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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

They gave me much food for thought also, which I appreciated.

Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Likewise Kerry, and no problem - quite an early start for me. I really enjoyed the evening. Hope the rest of the week went well.

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Heading up to Lumb Bank as a guest on @nicholasroyle.bsky.social and @kerryhp.bsky.social’s @arvonfoundation.bsky.social writing course. First time there in nearly thirty years! Looking forward to it and feeling reflective. www.arvon.org/tutors/simon...

arvon.org

Simon Okotie | Arvon

Simon Okotie’s novels Whatever Happened to Harold Absalon?, In the Absence of Absalon and After...

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Many thanks for this piece Dan - it is a tonic.

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

A thoughtful review of my book The Future of the Novel, which was published in the UK a year plus a week ago today, alongside Madeleine Thien’s novel The Book of Records, which I will look forward to reading. ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2026/02/25/s...

ancillaryreviewofbooks.org

Snap! Criticism: Okotie and Thien

Dan Hartland In a letter on May 14, 1981, Philip K. Dick was characteristically pugnacious: “I will define science fiction, first, by saying what sf is not. It cannot be defined as ‘a story (or nov…

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Congratulations to you too Andrew!

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

I successfully defended my PhD thesis in English Literature at the University of Reading on Wednesday. With thanks to my supervisor Conor Carville and examiners Peter Robinson and Peter Boxall (pictured).

Photo of Prof. Peter Robinson, Simon Okotie and Prof. Peter Boxall

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

En route to meet my PhD supervisor on the South Bank to prepare for my viva (which is next week!).

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Goldsmiths Prize @goldsmithsprize.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

'We Live Here Now emerged similarly mysteriously, flying steadily & consistently under the radar before assuming its rightful place as the winner of this year’s Goldsmiths Prize.' Judge @simonokotie.bsky.social on why C.D. Rose won this year's Goldsmiths Prize. www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...

newstatesman.com

Why CD Rose won the 2025 Goldsmiths Prize for fiction

His fourth book We Live Here Now challenges the novel’s form by focusing on texture, atmosphere and resonance

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Melville House @melvillehouse.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

@cdrose.bsky.social is the 2025 Goldsmiths Prize winner!!! So, so well deserved ❤️🏆 Read WE LIVE HERE NOW! @goldsmithsprize.bsky.social

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Goldsmiths Prize @goldsmithsprize.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

The waiting is nearly over! Our judges - Mark Haddon, Megan Nolan, @simonokotie.bsky.social, and @asack.bsky.social - have read, deliberated and decided. Winner announcement TONIGHT around 7.30pm🔥

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

IT WORKED!!! I’m going to have to wear that shirt for the rest of the season now!

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

I dug out this top for my run today - a third kit from the early 2000s modelled on Inter Milan. I’m hoping it will bring us luck (and an Italian defensive display) against Porto this evening.

Photo of a black and blue Nottingham Forest top.

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Jonathan Gibbs @jonathangibbs.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Nicholas Royle ends his much appreciated comments on A Personal Anthology by saying that, like a favourite bar or secondhand bookshop, it shouldn't be allowed to close. I agree! But it can only go on as long as there are contributors, so if you'd like to take part, please get in touch!

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Goldsmiths Prize @goldsmithsprize.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

#GoldsmithsPrize2025 judge, @simonokotie.bsky.social, on C.D. Rose's We Live Here Now:

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Imogen Reid @imogenreid.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

It's publication day for this beauty, with stories by David Bevan @iancritchley.bsky.social @pippagoldschmidt.bsky.social, Alison Moore, Okechukwu Nzelu, @simonokotie.bsky.social, C.D. Rose, Iain Sinclair, Naomi Wood, lucky old me! et al. Thank you @nicholasroyle.bsky.social & @saltpublishing.com 🔥

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Goldsmiths Prize @goldsmithsprize.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

#GoldsmithsPrize2015 judge, @simonokotie.bsky.social, on Yrsa Daley-Ward's 'extraordinary shape-shifting, genre-defying work of fiction'

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Goldsmiths Prize @goldsmithsprize.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Our '25 judges, @simonokotie.bsky.social Amy Sackville (Chair) & Mark Haddon together @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social to decide this year's shortlist! Megan Nolan joining virtually. Announcement next Thursday, 2nd October around 9pm! 🔥

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David Collard @davidcollard.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Literary Bluesky! According to Maeve Binchy in the Irish Times (14th May 1980) Samuel Beckett "had admired Myles na Gopaleen and laughed so much at everything he had written but had been a bit disappointed when he met him because he had expected too much." Details of the encounter? When and where?

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

I told Her Majesty that I had to leave to be with my mum (before realising she was no longer with us). It was definitely some sort of monarchical/matriarchal dream.

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

She was. (Will await a punchline.)

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

In my dream last night I played tennis against the Queen.

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

I’m delighted to be speaking about my book The Future of the Novel at this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival. As someone who spans 'the two cultures' of science and the humanities, I am pleased with organiser's title for the event. So much to say! www.cheltenhamfestivals.org/events/autho...

Picture of Simon Okotie next to the festival dates: 10-19 October 2025. Tickets go on sale Thursday 4 September.

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Have just submitted my intention to submit [my PhD] form, which I have been intending to submit for some time.

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

What I actually say in the book is that there is no sign as yet that the machine might be capable of cleansing 'its own cliché-clogged circuits' and producing something truly innovative. I think it will continue to be incapable of this. What do you think?

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

I'm grateful for the review of my book The Future of the Novel in this week's TLS but I do want to clarify one thing: I don't believe that the prospect of a novel generated by AI is still some way off - it is already with us. www.the-tls.com/literature/l...

Quote from the TLS review: "Okotie believes that the prosect of a novel generated by AI is some way off."

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

Which is not to say that we should all surrender our copyright - far from it!

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

In other words, the ability of AI to isolate instantaneously all that is most conventional in the novel will be of great benefit to those novelists who are attempting to innovate. The novel has always (to my mind) written against conventionality, and the technology will help accelerate that process.

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

And if artificial intelligence is a misnomer for what is actually ‘applied statistics’ (as the sci-fi writer Ted Chiang said, also in the FT), then what AI provides is a direct, accelerated route to all that is most commonplace in the novel.

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

After all, from the moment Don Quixote loses his mind from reading too many tales of chivalry - adopting their plots, characters, and style for his own adventures - the modern novel has always been adept at using, exposing, parodying, and ironizing the conventions and apparatus of fiction.

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

Also this quote from @naomialderman.bsky.social is spot on: “It’s almost taboo among writers to say, ‘I am interested in finding out what a person could do with this technology.’” The piece itself is a contribution to breaking that taboo.

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

One of the best pieces I’ve read on this hot topic. Thank you John. This, for instance, is an exquisite distillation of the issues: ‘The LLMs, by definition, can only synthesise from existing texts; they cannot originate. Bestsellers and prize-winners tend to come from nowhere, not from everywhere.’

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Stu Hennigan @stuhennigan.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

The Republic Of Consciousness Prize is undergoing a slight change as it celebrates it's tenth year. #Booksky, get this on your radar if it's not already. therepublicofconsciousness.substack.com/p/new-name-a...

therepublicofconsciousness.substack.com

New name and partner for groundbreaking prize for small press publishers

Announcing The Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Glad to be one of the crew on this ship (with my story ‘When viewed from the head rather than the foot’). Pre-order details below.

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Simon Okotie @simonokotie.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Will look forward to reading it.

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