Ollie
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olliefern.bsky.social
Ollie
@olliefern.bsky.social
Fiction writer, literary translator and traveling pet sitter. 💫
https://picosgemeos.substack.com/
"I look at most men and now even the attractive ones make me think what is he for?"

New letters in the epistolary series “Between the Pines”:

open.substack.com/pub/picosgem...
To Burn the Candle at Both Ends
Introducing Jane, plus a new letter from Stefan
open.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 10:33 AM
Reposted by Ollie
The Cambridge Journal of Literary Translation (CJLT) has launched and is now open for submissions. An open-access, peer-reviewed journal hosted at the University of Cambridge, CJLT publishes literary translations, research articles, and book reviews. Learn more: cjltjournal.wixsite.com/cjlt/issues
January 16, 2026 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by Ollie
They’re going to Weekend-at-Bernie’s Trump, aren’t they. Hegseth ruffling his hair from behind; Vance smushing his cheeks to make it look like he’s saying “sausages”.
January 21, 2026 at 7:28 PM
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Submission Call! Looking for translations for our Spring issue: Resonance. Link in bio to submit
January 23, 2026 at 2:15 PM
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January 18, 2026 at 6:14 PM
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This photo was taken in 1911 using glass plate technology by Herbert Ponting who was part of Scott's Antarctic expedition,

The composition and detail are exquisite with the band of white snow/ice creating a perfect frame around the two people and the ship in the distance

Iconic imo
January 17, 2026 at 7:12 AM
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How your email finds me
January 14, 2026 at 10:59 AM
Camberwell, South London, 18th January 2026.
#SilentSunday
January 18, 2026 at 4:31 PM
12 years ago, I met Mary L. Tabor online and we bonded over Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels and E.M. Forster's 'Only connect.' Last month, she wrote to share the good news of a book deal she secured after serialising her novel Who by Fire on #Substack.

open.substack.com/pub/picosgem...
A Fire Between the Pines
Introducing Mary L. Tabor, plus a postcard to a 4-year-old
open.substack.com
January 14, 2026 at 6:35 PM
As a committed Jenny Uglow fan after having read, and loved, her biography of William Hogarth, I'm excited for "A Year with Gilbert White". As each chapter is dedicated to a month, starting in January, that's the pace I'll keep with the book as the year unfolds.
#SlowLivingVibes
January 8, 2026 at 9:29 PM
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Okay, I will preface this with the GIGANTIC disclaimer that I promise I know how this looks, and I *swear* this is not personally motivated: If you have an old #LiveJournal account, and it has things you still care about in it, download it or import it to Dreamwidth SOON. Details:
January 1, 2026 at 11:26 AM
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HAPPY NEW YEAR! Authors and poets, submissions for our second themed issue are OPEN 🎉🎉🎉

Details here: fiyahlitmag.com/submissions/
January 1, 2026 at 6:38 PM
Reposted by Ollie
We're open for fiction submissions!

We publish unsettling bad time stories that straddle the horror, fantasy, and science fiction spectrum. But genre is made up so if you have a dark weird horrible story that could be a fit, send it in and let us worry about it.

No closing date, open indefinitely.
Submissions - Seize The Press
Submissions Guidelines Submissions are open for fiction. We publish dark, unsettling, dislocating stories that straddle the horror, fantasy, and science fiction spectrum, but genre is made up. If you ...
www.seizethepress.com
January 1, 2026 at 1:41 PM
Reposted by Ollie
Submissions are open now for our final issue! The theme for this issue is 'endings'

inner-worlds.ghost.io/submission-g...
Submission guidelines
Our next issue will be our last one, so we are looking for stories on the theme of endings. We'd like to read about loss, change, grief, relief, hope, and possibility. What to submit * Sci...
inner-worlds.ghost.io
January 1, 2026 at 10:58 AM
Reposted by Ollie
Wanna see real-life miracles? Fund scientific research.

A team of US scientists just cured Alzheimer’s in mice — and there is now hope that the disease can be reversed in humans.
futurism.com/health-medic...
Alzheimer's Fully Reversed in Mice, Scientists Say
A new compound has been shown to reverse late stage Alzheimer's disease in lab mice, which gives millions of sufferers new cause for hope.
futurism.com
December 31, 2025 at 2:30 AM
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More. Gay hockey. Now.
December 28, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Coffee pause in Covent Garden to write a letter to one of my “Between the Pines” pen pals.
#LetterWriting
December 29, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I'm kinda tempted??
December 29, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Found at the London Review of Books bookshop what I was looking for (the latest Paris Review) and what I didn't know I was looking for (Ursula K. le Guin’s “Book of Cats”.)
December 29, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Thanks Tom for recommending this unique documentary - a mixture of "cute" & "trainwreck". Think Netflix's "Fyre Festival" meets teen cosplayers. I'm left wondering what would have happened if Livejournal users had decided to run a convention back in its heyday! (Maybe Whitby fulfilled that role?!)
No worries! Well worth watching the complete history of the original 2014 Dashcon for context if you have time
DashCon: An Extensive Oral History
YouTube video by STRANGE ÆONS
youtu.be
December 28, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I've spotted these around Camberwell, South London. I actually did try to WhatsApp them last night but the number is not listed. (Intentionally difficult to reach?) Today, I'm pondering if I should send them a text or even call...
#artproject?
December 28, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Thanks for sharing Tom, this is exactly the kind of content I want to watch on this holiday break!
Watched this video about Tumblr nerds reviving a legendarily disastrous convention and it might be the most wholesome thing I’ve ever seen
Dashcon Is Resurrected: The Entire Story Of Dashcon 2
YouTube video by STRANGE ÆONS
youtu.be
December 27, 2025 at 4:51 PM
2025 was the year I turned 50, became a nomadic petsitter, paid off debt, reconnected with old crushes, fell in love with "Just Kids," and spent Christmas alone with a cat named after a Roman empress.

"Magnanimity" was my Word of the Year… what was yours?

picosgemeos.substack.com/p/the-fifty-...
The Fifty-Year-Old Nomad
2025 in review
picosgemeos.substack.com
December 27, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Boxing Day @ Mona's Cafe, Camberwell.
Cappuccino-fueled letters for pen pals.
#letterwriting
December 26, 2025 at 1:24 PM
2026 New Year resolution: to always have three books on the go. A work of fiction, a work of non-fiction, and a poetry collection.
December 25, 2025 at 12:00 PM