the skills you need to mast...
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
He will have to fight to win the primary but, inshallah, he will triumph over Michigan's red necks.
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Vote Binface!
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
The op-ed by @stuhennigan.bsky.social challenges Booker Prize judges to look further afield to anoint big-prize winners as heavyweights – he's flying the flag for indie presses. inews.co.uk/culture/book...
inews.co.uk
The Booker is a shambles - and everyone in publishing knows it
Plenty thought my novel would make the list – it didn't. Here's why I don't give a toss
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Do look up the outstanding joint winners: Nell Osbourne (Ghost Driver)and Rebecca Grandsen (Figures Crossing the Field towards the Group)
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Please can andy burnham open government run grocery stores on the Mamdani model - offering 30% discounts for those hardest hit by endless hikes in the cost of living? www.nyc.gov/mayors-offic...
nyc.gov
Mayor Mamdani Unveils 30% Discount — Including All Produce, All Meat and Key Pantry Staples — at New Municipal Grocery Stores
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Exactly.
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Reposted by Marina Benjamin
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 24/07/2026
At a time when trans people face growing hostility, solidarity matters. This weekend, tens of thousands of Londoners and visitors will come together at London Trans+ Pride to show that our city stands for inclusion, respect and equality.
attitude.co.uk
London Trans+ Pride march to end in Trafalgar Square for first time
London Trans+ Pride will end in Trafalgar Square for the first time when it returns to central London on Saturday (25 July).
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
This is very good. I am reminded of Tom Cruise's character in the prescient Magnolia. His tag line was 'respect the cock' and his lure was 'seduce and destroy'. The movie might have poked fun at Cruise's masculinist guru, but it also portrayed him as having a massive following. Ahead of it's time!
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Nice for Bloomsbury, but what about authors? 50% of the copyright settlement goes to their publishers already - and the lawyers have still to take their cut - which, let's face it, is not going to be a modest one. www.thebookseller.com/news/bloomsb...
thebookseller.com
Bloomsbury lands £14m in Anthropic AI settlement
Bloomsbury is set to earn $18.7m (£14m) from a copyright settlement with AI startup Anthropic.
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
The history of art is a colonial edifice. But what about the art of resistance, art that reclaims the negative qualities heaped upon colonised peoples and throws it back into the world to disrupt and unsettle the colonial canon. Anthropophagy is just that. aeon.co/essays/anthr...
aeon.co
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
A very exciting delivery form @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social thank you @clarebot.bsky.social - I was on retreat with Mary Ruefle in the late 90s and she was as mischievous and wayward as you might imagine
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
It's a rare privilege to be able to work with an incarcerated writer for whom writing has become an attempt to remake himself. psyche.co/turning-poin...
psyche.co
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Almost to the day, The Middlepause is 10 years old. Of all my books I'm happiest that this one is out there still doing business, since it had important business to traffic.
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
VOTE BINFACE !! (Id happily lend time and energy to this campaign)
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
It's so gratifying to see Nigel Farage's latest bit of showmanship backfire so completely. He will be contesting Clapton against a dustbin. I know which entity I'd vote for if I lived there!
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
An extraordinary essay from @susannacrossman.bsky.social about the fire tamers of northern France. aeon.co/essays/who-a...
aeon.co
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
An exemplary book review of Fiona Mozley's latest from the incomparable M John Harrison. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Read the latest essay from @lilydunn.bsky.social on how to rescue the very idea of trauma from a culture that has diluted it almost to meaninglessness. aeon.co/essays/not-e...
aeon.co
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Too much wealth can poison people, distorting their understanding of how the world works and of their agency within it. Can a reeducation boot camp bring billionaires back down to earth? aeon.co/essays/what-...
aeon.co
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
The Enlightenment gets such a bad rap. Is there anything worth salvaging? @elianeglaser.bsky.social is asking. aeon.co/essays/lets-...
aeon.co
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
When should we let friendships take their natural course and just peter out? psyche.co/turning-poin...
psyche.co
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
This wonderful novel, published in March, was hardly reviewed. It is a marvel. Wild, moving, funny, profound. Another example of how small presses can outrun the big 5, taking risks and finding work of real worth.
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
The rites of a fishing town, and the bonds of community don't transpose easily onto the digital world, though at first glance they appear to. psyche.co/turning-poin...
psyche.co
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
What is the point of reading? Seriously. Does it make us more empathetic? confer better judgement? elevate our minds? Berkeley professor Flora Champy has a few thoughts on the matter. aeon.co/essays/the-r...
aeon.co
The role of literature as the key to personal freedom | Aeon Essays
Stripped of easy moralising, literature makes us relish the search for truth in an age when many believe truth to be dead
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Frank Lloyd Wright was an artist, teacher, iconoclast, utilitarian, democrat, adulterer, cult-like leader, wayward in life and thought. This essay is so good I'm posting it again. aeon.co/essays/frank...
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
It was a treat to work on this essay by Noah Charney. Can AI replace art experts in settling scores over attribution and provencance? aeon.co/essays/could...
aeon.co
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Delighted that Gwendoline Riley and Kei MIller - two absolutely brilliant writers were recognised by the Windham-Campbell prize committee. Congratulations. Miller writes personal essays like no one else. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...
theguardian.com
British novelist Gwendoline Riley wins a $175k Windham-Campbell prize
Awarded to writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama, other recipients include S Shakthidharan, Adam Ehrlich Sachs and Kei Miller
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Deplorable doesn't even begin to describe these people. The Guardian has been brilliant lately at exposing Farage's filth and his crew's miserable, small-minded vengefulness at every turn. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Reform UK would stop visas for people from countries seeking slavery reparations
The ‘bank is closed and the door is locked’, says Zia Yusuf as calls grow for compensation to remedy historical wrongs
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
On Robert Frost: 'He liked to say that he “had as soon write free verse as play tennis with the net down.” Frost was a playful poet, but in order to play, we needed to agree on the shape of the field, the rules of the game.' Fab essay in @yalereview.bsky.social yalereview.org/article/kamr...
yalereview.org
Kamran Javadizadeh: “Robert Frost at Midlife”
An analysis of three poems by Robert Frost, including “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” that first appeared in The Yale Review in 1923
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
We like to work with practitioners @aeon.co, but boy can this architect write: A wonderful, challenging, contradition-accepting essay on Frank Lloyd Wright by Andrew Deming aeon.co/essays/frank...
aeon.co
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
And the joint winners were...Nell Osbourne and Moist Press for Ghost Driver, and Rebecca Grandsen and Tangerine Press for Figures Crossing the Field Towards the Group. I'm so delighted that we found such stellar winners. www.thebookseller.com/news/the-que...
thebookseller.com
The Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize 2026 announces joint winners
Nell Osborne, author of Ghost Driver (Moist Books), and Rebecca Gransden, author of Figures Crossing the Field Towards the Group (Tangerine Press), have jointly won the Queen Mary Small Press Fiction ...
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
The Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize. What you need to know.
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Marina Benjamin @marinabenjamin.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Reserve your place at the panel celebrating the shortlisted authors and presses of this years Queen Mary Prize for Small Press Fiction ⬇️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/queen-mary...
eventbrite.co.uk
Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize Panel
Organised by the School of the Arts alongside the Republic of Consciousness Foundation.
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