Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!

@nicolaz

PhD. Novelist (Hild, Spear, Menewood). All things Early Medieval. Here: Cats, crips, queers. Books, beauty, beers. MS ♿️🧪📚 MUTING THOSE WHO DON’T ALT-TEXT Banner ID: B&W image—pint of Guinness flanked by 2 books flanked by 2 tabby cat

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Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir nicolaz.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Jun 23

Anti-Prime with @bookshop.org ! What better excuse do you need to buy the brand new editions—not just luscious new covers but extra content!—of SLOW RIVER and AMMONITE? Read more about both books here: nicolagriffith.com/2026/06/22/a... Or just go buy! bookshop.org/beta-search?...

Rectangular graphic showing the cover of a novel, Ammonite by Nicola Griffith, and a quote from Locus "Ammonite represents a major, no, make that a revolutionary change... A remarkable departure from the commonplace."

Rectangular graphic showing the cover of a novel, Ammonite by Nicola Griffith, and a quote from Esquire "Rich in layers of feminist and queer thought, Ammonite gleefully throws a stick of dynamite into the sci-fi firmament."

Rectangular graphic showing the cover of a novel, Slow River by Nicola Griffith, and a quote from Locus "With its persuasive characters its midnight streets and vast industrial engines, Slow River is a powerful prose poem on issues already with us."

Rectangular graphic showing the cover of a novel, Slow River by Nicola Griffith, and a quote from F&SF "Slow River is a jewel of a boo. It calls light up from the darkest shadows. In a world that seems forever more awry, we need reminders such as this."

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Jun 23

What it looks like when you lose a fight… . . . …against a 🦟 Tuh 🙄

Close-in photo of a white womans face with a red welt by the left eye like a developing shiner

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Jun 17

Coming soon to a bookstore near you, just in time for Pride!

Square graphic in earth tones of rose, salmon, ochre with four small figures on horseback at the lower right—but the main point is the text, a quote from te Washington Post Book World: "Uncompromisingly packed with nondogmatic feminist and queer ideologies..."

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Jun 16

Happy Tuesday! Coming to a shelf near you just in time for Pride…

Square graphic with a blue and white background against which text: "[A] transcendent work of art. Transcendent and yet so accessible, so recognizable, so relatable
—which only makes it more exceptional."
- LitStacki

Text against a blue and white background “With its persuasive characters, its midnight streets and vast industrial engines, [this] is a powerful prose poem on issues already with us.'
- Locus

Cover of a novel with title and author replaced by New content’ and ‘New cover’. The illustration is the silhouette of a woman floating

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Jun 16

For some reason I woke up this morning thinking, Today I’ll turn two of my novel back cover blurbs into Sapphic Stanzas! Why? The ways of the writing brain are mysterious 🤷‍♂️ And then I saw this hummingbird. Happy Tuesday!

A hummingbird feeding on salvia (‘Hot Lips’) surrounded by petunia, marigold, snapdragons and more, all bright in early morning summer sun

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Jun 13

New editions with not just new covers but new content. Coming soon. Oh, yes. Very soooon...

Against a blue background the cover of a novel with the title and author replaced by "new content" and "new cover" and "coming soon" underneath. The cover illustration is the silhouette of a woman floating

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Jun 7

And if you wait, just a little while…

A book cover showing an illustration of a woman floating on her back and text, Now Content, New Cover, coming soon…

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Jun 6

George looking young, golden, and not at all interested in going outside on this wet and miserable Çaturday.

Big tabby sitting tall and jobless on an audio receiver

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Jun 6

On this most definitely not sunny Çaturday, Charlie Bean is guarding our newly-planted flowers against the wind and rain, sacrificing his own comfort.

A garden deck with lots of plant pots, only half of them full, and a small tabby crouched vigilantly under a bench

A garden deck with many pots and planters full of annuals—brightly coloured flowers—and a chair with a small tabby cat keeping watch

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Jun 2

For those who need to see a being unselfconscious regarding his glory. All hail Charlie Bean: his gaze is keen, his fur is clean, he just ate the biggest plate of food you’ve ever seen.

Tabby cat sitting haughty and glorious against an orange background above brightly embroidered cushions

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· May 20

This is a Pictish notion of a goat (at least I think it's meant to be a goat). My image is weird enough but you should see the original... ...and you can, on my blog post. Where you'll also find other wee pictures, including a very grumpy eagle and a sweet doe and faun. gemaecce.com/2026/05/19/o...

Black background and white circle inside which is a stylised white beast that vaguely resembles a goat

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· May 14

On his 7th birthday, Charlie Bean bids you all a good night.

Tabby cay looking pensive while lying on a warm audio receiver beneath a tv

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· May 6

That feeling when you draw two different orcas in slightly different styles and love them both so much you can't decide—but they're very different. But then I realised: they belong together! And ta-da: Big beast, little beast swimming in the water... So that feeling? Deep satisfaction!

Early medieval style black and white image of an orca looking like a lean, mean, predatory machine…

Early medieval style black and white image of an orca looking plump and playful

Early medieval style black and white image of two orcas—lean, mean watchful mom and happy-go-lucky daughter, still round with babyfat

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· May 5

In honour of SHE IS HERE'S quarter-year birthday, I'm changing my avatar to one of the drawings in the book, "King Bird," an image adapted from the Book of Kells. If you want to know more about SHE IS HERE—including the original novella, "Many Things in Dumnet": nicolagriffith.com/2026/05/05/s...

Black background with a white circle inside which a white, stylised image of an eagle-like bird whose plumes look like an Inca headdress, tail and wings are exaggeratedly long, and feet are human

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Apr 26

Earlier, Charlie Bean waited patiently for a treat. His brother George, International Cat of Mystery, preferred to bring home his own. (Don't worry. It's a Western Territorial Garter Snake—small and nonvenomous though still moderately startling to have it dropped at your feet. We rescued it.)

Small tabby, framed by a vase of bright orange gerbera daisies and dark red alstroemeria, waiting patiently...

Tabby staring in perplexity at a coiled snake on a hardwood floor

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Apr 24

How to convey the bright eye and red breast of a British robin using only black and white and Early Medieval (In this case Lindisfarne Gospels) style? Yeah, still don’t know for sure but I like the eye on this one

Black and white stylised image of a robin

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Apr 19

First outdoor chair steal of the year. It’s going to be one of those summers…

Tabby cat smug in the sun on a wheelchair

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Apr 13

Just playing with images and lines pictures, and came up with two Lindisfarne Gospels-style birds whose topknot feathers form an interlace knot. And, voilà! Lovebirds to brighten your Monday.

Black and white Early Medieval style image of two heron-like birds above and below an interlace formed of their topknots, and surrounded by a white circle.

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Apr 2

Charlie does not trust the sunshine. Too right. Who knows what monsters shamble in the glare…

Tabby cat sits in the shadow looking suspiciously at sunshine on the deck

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Apr 2

New month, new avatar: imagining Hild looking up at hard blue April skies to the hope and happiness of the first returns of swifts, swallows, and martins bringing promises of summer to come. Here's something I made of curves and interlace while daydreaming of better things to come. #medievalsky

black background with white circle inside which a white bird drawn of curves and shapes and Celtic interlace to look sort of like the kind of bird that might be found in the Lindisfarne Gospels

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Mar 25

Add a bit of blood to the crozier, add another foot in height, and take away the glasses and this could have been Hild not-quite-1400 years ago. She would be *very* pleased 🥳

A woman dressed in the white and gold regalia of the Archbishop of Canterbury, smiling and holding a hefty-looking, bash-your-brains-out staff (aka crozier)

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Mar 18

Based on one of your photos :)

White eagle drawn against a lapis lazuli background

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Mar 17

Trying to figure out triskeles working freehand is a challenge!

Black and white image of thee hair heads and three balls arranges in concentric triskele patterns inside and around circles

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Mar 13

In honour of March madness and for all those ladies of any species who don't care for being importuned by uppity boys, I'm changing my avatar to my Pictish stones-style hares boxing:

Stylised black and white image of two hares boxing inside a circle

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Mar 12

How did I miss this?! "Mother-Quest: Maternal Remembrance and the Holy Grail in Chrétien de Troyes and Nicola Griffith," Brian J. Sheerin (ARTHURIANA 35,2): "...several key priorities of Chrétien are recovered by this modern retelling..." How cool! #medievalsky muse.jhu.edu/article/965242

Phto of screenshot of text: Mother-Quest:
Maternal Remembrance and the Holy Grail in Chrétien de Troyes and Nicola Griffith
Brian J. Sheerin - (bio)
This analysis of Chrétien's Conte du
Graal argues that Perceval's
experiences with and quest for the grail are significantly connected to the memory of his mother. An examination of Nicola Griffith's modern Perceval
narrative Spear then posits that several of the maternal priorities in Chrétien's narrative are recovered by this retelling.

Screenshot of text: While Griffith's reimagining of Arthurian mythology has been justly lauded for its queering of traditional narratives that prioritize male (also white, heteronormative) heroism,? my interest in Spear lies rather in the way this text helps to recover overlooked themes and desires already latent in medieval storytelling.
This recuperative intersectionality, I wish to posit, is particularly compelling as it pertains to Chrétien's Conte du Graal, the original surviving elaboration of the Perceval storyline.

Screenshot of text: Griffith draws heavily on Chrétien's model for her version of the tale, but rather than simply adjusting it to fit modern sensibilities, I hope to show that in many ways her narrative actually draws out priorities in Chrétien that have tended to be overlooked. These priorities are especially concentrated around Perceval's mother, a seemingly minor and even regressive figure in the original narrative who nevertheless refuses to remain forgotten after her official disappearance in the opening pages of the text.

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Mar 5

Not entirely sure how to feel about this. On the one hand, good to have readers! On the other… www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/t...

CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK
Hamnet, Hamlet and Oscar Wao:
Three Lost Boys
Across Time
In the stage versions of two beloved books, the most impressive moments emerge when the productions stray from the source material.

overwhelmed Will, but Jacobs so exaggerates Agnes's witchy authority, that even I — a Nicola Griffith reader! A Renaissance Faire attendee! - started to weary of womyn's magick.

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Feb 28

A bright and beautiful beginning to this sunny Çaturday here in Seattle. Today I’ll be avoiding most social media: send pretties only, please 💐🐈‍⬛💕

Tabby cat sits on a sunlit table next to a brightly painted jug full of flowers

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Feb 25

Per the Guardian:

3:50
theguardian.com
2h ago 17.18 EST
Citing fraud concerns, Trump administration imposes six-month national moratorium on federal funds for prosthesis and orthotics Dr Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, just announced that Trump administration is imposing a six-month national moratorium on federal funding for people who need durable medical equipment, including prosthesis and orthotics.
According to Oz, who spoke alongside the vice-president, JD Vance, new enrollments for federal funds for such devices would be halted due to concerns about benefit fraud.
Oz then tried to illustrate what he called the scope of the potential fraud with an awkward bit of dialogue with the vice-president.
Oz first turned to Vance and asked if if he ever goes to McDonalds. Vance said
"Yeah... too much," which led Oz to note that they "didn't rehearse this". Oz then said that there are twice as many durable medical equipment suppliers in south Florida as there are McDonalds. "Wow," Vance said. "And that's not because secretary Kennedy is closing down McDonalds," Oz added, to laughter from

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Feb 21

So, wow, nearly 13 years after publication HILD is finally reviewed in @nytimes.com. Thank you, Sadie Stein! (It seems to be one of those days 🤩)

Image of a battered and well-read novel, Hild by Nicola Griffith, on a carpet

Text screenshot:
“Hild," by Nicola Griffith
Fiction, 2013
A colleague lent this to me and I'm so glad she did. First because I'm no medievalist, so a book set in this period allows me to dial down my weird, self-imposed vigilance for anachronism. But mostly because Griffith's novel about the young life of Saint Hilda of Whitby is so deft and moving, the best of what historical fiction can be. When we meet the future saint, Hild is merely a young Anglo-Saxon woman living in seventh-century Britain - albeit one with a power of sight that's a source of both respect and fear for those around her.
Pleasurable though this is, it is not "light" reading. Griffith is world-building (or at least world-reconstructing), and the time you spend to understand the alliances and pressures, the evolution of the church and the complexities of power is all necessary to the full immersion that is the book's greatest gift.
Yes, the publisher provides a handy glossary for the unfamiliar terminology, but you quickly find yourself confident enough in the author's powers that you assume she knows what she's doing.
Read if you like: "The Name of the Rose,
," by Umberto Eco;
"Pillars of the Earth," by Ken Follett; "Redwall," by Brian Jacques.

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now!@nicolaz· Feb 19

Wordpress offers 'AI' to generate blog summaries. I don't use it. But I just finished a data-intensive, highly-charged post proving it takes just 3.5% of a population engaged in nonviolent protest to overthrow a government. I wanted to see how it handled that. It wouldn't. Post due tomorrow...