Katharine Quarmby

Hope you enjoy reading it and thanks Jan!

Thank you! 🙏

Very chuffed to be on the crime shortlist for this - what an honour to be with fellow historical writers. And thanks to the judges and HNS for all the admin and work that goes on behind the scenes.

Thanks to all of you for judging, and the admin generally - very much appreciated!

Are you an author over 60? Submit your poem, short story, flash fiction or novel by 31 May 2026 to the Never Too Late Award from the @bridportprize.bsky.social! bridportprize.org.uk/news/new-nev...

After the Floods Photograph: Henrik Fossum

To read all the articles we have done so far as a European journalism team on flooding across Europe (and pesticides, asbestos, etc), have a look at our site here at Investigative Reporting Denmark: www.ir-d.dk/2025/10/afte...

Flooding: Is the UK’s most frequent natural disaster Labour’s ‘build, baby, build’ blindspot? Podcast-Folge · Eco Chamber · 15.10.2025 · 23 Min.

If you prefer to listen, @endsreport.com did a great podcast on Labour, flooding and climate change here: podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/f...

‘People are going to be flooded’: Could the UK’s top natural disaster sink Labour’s housing ambitions? Just this week, MPs urged Labour to do more on flood risks. Is the government’s ‘build, baby, build’ fixation blinding it to the issue? As part of a Europe-wide investigation, Katharine Quarmby interv...

For a deeper dive into the policies by government here in the UK that can either upend flood protection or improve it, have a look at this article for @endsreport.com on how Labour's plans for housebuilding could make things even worse: www.endsreport.com/article/1935...

And in a more cheery, solutions based article for The Ferret, read It Takes a Village - how one community came together to protect their village from flooding - as well as a longer article looking at the aftermath of flooding on Scotland's east coast:
www.theferret.scot/author/katha...

100 flood warnings have been issued across England and with that in mind, I'm re-sharing some of the articles our European journalism team have published on flooding across the continent. I wrote this for @prospectmagazine.co.uk on the awful aftermath: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/enviro...

How Europe risks losing the battle against rising flood waters Europe faces escalating flood disasters driven by warming seas and extreme rainfall, killing communities and hitting the poor hardest, while fragmented policies, uneven data, and weak adaptation leave...

Floods are the biggest natural disaster in Europe. Our cross-border environmental journalism team wrote this overview, with expert input from our EU-watcher, Staffan Dahllöf, about our flooding project for #EUObserver:
euobserver.com/200660/how-e...
#environmentaljournalism #afterthefloods

When Tehran finally falls, it will be thanks to brave young women like Rubina Aminian The lives of Iranian women have been degraded by 47 years of hardline Islamic rule – now, they are leading the charge against the regime, regardless of the risk to their personal safety, says Katharin...

When Tehran finally falls, it will be thanks to brave young women like Rubina Aminian | Katharine Quarmby
www.independent.co.uk/voices/iran-...

The east coast of the UK is the fastest eroding in Europe, and each storm that hits it, like the one that this month, is measured in human misery. I wrote this long-read late last year as part of a European project, After The Floods asking how we are going to cope in a more watery future. #floods

Hi Shannon, thanks for this - are you still taking pitches?

The death toll in Iran is likely to be at least 2000, the BBC reports. I wrote for The Independent about the bravery of those opposing the Iranian regime - amongst them so many brave young women. bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Flooding and Climate Change Katharine Quarmby, award-winning writer, editor and journalist

I'm talking about flooding and climate change, chaired by @tomshakespeare.bsky.social, next Tuesday, following on a journalism project: muckrack.com/katharine-qu.... If you're in South London and want to come along, do join 20 January, free tickets here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/flooding-a...

Lovely, looking forward!

I think all public sector organisations using AI for decision-making should have to be completely transparent about what they use; the prompts they have used; and what decisions flowed from that use.

It's remarkable to see how AI is being used by public sector organisation and how careful we need to be given its propensity to hallucinate 'facts'.

Flooding and Climate Change Katharine Quarmby, award-winning writer, editor and journalist

I'm talking about flooding and climate change, chaired by @tomshakespeare.bsky.social, next Tuesday, following on a journalism project: muckrack.com/katharine-qu.... If you're in South London and want to come along, do join 20 January, free tickets here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/flooding-a...

When Tehran finally falls, it will be thanks to brave young women like Rubina Aminian The lives of Iranian women have been degraded by 47 years of hardline Islamic rule – now, they are leading the charge against the regime, regardless of the risk to their personal safety, says Katharin...

Wrote this on the sheer bravery of so many women and men in Iran protesting against the regime. The death toll is mounting and those of us with family there are watching with horror - and a flicker of hope. www.independent.co.uk/voices/iran-... #Iran #IranProtests #WomanLifeFreedom

The Low Road - Unseen Histories Katharine Quarmby, the author of The Low Road, casts an eye over Georgian England.

As the Napoleonic Wars drew to a close there were food riots. Opposition, meanwhile, was growing against the introduction of industrial technologies. It is in this world of extremes that Katherine Quarmby has set her novel. The Low Road is a captivating tale that is inspired by real history 👇

Book cover in blue with magical white horse called the Parno Gry and boy Yokki on top as though leaping and flying into the sky. Spread illustration on left of Yokki and family around a campfire and on the right stroking the Parno Gry.

⭐ Every eve is special when you read them a #bedtimestory ⭐

YOKKI AND THE PARNO GRY by Richard O'Neill and @katharineq.bsky.social, magical book illustrated by Marieke Nelissen, a tale about hope and the joy of storytelling.

🎁 More: www.childs-play.com/products/978... #KidLitUK

Thanks Jan, and it's out in Australia/New Zealand and the US in 2026. Hope you enjoyed it...

Front cover of the historical novel, The Low Road, by Katharine Quarmby

It’s publication day for The Low Road with @eyebooks.bsky.social, a story about love, friendship and redemption. Based on a true story, it moves from East Anglia, to London to colonial Australia. Available in all good bookshops and libraries.
#sapphicbooks #historicalfiction #empire #TheLowRoad

The Unbound (RIP) edition of The Scottish Boy which absolutely sold so so well on word of mouth (check out its deluge of Amazon reviews) imagine what would happen if it had ~marketing~ ALSO the book has great illustrations by Trungles

My agent is @tinyfairyhunter.bsky.social so if you are an editor of an imprint thinking “I wish romantasy was queerer / more m/m and also had incredible, immersive worldbuilding that brought a medieval era viscerally to life” HAVE I GOT GOOD NEWS FOR YOU, also I have plans for 2 more similar books

Crossing fingers and toes!

More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...

Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.

They’ve had their necks kneeled on.

They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear.

At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them.

By @nicolefoy.bsky.social

Are you interested in advancing peace and disarmament through the UN? Are you based in Geneva or open to re-locating to work there? @quakerunoffice.bsky.social are hiring a Peace and Disarmament Representative. Find out more at quno.org/opportunities and apply before 13:00 CET Monday 3 November.

‘People are going to be flooded’: Could the UK’s top natural disaster sink Labour’s housing ambitions? Just this week, MPs urged Labour to do more on flood risks. Is the government’s ‘build, baby, build’ fixation blinding it to the issue? As part of a Europe-wide investigation, Katharine Quarmby interv...

Just this week, MPs urged Labour to do more on flood risks. Is the government’s ‘build, baby, build’ fixation blinding it to the issue?

@katharineq.bsky.social interviews experts across Europe for a portrait of a crisis in the making – and the policy solutions ⬇️