Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Peter Ormerod

@bowiegod.bsky.social

58 followers 55 following 360 posts

Journalist ('arts', don't you know), sometime columnist (mostly Guardian), Bloomsbury author and Bowie-obsessed God-botherer with a book coming out about Bowie and God. Also a bit too keen on porridge, toast, Swindon, Noel Edmonds etc

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by Peter Ormerod

Jon Dennis @jondennis.bsky.social · 5h

'I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don't remember what I did before that. Just loafed, I suppose.'

Dean Frey @dean.bsky.social · 5h

Remembering P. G. Wodehouse on his birthday 🎂
📷 Michael Brennan, 1974

"I just sit at my typewriter and curse a bit."

2 5

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks Helen!

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 1d

Ah, thank you!

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you, that's most kind - and yes, they've done such a great job with the cover!

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 1d

Anyway - hope you enjoy the book!

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 1d

And a massive THANK YOU to everyone who's played their part in this. I started writing on this topic on Substack three years ago - this book wouldn't exist without the support and encouragement of those who read those pieces. Something we can all learn - if you like stuff, tell people

1 1

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 1d

I'm also delighted to say that @waterstones.bsky.social has selected the book as part of a pre-order promotion from October 14 to 17. Order using the code OCTOBER25 and you'll get 25% off! You can order it from there or elsewhere by clicking below

linktr.ee/davidbowiese...

Publishing January 2026 | Linktree

David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God

linktr.ee

1 1

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 1d

Along the way, we meet a cast of extraordinary characters, from Kierkegaard and Nietzsche to the theologian Paul Tillich and Dion Fortune, a woman who fought the Nazis with magic. There are new interviews and some lovely previously unseen snippets from his archive

1 2

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 1d

Bowie called it the strand that ran through his remarkably varied career. Turns out he was right. It's there on all his great albums and in many of his best-known songs: Space Oddity, Starman, Golden Years, "Heroes", Let's Dance, Modern Love, right up to Blackstar and Lazarus

1 1

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 1d

Pretty thrilled to announce that my book will be published on January 15! It's called David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God. It’s published by @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social and tells the story of Bowie's spiritual explorations - and why they were fundamental to his work

2 1 6

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 7d

We should cherish these men

www.birminghamworld.uk/whats-on/art...

Inside No. 9 Stage/Fright review – Deliciously twisted fun on Birmingham stage

Peter Ormerod reviews Inside No. 9 Stage/Fright at The Alexandra, Birmingham

www.birminghamworld.uk

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 10d

The most lethal deployment of 'colleagues' I've ever seen. Top work

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 16d

'Charming' and 'delightful' aren't words routinely associated with Tin Machine but they very much apply to this, part II of a tremendous interview with producer Tim Palmer

Albumtoalbum: The David Bowie Albums Podcast @albumtoalbum.bsky.social · 17d

Out now! Behind scenes with Tin Machine co-producer and studio collaborator Tim Palmer on working with @davidbowiereal.bsky.social @reevesgabrels.bsky.social, Hunt & Tony Sales on the great lost classic (IMO) Tin Machine 2 💥

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...

Tim Palmer on Tin Machine (Part Two)

Podcast Episode · DAVIDBOWIE: ALBUMTOALBUM · 28/09/2025 · 45m

podcasts.apple.com

1 7

Reposted by Peter Ormerod

Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 17d

This is interesting—I see a lot of these tells in my work with writing scams, where the use of chatbots in scam solicitations and impersonations has become ubiquitous.

Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · Aug 31

Wikipedia editors trying to fend off the onslaught of AI crap have crowdsourced some telltale signs of LLM-generated writing; it might be handy for editors and proofreaders generally. Thanks to @ellenrykers.com for pointing me to it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...

Wikipedia:Signs of AI writing - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1 59 110

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 17d

I don't think the old left-right spectrum is very helpful these days, if indeed it ever was. And relatively very few people are consistently 'left' or 'right'

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 18d

Agh, sorry and thanks - now corrected!

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 18d

I was lucky enough to be the first member of the public to see these notes. It was quite a thing

open.substack.com/pub/bowiegod...

Notes on God, by David Bowie

What I found at the V&A East Storehouse

open.substack.com

1 3 8

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 22d

It's not pretending to be a news article, and reviews are allowed to be positive

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 22d

It's a review

1 1

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 22d

Ah yes, the famously Anglocentric, foreigner-hating, inward-looking Shakespeare

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

List of Shakespearean settings - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 25d

There's also a link to it in the first paragraph

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 27d

We all know the Grammys are a farce but this would have been a hilarious letter to send to Bowie at any point in the past 50 years, let alone after he'd died

1 2

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · 27d

I was lucky enough today to be among the first people to use the Study Room at the V&A's David Bowie Centre. It's the place where you can examine paper records - his notes, handwritten lyrics, jotted-down ideas, those kinds of things. If you're interested in that stuff, you'll love it there

2 3

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · Sep 13

Obvious thing I missed on the Lynch/Potter overlap: woods and forests

Peter Ormerod @bowiegod.bsky.social · Sep 13

London's good at the moment, isn't it? There's the V&A Bowie thing, and now this. It's like the city is making a special effort for me

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Hilary Lloyd review: on Dennis Potter’s trail through an enchanted forest of film

The artist’s exhaustive engagement with the singular playwright leads us through landmark shows via midair screens, cat-videos and lunch with Richard E Grant

www.theguardian.com

1 2