Save Wordsworth's house, authors protest 'devastating AI' at Meta & superstar writers sign up for lit fest
Plus, protecting newspaper archives, the 2025 Newspaper Awards winners, Keir Starmer admits the power of local media & journo jobs
My dear wordsmiths,
As always you have my top tier appreciation for hitting subscribe and if you have committed to a paid subs, may your upcoming spring and summer be strewn in daisies and happy memories.
Meanwhile, can anyone lend me £2.5m? I’ve learned poet William Wordsworth’s former home is up for sale and I can’t bear the thought of anyone without a bookish bent buying it. To be fair, one of my dreams is also to live in the Lake District, so owning a piece of England’s literary and architectural heritage is just the cherry on top. It helps that it’s a seven bedroom idyll with views of Windermere. Just imagine what a writing retreat this would make! It’s currently open to the public - the sale could change all this.
Once home to poet William Wordsworth from 1813 until his death in 1850, the house retains a wealth of original features, including single-glazed windows, wooden beams, and an elegant drawing room. This 7-bedroom home includes four reception rooms, 3 bathrooms, and a separate annexe with 2 additional bedrooms, perfect for guests or holiday let accommodation. See words and pictures here (via Lancashire Post.)
Also here the family explain their sadness at having to sell (via Cumbria Crack). Anyone else think they should do a crowdfunder?
& my dad does it again..
I mean this is not writing related but if you can’t be inspired by a (partial) solar eclipse, I worry. Of course my astronomer dad caught it on camera from southern Spain - he even put hundreds of images together to create a 30 second video of the eclipse unfolding HERE and you can, of course, see one pic at the top of this newsletter.
News, events and jobs/opportunities
-BOOKS-
NEWS: Authors protest over Meta Lib Gen database (link to Society of authors)
Authors today (Thursday) gathered outside Facebook-owner Meta HQ to protest against its use of the LibGen database to train its AI models. The campaign reflects the journalism industry’s similar concerns about AI scraping of content. News publishers have launched the Make It Fair campaign, which saw newspapers put covers on the outside of their front page – criticising the Government’s consultation – organised by the News Media Association (NMA), and backed by the Society of Editors (SOE). (Read about Make it Fair in my previous post here.)
Novelists Kate Mosse and Tracy Chevalier were amongst those outside the company’s King’s Cross office in London - a letter to Meta from the Society of Authors (SoA) was due to be hand-delivered at 1.45pm today.
SoA chair Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin characterised Meta’s actions as “illegal, shocking, and utterly devastating for writers”.
EVENT: Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival 2025
Taking place at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate (17-20 July), this year’s programme has been curated by bestselling ‘Slow Horses’ author Mick Herron and offers readers a unique opportunity to meet the superstar writers of today, discover the bestsellers of tomorrow and hear from innovators pushing the boundaries of the genre.
The programme features a stellar line up of crime writing icons, TV talent and reader favourites as headliners Lee and Andrew Child, Steph McGovern, Attica Locke, Kate Atkinson, Paula Hawkins, Kate Mosse, Val McDermid, Mark Billingham, Irvine Welsh are joined by acclaimed writers Reverend Richard Coles, Belinda Bauer, AA Dhand, Abigail Dean, Nick Harkaway, Janice Hallett, Abir Mukherjee and Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall.
With a packed programme of creative workshops, thrilling panels and talks exploring dark domestic noir, murder in far galaxies, twisty missing persons investigations, high-stake legal thrillers, gritty crime scene investigation and much more, there’s plenty to enthral and entertain every crime fiction fan at this year’s Festival.
-JOURNALISM-
EVENT: Public forum to help preserve newspaper archives
Momentum is now growing around this project, which I have been involved in backing, and it’s being formally launched it with a public forum on May 1. All are welcome to attend. It’s being headed up by Dr Rachel Matthews, of Coventry University, bringing together experts, archivists and community groups to create a network to preserve the historical archives of local newspapers.
As many local newspapers transition to digital formats and close their physical offices, the historical materials they have accumulated over the years—such as photographs and article cuttings that record community life—are in danger of being lost. Without a formal system to save them, or a recognition of their importance, most material is simply thrown away.
Drawing on her 15 years working in the local newspaper industry, Dr Rachel Matthews from the university’s Research Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities, is working with Gary Collins, an experienced archive specialist, to develop a new approach to acquiring, cataloguing and making these valuable archives more accessible. Local newspaper archives are often the only repository for the stories that tell the history of a place. This project is a vital step in safeguarding that history. In addition, they are key artefacts relating to journalism history and tell the story of the local newspaper itself.
Register for the Preserving the Local Newspaper Archive event HERE
“By collaborating with local groups, we can ensure that the heritage captured in our local newspapers are protected for future generations to explore and appreciate.”
Dr Rachel Matthews
NEWS 2025 Newspaper awards
Lots of my colleagues and friends are celebrating after their titles scooped awards on Wednesday night including The Yorkshire Post, which won Regional Daily Newspaper of the year. In awarding this prestigious title, the judges said: "The Yorkshire Post is a regional leader with strong editorial and an undeniable local impact."
YP Editorial Director, James Mitchinson said: "The smiles on the faces of Steph and Marisa convey better than I ever could the pride we all feel when telling people we are journalists working for The Yorkshire Post. I want to say thank you to everyone working on all teams contributing to this success. The creativity and sheer bloody effort, rarely easy in this industry these days, put into the collaborative approach by editorial and commercial in particular, is often looked upon with envy by others but it is that which makes us who and what we are and that comes down to you."
Congrats also to our (National World’s) collaboration partners First News, awarded Niche Market Newspaper of the Year, recognising their dedication to engaging and informing young people about the world they are growing up in.
NEWS: It’s not every day you get an invite to 10 Downing Street..( not me this time)
The Prime Minister praised the regional media at a reception held at 10 Downing Street. Monday’s event was attended by - amongst others - my colleague Vanessa Sims and saw regional and local newspaper titles and broadcasters invited to the reception which was attended by the Prime Minister and the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy MP. Read Vanessa’s take on it here.
“Just wait until you get in front of regional media because somehow you always ask us the question that we've been secretly hoping was the one that wouldn't get asked!”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer
JOBS: 2x Journo Jobs
Local Democracy Reporter - Blackpool Council (job linked here via LinkedIn)
Do you want to shine a light on the workings of an exciting coastal town, hold power to account and have a ringside seat at the heart of local decision-making? Then this could be the job for you. We’re looking for a reporter to join the BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporting Service, covering Blackpool Council, a tourist destination full of regeneration projects. It’s a great job for a senior reporter, or possibly an experienced trainee looking to take their next steps.
Metro News Editor - National World
An opportunity has arisen for a talented leader to join the ranks of the newly created and fast growing Metro Unit at National World. The dynamic new digital Metro team includes iconic titles the Lancashire Post. Blackpool Gazette, Sunderland Echo, Shields Gazette, Liverpool World, Manchester World, Bristol World and Newcastle World.
You should be creative, cool under pressure, have great news judgement and be a great collaborator who enjoys nurturing talent and enabling them to develop their skills. This will involve making decisions at speed and managing content to support and grow an engaged audience as part of our team of leading city brands.
If you’ve read this leave me a comment - I love hearing back from you all. Thanks as ever until next week. Nx