A Publisher Pulled a Book for Suspected A.I. Use. I Read It—and Found One Telltale Sign Above All Else. I got my hands on a copy of Shy Girl after Hachette canceled the release. What I found was revealing.

So, this is my publisher & I have an ARC of Shy Girl I have now read. I liked this Slate article by @imogenwk.bsky.social because it made the point ‘editors… simply don’t have time.’ The vast majority of people I know in the publishing world love books & work past their limits. Including writers.

Look what just arrived! THE ASSET CLASS is out on 9 April with @wnbooks.bsky.social - you can read more about it and pre-order through my website (I’ll also be posting in the coming weeks on there about events I’ll be doing in April, May and beyond)

Hello! I am writing a piece about this book for Slate. If any publishing professionals would like to share any intel/opinion they have about how publishing houses are handling AI in submissions, please do get in touch. Can be anonymous

thank you Tracey!

An essay I wrote for The Dial about Wikipedia's humanity in the age of AI informational slurry is out now!

In Search of Wikipedia’s Saviors — The Dial Can Tom, Betty, Patricia and Isidora rescue the site from AI?

Wikipedia’s survival has never been under greater threat. There’s the growing volume of anti-Wikipedia sentiment on the right. And who will need Wikipedia if they can get an AI summary? Imogen West-Knights on the advantage that humans have in keeping it alive: www.thedial.world/articles/new...

ah thank you so much Cody, that’s lovely to hear

Meet the 21st-century butlers training for a life in service | The Observer

My first piece for the new Observer is out in print this weekend, or you can read it now, here! About an academy for butlers in the Netherlands observer.co.uk/style/featur...

I have finally discovered truly terrible TV For years, I’ve been enjoying bad shows. But now, one show has come along to make me reconsider what “bad” even means…

For years, I’ve been enjoying bad shows, writes @imogenwk.bsky.social. But now, one show has come along to make me reconsider what ‘bad’ even means—Kim Kardashian’s ‘All’s Fair’.

To You, They’re Dinner. To Me, They’re the Perfect Pets. My beloved new friends have brains the size of a grain of sand.

I wrote about shrimp and also my sweet dog who died recently. may you also find love in an unlikely place slate.com/life/2025/11...

The Guardian Long Read A better place to buy your books. Support independent journalism with everything you buy. Free UK P&P on online orders over £25

Excited to say that the beautiful Guardian Long Read Magazine is out now, ft. work by @mrkocnnll.bsky.social, @imogenwk.bsky.social, @jackgoulder.bsky.social, @tessairini.bsky.social, @hettieobrien.bsky.social + many other brilliant writers. Order your copy here guardianbookshop.com/long-read-50...

with great new illustrations

The Guardian Long Read A better place to buy your books. Support independent journalism with everything you buy. Free UK P&P on online orders over £25

the very beautiful second volume of the Guardian Long Read magazine is out now! featuring my piece on a chimpanzee escape from a Swedish zoo. get a copy! guardianbookshop.com/long-read-50...

Why does the sinking of the Titanic still captivate us so? Virtual-reality experiences invite participants to feel what it was like to actually be on the ship

went to some virtual reality Titanic “experiences” for FT Weekend www.ft.com/content/9131...

Why does the sinking of the Titanic still captivate us so? Virtual-reality experiences invite participants to feel what it was like to actually be on the ship

went to some virtual reality Titanic “experiences” for FT Weekend www.ft.com/content/9131...

Six ordinary people speak candidly about the cost of living in Britain It might be the last taboo in Britain: money. Who hasn’t got enough. Who has too much. Who is paying (or isn’t) and for what. So, we assembled a handful of Brits from different income brackets – from ...

I spoke to six people across the income spectrum in the UK about how money does and doesn't work for them for the new issue of British GQ www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/six-...

unexpected and very nice to have a piece I wrote for the dial about baseball last year selected for this anthology! ⚾

the piece is here: www.thedial.world/articles/new...

It’s the Happiest Country in the World. I Spent a Week There. I Wish I Could Unlearn Its Secret. The truth is both simpler and more complicated than it seems.

The Finnish tourist board claim that they can teach you how to be happy. I wrote about their attempt to make me as happy as the happiest people on earth for Slate, and you can read it here if you like slate.com/life/2025/08...

ChatGPT has its uses, but I still hate it – and I’ll tell you why | Imogen West-Knights It’s bad for the planet and could make many jobs – including mine – obsolete. But my loathing runs deeper than that, says writer Imogen West-Knights

indulged in a little “old man yells at cloud” ranting in the guardian today www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

thank you!

Inside the ‘neurohacking’ camp that promises worldly bliss in five days Can you really gain 40 years of spiritual enlightenment in a week?

This week’s FT Weekend magazine cover story is by me! About five days I spent last summer at a brain-hacking retreat in Washington www.ft.com/content/0bb8...

The Netflix Show That Ruined Everyone’s Lives is Back. Not Enough People Know Who Made It. He's a household name of a very different sort in Britain.

great @imogenwk.bsky.social piece on why it still feels off that Black Mirror has made "basement goblin" Charlie Brooker an international star.

thank you sam!

another blinder of a day for the forces of evil that periodically try to make me learn how the stock markets work. my stupidity will prevail. you will not make me read that

The British Figured Out the Perfect Kind of Crossword. Where You At, Americans? How to get started with cryptic crosswords, the most rewarding kind of puzzle.

wrote about a beloved hobby of mine slate.com/culture/2025...

true enough that the subject has been around a long time but i do think this a is particularly well done example!

really missing twitter today x

Severance and the art of the mystery reveal How do you balance the setting-up of questions with the provision of answers? Some shows get it very right—and some disastrously wrong

There’s still another season for Severance’s showrunners to throw it all away, Lost-style. But I feel cautiously confident that they won’t, writes @imogenwk.bsky.social.
www.prospectmagazine...

Life on the tracks: hanging with America’s hobos Their heyday may have been 100 years ago, but hobos are still riding freight trains to get around today

Out today in FT Weekend, a piece about a couple of days I spent at a centre for hobo culture in California last summer, and railroad riding in general www.ft.com/content/b7f8...

i am now in greenland, for it is turning out to be… an unspecified length of time. if you’re interested in greenland i am documenting it on instagram! find me there if you like!