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Richard Beard

@richbeard.bsky.social
285 followers 230 following 52 posts

Writer of novels and memoirs, including The Universal Turing Machine. universalturingmachine.co.uk

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Reposted by Richard Beard
Manchester University Press @manchesterup.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Join authors @lilydunn.bsky.social and Blake Morrison at @gowerst-books.bsky.social where they'll be discussing their latest books on the power and importance of memoir writing. A must-attend event for any writer or reader of memoir. Tickets: www.waterstones.com/events/the-p... #London #booksky
waterstones.com
The Power of Memoir: Lily Dunn & Blake Morrison in conversation with Richard Beard | Events at Waterstones Bookshops | Waterstones
Events at Waterstones get you closer to the books and authors you admire most. Find information and tickets about The Power of Memoir: Lily Dunn & Blake Morrison in conversation with Richard Beard…
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Jo Lloyd but jolly 🌍🐎 @jolloyds.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
What an unbelievably lovely thing - I had no idea this was happening - the wonderful Adrian Duncan talking about The Earth Thy Great Exchequer Ready Lies on the Library of Lazy Thinking - blown away lazythinking.substack.com/p/adrian-dun...
lazythinking.substack.com
Adrian Duncan on The Earth, Thy Great Exchequer, Ready Lies by Jo Lloyd
Writer and artist Adrian Duncan shares his thoughts on The Earth, Thy Great Exchequer, Ready Lies by Jo Lloyd
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Paintings of London @paintingsoflondon.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
'Buckingham Palace, London, seen across the Green Park at dusk' (c.1911) by Yoshio Markino (Victoria and Albert Museum)
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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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John Self @john-self.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
This is a book for anyone who's ever worked for an idiot who doesn’t understand what you do but tells you how to do it anyway." Me on Simon Crump's brilliant new novel Post-It Notes from Underground, his first in 17 years. It made me so happy to be back in his strange world.
thetimes.com
The U-bend adventures of the cleaner with a PhD
Simon Crump blends real life and fiction in Post-it Notes from Underground, loosely based on his experiences working as a cleaner after losing his job in academia
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Paintings of London @paintingsoflondon.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
'The Staircase of the London Residence of the Painter' (1828) by Pieter Christoffel Wonder (Centraal Museum, Utrecht)
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Lily Dunn @lilydunn.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
At the end of last year my mother was in a horrific car accident and it got me thinking about trauma, and how the meaning of the word has changed over the generations. Here I have written about it for @aeon.co It's published today aeon.co/essays/not-e...
aeon.co
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Keith Ridgway @rid9way.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Dooneen is published today. Many thanks to all the lovely people of @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social for their care. I like this book. I hope you will too. Available now off the shelf or to order in all the great bookshops of these islands.
The Fitzcarraldo Editions edition of Dooneen, by Keith Ridgway. Published today, 4th June 2026.
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
The first Universal Turing Machine expansion is now live online. Click a title to meet someone new, then navigate the years as you wish. universalturingmachine.co.uk
universalturingmachine.co.uk
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Historic Cricket Pictures @picturesporting.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
WG Grace played his 870th and final first-class match in the season opener between Surrey and Gentlemen of England at The Oval starting on April 20th 1908. Grace, three months shy of his 60th birthday, captained the Gentlemen, scoring 15 and 25
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Jonathan Gibbs @jonathangibbs.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Close-ups and soft focus flashbacks, no matter how artfully done, are not the same as the sublime interiority of close third person prose. boxd.it/dMEtYb
boxd.it
A ★★★ review of Midwinter Break (2026)
An object lesson in the difference between novels and films. I love Bernard MacLaverty’s novel – and now immediately want to read it again – but this adaptation rushes it and glosses it. It chocolate ...
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Chess Set, 2005 by Rachel Whiteread #WomensArt
Photo of a chess board with models of household goods such as a stove, lamp and chair for chess pieces
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The Nightwatchman @nightwatchmanxi.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Join us on April 20 for an evening at The Jolly Gardeners pub for discussion on cricket and poetry, followed by the legendary Nightwatchman quiz Book now: eventbrite.com/e/book-launc...
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Angry Robot Books @angryrobotbooks.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
"It was that kind of day, when one thing led to another, on and on. The dive of the kestrel had directed me to a long meandering line of pink and silver dust that was creeping across the field ... I walked down to meet it, and then followed alongside. The dust stream was a hand-span across.'
A photo of a copy of the ARC for the Angry Robot 2026 edition of Moon Over Brendle by Jeff Noon. The book is published on the 12th of May. The cover is by Alice Coleman.
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
'The unarguable lucidity of genius.' That's what I thought, so that's what I said.
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Lily Dunn @lilydunn.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Following Chloe Hadjimatheou’s exposé of The Salt Path in the Observer, I will be in discussion with Chloe and Julian Baggini at Julian's Philosophy salon in Bristol on Sunday 22 Feb at 4:30pm. Does truth matter in this case and others? www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk/whats-on/phi...
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Aeon Magazine @aeon.co · 10/02/2026
Aeon publishes hard-won knowledge from real people who have grappled deeply with their subjects. And everything is free to access – a commitment that we can make only because of the small percentage of our readers who donate. Will you join those generous supporters? Donate here: aeon.co/donate
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James McConnachie @jamesmcconnachie.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
I wrote about the Salt Path – and why it's a problem for authors, and publishing more widely – for the Sunday Times
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Jo Lloyd but jolly 🌍🐎 @jolloyds.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Forgive me banging on about this story again - but should you wish to download it, today's the last day (from link below, or Spotify, Apple, etc) - then it's only available on BBC Sounds www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 - Drama of the Week - Available now
Available episodes of Drama of the Week
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
This is a brilliant reading of my piece in @aeon.co - and much more succinct.
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
'When Turing was deep in thought, according to his biographer Andrew Hodges, he used to scratch his side-parted hair and make a squelching noise with his mouth.' Some thoughts for @aeon.co on Alan Turing, and other creative artists.
aeon.co
Sure, AI can ‘do’ writing. But memoir? Not so much | Aeon Essays
As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer
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Goldsmiths Prize @goldsmithsprize.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Goldsmiths Prize 2015 shortlistee, @richbeard.bsky.social, on 'the miracle of human artistic selection' and much more in @aeon.co aeon.co/essays/sure-...
aeon.co
Sure, AI can ‘do’ writing. But memoir? Not so much | Aeon Essays
As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer
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Preslav Rachev @preslav.me · 26/01/2026
"Familiar word combinations are assembled into almost convincing sentences, a tired use of language formerly called out as cliché. LLMs are cliché machines, trained on a resilient human weakness for generating maximum content with minimum effort." aeon.co/essays/sure-... #llm #writing
aeon.co
Sure, AI can ‘do’ writing. But memoir? Not so much | Aeon Essays
As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
@aeon.co asked me to write about the incursion of AI into the creative arts, and why my memoir project The Universal Turing Machine stands up for all that is good and right. I'll do what I can, I said. aeon.co/essays/sure-...
aeon.co
Sure, AI can ‘do’ writing. But memoir? Not so much | Aeon Essays
As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer
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Aeon Magazine @aeon.co · 23/01/2026
Can AI be creative? Machine learning mechanisms are based on predictability and following instructions – anathema to making truly great art, which at its core is ‘an affirmation of human existence’, as Richard Beard argues in this passionate Essay
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Sure, AI can ‘do’ writing. But memoir? Not so much | Aeon Essays
As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer
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Jo Lloyd but jolly 🌍🐎 @jolloyds.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
I have a new story on BBC Radio 4 - Friday 23 Jan - and then on catchup Elevator pitch - a comedy about love, entropy and a ceremonial badger I’d love for you to give it a listen www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 - Short Works, A Whole Giant's Daughter Quest Thing by Jo Lloyd
An original short work for radio by Jo Lloyd. Read by Alexander Vlahos.
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Paintings of London @paintingsoflondon.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
'Eton Avenue from a Window' Belsize Park by William Ratcliffe (1870-1955) (Private collection)
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Maisie Chan 🐼 CHI CHI THE PANDA out now! 🎋 @maisiechanwrites.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Thanks so much to library book borrowers for borrowing my books especially Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths (taken out 2000 times) and Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu (1000 times). PLR public lending rights is amazing! Please use your local libraries!
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Manchester University Press @manchesterup.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Looking to write a memoir in 2026? Look no further than 'Into being' by @lilydunn.bsky.social, a new book that shares the secrets of writing a new, transformative kind of memoir. Available from all good bookshops, and currently 40% off in our January Sale! #amwriting #writing #booksky
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Or not on the flyer. RSVP: hello@themewscoachworks.com
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
London, next Wednesday, will be discussing and demonstrating the Universal Turing Machine, then inventing a bingo/literary quiz using the squares. Unmissable. RSVP details on flyer.
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David Hayden @seventydys.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
Keith Ridgway’s ‘Dooneen’ is an engrossing queer-in-all-ways thriller, an insurgent near-future haunting of our present, a vivid reimagining of Dublin, and a love and a loss story. Published @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social and @ndbooks.bsky.social June 2026.
The works of Keith Ridgway: Dooneen, A Shock, Hawthorn & Child, Animals, The Parts, Standard Time, Horses, The Long Falling
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Catherine Fox on Ian Marchant.
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Dru @drumarland.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
A misty dawn at Diggers
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Dru @drumarland.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
keeping warm in the boat
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Lynn Cherny @arnicas.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
I started reading _George Perec’s Geographies: Material, Performative and Textual Spaces_ — and it’s not working out right, I am highlighting or bookmarking every page.
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grantrintoul.bsky.social @grantrintoul.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Thirty years ago, in December 1995, I was reading Pig by Andrew Cowan which I remember being quite impressed by. I went on to read Common Ground but nothing since.
Pig by Andrew Cowan
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Anti AI writing project. universalturingmachine.co.uk
universalturingmachine.co.uk
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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 28/11/2025
Decided instead of promoting my own crap today I’d like to help others instead. Feel free to share your newsletters and independent gigs or even some story you wrote and I’ll repost some
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
I wrote an obituary for my friend Ian Marchant, despite his resistance to ever being contained. I miss him. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
theguardian.com
Ian Marchant obituary
Writer, performer and broadcaster with a talent for being interested in everything and a particular fascination with British counterculture
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
I wrote an obituary for my friend Ian Marchant, despite his resistance to ever being contained. I miss him. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
theguardian.com
Ian Marchant obituary
Writer, performer and broadcaster with a talent for being interested in everything and a particular fascination with British counterculture
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Dru @drumarland.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Just downloaded a video-making app, so here’s my first effort with it…
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Tonight. Ten quid. Bargain. cockpitdirect.gn.apc.org/show/the_lur...
cockpitdirect.gn.apc.org
The Lure of Class
Produced and presented by Byline Times The Lure of Class Join the team behind the independent investigative newspaper Byline Times for an evening of stimulating discussion to help us understand the
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Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Get your tickets in advance for 'The Lure of Class' on November 10th (once again at London's Cockpit Theatre) here: tickets.thecockpit.org.uk/sales/shows/...
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Sam Sacks @ssacks.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
RIP to David Bellos, a great translator, teacher, scholar and popularizer. Here's a charming little essay about what he learned from his landmark translation of Georges Perec's 'Life: A User's Manual'. online.wsj.com/article/SB10...
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Martin Shaw @thebooksdesk.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Aside of course from his masterly Perec translations, what a marvellous biography this was. RIP David Bellos.
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Kate Mascarenhas @katemascarenhas.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
1920s vampiric shenanigans, if you're on the lookout for halloween reading: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/hoke...
uk.bookshop.org
Hokey Pokey
Check out Hokey Pokey - <p><b>‘Begins as a compelling psychological mystery [and] turns to the supernatural... A well-plotted, original, nightmare blend of madness and monsters.’ <i>Guardian</i></b><b...
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
Thanks Katie. Everyone welcome.
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Richard Beard @richbeard.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
This will be really good.
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