What a great list to be on - some amazing writers that I have come to know over the last year. Pob lŵc pawb!

Thank you Bert's (Michael)! 🙏 💚

Great writing (about great writing) 👏👏👏

A Room Above a Shop by Anthony Shapland named Hay Festival Book of the Year 2025 A Room Above a Shop by Anthony Shapland has been named Hay Festival Book of the Year 2025 after hundreds of book lovers nominated their favourite titles of the year online.

Duw duw!

I'm so pleased, and proud that this came from an open vote - so thanks to all the readers and advocates and allies who have lifted me up in the last year. Genuinely blindsided by this, and humbled. Thanks @hayfestival.bsky.social x

www.hayfestival.com/news/blog.as...

Congrats! Surely, on this list we get to meet properly at some point too! x

📚Un o'r naw llyfr sy'n cael eu hadolygu yn rhifyn cyfredol BARN ydi 'Lan Stâr' gan Anthony Shapland @anthonyshapland.bsky.social - addasiad o'i nofel Saesneg 'Room Above a Shop'. Gweithiodd yr awdur yn agos a chreadigol â'r cyfieithydd Esyllt Angharad Lewis ar 'Lan Stâr'. ✍️ Aled Islwyn

Writer in Residence 2026 - Shortlist Announced! - Gladstone's Library Gladstone’s Library announces Shortlist for 2026 Writer in Residence programme Gladstone’s Library is delighted to announce the shortlist for its

Fingers crossed for us all!

(I never had the competitive gene...)

www.gladstoneslibrary.org/blog/writer-...

The Most Beautiful Queer Love Stories That Will Stay With You Forever Calling all romantics and yearning hearts! Ready to sink your teeth into stories steeped in longing and unexpected love? We’ve handpicked these <a href="https://www.service95.com/tag/lgbtqia" targ

Such an amazing concise review, thanks Dua Lipa 💚💚 -
great to be alongside #yaelvanderwouden
#alicewinn #chinelookparanta & @angelotijssens.bsky.social tijssens.bsky.social (and thanks Angelo for the heads up!)

www.service95.com/best-queer-l...

On the left of the screen a man with short hair and a blue shirt is gesticulating in speech. He is looking to the right at a woman with glasses and straight auburn hair who is looking into the shot in profile.

A gallery installation. With white walls and a grey floor a strip of carpet runs away from our viewpoint towards the corner of the room. On the right is a projection screen, painted pink with an image on it. To the left, facing it, a wooden structure with four more screens mounted on the front. The lighting is low.

It's the final week of my solo exhibition #LiarLiar at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on until 5pm Sunday 15th June.
Or, the next best thing is this talk with #FfionRhys, big thanks to #CultureColony for making it coherent -
culturecolony.com/en/media/vid...

Weekly Reading Wrap-Up: Spare Prose, Softness and Hay on Wye YouTube video by Bob The Bookerer

Thanks so much #BobtheBookerer for this careful and sensitive overview. I'll say hello next time @hayfestival.bsky.social in 2026!

youtu.be/_VkCXP-7SBQ?...

Anthony Shapland talks to Cynan Jones - Hay Festival The debut writer talks to the Welsh short-novel author about his portrait of gay working class life in the Valleys.

Sunday week #CynanJones & I'll be on #HayDebut stage to chat about "A Room Above a Shop" @grantabooks.bsky.social & "Feathertongue" @bbcsounds.bsky.social

Come on, £10 is all. Make Monday wait..
@hayfestival.bsky.social #HayFestival2025 #GwylGelliGandryll2025
www.hayfestival.com/p-23351-anth...

Three novels for May a trio of debuts to crack your heart open

Very pleased with these words from #PandoraSykes pandorasykes.substack.com/p/three-nove...

Thanks so much for such a lovely response. x

So good to see (& hear) you, it was great!

Come to @hayfestival.bsky.social 01/06/25, 2.30pm - I'll be chatting to #CynanJones about #ARoomAboveaShop @grantabooks.bsky.social and #Feathertongue @bbcsounds.bsky.social. We're event 404, like an error message. Afterwards I'll be in the bookshop to scribble on your purchases..!

RHLSTP Book Club 133 - Anthony Shapland | RHLSTP with Richard Herring A Room Above a Shop

This was a lovely chat at the end of a workday, thanks @herring1967.bsky.social for insights and enthusiasm.
shows.acast.com/rhlstp/episo...

Well, here's a thing! I am very grateful @judecook.bsky.social - diolch yn fawr, thank you!

Phew! It's in the world. Yesterdays social media was like being pressure-hosed all day (not complaining) but today feels good. Hope those that buy it enjoy it. 💚

A Room Above a Shop by Anthony Shapland review – a striking story of concealed love This unforgettable tale of two men in late-80s Wales deals with the emotions and repercussions of their intimacy – and is one of the best debut novels in years

Yeh yeh, here's my big face again - but also, a link to a touching and careful preview of #ARoomAboveAShop from John Self. Worth a share, it made me well up.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...

This launches tonight - Folding Rock 001: Roots | 6 March 2025. Llongyfarchiadau all @foldingrockmag.bsky.social ! My piece #SometimesWeSpeak is a dad/son two hander. It's packed with good writing, elegantly typeset, edited with care. I'm in in very good hands. Go buy one!

The best new novelists for 2025 Welcome to our annual selection of the year’s finest debut novels. We have a proven track record in picking authors that go on to be loved by readers and win awards … from Douglas Stuart and Sally Roo...

So, I made it onto this - still in shock, but made up!
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

I'm still bewildered / delighted when I hear how far those pencil scribbles in a notebook have travelled! Thanks @heyteachertom.bsky.social x

Thanks @lrbbookshop.bsky.social (and Gayle!)

BBC Radio 4 - Short Works, Feathertongue by Anthony Shapland An original short story by Anthony Shapland, read by Nathan Sussex.

Proud to be on #bbcradio4 #ShortWorks series – #Feathertongue will be broadcast 24.01.25 then available #bbcsounds after that.
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#glöynbyw #cookedapples #LivingEmber #baitandswitchbullying

– but whaddoiknow eh?

A stack of paperbacks viewed from above, one rests on the top of the pile at an angle. The book has a pale cover with a green photo in the centre alongside the title: A Dictionary of Light.

Thought I’d drop this here.

Posted @withregram • @parthian_books - A Dictionary of Light is here!

The Rhys Davies Short Story Award Anthology brings together twelve bold, tender, brilliant stories. Join us next Wednesday 27/11, 6pm at @swanseastones for the launch of this wonderful collection.

We're here! Folding Rock has officially landed in Bluesky... Now where are our people? Writers, readers, publishers... give us a wave! 👋

27/11/24, 18.00, @swanseastones.bsky.social

Book launch and reception - The Rhys Davies Short Story Award Anthology 2024 | Events at Waterstones Bookshops | Waterstones Events at Waterstones get you closer to the books and authors you admire most. Find information and tickets about Book launch and reception - The Rhys Davies Short Story Award Anthology 2024 today.

I'll be at this, and very proud to be in this group of writers. Just turn up if you fancy it, free, we won't even *make* you buy it - whattayagottaloseeh?

www.waterstones.com/events/book-...

An image of my wrist and closed hand in morning light resting on a white cotton sheet (hotel bed) with a smudged club stamp of a bird, the morning after.

A small stage with two seated people with microphones. On the left a white man with short hair and a blue shirt is talking. He looks serious, in that moment. On the right is the interviewer who is listening, a brown woman in a blue checked dress with long hair.

It's been some time since I woke up with a club-stamp AND full recollection - 1 week ago today I was very happy to be interviewed by the amazing @sanagoyalkotecha.bsky.social - part of #grantabooks & @serpents-tail.bsky.social debut showcase (publication 13/03/25). I look verrry serious here...