Ricky Monahan Brown
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rickyballboy.bsky.social
Ricky Monahan Brown
@rickyballboy.bsky.social
260 followers 460 following 130 posts
Writer. TERMINAL AND OTHER STORIES 🖤 “Summons the likes of Poe and RLS” – Plague Remedy Podcast 🖤 “For those with a love of anything Black Mirror-esque” – SNACK
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You wait ages for an RMB reading... (sic)

Come! Offer moral support! Enjoy writing by people who aren’t me!

274 Miles launch: Grosvenor Cafe, Glasgow, 1 Oct at 6pm; Poetry on the Links premiere, Les Bijou (on the Links) Bistro, Leith, 3 Oct at 6:30pm
Rightly lauded from Poland to Brazil. If you want vital new Scottish music, support vital new Scottish music.

New album from Gutterblood* 👇
gutterbloodband.bandcamp.com/album/good-dog…

*I don’t know the band, I’m not involved in anyway; just a fan who wants vital new Scottish music.
Very much hoping his 8yo son tied him up in the trunk and went looking for Sissy Spacek, a Lee Jean jacket, and a mansion to knock over.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/m...
I Tried to Toughen Up My Son. Things Didn’t Go as Planned.
www.nytimes.com
Just submitted my votes for Richard Shaw’s poll for the best 5 debut albums of 1980-84:

1. Lloyd Cole & The Commotions: Rattlesnakes (1984)
2. Billy Bragg: Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy (1983)
3. Violent Femmes: Violent Femmes (1983)
4. The Smiths: The Smiths (1984)
5. R.E.M.: Murmur (1983)
My nominations for Richard Shaw’s poll of the best best debut album of 2000 to 2004 are:

1. Gravenhurst: Internal Travels (2001)
2. The Strokes: Is This It (2001)
3. Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand (2004)
4. The Libertines: Up The Bracket (2002)
5. Röyksopp: Melody A.M. (2001)
You wait ages for an RMB reading... (sic)

Come! Offer moral support! Enjoy writing by people who aren’t me!

274 Miles launch: Grosvenor Cafe, Glasgow, 1 Oct at 6pm; Poetry on the Links premiere, Les Bijou (on the Links) Bistro, Leith, 3 Oct at 6:30pm
Via new Scottish publisher Tantallon Tìr:

“Book launch:

We’ll be having our 274 Miles book launch on the 1st of October at The Grosvenor Café on Ashton Lane in their Mezzanine area. We’ll have author readings and books available to buy.

18:00-20:00.”

I’m one of the contributors. Do come along.
I’ve posted my selections for the final of Richard Shaw’s polls for the best 5 albums of the 50s and 60s:

1. Scott Walker – Scott 4
2. Scott Walker – Scott
3. Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home
4. Townes Van Zandt – Townes Van Zandt
5. Simon & Garfunkel – Sounds Of Silence
Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time has been a towering achievement in British broadcasting. Right now, it’s hard to imagine someone steeping into his shoes.

Might have to make a regular Thursday appt to dip into the archives…
Reposted by Ricky Monahan Brown
Scottish PEN has issued a statement regarding the arrest of award-winning Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty and calling on the authorities to respect the legitimate right of people to protest in support of the ideal of one humanity living in peace in one world 👇
scottishpen.org/statement-on...
My picks for SF5 of Richard Shaw’s 50s-60s albums polls:

1. Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home
2. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin
3. Leonard Cohen – The Songs Of Leonard Cohen
4. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Willy And The Poor Boys
5. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Trout Mask Replica
Je parle un peu français seulement, mais La Promesse Brel avec Arnaud Askoy et ses partenaires musicaux à l'Institut Français Écosse, c'était magnifique
Via new Scottish publisher Tantallon Tìr for 274 Miles, a collection of work by some of the most exciting contemporary writers in Scotland (and me):

‘Finish something. Stare at its imperfections, fix them, expunge them, do whatever you need to do, but finish it.’

tantallontir.com/author-spotl...
Exploring the Works and Writing of Ricky Monahan Brown
Explore the literary world of Ricky Monahan Brown, a Scottish writer inspired by Stevenson and known for his captivating stories and poetry.
tantallontir.com
The legal people have insisted that Morrissey will now have to stand in for Terence Stamp
Reread Teasure Island recently with the Wee Man, and Silver is a remarkably charismatic character.

It’s remarkable how RLS conveys his ability to influence and persuade directly to the reader!
Today marks the 133rd anniversary of the birth of Scottish PEN / @scottishpen.bsky.social founder Hugh MacDiarmid.

The film linked below was made to mark his 80th birthday in 1972, and features MacDiarmid in conversation with his son Michael & fellow poet Norman MacCaig.

tinyurl.com/2r2w6pr3
tinyurl.com
Just posted my picks for the 4th semifinal of Richard Shaw’s Albums Of The 50s & 60s polls:

1. Bob Dylan – Highway 61…(1965)
2. Simon & Garfunkel – Sounds Of Silence (1966)
3. Bob Dylan – Freewheelin’ Bob…(1963)
4. Kinks – Are The VGPS (1968)
5. Ennio Morricone – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966)
Look what just dropped through the door!

Looking forward to getting into this @plumeriapics.bsky.social 50th anniversary edition of Alan Sharp’s novelisation of his screenplay for Night Moves, inc an introduction from Matthew Asprey Gear and an afterword by David Manderson.
Very pleased to be included in this collection of short pieces featuring what Tantallon Tìr is describing as ‘the very best writers from, or living in, Scotland’ 😲

Looking forward to reading the 274 Miles anthology! tantallontir.com/product/274-...
Via the good folks at Tantallon Tìr, “[a] nice mention for the [274 Miles] anthology in the Kirkcudbright Book Week.”

I particularly liked this bit: “Tantallon Tìr says that the collection features ‘the very best writers from, or living in, Scotland’.”

kirkcudbrightbookweek.org/2025/07/18/a...
Anthology celebrates the best of Scottish writing
Advanced orders are being taken for an anthology of short stories produced by a new Scottish publisher working with a highly inventive format. 274 Miles features forty stories, none more than 274 w…
kirkcudbrightbookweek.org
Just got word from the good people at sincere corkscrew that Housmans Books/@housmansbookshop.bsky.social in London have taken a couple of copies of TERMINAL.

I'll be happy to provide a custom bookplate of my own design to anyone who can prove that they've managed to acquire one of those copies...
Chuffed to have my homage to the enigmatic Fables of RLS included with the work of any number of great contemporary Scottish writers in the debut book from Tantallon Tìr.

I hope you’ll check it out at @waterstones.bsky.social or wherever you get yr books 👇

www.waterstones.com/book/274-mil...
274 Miles | Waterstones
Buy 274 Miles from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
www.waterstones.com