Writing Tips With Nikesh Shukla

News, Discounts, Tour, Courses, An Urgent Book

Nikesh Shukla — Sat, 09 May 2026 15:37:44 GMT

Hello

First thing’s first: me and Camille are working on issues 2 and 3 of ‘Mad Villain’. And because we’re releasing this independently, we’re trying to sell some more copies.

If you’d like to buy a copy of ‘Mad Villain’ issue 1, about a middle-aged dad of two who has an existential freakout about racists on his streets and joins antifa, or a copy of my…

Book Sale/Creative Writing Course/Recommendation

Nikesh Shukla — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 08:01:21 GMT

48-HOUR SALE ON COPIES OF ‘HOPE MUST BE HELD IN A CLENCHED FIST’ AND 'MAD VILLAIN’ ISSUE 1! HEAD TO MY WEBSITE NOW!!

Hello

I’ve got that juddering stop-start thing going on with Substack where every time I start to feel like I’m hitting a schedule, life/work gets in the way. Last September, I had the twin honour of being appointed as a lecturer in creativ…

Introducing My New Comic Book: 'Mad Villain'...

Nikesh Shukla — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 08:24:46 GMT

I’m really proud (and nervous) to tell you about a new project I’ve just launched with my great friend, artist, Camille Aubry. We’ve written a comic book. It’s called ‘Mad Villain’. It’s five issues long and we’ve just self-published issue 1 today, thanks to support from Watershed. It’s about a middle-aged dad who, worried about keeping his family safe …

Extract From The Pamphlet

Nikesh Shukla — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 09:32:18 GMT

Hello

I was going to write about something else. I swear. Next week, I’m announcing another punky, fun, DIY project, this time a collaboration with the artist Camille Aubry, which may or may not be a comic book, and I was going to write a whole thing about the DIY scene I grew up in and the joy of doing stuff and putting it out, quickly and dirtily and h…

The Best I Can Offer

Nikesh Shukla — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 07:27:10 GMT

I worry about the toll the world is taking on my kids every hour of every day of my life. I want them to be joyful and feel like anything is possible and they can do and be whatever they want to be. But the world is a dark, scary place and they are visibly brown, and I want them to be prepared for what is coming. Today, I took my kid to an exhibition of…

Why Now? On Why I Wrote And Self-Published A Pamphlet

Nikesh Shukla — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 17:22:09 GMT

A few weeks ago I put out a pamphlet, called ‘Hope Must Be Held In A Clenched Fist’, all about hope and resistance and one of the scariest nights of my life, when racists descended upon an event I was attending. It feels strange to put work out at this time and shout about it and go on the self-promotion trail.

Everything pails in comparison to what’s h…

ON SALE: Limited Edition Pamphlet 'Hope Must Be Held In A Clenched Fist'

Nikesh Shukla — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 10:58:16 GMT

Hello there

I just wrote and self-published a pamphlet, limited to 1000 copies. It’s called ‘Hope Must Be Held In a Clenched Fist’. I wrote it on New Year’s Day 2026, processing something that I had witnessed just before Christmas. I had gone to a social event that was raising money for anti-racist causes. It was disrupted by a known group of racists in …

Stray Observations From My Writing Week

Nikesh Shukla — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:59:34 GMT

I rewatched ‘Rounders’ this week. I love doing impressions of people. My favourite voice notes with friends are us trying different voices. Nikesh Patel’s Jeff Goldblum is a particular delight. I’ve always found John Malkovich an impossible person to mimic. He has such a distinct voice and cadence. Anyway, rewatching ‘Rounders’, I realised that I hadn’t…

Cinephiles, Cheerleaders and Cousins

Nikesh Shukla — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 16:33:05 GMT

Uncle was the first cinephile I ever met. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, all I wanted to do was watch any action blockbuster, anything with Will Smith, anything with boobs and anything with death-defying stunts. I did not have eyes for anything else. Uncle was my childhood best friend’s dad, and my childhood best friend and I grew up interchangeably in …

Shuks Recommends 16th January 2026

Nikesh Shukla — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 10:40:37 GMT

Reading: Ex Utero by Charles Forsman (The Mansion Press)

This brilliant new look at disaffected loner teenagers thrust into weird genre conventions is excellent. You can either, like me, grab the serialised chapters off Forsman’s Patreon, or you can buy the collected volumes 1 and 2 from cool French publisher, The Mansion Press. It’s a graphic novel abou…

Fragments From Yet Another Counter Protest Against Fascists In Bristol

Nikesh Shukla — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 09:42:25 GMT

Things I would rather be doing on this sunny Saturday: helping with my kids’ football coaching, shouting things like ‘you’re all clustering in the middle’, ‘look for the pass’, ‘wings!’, ‘mark up’. Maybe cook an elaborate lunch, one of those all-hands-on-deck ones that takes way too long to make, and you’re all hungry and grouchy just before it’s served…

Shuks Recommends: 7th January 2026

Nikesh Shukla — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 08:56:20 GMT

Reading: A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar (Scribner)

Megha Majumdar’s first book was a thrilling courtroom drama about nationalism, Islamophobia, truth in a country steeped in rising fascism and opportunism and women. It was such a brilliant scalpel of a novel. This, her follow up, is just as sharp. This time tackling climate change and poverty, …

Does Any Of This Make A Difference?

Nikesh Shukla — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 16:17:41 GMT

I guess the overwhelming question I face most days when I sit at my desk is, does any of this make a difference? I know not every writer wants to change the world, not many pieces of writing do change the world, and not often do we see directly or immediately the change we make. I know all that.

I spent a lot of last year wishing I was a different sort o…

A Bunch Of Announcements

Nikesh Shukla — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 13:10:47 GMT

Voice Notes Podcast

I’ve launched a creative writing podcast called Voice Notes

You can subscribe here:

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe on Spotify

Subscribe on Acast

Basically, episode 1 dropped this w…

Introducing: Voice Notes With Nikesh Shukla

Nikesh Shukla — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 12:39:13 GMT

Introducing my new writing podcast, Voice Notes.

Yes, yes, another man with a podcast. I’m sorry. But look, I’m hoping this will be a helpful podcast.

One of my favourite podcasts I ever listened, I think one of the first, was called Martini Shot with Rob Long. Rob Long wrote on some of my favourite sitcoms, like Cheers and Golden Girls and more, and hi…

North Stars

Nikesh Shukla — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 07:00:45 GMT

A few months back, I gave an early draft of a new work to a friend to read. I wrote her a long email, filled with caveats, expecting to troubleshoot her feedback. Because if I knew these things needed fixing, she didn’t need to point them out. Actually, I pointed them out out of fear. I knew I was sharing the book unfinished, early, before I felt ready …

Shuks Recommends 23rd May 2025

Nikesh Shukla — Sat, 24 May 2025 05:21:27 GMT

Reading: Speed by Mohamed-Zain Dada (Nick Hern Books)

I missed the recent production of this by the excellent playwright, Mohamed-Zain Dada, directed by Milli Bhatia and starring my friend Nikesh Patel (though my friends refer to him as Hot Nikesh). The play text will have to do. And it’s a brilliant claustrophobic piece of work about brown rage, set aga…

Shuks Recommends 16th May 2025

Nikesh Shukla — Fri, 16 May 2025 06:51:16 GMT

Reading: We Are Not Numbers: The Voices of Gaza’s Youth by Ahmed Alnaouq and Pam Bailey (Cornerstone) // Pigeonholed: Creative Freedom As An Act Of Resistance by Gary Younge (Faber)

Two brilliant books to recommend to you this week. The first is the utterly compelling, sobering anthology We Are Not Numbers, a collection of young Palestinian voices, talki…

Start Small

Nikesh Shukla — Tue, 13 May 2025 05:47:09 GMT

A long time ago, I had the opportunity to pitch an idea for a Black Mirror book of short stories. I crumbled with the pressure of coming up with an idea that felt in conversation with one of my favourite shows. Spoiler alert for what you already know: I didn’t get the job. I’m not even sure the anthology even came out. But I understand now why I didn’t get the nod.

I spent too long trying to pitch a cool Black Mirror episode rather than write about something I’m interested in, and apply the world of Black Mirror to it. I understood better when I was working on Spider-Man India, but I’ll get to that.

Shuks Recommends 9th May 2025

Nikesh Shukla — Fri, 09 May 2025 06:11:12 GMT

Reading: The Nice House By The Lake by James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez Bueno and Jordie Bellaire

Dear comic book friend Rosie Knight said this was one of her favourite books of recent years, comparing it to The White Lotus meets Agatha Christie. I was intrigued and picked it up. I was not prepared for the terrifying psychological horror situation the bo…