Rishi Dastidar
@betarish.bsky.social
Poet &c | rishidastidar.com | linktr.ee/betarish
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Rishi Dastidar
@betarish.bsky.social
· Apr 2
Rishi Dastidar - A Hobby of Mine | Broken Sleep Books
In A Hobby of Mine, Rishi Dastidar’s unrelenting catalogue of cultural observations becomes an absurd and profound portrait of modern life. With a playful spirit and incisive wit, Dastidar examines id...
www.brokensleepbooks.com
A hobby of mine is reminding you that a 'A hobby of mine' is published on 30th April, and is available to pre-order from @brokensleepbooks.bsky.social now: www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page...
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
Our final Out-Spoken (for a while) lands at Southbank Centre on 15 Jan!
We’ll return later in 2026, so don’t miss your chance to be in the room for this one.
Featuring Joelle Taylor, Hollie McNish, Anthony Anaxagorou, The Halfway Kid + Karim Kamar...
We’ll return later in 2026, so don’t miss your chance to be in the room for this one.
Featuring Joelle Taylor, Hollie McNish, Anthony Anaxagorou, The Halfway Kid + Karim Kamar...
December 3, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Our final Out-Spoken (for a while) lands at Southbank Centre on 15 Jan!
We’ll return later in 2026, so don’t miss your chance to be in the room for this one.
Featuring Joelle Taylor, Hollie McNish, Anthony Anaxagorou, The Halfway Kid + Karim Kamar...
We’ll return later in 2026, so don’t miss your chance to be in the room for this one.
Featuring Joelle Taylor, Hollie McNish, Anthony Anaxagorou, The Halfway Kid + Karim Kamar...
Is there even a football Bluesky?
December 2, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Is there even a football Bluesky?
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
Haven't read 'Aubade' in a few years and just did so on the link below. Astonishing how many of its phrases have entered my own way of thinking and expressing myself. And if there's a more perfect, devastating, beautiful ending to a poem, I need to know.
Philip Larkin started writing ‘Aubade’ in 1974, & finished it in 1977 after his mother’s death. It was published in the TLS on 23rd December, apparently ruining a number of people’s Christmases. Larkin, terrified of death all his life, died on this day 1985.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48422/...
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48422/...
Aubade
Not in remorse —The good not done, the love not given, time Torn off unused—nor wretchedly because An only life can take so long to climb Clear of its wrong beginnings, and may never; But at the total...
www.poetryfoundation.org
December 2, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Haven't read 'Aubade' in a few years and just did so on the link below. Astonishing how many of its phrases have entered my own way of thinking and expressing myself. And if there's a more perfect, devastating, beautiful ending to a poem, I need to know.
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
What's not to love about this!!
Bidding is now open on my fuzzy felt Mari Lwyd, along with so many other wonderful works of art.
All funds go to domestic violence charities, please do bid if you can afford to and feel able, it would be great to raise as much money as possible🐴💀👻
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15748996...
All funds go to domestic violence charities, please do bid if you can afford to and feel able, it would be great to raise as much money as possible🐴💀👻
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15748996...
December 2, 2025 at 12:34 PM
What's not to love about this!!
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
If you haven’t booked this yet, do JOIN ME on Dec 16th for our Christmas tradition of writing a frankly ridiculous amount of new poems… 🎄
Masterclass: Infinite Ways in to Writing Poems | Tackling big subjects with wonder | Arvon
For the third year running, with all new prompts and exercises, Arvon favourite Caroline Bird returns for our final Masterclass of the year, which promises to be a bolt of creativity to kick-start som...
www.arvon.org
December 2, 2025 at 12:11 PM
If you haven’t booked this yet, do JOIN ME on Dec 16th for our Christmas tradition of writing a frankly ridiculous amount of new poems… 🎄
very much this; he was one of the first players I remember watching and just going "wow". Intensely gifted and courageous.
Just to say that 43.67 is an *incredible* batting average against the bowling attacks of that era.
Robin Smith, former England cricketer, dies aged 62
December 2, 2025 at 11:31 AM
very much this; he was one of the first players I remember watching and just going "wow". Intensely gifted and courageous.
A reminder to those of you in Liverpool and nearby that this is tomorrow, at @thebluecoat.bsky.social. I have maybe one joke, and a witticism, but it's not all grumbling! Come through: www.thebluecoat.org.uk/whatson/rilc...
LJMU RILCH Symposium 2025: Why Writing Matters
An afternoon of short talks and panel discussions hosted by Liverpool John Moores University's Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History.
www.thebluecoat.org.uk
December 2, 2025 at 9:40 AM
A reminder to those of you in Liverpool and nearby that this is tomorrow, at @thebluecoat.bsky.social. I have maybe one joke, and a witticism, but it's not all grumbling! Come through: www.thebluecoat.org.uk/whatson/rilc...
Sorry to report that as Gyles has now weighed in, the Chancellor does not have long left:
December 1, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Sorry to report that as Gyles has now weighed in, the Chancellor does not have long left:
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
OK, book/list fans, here's the @burleyfisher.bsky.social Books of the Year 2025, inc our Zines of the Year + BF bestseller list.
My picks 🧵
burleyfisherbooks.com/blogs/news/b...
My picks 🧵
burleyfisherbooks.com/blogs/news/b...
Books of the Year 2025 ✨
It's the most wonderful list of the year: bookier than the Booker! More indie than your fave band! It's 75% indie publishers, 30% non-fiction, 25% translation, 20% poetry & 100% Burley Fisher.
So say...
https://burleyfisherbooks.com/blogs/news/books-of-the-year-2025-✨
December 1, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
This weeks episode of The Poems We Made Along The Way is with the wonderful Gillian Allnutt whose book Lode has been shortlisted for this years T.S. Eliot Prize.
Check it out wherever good podcasts can be found.
Check it out wherever good podcasts can be found.
December 1, 2025 at 4:17 PM
This weeks episode of The Poems We Made Along The Way is with the wonderful Gillian Allnutt whose book Lode has been shortlisted for this years T.S. Eliot Prize.
Check it out wherever good podcasts can be found.
Check it out wherever good podcasts can be found.
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
Copies of Permanence have arrived! Thanks to co-author Stephen Paul Wren, publisher Atomic Bohemian, and to @betarish.bsky.social and Greta Stoddart for their kind words. Come to our online launch on Thursday! www.eventbrite.com/e/state-of-t...
December 1, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Copies of Permanence have arrived! Thanks to co-author Stephen Paul Wren, publisher Atomic Bohemian, and to @betarish.bsky.social and Greta Stoddart for their kind words. Come to our online launch on Thursday! www.eventbrite.com/e/state-of-t...
Turns out the soundtrack to the morning I really needed was Spiritualized's 'Lazer Guided Melodies'.
December 1, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Turns out the soundtrack to the morning I really needed was Spiritualized's 'Lazer Guided Melodies'.
“Still punk AF,” I did actually whisper after I bought this my bloody valentine tote bag on Thursday night.
November 30, 2025 at 5:47 PM
“Still punk AF,” I did actually whisper after I bought this my bloody valentine tote bag on Thursday night.
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
The first episode of Backlisted was published on 30th November 2015, ten years ago today. @backlisted.bsky.social
‘We can ask and ask but we can’t have again what once seemed ours forever.’ - J.L. Carr, A Month in the Country 🙏
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/1-j...
‘We can ask and ask but we can’t have again what once seemed ours forever.’ - J.L. Carr, A Month in the Country 🙏
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/1-j...
1. J. L. Carr - A Month in the Countr — Backlisted
In the first episode of a new podcast about books, John Mitchinson and Andy Miller are joined by novelist Lissa Evans and Unbound's Mathew Clayton to discuss J.L. Carr's A Month In The Country. If y...
www.backlisted.fm
November 30, 2025 at 5:29 PM
The first episode of Backlisted was published on 30th November 2015, ten years ago today. @backlisted.bsky.social
‘We can ask and ask but we can’t have again what once seemed ours forever.’ - J.L. Carr, A Month in the Country 🙏
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/1-j...
‘We can ask and ask but we can’t have again what once seemed ours forever.’ - J.L. Carr, A Month in the Country 🙏
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/1-j...
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
🎁 ONE DAY LEFT FOR OUR FESTIVE SALE: All Wasafiri bundles (four magazines curated around a specific subject, theme, or major writer in our archive) are on discount at £30 only until 1 Dec!
The perfect gift for any literature/book lover in your life.
Shop now: buff.ly/A9OF28H
The perfect gift for any literature/book lover in your life.
Shop now: buff.ly/A9OF28H
November 30, 2025 at 9:00 AM
🎁 ONE DAY LEFT FOR OUR FESTIVE SALE: All Wasafiri bundles (four magazines curated around a specific subject, theme, or major writer in our archive) are on discount at £30 only until 1 Dec!
The perfect gift for any literature/book lover in your life.
Shop now: buff.ly/A9OF28H
The perfect gift for any literature/book lover in your life.
Shop now: buff.ly/A9OF28H
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
Taking payment for 3 CDs (£1 all in—Art of Fugue, six partitas, B minor mass), a young charity shop volunteer asked me if I'm into classical music, then asked what I recommend coz he's getting into it. How do you answer a question like that?
November 29, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Taking payment for 3 CDs (£1 all in—Art of Fugue, six partitas, B minor mass), a young charity shop volunteer asked me if I'm into classical music, then asked what I recommend coz he's getting into it. How do you answer a question like that?
*generic UK trains moan*
November 29, 2025 at 5:46 PM
*generic UK trains moan*
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/n... << we shall not see his like again etc etc; oh to have such a brain
Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88
A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:31 PM
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/n... << we shall not see his like again etc etc; oh to have such a brain
Also need to steal this as a title.
What in the name of the Infernal Library of the Goblin King is that!!??
November 29, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Also need to steal this as a title.
Lads, none of you said my bloody valentine are in the tote game now
November 27, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Lads, none of you said my bloody valentine are in the tote game now
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
I'm hearing criticisms of the end to the two child limit, because it was done just to mollify Labour backbenchers, at a cost of £billions.
I remember another govt delivering a referendum on EU membership, just to mollify restive backbenchers. That's costing way, way more... A little perspective?
I remember another govt delivering a referendum on EU membership, just to mollify restive backbenchers. That's costing way, way more... A little perspective?
November 26, 2025 at 6:54 PM
I'm hearing criticisms of the end to the two child limit, because it was done just to mollify Labour backbenchers, at a cost of £billions.
I remember another govt delivering a referendum on EU membership, just to mollify restive backbenchers. That's costing way, way more... A little perspective?
I remember another govt delivering a referendum on EU membership, just to mollify restive backbenchers. That's costing way, way more... A little perspective?
Gosh it’s a strong night for all your Hobby Horses on all the platforms.
November 25, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Gosh it’s a strong night for all your Hobby Horses on all the platforms.
This’ll be a good night.
Wow! @sophieherx.bsky.social & @matthewepaul.bsky.social reading their wonderful work & being interviewed by Katie Griffiths tomorrow night - looking forward to this one very much
www.riverhousebarn.co.uk/events/136679
www.riverhousebarn.co.uk/events/136679
Live Poetry At Riverhouse
Introduced by Riverhouse Poets Tutor Katie Griffiths.Live Poetry at Riverhouse is a monthly series bringing the spoken word to the warm, intimate setting of the Barn stage. This se...
www.riverhousebarn.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 5:13 PM
This’ll be a good night.
A reminder that, this flu permitting, I shall be at Bluecoat in Liverpool next Thursday, to give a keynote as part of LJMU RILCH's symposium on the small topic of Why Writing Matters. More deets: www.thebluecoat.org.uk/whatson/rilc...
LJMU RILCH Symposium 2025: Why Writing Matters
An afternoon of short talks and panel discussions hosted by Liverpool John Moores University's Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History.
www.thebluecoat.org.uk
November 25, 2025 at 11:25 AM
A reminder that, this flu permitting, I shall be at Bluecoat in Liverpool next Thursday, to give a keynote as part of LJMU RILCH's symposium on the small topic of Why Writing Matters. More deets: www.thebluecoat.org.uk/whatson/rilc...
Reposted by Rishi Dastidar
(L-R): shitposting, my deadline, me, my editor
November 24, 2025 at 9:00 PM
(L-R): shitposting, my deadline, me, my editor