Chopsy is a memoir like no other – a gut-wrenchingly powerful, yet frequently funny account of a life spent defying the prejudice and inequality faced by working-class women.
Maya Jordan’s ambition and resilience was born in the library and nourished by the Open University – through poverty, early motherhood, precarious housing, caring responsibilities and chronic disability – to a point where she finally seized her right to write.
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PRAISE FOR CHOPSY
‘A triumphant success story about clearing a path for yourself and finding the freedom, words, and perhaps courage in mid-life to put pen to paper’ Claire Malcolm, New Writing North
‘Written with unflinching honesty, expansive humour and razor-sharp insight. A call to see and be seen, this is a memoir that will stay with me for a long time’ Jenny Knight, author of Wild Moon Rising
‘A curse on being ordinary! Wrong is not her name. Her name is Maya Jordan. She is a noisy woman and we should fear her’ Michael Sheen
‘If you’ve ever cringed at yet another wildly inaccurate representation of your working-class childhood... then you want to read this... Because while Maya’s story of her life is neither yours nor mine, there will be enough resonances for you to shout “YES, THIS!”, and in feeling seen and heard you will find some energy for today and maybe even tomorrow’ Stella Duffy#chopsy #memoir #workingclasswomen @septemberpublishing
Oh my days, this was terrifying to make.
CHOPSY The Resistance Tales of a Working Class Woman
#chopsy #memoir #workingclasswomen #wales
@septemberpublishing
We were over the moon to hear that The Escape from Kabul by Karen Bartlett has been shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2026! @theorwellprize
A gripping story of rescue, survival and female solidarity, The Escape from Kabul is the never-before-told story of the escape of nearly 200 women and their families, thanks to a network of professional friends, female judges and lawyers from around the world, who refused to abandon them to the Taliban.
Many congratulations to all of the other finalists too - what an incredible line up of urgent and powerful titles!
#orwellprize #politicalfiction
Happy publication day to RIPENING: WHY WOMEN NEED FAIRY TALES NOW by SHARON BLACKIE @sharonblackiemythmakings
🍎From the bestselling author of If Women Rose Rooted comes a life-changing new book on the power and relevance of fairy tales, and their heroines, to help us thrive in these challenging times.
🍎In a world in which all the old certainties seem to be crumbling, it's hard not to feel we have lost our way. In Ripening, Sharon Blackie insists that fairy tales are precisely the stories we need for such times.
🍎Available in all good bookshops now! Also available in audio and ebook formats.
#fairytales #folklore #heroinesjourney
Chocolate and CHOPSY 😝😝😝
GET THE DATE IN YOUR DIARY.
An evening with CHOPSY, and the very fabulous @coco_pzazz 🍫💝🍫
And I believe there might even be a bit of bubbly 🥂🍾🥂 at @no1highstreetnewtown
Book signing and sweariness
4th June 6 pm
No1 High St
Newtown
@septemberpublishing
#chopsy #bookevent #wales #chocolate #local
Once upon a time… there was an author who wanted to reclaim fairy tales for women living through dangerous and difficult times.
Today @sharonblackiemythmakings signed copies of her transformative new book Ripening in @hatchardspiccadilly and @piccadillywaterstones .
Published this week, grab your signed copies while stock lasts.
#fairytale #folklore #fairy #folktales
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
One ordinary morning, in an unexceptional town, every mobile phone lights up with the same emergency alert.
In this compelling, darkly funny and moving debut novel, each of Vincent Yu’s utterly relatable, flawed characters is given a choice: in the face of mutually assured destruction, do we reach for grace and mercy or do we hold on to hate and fear?
Minutes later the town learns via text that it was a false alarm and the question changes. Can we forgive each other for what’s been said and done when the world didn’t actually end?
Coming in August 2026 and available to request on Netgalley now!
We’re incredibly proud to have this endorsement from Katriona O’Sullivan @katriona_osullivan , author of Poor and Hungry. From one chopsy woman to another! 💥
CHOPSY is for anyone who’s ever felt unseen, unheard — and refused to stay that way. A book about class, care, and refusing to apologise for where you’re from.
#Chopsy #WorkingClassVoices #FeministMemoir #KatrionaOSullivan #BooksThatMatter
The face of an author who feels very, very happy and blessed right now 💚
Thank you so much for a truly wonderful afternoon, @blackwelloxford .
#underwing #witchcraft #babyloss #naturewriting #oxford
✨There’s a lovely little window right now to secure your copy of Ripening ✨
You can pre-order Sharon Blackie’s Ripening: Why Women Need Fairy Tales Now from Waterstones with 25% off the RRP using the code:
🍎RIPENING26🍎
📖 Publication: 14 May
🌿 Discount available for a limited time
If this book has been on your radar for a while, now is the perfect moment to order! @waterstones@sharonblackiemythmakings@duck_books
#Ripening #SharonBlackie #Bookstagram #Preorder #Waterstones
🍎Mythologist, psychologist and author of major new work RIPENING, Sharon Blackie, is heading off on tour very soon to talk all about why women need fairy tales now, more than ever.
In this world in which all our old certainties seem to be crumbling, many women feel lost. In RIPENING, Sharon Blackie insists that fairy tales are precisely the stories we need for such times 🍎@duck_books@sharonblackiemythmakings
🎟Tickets for all venues available now! @seedtalks@toppingsbath@alternativesorg@ashburtonarts@st_ethelburgas@realisationfestival
‘Well… that was a surprisingly fun conversation about death!’ — audience feedback
Thanks so much to everyone who turned out to discuss ‘While the Music Lasts’ and share stories of grief and music as part of @theheathbookshop ‘s Music and Literature festival. And thanks to Aarti Kumari @w.r.cbookclub for such considered questions and her enormous warmth.
The festival runs until tomorrow and there are loads of great events still to come if you’re in Birmingham including @faberbooks@maxmaxporter Max Porter-inspired dance, @wordsbynatasha talking about her book Assembly, a crime panel, a night of alternative 80s music with the drummer from The Smiths, and of course no festival is complete without a Big Gay Poetry Night with open mic. What a ridiculously fantastic thing, what a treat to be a part of it, and basically I now wish I lived in Birmingham.
