Recommended By Us
Rounding up 30 days of Recommendations
The Recommendations function in is the perfect encouragement to ‘celebrate others’, a value right at the heart of our Encouragement Manifesto.
In December, we updated our Recommendations and shared one-a-day for 30 days throughout the festive season. This is the full list.
SoulStack
SoulStack is where Beth Kempton celebrates life and writing through the beauty of her words and values. It is a gateway into SoulCircle, a community of writers who learn through gentle encouragement. A place to grow.Beyond the Bookshelf
Matt Long is building a community drawn together through a love of books and a curiosity about how they influence our lives. 'Beyond the Bookshelf' is a gentle invitation to read intentionally, paced by quality not quantity.A Private Chef
Delicious descriptions of flavours crafted from seasonal bounties, with careful preservation, colourful combinations, vividly-described tastes, and clever partnerships. Words to make your mouth water.The Unhurried Reader
Book reviews brimful of well-turned phrases and sharp insights to the selected works. Kind, gently written pieces that guide readers to the next books on their 'to be read' piles. Unfailingly 'on the money' with recommendations.A Thousand Fragments
Thoughtful, emotionally intelligent, beautifully crafted words by photographer and art director Matt Inwood. Tantalising glimpses into a masterpiece bubbling ‘just under the surface’, a memoir captured in time, place, objects and special memories.Noted
One of my favourites. Jillian Hess opens the pages of notebooks compiled by artists, thinkers, and creative souls of every hue, layering in her insightful reflections, and duly unlocking our understanding of what made the notetakers tick. Wonderfully inspiring.Photos, Photographers and Photobooks
Andrew Eberlin is an excellent photographer and passionate enthusiast for the craft. Words and pictures combine in this fascinating side project which started as a daily challenge but which has settled into a gentle rhythm. From nature to Nice, brutalism to Bradford on Avon, this is a celebration of the art of photography.Top in Fiction
‘Top in Fiction’ is a celebration of the words and dreams of the fiction community, a showcase of talent curated by fiction writers not by an algorithm. This is THE definitive round up of short form fiction.The Writer’s Walk
Walks, real and imagined, as a trigger for inspiration. Sarah Farley guides us to and along our writing path, and the paths of others, to ‘spark ideas and fuel creativity’. Warm, engaged and encouraging.The Cure for Sleep
A beautiful participative community created by writer Tanya Shadrick as an encouragement to others to express themselves. A wonderful archive of responses to prompts based on Tanya's astonishing book 'The Cure for Sleep'. Though Tanya has stepped back into a deliberately ‘wordless solitary’ place, her own stories told, she remains a wonderful inspiration, encourager and mentor to many aspirant writers.Leaves
Beautifully penned insights about life, love and the world by Sharron Bassano. Touching, sharply observed and always treading a delicate line between fiction and memoir, this is a gorgeous collection of words.The Crow’s Nest
This is the sort of publication that makes you want to grow a mezzanine level in your life, all the better to read more of it. This space is both a salve to your curiosity and a trail of breadcrumbs to provoke more inquiry. The quality of the writing of Alexander Crow’s writing is enviable. Nature notes to fantasy fiction, thoughtful reflections on a life of travel and exploration, and so much more. A must-read, and a must read more of it.If Not, Paris
Novelist and musician Samuél Lopez Barrantes is a thinker, about life, love and literary fiction. Observing on and participating in life in Paris, he is fascinated by ideas, people and philosophy, words about which he harmonises into intelligent, thought-provoking essays.The Fiction Dealer
Regular prompts to inspire flash fiction between 50-100 words. Miguel is a writer and a community builder; this is an encouraging space where writers experiment and polish their craft while celebrating the work of others.Garden to Table
One of the most erudite and witty observers of the human condition. Growing, cooking and feasting, with a pinch of good humour and a side order of childhood recollections. An encourager extraordinaire, always inspiring folk to their best work and to a greater belief in themselves. A writer’s writer.Writing Around the Edges
Luisa writes from the heart and it shows. Beautiful engaging words and a spirit of gentle self-care that inspires and calms in equal measure. Prone to thrilling creative ‘fires’ and phoenix-like rebirths, this is a creative practice that touches the soul and gently encourages her community.Silentium
Moments of silent calm and reflection in a world that needs to find more ways to slow itself down.Sharpening My Pencils
‘Sharpening My Pencils’ is a commitment to curiosity and learning. It is the multi-faceted artistic practice of Emma, a place where inquiry meets evolution, where the journey is lived out loud. It is the flowering of seeds planted through the seasons of a life of growth.Along the Hudson
Gather with Justin Deming and his talented and active community of writers as they gather by the campfire to write 50-word flash fictions. Justin writes emotion-fuelled tales that draw you into a better understanding of the human spirit. Engaging and encouraging.A Hill and I
Susie weaves stunning nature notes and beautiful observations on the human condition to show what it takes to sustain a creative practice amidst a busy life full of responsibilities. Ethereal photography and dreamy flows of words allow us to walk a mile or two in her rural life in the Aveyron region of France.Studio Musings
Lose yourself in the landscapes of contemporary artist Felicity Keefe. Mountains, lakes and dreamlike horizons create a special magic that transports you to wherever your imagination takes you.Prattlefog and Gravelrap
Matt Kendrick is the perfect companion for your journey to improve your writing. With a suite of fantastically designed and resourced courses, an engaged and skilful blend of teaching and encouragement, Matt is guaranteed to sharpen your short fiction and to offer fresh thinking about your approach. Founder of the Welkin Writing Prize.Ten Thousand Journeys
How many journeys do we take in our lifetimes, literal and metaphorical? How do they change us, what do we learn? Priya Iyer explores these questions and so much more. A deeply fascinating wander into the heart of journeys. Gorgeously written and asking the most beautiful questions. Always thought-provoking.The Literary Obsessive
Not only is Eleanor Anstruther a formidable writer with a keen imagination and an enviable turn of phrase, but she is also a generous champion of other independent wordsmiths. Her series ‘8 Questions’ celebrates writers’ voices and intentions. The experiences shared through these interviews offer accelerated learning and welcome encouragement.Stock Fiction
Meg Oolders is a brilliant, incisive writer of contemporary fiction and poetry. Brimful of emotion and beautifully crafted dialogue, her stories speak eloquently of the characters whose tales she tells. A champion of independent fiction, Meg is a community builder and a celebrant of words.Words and Pictures
Stunning photography and thoughtful words combine to illuminate insights to the world in which we live. Expect incredible images of birds, flowers and leaves that unlock a new understanding of nature’s wonders.Infinity Inklings
We are big fans of boundless curiosity. Nishad Sanzagiri has that and the words and insights to go with it. Weekly curations of the paths his thoughts follow and the ideas and discoveries to be made when the mind is wide open.Harry’s Meanderings
Harry Watson is living the renaissance period of his life on home turf, (re)exploring his beloved North East. With a rich and engaging curiosity, he is a flaneur happiest wandering the streets and galleries of his home town. Worldly too, with an appetite for travel, art, photography and literature, this is a gentle stroll into learning.5am Storytalk
There is so much to love about Cole Haddon’s engagement with curiosity and storytelling. Asking questions and diving deep into the answers and possibilities, he is an avoid seeker of tales that tell us about life and the role art plays within it. Intelligent, prodigious and engaging.Baby Blue
From sensuality to street scenes, fragments to single-frame stories, sun-kissed summers to snow melting on sidewalks, the photography of Augusta Sagnelli is blissfully genre-busting. Creative and imaginative, it is the epitome of curiosity and exploration; this is the contemporary photography we want to gaze upon.
Thank you Barrie, very honoured to be amongst such illustrious company and don't underestimate your own contribution to the world of Substack 👏
Thank you for the wonderful shoutout, my friend!