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Nov 11, 2024 | 
planetcritical.com | Rachel Donald |Grace Blakeley |Emily Atkin |Abigail Bergstrom
I have been wracking my brains over the weekend about how to add something of use to the rhetoric surrounding Trump’s election. I was going to expand upon a Note I had written but economist beat me to the punch with an excellent analysis of the material factors which drove the working class to vote for Trump. I thought about writing about why clean tech billionaire Elon Musk joined up with Big Oil fanatic Trump, but offers some excellent theories on the emergency podcast we recorded last week.
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May 22, 2023 | 
abigailbergstrom.substack.com | Abigail Bergstrom
I am having the best time writing pieces for this substack and the community grows every day. Building a community of writers and having a place to exchange knowledge and share my meandering musings on cultural commentary has been nothing short of a joy. However, the deadline for the second draft of my novel looms alongside developing What a Shameinto a TV series, and Bergstrom Studio has some really exciting projects on the boil. I have to be honest with myself about my time and energy levels.
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May 8, 2023 | 
abigailbergstrom.substack.com | Abigail Bergstrom
If you’re reading this newsletter I’m guessing you have this problem. Or that you at least relate to it on some level: the cringing, the slight recoil, the feeling of separation and the just-out-of-reachness that surfaces before you utter those words: I am a writer.
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May 1, 2023 | 
abigailbergstrom.substack.com | Abigail Bergstrom
Taiye Selasi is a writer and photographer of Nigerian and Ghanaian descent, born in London and raised in Boston, she studied both Latin and music. Taiye is herself a study in the modern meaning of identity. In 2005 she published the much-discussed (and controversial) essay Bye-Bye, Babar (Or: What Is an Afropolitan?), offering an alternative vision of African identity for a transnational generation.
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Apr 24, 2023 | 
abigailbergstrom.substack.com | Abigail Bergstrom
I’ve known Dr Camillia Pang since I was about twelve… she’s a close family friend (my best friend’s little sister in fact) and I’ve always been blown away by her mind and her unique approach to the world – especially the world of writing.
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Apr 17, 2023 | 
abigailbergstrom.substack.com | Abigail Bergstrom
Dr. Sophie Mort, aka Dr. Soph, is a Clinical Psychologist and Sunday Times bestselling author. I don’t represent her anymore but I actually agented her first book ‘A Manual For Being Human’ before I left my previous agency. It became an instant Sunday Times bestseller and I’ve long admired her commitment to get psychology out of the therapy room and into people's lives in ways that make sense to them.
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Apr 10, 2023 | 
abigailbergstrom.substack.com | Abigail Bergstrom
I have long been a huge admirer of Nikesh Shukla and his work. I respect how he’s not only achieved incredible success in his own writing, but how he’s also utilised that to platform, mentor and support other writers.
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Apr 3, 2023 | 
abigailbergstrom.substack.com | Abigail Bergstrom
This week I find myself in the sticky middle. After finishing the first draft of my second novel, I received feedback and notes from both my editor and my agent. Completing the first draft always feels like a significant moment, it’s certainly one that pulls in a lot of outward celebration – people are fast to congratulate you: you’ve written another book! Well bloody done! But the reality feels far from that. There is no such thing as a great first draft.
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Mar 21, 2023 | 
abigailbergstrom.substack.com | Abigail Bergstrom
This is a timely question as this week there’s been some exciting news for me which I am so thrilled to finally be sharing. The TV and film rights for my debut novel, What a Shame have sold in a three-way auction (if you haven’t read the book it has just been published in paperback). It’s been optioned by Severn Productions and for me there was something poetic about working with a Welsh production company. Being a Welsh writer, it very much felt like the material was coming home.
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Mar 13, 2023 | 
abigailbergstrom.substack.com | Abigail Bergstrom
International Women’s Day (IWD) left me feeling bleak. And I’ve realised that’s nothing new, it’s been uncomfortable for some time now. It’s wormed its way into some self-congratulatory echo chamber where people meet for brand-sponsored networking brunches and post about the strong and brilliant women in their lives or Taylor Swift ‘Fuck the patriarchy’ memes.
