Vicky MacKenzie
@vickymackenzie.bsky.social
Writer, cat lady, John Ruskin obsessive, wrote a novel about medieval mystics. Aspiring anchoress. https://victoriamackenzie.net/
Substack: https://victoriamackenzie.substack.com/
Substack: https://victoriamackenzie.substack.com/
Pinned
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain by Victoria MacKenzie review – a pocket epic
This electrifying debut compares the spiritual adventures of Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich
www.theguardian.com
And as always a thousand thank yous to @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social who wrote this astounding and thoughtful review of my book when it first came out, and sent it out into the world with a bang! 😍
www.theguardian.com/books/2023/j...
www.theguardian.com/books/2023/j...
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Ma! We're in the Stylist! #Creatives4Sudan www.stylist.co.uk/news/creativ.... If you've not bid on anything yet, feast your eyes on all the options!
Creatives for Sudan: the online auction supporting humanitarian work in Sudan
The collective has donations from a range of prominent creatives, including David Nicholls, Monisha Rajesh, Nikesh Shukla, Leila Aboulela and Jordan Stephens.
www.stylist.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Ma! We're in the Stylist! #Creatives4Sudan www.stylist.co.uk/news/creativ.... If you've not bid on anything yet, feast your eyes on all the options!
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
BAIT by Eugenia Ladra (translator: Miriam Tobin. Out next year from @dauntbookspub.bsky.social ) is excellent.
It reminded me (trivially) of Our Sunshine by Robert Drewe (the good Ned Kelly novel, {not the famous Ned Kelly novel)
And it reminded me of Thomas Hardy
And it reminded me of Clarice L
It reminded me (trivially) of Our Sunshine by Robert Drewe (the good Ned Kelly novel, {not the famous Ned Kelly novel)
And it reminded me of Thomas Hardy
And it reminded me of Clarice L
November 25, 2025 at 7:08 PM
BAIT by Eugenia Ladra (translator: Miriam Tobin. Out next year from @dauntbookspub.bsky.social ) is excellent.
It reminded me (trivially) of Our Sunshine by Robert Drewe (the good Ned Kelly novel, {not the famous Ned Kelly novel)
And it reminded me of Thomas Hardy
And it reminded me of Clarice L
It reminded me (trivially) of Our Sunshine by Robert Drewe (the good Ned Kelly novel, {not the famous Ned Kelly novel)
And it reminded me of Thomas Hardy
And it reminded me of Clarice L
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Looking forward to co-tutoring a course at Tŷ Newydd, the National Writing Centre of Wales with the legend KerryHudson!
‘Writing the Working Class Experience’ is week-long residential exploring writing about and from the margins.
14th - 18th Sept 2026
Limited spaces available - link in bio!
‘Writing the Working Class Experience’ is week-long residential exploring writing about and from the margins.
14th - 18th Sept 2026
Limited spaces available - link in bio!
November 26, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Looking forward to co-tutoring a course at Tŷ Newydd, the National Writing Centre of Wales with the legend KerryHudson!
‘Writing the Working Class Experience’ is week-long residential exploring writing about and from the margins.
14th - 18th Sept 2026
Limited spaces available - link in bio!
‘Writing the Working Class Experience’ is week-long residential exploring writing about and from the margins.
14th - 18th Sept 2026
Limited spaces available - link in bio!
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Christ, this is heartbreaking. Looking around my bit of Cornwall... the sheer scale of what was thrown away... millions for farmers, hundreds of thousands for schools, more hundreds for young people and culture and...
www.myeu.uk
www.myeu.uk
myeu.uk – see what the EU has done for you
The EU invests around £5 billion a year in the UK. Search by your address or postcode to see some of the investments near you.
www.myeu.uk
November 26, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Christ, this is heartbreaking. Looking around my bit of Cornwall... the sheer scale of what was thrown away... millions for farmers, hundreds of thousands for schools, more hundreds for young people and culture and...
www.myeu.uk
www.myeu.uk
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
"we keep hearing conversations about tough choices, but these always seem to be tough choices for children in poverty, for disabled people, for working class communities, when are we going to see tough choices for multimillionaires and billionaires?"
@zackpolanski.bsky.social on #GMB
@zackpolanski.bsky.social on #GMB
November 26, 2025 at 9:19 AM
"we keep hearing conversations about tough choices, but these always seem to be tough choices for children in poverty, for disabled people, for working class communities, when are we going to see tough choices for multimillionaires and billionaires?"
@zackpolanski.bsky.social on #GMB
@zackpolanski.bsky.social on #GMB
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Is Dream Phone Conscious? Many users feel they're talking to a real person. Dumb fucks say it's time to consider whether they're onto something x
November 26, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Is Dream Phone Conscious? Many users feel they're talking to a real person. Dumb fucks say it's time to consider whether they're onto something x
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Is OpenAI a turkey because this headline is a stonecold murder
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates on.ft.com/4ij0yh8
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates
A burning platform
on.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Is OpenAI a turkey because this headline is a stonecold murder
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove Made Orwell Prize Judge Despite Record of Attacking Journalists and Dodging Scrutiny
Critics say "Orwell would have enjoyed the irony" of the former Conservative minister's appointment
bylinetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
New guest post 📰
Glacier – Garry MacKenzie writes on his new long poem
Read the full post: buff.ly/VdmjNVJ
#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky
Glacier – Garry MacKenzie writes on his new long poem
Read the full post: buff.ly/VdmjNVJ
#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky
November 24, 2025 at 10:25 AM
New guest post 📰
Glacier – Garry MacKenzie writes on his new long poem
Read the full post: buff.ly/VdmjNVJ
#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky
Glacier – Garry MacKenzie writes on his new long poem
Read the full post: buff.ly/VdmjNVJ
#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky
This is awkward - no one has bid for a signed copy of my novel, FOR THY GREAT PAIN... yet. 😬
Go on, you can get a personalised present for someone AND help raise money for such an important cause! 🙏
app.galabid.com/creatives4su...
Go on, you can get a personalised present for someone AND help raise money for such an important cause! 🙏
app.galabid.com/creatives4su...
November 25, 2025 at 2:10 PM
This is awkward - no one has bid for a signed copy of my novel, FOR THY GREAT PAIN... yet. 😬
Go on, you can get a personalised present for someone AND help raise money for such an important cause! 🙏
app.galabid.com/creatives4su...
Go on, you can get a personalised present for someone AND help raise money for such an important cause! 🙏
app.galabid.com/creatives4su...
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
In one of her first public actions as the newly elected Uachtarán na hÉireann (president of Ireland) Catherine Connolly has written a public letter of solidarity on Trans Remembrance Day. It is a very promising start.
November 24, 2025 at 8:14 PM
In one of her first public actions as the newly elected Uachtarán na hÉireann (president of Ireland) Catherine Connolly has written a public letter of solidarity on Trans Remembrance Day. It is a very promising start.
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
This auction is now LIVE! Funds go to Emergency Response Rooms in Sudan. I've donated a signed pb copy of my novel, FOR THY GREAT PAIN... and I'm happy to dedicate it if you're buying it as a present!
app.galabid.com/creatives4su... #keepeyesonsudan
app.galabid.com/creatives4su... #keepeyesonsudan
November 24, 2025 at 9:39 AM
This auction is now LIVE! Funds go to Emergency Response Rooms in Sudan. I've donated a signed pb copy of my novel, FOR THY GREAT PAIN... and I'm happy to dedicate it if you're buying it as a present!
app.galabid.com/creatives4su... #keepeyesonsudan
app.galabid.com/creatives4su... #keepeyesonsudan
Just 6 days left to sign up for my 8 week online short story course and get the early bird discount: £225 instead of £250, which includes detailed feedback on a short story of your own at the end of the course (Jan - Mar 2026). ✒️📚 If you're hoping to do more writing next year, come and join us!
Short story writers! I am running my 8-week online course again in 2026: 'What can a short story do?', exploring the possibilities of this wonderful form. We'll read 8 contemporary short stories and use them as a launchpad for our own writing. More details ⬇️
November 24, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Just 6 days left to sign up for my 8 week online short story course and get the early bird discount: £225 instead of £250, which includes detailed feedback on a short story of your own at the end of the course (Jan - Mar 2026). ✒️📚 If you're hoping to do more writing next year, come and join us!
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
mixing cassis with the communion wine and calling it a kirie eleison
November 24, 2025 at 8:36 AM
mixing cassis with the communion wine and calling it a kirie eleison
This auction is now LIVE! Funds go to Emergency Response Rooms in Sudan. I've donated a signed pb copy of my novel, FOR THY GREAT PAIN... and I'm happy to dedicate it if you're buying it as a present!
app.galabid.com/creatives4su... #keepeyesonsudan
app.galabid.com/creatives4su... #keepeyesonsudan
November 24, 2025 at 9:39 AM
This auction is now LIVE! Funds go to Emergency Response Rooms in Sudan. I've donated a signed pb copy of my novel, FOR THY GREAT PAIN... and I'm happy to dedicate it if you're buying it as a present!
app.galabid.com/creatives4su... #keepeyesonsudan
app.galabid.com/creatives4su... #keepeyesonsudan
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
“I’m not a serious thinker. I’m a writer: that’s very different. I think a writer’s intelligence has to be alive, has to be incomplete. It has to carry contradiction. It has to be sort of haphazard and amateur.”
- Benjamín Labatut
- Benjamín Labatut
November 23, 2025 at 10:02 PM
“I’m not a serious thinker. I’m a writer: that’s very different. I think a writer’s intelligence has to be alive, has to be incomplete. It has to carry contradiction. It has to be sort of haphazard and amateur.”
- Benjamín Labatut
- Benjamín Labatut
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Rural literature knows that silence is never empty. It holds wind through grass, a screen door slamming, the creak of a barn settling into dusk. Writers like Willa Cather and Kent Haruf turn quiet into a whole language. #BookWormSat
Art: OutdoorPainter
Art: OutdoorPainter
November 22, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Rural literature knows that silence is never empty. It holds wind through grass, a screen door slamming, the creak of a barn settling into dusk. Writers like Willa Cather and Kent Haruf turn quiet into a whole language. #BookWormSat
Art: OutdoorPainter
Art: OutdoorPainter
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
A tiny bit of shameless self-promotion because the gifting season is creeping up on us. If you’re after something delicious, handcrafted, and ethical, my chocolate boxes, bars, and treats make really lovely gifts. Treat yourself, treat someone else, or both, I won’t judge! Reshares appreciated! 🍫✨
November 22, 2025 at 6:51 PM
A tiny bit of shameless self-promotion because the gifting season is creeping up on us. If you’re after something delicious, handcrafted, and ethical, my chocolate boxes, bars, and treats make really lovely gifts. Treat yourself, treat someone else, or both, I won’t judge! Reshares appreciated! 🍫✨
Congratulations to @seanluskauthor.bsky.social on winning Fiction Book of the Year at this year's #SaltireBookAwards! 🥳✒️😍
Huge congratulations to Sean Lusk for winning the fiction prize at the Saltire Awards last night for his excellent A Woman of Opinion! #SaltireBookAwards #SeanLusk #AWomanOfOpinion #booksellerreccs #bookrecommendations #booksbooksbooks #booksky
November 22, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Congratulations to @seanluskauthor.bsky.social on winning Fiction Book of the Year at this year's #SaltireBookAwards! 🥳✒️😍
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
Kathleen Stock has written an article against "abortion permissiveness". She claims abortion requires "justification" saying the state should limit "unacceptable decision-making" by women about their own bodies.
This is who anti-trans activists proclaim as the feminist thought leaders of our time.
This is who anti-trans activists proclaim as the feminist thought leaders of our time.
November 21, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Kathleen Stock has written an article against "abortion permissiveness". She claims abortion requires "justification" saying the state should limit "unacceptable decision-making" by women about their own bodies.
This is who anti-trans activists proclaim as the feminist thought leaders of our time.
This is who anti-trans activists proclaim as the feminist thought leaders of our time.
Poet Garry MacKenzie (my husband!) has written a guest post for North Sea Poets. ❄️✒️📚 His poem GLACIER is available as an e-pub from @windandbones.com
open.substack.com/pub/northsea...
open.substack.com/pub/northsea...
Glacier
NSP guest post! Garry MacKenzie writes on his new long poem ...
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Poet Garry MacKenzie (my husband!) has written a guest post for North Sea Poets. ❄️✒️📚 His poem GLACIER is available as an e-pub from @windandbones.com
open.substack.com/pub/northsea...
open.substack.com/pub/northsea...
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
In case you missed it:
Here are the winners of the National Book Awards, including Rabih Alameddine and Omar El Akkad.
The winners of this year’s National Book Awards have just been announced at a ritzy gala in downtown Manhattan. Rabih Alameddine’s The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) won the …
buff.ly
November 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
In case you missed it:
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
It's world philosophy day and my biography of French philosopher Henri Bergson is RIGHT THERE!
In my book you will find out about Bergson's philosophy of durée, his secret meeting with President Wilson during WWI, and why he caused the first ever traffic jam on Broadway!
linktr.ee/eherring
In my book you will find out about Bergson's philosophy of durée, his secret meeting with President Wilson during WWI, and why he caused the first ever traffic jam on Broadway!
linktr.ee/eherring
November 20, 2025 at 1:21 PM
It's world philosophy day and my biography of French philosopher Henri Bergson is RIGHT THERE!
In my book you will find out about Bergson's philosophy of durée, his secret meeting with President Wilson during WWI, and why he caused the first ever traffic jam on Broadway!
linktr.ee/eherring
In my book you will find out about Bergson's philosophy of durée, his secret meeting with President Wilson during WWI, and why he caused the first ever traffic jam on Broadway!
linktr.ee/eherring
Reposted by Vicky MacKenzie
My latest essay in @poetrybrum.bsky.social on nightingales in poetry and life and learning Russian. With disconnected footnotes on interpreting in Russian for Ukrainian refugees.
May 30, 2025 at 3:22 PM
My latest essay in @poetrybrum.bsky.social on nightingales in poetry and life and learning Russian. With disconnected footnotes on interpreting in Russian for Ukrainian refugees.