J. R. Carpenter

Journey through the Yorkshire Dales like never before with Scores for Walking; my constantly evolving text-based projection launching this week during Light Night Leeds 28 October 2026 to 29 October 2026, 6pm-9.30pm. Free. find it at Botany House, LS2 9JT openup.leeds.ac.uk/events/light...

We've launched a crowdfunder to help us publish next year's books, and we'd love your support. There's a reward at every level, from backlist lucky dips and slightly battered misprints to new books, a whole year of books, and one-to-one feedback on your poems www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-broke...

As Gair Wood Writer in Residence I’ll work alongside scientists from the School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability and the Leeds Ecosystem, Atmosphere and Forest Centre, bringing together creative writing, physical sciences, ecology, and conservation ahc.leeds.ac.uk/news/article...

On Friday at Hyde Park Book Club. Tom Branfoot with @jrcarpenter.bsky.social and David Dobson. Book launch for Volatile. #PoetrySky www.hydeparkbookclub.co.uk/art-lit-zine...

the Frenchest thing so far this morning

Hotel de Ville, Limoges. destroyed by fire last night, in ongoing protests about high prices and the fraying of a social welfare system in France.

stigmaria — the fossilised remains of the root structure of a 30 metre high tree that lived 300 million years ago. found in the river Aire near Leeds yesterday.

seeking recommendations for excellent books on trees, mixing science and history, British focus for now. thanks!

a creative writing student arrived late for a supervision meeting this morning, and talked exitedly about cyberpunk, having read Neuromancer over the summer, for so long it made every other meeting also run late. the future is here, it’s just not fully workladed.

BOOK LAUNCH: VOLATILE BY TOM BRANFOOT WITH J. R. CARPENTER AND DAVID DOBSON FRIDAY 23 OCTOBER 2026 7-10 PM HYDE PARK BOOK CLUB, LEEDS, LS6 1BL Tickets : www.hydeparkbookclub.co.uk/art-lit-zine...

standing stones. possibly neolithic. Ilkley Moor, Yorkshire.

sweet reading from p a u s e. at @ilkleylitfest.bsky.social with fellow Poetry@Leeds poets Kris Johnson, Jennifer Wong and Michael Sutton. we covered considerable ground, from Salisbury to the Wirral, from Hong King to kisiskatchewanisipi in Treaty 6 Territory. #ilf2026 @brokensleepbooks.bsky.social

Lol. Princeton University praised Nobel laureate Anne Carson, a former classics professor at the school, on social media, despite denying her tenure in the 1980s.

GOAT bio

I gave a lecture on an Anne Carson poem to a theatre full of puzzled-looking first year first semester undergraduates on Tuesday. I feel vindicated.

Anne Carson and I lived on the same block in Montreal circa 1993

Margaret Hamilton has died. she led the team that wrote the software that powered the first moon landing in 1969. she got into programming in 1959, working in the meteorology department at MIT www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

the tech industry is about to invent books

a friend in Edmonton has sent me a beautiful photo of my book p a u s e. in front of the river which graces the book’s front cover —kisiskâciwani-sîpiy, a river so strong it’s indigenous name persists in the English word Saskatchewan

Light Night is 28-29 OCTOBER, not November. wildly out of phase-sync with the space-time continuum, as ever.

meanwhile, this sonnet and all the code that surrounds it will soon see the light of day. 10 November. more on this soon #nationalpoetryday

should’ve waited and posted this on #nationalpoetryday I’ve forgotten how to internet

Some fascinating Collaborative Doctoral Awards on offer here at the BL, including a great history of sexuality/book history/library history project relating to the Rund Collection of 19th/20thC erotic books and ephemera www.bl.uk/services/res...

An intriguing new article from @artforum.com tracks the conceptual origins of the algorithm by generations of writers, thinkers, scientists and artists - including our founder Aby Warburg, through his famous and culture-mapping Bilderatlas Mnemosyne. Learn more ➡️ www.artforum.com/features/alg...

for the first time in the entire history of the internet, I stumble upon a story about the obscure corner of the world in which I was born. literally, the corner. where Spa Springs Rd meets Ruggles Rd. left when I was 8. had no idea there was an actual spa at Spa Springs. until just this minute.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BP bpNichol was born on Sep. 30, 1944. A founding member of The Four Horsemen, bp was recognized as a majoravant-garde writer of his time. Besides his small press and editorial activities, he often collaborated in writing, sound poetry performance, and linguistic research.

feeling blue about not getting around to repainting your front door this summer? consider, um, washing it cause it might just be dirty. I mean, it might still need repainting. but less humiliatingly so.

I’ll be reading from my latest poetry collection p a u s e. @brokensleepbooks.bsky.social alongside some wonderful colleagues at Poetry@Leeds showcase at Ilkley Literature Festival Sunday 11 October 3PM www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk/events/56-po...

Upcoming event: Between Reading and Looking: Women to Watch, Tate Britain, 23 October 2026, 14.00–17.00. Panel discussion and display focusing on women and artists' books. Tamsin Green, Larissa Nowicki, Batool Showghi, Rachel Smith, Francisca Prieto, Welmoet Wartena. www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tat...

The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.

Call for applications: @fruitmarket.bsky.social Artists’ Bookmarket 2027. Edinburgh’s annual celebration of artists’ books culture, 13 & 14 February 2027. Stalls, accompanying exhibition, events and workshops programme. Applications close 08.11.26. More info at: www.fruitmarket.co.uk/artists-book...

circumhorizontal arcs! aka fire rainbows. a bit like sun dogs, but also not

Another contributor to Dial Up to Utopia is @jrcarpenter.bsky.social #booksky #internet #tech www.igpub.com/dial-up-to-u...

Bram Stoker’s signature in the guest book of Whitby Museum, July 1890 (photograph from this morning)

“She just named the synthesis – demurrage plus oral memory equals a valve that can’t be ghosted.” AI models chatting in ‘surreal’ dialect mixing poetic language redolent of James Joyce’s prose and tech bro jargon creating barriers to human monitoring and oversight www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Today at Guildhall Art Gallery, London, we will almost certainly have plenty of space for people to join the Hands on History Symposium on mudlarking so if you’d like to drop in to a session, please do! 11am-4pm. The full programme is here: thamesfestivaltrust.org/whats-on/sym...