Cover of book. A perfectly circular yellow sun rises behind a pair of connected office buildings.
Enjoyed @benpester.bsky.social The Expansion Project - it starts out as a father taking his daughter to work, daughter going missing novel and then becomes something much stranger; a workplace Unconsoled & in its fractured narrative, pieced together, it reminded me also of Olga Ravn’s Employees.
This was a great night thanks so much @londonreviewbookshop.co.uk
Sail Away Land by Ben Pester. I sat there, in the office, the easiest job I had ever had. I looked at the plant in the corner of the room. I looked at the sad little kettle on the work surface. I looked at the jar of biscuits that was smeared with crumbs and fat on the inside. I could not speak. My mouth was filled, at that moment, with the flavour of the ink on the postcards that I sent you. And then there was an actual postcard in my mouth, it had somehow been lodged in my stomach somewhere. June 2026
The strangeness of the ordinary and the ordinariness of the strange is the world of Ben Pester’s forthcoming collection ’Sail Away Land’. Told with a singular, uncanny apprehension and density of feeling these stories are superbly unsettling and compelling. Published June @grantabooks.bsky.social.
I am an author. My moral issue with AI is that it's destroying the planet. My specific moral issue with the extraction of my works by Anthropic is that LLMs trained on my words are being used in so-called autonomous weapons.
Last few days to stream this talk for FREE with the brilliant Ben Pester via Fane's website.
Book via the link below:
www.fane.co.uk/ben-pester
'THE BOOK I'M CURRENTLY READING:
Sail Away Land by @benpester.bsky.social. It’s weird and soulful. I love ending my days with it.'
Come June, you too can end your days with these fabulous stories!
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...
Book covers of: The Expansion Project by Ben Pester; The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune; Tombstoning by Doug Johnstone; The Silver Wind by Nina Allan; A Line You Have Traced by Roisin Dunnett
Behold! The February reading round-up I was trying to publish for most of Sunday 😁 www.draliceviolett.com/what-i-read-in-february-... #bookstodon #BookMastodon
You won’t be disappointed June - absolutely phenomenal
The amazing Jo Lloyd here with quality radio broadcasting
This is (literally) a fabulous story—a wry, sweet, comic tale of an Arthurian quest where the quarry proves elusive, time passes and life happens elsewhere. Also your socks get wet (spoiler, sorry).
Tone & word perfect. Find it on BBC Sounds. Recommended.
Had such an amazing time talking to @hannahhg.bsky.social - I really hope you get a chance to listen
Thanks David!
Have you been able to buy from a UK outlet? Can’t find a way that isn’t shipping from NZ. Love Oscar’s work
This was so great! Absolutely loved talking to and writing with this thoughtful and welcoming group of writers. it was a privilege
Some news 😌
my Book has a considerably better wardrobe than I do.
So happy with the paperback cover!
@benpester.bsky.social is visiting Colchester WriteNight for The Big Interview about writing, short fiction and his surreal novel, The Expansion Project, shortlisted for The Goldsmith’s Prize and the Nero Prize for Debut Fiction. We’ll all be interviewing/writing together, you’re welcome to join us
Thank you so much for the generous mention of The Expansion Project here @danhartland.bsky.social - learnt about some amazing books too!
Violence is too often sloppy; it spills over. Misogynists kill a lot of men, racists kill white people, ICE in its attacks on immigrants and anyone who looks like them just killed a white US citizen. When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail; when you're a gun everyone is a target.
❤️❤️❤️
I'm on my way to a Chanukah event. It should be a celebration but instead our community is once again mourning.
I will be thinking of everyone in Australia and those around the world in the Jewish Community who know this fear and loss.
We stand with you.
Thanks to @benpester.bsky.social , author of THE EXPANSION PROJECT (Granta 2025), for this reading from @guillermostitch.bsky.social's THE COAST OF EVERYTHING.
We're watching the wholesale burning of every scrap of dignity afforded to trans people in the UK, their rights, their medical services, their employment, their place within society, their bodily functions.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
Can’t wait Keith!
So pleased to see @benpester.bsky.social's The Expansion Project has been shortlisted for the Nero Debut Novel Award. Richly deserved.
After selecting a shortlist of six stories from thousands of entries, we are thrilled to announce Renesha Dhanraj as the winner of The London Magazine Short Story Prize 2025, for her story, ‘Black Cake’.
Read more here: thelondonmagazine.org/renesha-dhan...
In honour of the eighteenth of November, here's my recent @irishtimes.com interview with Solvej Balle about seven books on the subject of being stuck in today's date.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
(Avoided if for copyright reasons)
“When you can envelope envelope envelope and envelope and treat those envelopes just the same, you’ll be an envelope my son”
Envelope Poppins