Kate Mayfield
@katemayfield.bsky.social
Excavating the uncanny. Author of ‘The Parentations’, a novel, and ‘The Undertaker’s Daughter’, a memoir.
Thank you again to @alcs.co.uk for championing authors’ works by collecting money from around the world when someone copies or uses our work. It’s payment day soon thanks to their achievements.
January 22, 2026 at 11:08 AM
Thank you again to @alcs.co.uk for championing authors’ works by collecting money from around the world when someone copies or uses our work. It’s payment day soon thanks to their achievements.
Very Crimey, Espionagey, Bookerey January so far.
January 18, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Very Crimey, Espionagey, Bookerey January so far.
Reposted by Kate Mayfield
Died #onthisday in 1834, Giovanni Aldini, the Italian "galvanist" whose experiments in animating the muscles of the dead with electricity inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Read more in our essay by Sharon Ruston: publicdomainreview.org/essay/t...
January 17, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Died #onthisday in 1834, Giovanni Aldini, the Italian "galvanist" whose experiments in animating the muscles of the dead with electricity inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Read more in our essay by Sharon Ruston: publicdomainreview.org/essay/t...
A new, light coloured notebook for old, dark stories.
January 12, 2026 at 7:13 PM
A new, light coloured notebook for old, dark stories.
Reposted by Kate Mayfield
Photographs of the Arctic in the 1880s by self-styled glaciologist, Frenchman Charles Rabot: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/rabot-photographs-of-the-arctic
January 8, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Photographs of the Arctic in the 1880s by self-styled glaciologist, Frenchman Charles Rabot: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/rabot-photographs-of-the-arctic
I was without The World Wide Web for 48 hours and it felt like 48 years. I lost my bearings and wondered if the microwave still worked. Could I still make coffee? Find food? When I woke up from the bad dream the world had tilted again.
January 7, 2026 at 10:53 AM
I was without The World Wide Web for 48 hours and it felt like 48 years. I lost my bearings and wondered if the microwave still worked. Could I still make coffee? Find food? When I woke up from the bad dream the world had tilted again.
I wish you all a good year. As you can see, I’m following the remarkably predictable Health and Wellbeing guidance for January with a bit of light reading and even lighter blackberry hazelnut meringue cake.
January 1, 2026 at 7:51 PM
I wish you all a good year. As you can see, I’m following the remarkably predictable Health and Wellbeing guidance for January with a bit of light reading and even lighter blackberry hazelnut meringue cake.
Season’s greetings to everyone.
December 25, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Season’s greetings to everyone.
Most likely place to find a ghost on Christmas Eve:
The only surviving medieval wooden Watching Loft in England (c.14). Monastic officials conducted surveillance on pilgrims visiting the Shrine. #ghosts #ChristmasEve #history
The only surviving medieval wooden Watching Loft in England (c.14). Monastic officials conducted surveillance on pilgrims visiting the Shrine. #ghosts #ChristmasEve #history
December 24, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Most likely place to find a ghost on Christmas Eve:
The only surviving medieval wooden Watching Loft in England (c.14). Monastic officials conducted surveillance on pilgrims visiting the Shrine. #ghosts #ChristmasEve #history
The only surviving medieval wooden Watching Loft in England (c.14). Monastic officials conducted surveillance on pilgrims visiting the Shrine. #ghosts #ChristmasEve #history
On a sweltering summer day years ago in Santa Monica, I found these vintage ornaments in their original 50’s boxes at an outdoor antique market. They’re all made of glass and it’s a miracle they’ve survived a couple of transatlantic moves. Meet Harriet, the tree that supports them. #WinterSolstice
December 21, 2025 at 12:59 PM
On a sweltering summer day years ago in Santa Monica, I found these vintage ornaments in their original 50’s boxes at an outdoor antique market. They’re all made of glass and it’s a miracle they’ve survived a couple of transatlantic moves. Meet Harriet, the tree that supports them. #WinterSolstice
December 20, 2025 at 6:12 PM
I stumbled into a fever dream.
December 19, 2025 at 10:40 AM
I stumbled into a fever dream.
Greetings, fellow British citizens. Citizen Kate here. After many years as a resident, I have finally faced the daunting admin challenge and have emerged victorious.
December 14, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Greetings, fellow British citizens. Citizen Kate here. After many years as a resident, I have finally faced the daunting admin challenge and have emerged victorious.
The tree at St Pancras. Not as nice as the book tree last year. OBVIOUSLY
December 10, 2025 at 10:57 PM
The tree at St Pancras. Not as nice as the book tree last year. OBVIOUSLY
Reposted by Kate Mayfield
+++ Best Take Extra Care Out & About Today! - As Storm Bram, will be biting hard the UK & Ireland. +++
V''''V
#StormBram #BramStoker #Dracula
V''''V
#StormBram #BramStoker #Dracula
December 9, 2025 at 9:53 AM
+++ Best Take Extra Care Out & About Today! - As Storm Bram, will be biting hard the UK & Ireland. +++
V''''V
#StormBram #BramStoker #Dracula
V''''V
#StormBram #BramStoker #Dracula
Zara's gone all gothic this season.
December 7, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Zara's gone all gothic this season.
Our traditional December dinner. Lively, warm, joy and mirth with special friends. All authors, we covered absolutley every topic ever, as you do.
December 7, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Our traditional December dinner. Lively, warm, joy and mirth with special friends. All authors, we covered absolutley every topic ever, as you do.
I read page-turning translated fiction in 2025. Top 3:
THE WIDE WORLD
Pierre Lemaitre, Translated by Frank Wynne
What a saga.
ALONE IN BERLIN
Devastating.
Hans Fallada, Translated by Michael Hofmann
I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN
Unsettling.
Jacqueline Harpman, Translated by Ros Schwartz
THE WIDE WORLD
Pierre Lemaitre, Translated by Frank Wynne
What a saga.
ALONE IN BERLIN
Devastating.
Hans Fallada, Translated by Michael Hofmann
I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN
Unsettling.
Jacqueline Harpman, Translated by Ros Schwartz
December 4, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I read page-turning translated fiction in 2025. Top 3:
THE WIDE WORLD
Pierre Lemaitre, Translated by Frank Wynne
What a saga.
ALONE IN BERLIN
Devastating.
Hans Fallada, Translated by Michael Hofmann
I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN
Unsettling.
Jacqueline Harpman, Translated by Ros Schwartz
THE WIDE WORLD
Pierre Lemaitre, Translated by Frank Wynne
What a saga.
ALONE IN BERLIN
Devastating.
Hans Fallada, Translated by Michael Hofmann
I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN
Unsettling.
Jacqueline Harpman, Translated by Ros Schwartz
Reposted by Kate Mayfield
The NY Times just posted their '10 best books of 2025' and I'm here to discuss it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvzW...
December 2, 2025 at 1:38 PM
The NY Times just posted their '10 best books of 2025' and I'm here to discuss it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvzW...
Reposted by Kate Mayfield
Turned over the page on your #Countryfile calendar today? Then say hello to my #barnowl :)
December 1, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Turned over the page on your #Countryfile calendar today? Then say hello to my #barnowl :)
Reposted by Kate Mayfield
I’m on the Radio 2 Book Club with Sara Cox, for the Christmas special! If you’re after some books for those tricky relatives, or just yourself, have a listen. #booksky www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The Radio 2 Book Club - The Radio 2 Book Club Christmas Special - BBC Sounds
Sara welcomes Simon Savidge back to the pod to give us some festive book recommendations
www.bbc.co.uk
December 2, 2025 at 9:18 AM
I’m on the Radio 2 Book Club with Sara Cox, for the Christmas special! If you’re after some books for those tricky relatives, or just yourself, have a listen. #booksky www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Reposted by Kate Mayfield
“Plenty of vociferous readers can sustain themselves by library card alone, but the coveting of the physical object of the codex is its own thing.” In praise of bibliomania.
Nothing Better Than a Whole Lot of Books: In Praise of Bibliomania
Desiderius Erasmus lived his happiest months from late 1507 into 1508 at the Venetian print-shop of Aldus Manutius. A peripatetic scholar, the Dutch scholar had lived in Rotterdam and London, Basel…
buff.ly
November 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM
“Plenty of vociferous readers can sustain themselves by library card alone, but the coveting of the physical object of the codex is its own thing.” In praise of bibliomania.
November 26, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Something wonderful for a weather dull Monday.
www.npr.org/2024/01/12/1...
www.npr.org/2024/01/12/1...
yMusic: Tiny Desk Concert
The band's unique sound, driven by its peculiar blend of trumpet, winds and strings, seems like a compelling soundtrack for an age when music genres are becoming increasingly arbitrary.
www.npr.org
November 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Something wonderful for a weather dull Monday.
www.npr.org/2024/01/12/1...
www.npr.org/2024/01/12/1...
Who wrote the Gospel of Witches?
#SundayReads: A. D. Manns on the speculative origins of Aradia, "the Gospel of the Witches"... https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/roma-lister-aradia/
November 24, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Who wrote the Gospel of Witches?