VARAIDZO

just quickly before I forget x

LONDON, PARIS, AMSTERDAM 2026 LIFE IS SHORT, SAY YES 🤓

💐AUTHOR CHATS with The Southside Shelf Hosted by Daily Paper Join us for an intimate Sunday afternoon conversation at the Daily Paper London store as we welcome @practicalmyth for a live author chat around Manny and the Baby. Curated in collaboration with Daily Paper, this session explores storytelling, identity, care, and the nuances of lived experience through literature. Expect an open and honest conversation, moments of reflection, and space for community dialogue. 📍 Daily Paper London Store 📅 Sunday, February 22 🕛 12:00 – 15:00 Free to attend. Limited capacity. Link in bio Come early, take a seat, and be part of the conversation.

icl i went through my camera roll to do a 2025 wrap up but got distracted by all the mirror pics, so, text only highlights instead: • debut novel came out in paperback • debut play went on tour • had my second solo exhibition in south london • made a magazine ‼️ • won a scholarship • moved countries • travelled, like, waaaay more than i should have done • tried my fuckn best • looked really hot 2025 might have been the hardest year of my life but pressure makes diamonds n tha 💎 wrote a lot of cards this year telling ppl i’m grateful for them. can’t recommend it enough x

SOME SCREENSHOTS FROM VIDEOS I TOOK ON MY CAMERA ROLL IN DECEMBER. NO SMALL FEAT TO SEE SO MANY PEOPLE I LOVE THIS MONTH. THAT’S ALL REALLY X

🚨 last chance to get the casual irl tonight at @casualreadersbookclub winter soirée 🚨 best book zine of 2025, edited by @practicalmyth and @indiaindyinds put it on your gift lists still available online 💋

freelancers don’t get xmas parties so come to the @casualreadersbookclub winter soirée instead 🥰 🚨 last chance to buy the casual irl in 2025 🚨 going back to @_newforms_ again for low lights, spicy martinis, hot music and cutie people. no secret santa but bring a book to swap if you wanna leave with a gift. let’s toast the year properly 🥂 🎧 vinyl djs on the night - @bridgeteke  + @jackumstackum  + @caracrosbyi  🎧 weds 10 december, from 7pm ▶️ @casualreadersbookclub bio for tix everyone who has locked in with the casual so far is interesting and curious and will have a sexy and prosperous 2026 and that’s fact! bisous xxx 📸 @notsergioh

october harvest was sweet and bountiful ! v big month in my careers as a [editor, designer, writer, artist, archivist, playwright] 🎃🍂 • launched the casual, a literary magazine edited by myself and @indiaindyinds , designed by me, featuring my new short story ‘ascension’ • opened my solo exhibition ‘figures: a black british archive’ and hosted a conversation with @paulaakpan on researching / archiving our histories • my debut play ‘syncopated’ transferred from liverpool to london • ate lots of good food, spent time with lots of good people thank you @casualreadersbookclub @staffordshirest @bisonne_gallery @talawatc @liveveryplay and all my friends for helping make all my dreams come true everyone else: don’t sleep. let’s work together 🤓

‼️thank you to you all for celebrating the launch of THE CASUAL with us, we really really really felt the love. you’re all angels 🥹‼️ 🫦pre-orders were posted out today and will be with you asap ~ don’t forget to tag us when they arrive! if you’re hoping to get in on the action, there’s ALWAYS room for one more…click the link in our bio to get your paws on the hottest literary mag ever 🫦

For 6 months — during the most hectic, busy year ever and alongside multiple jobs and side hustles — @indiaindyinds and I have been working on creating The Casual, a literary magazine that spotlights the most interesting, obscure, erotic, attractive, and amusing art being discussed right now. Born out of the quality of conversation that takes place at @casualreadersbookclub , we wanted to create a physical record of the present moment. We’ve assembled some of the most inventive, hot, cool, intelligent, and sexy writers publishing today (swipe for the content/contributor list) as well as book recommendations from the CRC community, an agony aunt answering some of book clubbers most burning questions, and obvi a crossword because what is a literary journal without a crossword ‼️ ISSUE I: DESIRE LAUNCHES TUESDAY 28 OCTOBER The v v last few tickets for the launch party are available through @casualreadersbookclub bio (you get the ticket price off a copy of the mag) and the link to pre-order as well. This magazine is very very special and we are so excited to share it with you!! Big love to everyone who has been a part of the journey so far🫶🏽 📷 @rafael_.v

we’re launching our zine, irl and we’d love to see you there 🫦 ​join us on Tuesday 28th October at @_newforms_ in celebration of your favourite book club, in print🖨️ ​🌀‼️the casual spotlights the most interesting, obscure, erotic, attractive, and amusing art being made right now. It approaches contemporary culture from a communal perspective, creating an archive of the present moment and present motion ‼️🌀 ​bringing back literary journals in a sexy, hot, fun way, this first issue’s theme is: desire 🫦 ​Sounds on the night from @bridgeteke + @jackumstackum 🎧 ​Arrive early — your ticket gives you money off a purchase of the zine. Hit the link in our bio to RSVP. ​See you there!

IT’S BLACK HISTORY MONTH IN THE UK. SOMETIMES I FEEL SILLY INVESTING SO MUCH TIME AND CARE INTO TELLING OUR STORIES BUT WHEN THERE’S FASCISTS MARCHING THE STREETS I REALISE IT’S STILL NECESSARY. LOCK IN. OR DON’T. HERE’S WHAT I HAVE FOR YOU REGARDLESS: 1-2: SYNCOPATED closes at @liveveryplay tomorrow night and opens at @talawatc on the 8th - it’s a play about the southern syncopated orchestra, a band of black musicians who first brought jazz to the UK in 1919, and the cast and team are incredible. London, get tickets now 3-5: Figures: A Black British Archive returns for display at @staffordshirest , curated by @bisonne_gallery ! I’ll be doing artist talks everyday at 2pm. the opening event on Thursday will feature a Q&A with one of my favourite historians and writers @paulaakpan about her book When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors — it’s free, come along ‼️ 6-7: pre-order The Casual, launching later this month, a @casualreadersbookclub production edited by myself and @indiaindyinds , designed by me. it features writing and interviews with some of the most interesting black British talent writing today, including @derekvsowusu @eastsidemoses @oreagbajewilliams @lydialuke @yaa.dae and a new short story from me. the full list of talent is ridiculous and this is going to be a very special special journal to own. very limited run so you don’t want to miss out. link in bio to pre-order 8: it was announced last month that The Good Immigrant, the bestselling essay anthology and first book I was ever publishing will be celebrating 10 years next year 🥳 it will be published on the canongate canons list, cementing these stories about living in Britain as an ethnic minority as undeniably part of the canon (undeniably proud to be part of it!! more soon on when this version will be available). 9-10: AS ALWAYS, my debut novel Manny and the Baby, a story set between 1930 and 2012, a love letter to black british history, is available to purchase. it came out in paperback this year, gift it to a friend this black history month 💚 PLEASE SHARE, PLEASE SHOW UP I DO THIS BECAUSE I LOVE US XXX #blackhistorymonth #bhmuk #blackhistorymonthuk