Last year, I set myself a challenge to read 50 books. I enjoyed this challenge and it was an incentive to fit more time for reading into my day, whether that meant sticking a book in my bag so I could read it as I waited for the bus or choosing to read before bed instead of watching another episode of Reign (Does anyone else I know watch this? If so, let me know and we can talk about how ludicrous and amazing it is!). This year, instead of focusing solely on quantity, I also wanted to focus on what types of books I’m reading and to encourage myself to read outside of my typical author and genre choices. To broaden my literary horizons, if you will!

At the moment, I tend to read a lot of historical fiction (I’m currently working on a historical fiction novel), magical realism, Young Adult books and contemporary poetry. A quick glance over at my bedside table confirms this: there’s a historical fiction novel (The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber), a poetry book (New Poetries VI An Anthology from Carcanet) and a book which I’m told features the Devil in Moscow and a vodka-drinking black cat (The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov). But I want to read outside my literary comfort zone and to challenge myself with some new reading goals this year.

I got the idea of a Book Bingo chart from the BookTuber Jean Bookishthoughts  in her video here. If you’ve never seen BookTube, it’s a fantastic corner of the internet where funny and personable people chat about what they’re reading and I’m totally obsessed. I liked how she set herself some goals to read in genres that she doesn’t read in as often, as well as to revisit authors she already enjoys. So I was inspired to make a chart of my own:

As you can see, my chart is pretty personalized. For a start, I’ve included a few genres which I’ve enjoyed in the past but not read a lot recently, such as Science Fiction, as well as those that I’m very unfamiliar with (Romance and Detective novels). I know these genres are incredibly broad (I’d love to find a sci-fi, detective romance! That sounds awesome) and there are many subgenres within them, so this is just a jumping off point. Other personal goals I’ve included are to ‘Read a piece of modern translated fiction’, because I’ve read a lot of translated fiction from previous centuries (Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina etc.), but little contemporary fiction translated into English.

I’ve also included a few authors who I’ve read just one (or none) of their books, but who I think I’ll enjoy. Haruki Murakami, Neil Gaiman and Edwin Morgan etc.

Finally, I’ve included goals to read some nonfiction books about topics which I’m interested in: Read a book about fairy tales, read a book about spoken word poetry, read a book with feminist issues/themes (which I don’t think will be difficult as my friends and I are starting an informal Feminist Book Club this summer).

I wanted to expand my reading for a number of reasons. Firstly, as a writer, I think it’s good to expose myself to as many different styles of writing as possible because you never know where you’re going to find inspiration. Secondly, as a reader, this might help me discover new books or authors I really love. Thirdly, if I’m ever at a loss for what to read next, I can just glance at my chart! Fourthly, I like goals. Goals are cool.

As I achieve each of these reading goals, I’ll tick them off on my chart. Once I get a whole row ticked off, I’ll celebrate. Probably by buying myself a book. 🙂

Let me know if you have any book recommendations for any of these goals. I’ve only read one Neil Gaiman book (Coraline. And it has haunted me ever since), so do you have a favorite you think I should pick up? Do you have a favorite detective/crime novel that you think will be a good start to the genre? Let me know if you end up creating your own chart as well (I’d be curious to see) and I hope that your reading is exciting, diverse and stimulating.

xx Carly

 

This is Creative Friends, a series of blog posts where I feature friends whose art inspires me.

Two weeks ago, I published Part I of my interview with the talented writer, photographer, publisher, all around legend: Lydia Cruz. Now here’s part II, in which we chat about creative nonfiction and what’s on her desk at the moment. Looking for some great creative non-fiction recommendations? Read on my friends!

Carly: Who are some of your favorite creative nonfiction writers? Any recommendations for people who are not familiar with the genre?

Lydia: Ugh. Well. Jo Ann Beard, number one. Her collection Boys of My Youth, specifically the title essay, The Fourth State of Matter, Out There, and the introduction. I also really love A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L’Engle. Also, anything by Maira Kalman, who is an interesting mix of genres—a blend of historical information, personal history (I think) and probably some fiction maybe, I don’t really know, but it’s all fantastic. She is an illustrator as well and I would recommend The Principles of Uncertainty as a starter text. Annie Dillard, of course. The Writing Life for a book, and then Eclipse and Living Like Weasels for essays. Once a Tramp Always, by MFK fisher (essay). So You Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Star by Jacob Slichter. Days, by Deborah Eisenberg, which is actually a short story but her most autobiographical short story and is fantastic. David Foster Wallace, particularly the essays Ticket to the Fair and Tennis, Trigonometry, Tornadoes. Black Swans by Lauren Slater (essay). Hateful Things, by Sei Shonagon (essay). The Year Of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.

What’s on your desk at the moment?

My desk is a particular mess at the moment, having never recovered from an arts market I was in last Saturday haha. (Well, I wrote that about a week ago and nothing has changed, yikes, but here it is) Oh and I suppose I should say my desk is an old drafting table without the adjustable top—the top was huge and wouldn’t fit—in my enclosed front porch, lovingly and reverently referred to as The Magic Porch.

1 Royal Typewriter

1 Silver Jubilee mug purchased in Scotland and broken in transit a year later that was glued back together and is now used to hold pencils (20), paper straws (10), a couple ballpoints and a little chalkboard tag that says happy may day

2 boxes of business cards

1 pile of scraps of string, all neatly rolled up and individual

1 engagement photo of my younger brother and my now sister in law

1 spool of string on some kind of plastic neon orange dispenser thing I forgot I had until just now

1 3x2in slice of teabag with a nice tea stain on it

2 shells from Scotland

1 handsewn drawstring bag I usually use for toiletries when I travel but used to transport tools and tape to the arts market

Only 1 copy of the New Yorker at the minute but there are usually at least a few floating around

1 pint mason jar full of 17 paintbrushes

2 estate sale small wooden boxes—one full of various spools of string and one full of water color paints, a bottle of mysterious *water color medium*, and some scraps of newsprint with watercolor blots I like

1 Nixon’s the One! Button I found at the same estate sale this summer where I bought all the watercolors

1 half sheet of medium grain (?) sandpaper

1 half pint mason jar with pens (only 6 at the moment because all my pens are in my purse so I can work on illustrations when it’s slow at work), mostly micron but one white gel pen, and a bit of leather strap that I think migrated from the string box next door.

2 stamp pads

1 set of nearly finished hand embroidered felt coasters

1 sketch of an idea for my next tattoo that I have since scrapped

1 tiny blue glass vase holding 9 needles, 7 regular and 2 coptic

1 small ceramic pot I made in high school and has housed Stuart the succulent since this summer

1 piano lamp my mother bought to put on our piano and which I commandeered very early on and which also gives off an astounding amount of heat

1 17x22in cutting mat

1 green glass wine bottle with stalks of long dead mint leaves

1 roll of toilet paper

1 small ceramic bird my mother gave me last Easter

1 blue glass insulator

1 zine called quiet earth from the talented Eloise Bennett

Marcel the Shell’s book The Most Surprised I’ve Ever Been by Dean Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate

1 copy of A Beaded Prayer which is a kind of guided collection of prayers my brother compiled and I bound into some small books

1 tiny brown paper envelope held together by red paper tape (given to me by my best friend on a day when I pulled out the last two letters from the scrabble bag—FU—) that says to lydia on this treacherous day love meagan and contained 1 handcarved scrabble tile, the letter N penned on one side and token of hope and fun to come on the other and which I carry around in my pocket every day as a talisman of courage

1 paperwrapped bundle of vine charcoal

1 prototype felt heart valentine from last year with embroidered—I’ve never felt this way before—

1 bone folder

2 erasers, one unopened

1 belt buckle with a navybean sized piece of turquoise that belonged to my grandfather before he died

1 leather pen case I made last year

2 candles

4 scraps of paper tape from packages I’ve received pressed onto the table

1 poem I wrote on December 27, 2012

5 boxes of pencil lead back when the lead was housed in wooden trays instead of plastic

1 eight count sheet of fruit stickers, a party favor from my birthday in November

1 tea bag plate with a painting of perhaps a cardinal

1 circle paper cutter gifted to me by my brother and his wife for my birthday that I haven’t figured out how to use

1 print of an illustration of an older couple I photographed walking down Market Street in St Andrews

1 illustration in a completely new style on a paper bag salvaged from a shipment of tea, syrups, etc we received at work

1 handbound book of quotes my mother gave me last Christmas—the page I keep the book propped open to is this

be easy. take your time. you are coming home to yourself. –nayyarah waheed

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Lydia Cruz is a Colorado-based writer and designer. She has worked as a designer for various festivals, musicians and businesses and has shown work in Colorado, New York, and Scotland. She is currently Artist in Residence at Bindle Coffee in Fort Collins, Colorado USA.

This is my second Creative Friends blog post, the series where I spotlight friends whose art inspires me. This week’s featured artist is (wait for it!) a writer, photographer, illustrator, editor, publisher AND small business owner. She also makes a mean cup of coffee. Have you guessed it yet? It’s none other than the mega-talented Lydia Cruz.

Lydia and I met at the University of St Andrews when she studied abroad there during her third year from Sarah Lawrence. We quickly bonded over our shared loves of books, kale chips, caffeinated beverages and doing too many projects at once. Eventually, she went on to collaborate with me on my first poetry chapbook, Grown Up Poetry Needs to Leave Me Alone, which she published through her indie publishing house (which she founded last year!): Knockingdoor Press.

She has exhibited work in Colorado, Scotland and New York and she’s currently working on a series of creative nonfiction essays. She’s also the current Artist in Residence at Bindle Coffee in Fort Collins, Colorado where you can see some of her work including a recent series of watercolor paintings: the girl learning about joy. Here’s Part I of my chat with Lydia:

You chronicle the world around you through various mediums (writing, drawing, photography…). Are there subjects (or themes) you would prefer to draw rather than write about? Or write about rather than draw?

That’s interesting. It’s hard to say, I suppose, but maybe only because I’ve only been drawing for a few years and fell into my portrait niche of street photographed people right away. I suppose my drawings have never felt particularly personal, where my writing is very personal. These new watercolor paintings were the first time I had ever drawn something I felt exposed by.

It was a bit unsettling, actually, especially since I did all four paintings within a week and a half—two in one day—which is something I never do. I tend to move very slowly, in both writing and drawing. I would say that both mediums fall under wanting to see and write/draw what I see. And it’s interesting how, just as a good personal essay is both very specific and universal, so many people have recognized people they know in my portraits of specific strangers. So it’s really all the same thing, I think.

I love your pen drawings (I’m the proud owner of one!) and I know you’ve been experimenting with watercolors recently. What are your favorite materials to use?

You’re so nice 😉 I still mostly use pen, jumping into watercolor whenever I feel that particular itch. I keep all my paints, brushes, and waterjars handy so I’m always about thirty seconds away from beginning if I feel a sudden pull, but I default to pen. I love drawing on a lot of different materials and prefer brown paper or other found paper/board. I had the opportunity when I was in Scotland to take possession of a whole stack of slate roof tiles, but it was right before I was flying home and I had no way to transport them. Drawing on slate really sounds like such a dream. Chalk is fun for weird typographical endeavors. I’ve also enjoyed doing some embroidered portraits in the past and am really interested in doing more with that.

A lot of your creative non-fiction essays I’ve read deal with your experience of living abroad and searching for your role in a new physical landscape amongst new people. Do you think this exploration of being a stranger in a strange land will continue throughout the collection of essays you’re working on?

Probably haha. I’ve been a bit of a stranger in a strange land since I graduated high school—moving from Laramie, Wyoming to New York, then to Scotland, then back to a very different experience of New York, and then to Greeley, Colorado, where I was born but haven’t lived since I was five. So even though I haven’t been in the UK in a few years, I have been thinking about and experiencing a lot of the same things in new ways. Which has been interesting in terms of how I approach the essays because they are all written in such immediate present tense scenes I’ve had to think about Well, was I really thinking about all of these things in that moment or am I thinking about them now and is inserting them into the piece affecting the integrity of the experience? I felt particularly strongly when I was in school about those kinds of Insertions being ultimately untrue. And there is a line. Somewhere, I suppose. Though I remember my mentor describing the process of writing personal essays being the narrativization of an experience, not a transcript. This is the door through which we could walk into discussing accuracy versus truth in memory and writing which is a bit of a minefield, so I may stop here. But yes, I think the rest of the essays will follow a similar track. They’re all kind of generally about those things, but each one (I hope) narrows down into a more specific aspect. And actually, a friend recently pointed out to me that almost all of the essays so far have taken place near the time I was going to return to the US and so, right now, the collection also seems to be about saying goodbye, which is an interesting thing to think about.

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Next week, I’ll be posting Part II of my interview with Lydia…

Creative Friends is a new series of blog posts I’ll be doing, spotlighting friends whose creative work inspires me.

First up…one of my best friends: the poet, journalist and all-around superstar Laala Kashef Alghata! Laala has just released a new poetry collection entitled Cupid’s Rage. I helped to edit the collection and I was so excited to read the final version. Laala’s poems blend raw emotionality with tightly controlled verse, playfully subverting romantic tropes (roses, stars, even Cupid himself) in ways that are intriguing and sometimes haunting. The poems mostly deal with romantic love but there are also some beautiful ekphrastic poems and poems exploring loneliness, family and hope.

Laala took some time out of her schedule interviewing dignitaries and travelling around the world (you know, the usual), to answer some questions about Cupid’s Rage and how it came to be.

CB: For some people, ‘Cupid’ might conjure up images of a cute, benevolent baby cherub. Why this title – Cupid’s Rage?

LKA: Cupid has never struck me as particularly benevolent, but that’s compounded when you think about classical mythology. Cupid isn’t the little cherub we’re presented with by Hallmark cards – Cupid is a god. We seem to forget that and see him as a messenger, but he’s powerful. I also find it interesting that in contemporary dialogue we rarely discuss that Cupid carries two kinds of arrows – one to inspire uncontrollable desire and the other to create aversion and the desire to flee. With that in mind, he’s a god I’d really rather not anger. The title, which comes from the title of a poem in the collection, really touches upon how we could make Cupid angry by “fall[ing] for the wrong one” and thus either ruining his plans or simply making him work harder to ‘right’ situations. That said: is he a god who would want people to live happy lives, or does he have a sadistic streak?

This is your second poetry collection and it was put together between 2008 and 2011, both in Bahrain and Scotland. Can you tell us a little more about how this collection came together?

It’s been quite a gap between my first poetry collection, Behind the Mask: A Folded Heart and Cupid’s Rage – nine years. I hadn’t stopped writing in that time, although it my once-prolific nature dwindled while I was completing my university degree. I realised I had quite a large archive of poems I had never collated, so I started working earlier this year on sifting through them. I think I went through about 400 poems to choose the 26 poems that make up this collection. I had about 50 at first, but through the editing process I ended up whittling it down pretty ruthlessly. It’s been quite a labour of love in that regard. The most difficult aspect was editing the poems to a state I was happy with, without editing out my younger voice.

Stars and stargazing are a recurrent motif in Cupid’s Rage. Sometimes the stars look down from afar with judgment, as in ‘Regard Me Sadly’, other times they are close at hand, as in ‘Neighbors’. What drew you to writing about the stars?

I’ve always really loved the stars. I’m afraid it’s not a particularly profound answer. Stars have always had the ability to enslave me. Growing up in Bahrain, I never saw starry nights unless I was away from home. We barely see any constellations. I can still remember the first time I saw the sky lit up with stars. I fell in love. In St Andrews, when I would be at the very outskirts of town, the light pollution would be so low that it was almost nonexistent. I’ve never seen such a gorgeous starry night. The memory of that lived with me for a long time, and most of the poems written about stars were written about my experiences while living in Scotland.

There are many references to painting and painters in the collection, as well. Your poem ‘The Painters and I’ imagines how famous painters would paint your portrait and ‘I Want to Feel Van Gogh’s Night’ vividly evokes a Van Gogh painting. Do you have a background in visual art and how does it inspire your poetry?

I both do and don’t. I do in the sense that I was very interested and very involved in visual arts as a teenager, creating many small- and large-scale paintings ranging from oil paints to acrylics, pastels and various mixed media, including sculpture. It was something I enjoyed very much and was an essential part of my life. That said, it’s not actively part of my life now except through photography, so it feels a little fraudulent to continue to say I’m also a visual artist, although I do hope to return to it.

 Finally, do you have a favorite poem or lines from the collection?

Oh, that’s not a particularly easy question to answer. Cupid’s Rage is definitely a favourite, considering I named the collection after the poem. There was something about the moment straight after writing the line ‘a modern pair of star-fucked lovers’ that has meant it’s stayed a favourite for a long time. I’m also very partial to Regard Me Sadly, Roadside Flowers and Green Fields.

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Laala Kashef Alghata (b. 1990) is an Iraqi-Bahraini poet. She graduated from the University of St Andrews, having studied English Literature and Psychology. She currently works as a journalist in Bahrain. Her debut, a middle-grade novel called Friendship in Knots, made her the first Bahraini to publish a book in English and, at 13, the youngest (at the time) to publish a book. Her second book, a poetry and prose collection, Behind the Mask: A Folded Heart, was published in 2006. Cupid’s Rage, a new collection of poems, is out now. You can get a copy here.

Website: http://laala.co

Twitter: @itslaala

I’m thrilled to share that I’ve been shortlisted for Bold Types: Scottish Women’s Creative Writing Competition, which is an annual writing contest run through Glasgow Women’s Library. This event is part of Book Week Scotland 2015, a week-long celebration of books and reading that takes place 23rd-29th November.

Tuesday November 24th (aka TONIGHT!), the shortlisted writers from prose and poetry categories (my category is prose) will be reading their stories aloud in front of an audience, GWL staff and judges at the Competition Showcase. After that, the winners will be announced. Anyone is welcome to come along to the event!

Bold Types Writing Competition Showcase

Where: Glasgow Women’s Library (23 Landressy Street, Glasgow G40 1BP

When: 5:30-7:30 pm

Price: 4£/Free (GWL offers free subsidised places for students, people on a low income, unemployed or those in receipt of benefit and Friends of GWL).

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be joining the Scottish Poetry Library team as part of their brand new Ambassadors program. The poet Katie Ailes  and I will be sharing information about the library on social media and also bringing you news about poetry events happening all over Scotland. You can follow us on Twitter at @SPL_Ambassadors and follow the Poetry Library at @ByLeavesWeLive.

What is the Scottish Poetry Library, you ask?? Well, it’s a pretty great place…

The SPL is an awesome national resource and an advocate for the art of poetry. It is one of three poetry libraries in the UK and their mission is to bring the pleasures and benefits of poetry to as wide an audience as possible. They do this in lots of different ways including:

• Housing an extensive lending library (from books to CDS to literary journals)
• Podcast interviews with poets
• Events at the library (featuring local poets and those from across the world)
• Reading groups
• Engaging in interesting projects (such as Tools of the Trade, a pocket-sized anthology of poems edited by and for doctors).
• Any poetry-related inquiries you have (such as tracking down a ‘lost poem’, if you can only remember a few lines of it, or helping you chose a poem for a special occasion like a wedding!)

In short, the library is much more than a physical space. It’s an important organization that shares poetry with everybody.

I’ve also had a chance to get a sneak peak inside the newly renovated library building in Edinburgh and y’all, it’s beautiful! The space is bright and airy and I could happily have spent hours getting lost amongst the shelves.

So come visit or get in touch. See you at the Scottish Poetry Library!

At the start of this year, I set myself a task. I was going to read 50 books in 2015. Perhaps that doesn’t seem like a lot to you but, for me, that’s considerably more than normal. Despite the fact that I read pretty constantly, I’m not a fast reader and my course often demands a lot of time reading and commenting on other students’ work.

Right now, I’m about mid-way through my goal, according to Goodreads. Thus far, my little task really has inspired me to read more and, most importantly, to finish books, not just stack them up and balance mugs of tea on them! Here are three of my favorites I read this summer. If you know me, the chances are I’ve probably recommended one (or all) of these three books to you already. It’s because they’re beautiful. And I love them.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Look, it even has the word ‘beautiful’ in the title! This is magical realism, so fans of Gabriel Garcia Marquez rejoice. I absolutely adored this family saga about a girl in Seattle, Washington who is born with wings.

It’s full of evocative descriptions of the rain-soaked Seattle landscape, a trio of strong and complicated heroines and, my personal favorite, lots of descriptions of food! One of the characters owns a bakery and I pretty much wanted bread every time I read this. For fans of magical realism, I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It’s a haunting story about how love shapes, breaks and ultimately saves our lives.

 The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

If you’ve been into a UK bookstore in the last year, chances are you’ve seen The Miniaturist. I thought I’d see what the hype was about and I must say I wasn’t disappointed. This is historical fiction, set in 17^th century Amsterdam about a new bride who starts to receive strange gifts from a mysterious miniaturist (miniaturist = person who builds tiny things), gifts that seem to oddly mirror her reality…

It’s an interesting premise and this one was one hell of a page-turner! Like a Victorian sensation novel, it’s packed with secrets behind every nook and cranny. Obviously I won’t tell you what any of them are but I will tell you that I was moved to tears on multiple occasions when reading this book. The era is vividly evoked (once again, lots of great descriptions of food!) and it’s a compelling feminist tale. I think it’s rare for a book to be this well written AND this page turn-y (yes, that’s a phrase now). Highly recommended.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I have no words for how much I adore this book. Usually when I try to describe it to people, just strange, garbled syllables of joy come out.

This is a historical epic, the likes of which I’ve not encountered since I read Les Misérables (one of my favorite books ever – even if Victor Hugo does spend an absurd amount of time telling you about the Parisian sewer system).

It’s set during WWII and centers on two children: Marie-Laure, the blind daughter of a renowned Parisian locksmith, and Werner, a German orphan, whose remarkable intelligence brings him to the attention of the Hitler Youth.

Told in gorgeous vignettes, what I loved about this book wasn’t just its vivid, visual writing style but its celebration of learning and education. I also adored the noble, flawed, brave and clever characters at its center: Marie-Laure and Werner. It’s often compared to The Book Thief, another of my favorite books, but while the WWII setting and plots have a few similarities, tonally they’re very distinct.

This book really is something special. If I had to pick a favorite that I’ve read this whole year, it’s gotta be this one. Oh yeah, it also won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction so one or two other people seem to agree with me.

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What were your favorite books this summer? You’ve seen how I love magical realism and historical fiction, so any recommendations within those genres would be extra appreciated!

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has been over for a few days now and I’ve been reflecting on last month’s adventures. I’ve also been sleeping forever, cleaning flyers out of my bag and eating ALL THE VEGETABLES.

Before this summer, I’d been to the Fringe as an actor, a punter and a guest performer at last year’s Loud Poets show. However this is the first year that I’ve been really, REALLY involved in that manic, overwhelming, inspiring medley of theatre, music, comedy and more that overtakes Edinburgh once a year. I joined the Loud Poets for eight nights of their festival run at the Storytelling Center and I had the pleasure of writing for Broadway Baby magazine, the largest reviewing publication at the Fringe. Balancing the two jobs wasn’t always easy, but I enjoyed my different roles, both on and off the stage.

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The Loud Poets Fringe show was so slick, so smooth, so energetic and so much fun to be a part of. Not only did we receive great feedback from audiences each night after the show, we also got awesome reviews, standing ovations and even won a new fan in Phill Jupitus, who went out drinking with us after one of the shows! I had a great time goofing off with the other poets backstage and getting to know them better. Who knew that the poet Catherine Wilson was as fervent a fan of The Great British Bake-Off as I am?

Another cool thing that happened was that my poem, 50 Shades, a poetic response to 50 Shades of Grey by E.L James, was actually nominated for Best Poem at the Edinburgh Festivals. I joined the likes of Don Patterson and a few fellow Loud Poets. In the end, the award went to my friend Kevin McLean, one of the Loud Poets, for his raw, moving poem ‘Evelyn’ which he wrote in the aftermath of his mother’s death. I was really proud of him; it’s a beautiful piece.

Overall my favorite aspect of performing was chatting with audience members after the show. One girl I met told me that her sister didn’t like poetry at all before seeing my 50 Shades poem and that poem changed her mind. Wow! I started tearing up when she told me that. I’m glad that our show has helped to demonstrate that poetry is as diverse as any other art form. I hope it encouraged people to go forth, to seek out more poetry and to write it themselves.

Being part of a poetry collective was lovely because these guys really support each other. When I was ill one evening, someone happily stepped in. When someone else was upset after a gig that didn’t go as well as they wanted, we rallied behind them. It was a really great experience that I’m sure stage actors can relate to. To share the stage with people fosters something special: a unique blend of camaraderie, playfulness, support and trust.

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When I wasn’t on stage ranting about E.L James, I was writing feature articles for Broadway Baby as their Poetry Correspondent. I only wrote features (no reviewing for me!), so I had the opportunity to chat with many diverse artists about their shows. It was interesting noticing trends in some of the interviews. For example, a lot of these artists were responding to the recent re-election of a conservative government in the UK. I also noticed an emphasis on creative collaboration in many of my interviews: see Jenny Lindsay’s discussion of working on a team with SHIFT and how Jemima Foxtrot and Paula Varjack worked with directors to develop their solo shows. The more I chatted with these artists, the more I understood that there’s no such thing as a ‘solo show’.

Other miscellaneous lessons that I learned during the festival:

-Everything will be more expensive in Edinburgh. Even some of your favorite cafes or bars that aren’t directly affiliated with the festival.

-Word of mouth is a powerful thing. If you like something, recommend it! Share it on social media. It’s a great tool when people are wading through so many thousands of shows.

-Always carry around a bit of toilet roll or tissues in your bag. Is it just me or were all the toilet cubicles always out?!!

-Last, but not least, don’t beat yourself up about not seeing everything you wanted to see. For me, there were SO MANY things I wanted to see but didn’t have a chance to. I think that’s normal? In the end, I did catch a lot of shows and, hey, there’s always next year!

For a full list of the articles I wrote for Broadway Baby, see here.

You can also listen to an interview with me, Doug Garry and Catherine Wilson on Radio Saltire about Loud Poets.

We’re over halfway through the Edinburgh Fringe, how is everyone holding up? I know that I’ve been having a wonderful time: interviewing incredible performance poets, performing myself with the Loud Poets at the Storytelling Center and generally just filling my brain with all kinds of great comedy, theatre and more!

Tomorrow (Thursday August 20th) I’ve got an event coming up as part of the Edinburgh Book Fringe, which welcomes writers and activists from around the world for readings and discussions! I’ll be performing some pieces from my chapbook, Grown Up Poetry Needs to Leave Me Alone, alongside the poet MACGILLVRAY. According to her bio, Macgillvray has: ‘walked in a straight line with a dead wolf on her shoulders through the back streets of Vegas into the Nevada desert, eaten broken chandelier glass in a derelict East German shopping mall’. So this is gonna be fun!!

Edinburgh Book Fringe, 2015

Thursday 20 August 2015 at 1.00pm

Venue:
Word Power Books
43-45 West Nicolson Street
Edinburgh
EH8 9DB
Scotland

FREE EVENT. 

For more info., check out the Word Power website.

 

Hope that everyone is as excited as I am about the upcoming Edinburgh Fringe Festival! I’ll be involved in the festival in a variety of ways and ONE of those is performing with the fantastic poetry collective, Loud Poets, at their show at the Storytelling Center!

LOUD POETS deliver slam-style, make some noise, fist-thumping, pint-drinking, side-tickling, heart-wrenching poetry. Featuring the best spoken word artists from Scotland and beyond. Performing with a live band, meaning an exciting, different show every night. I’ll be joining them for eight nights in total.

‘the most talented and engaging poetry collective to grace the Fringe in a long time.’ ★★★★★ (TVBomb)

‘High-octane, high-volume: hijacks attention and slams boredom.’ ★★★★★ (ninemorethannone.com)

Loud Poets at the Edinburgh Fringe

August 6-31st (If you’d like to see me perform, I’ll be there on August 8th, 10th, 13th, 17th, 25-26th and 28-29th), 9-10 pm, Scottish Storytelling Center on the Royal Mile (43-45 High Street), Edinburgh

Full Price – £10.00
Concession £8.00
Reduced price Preview on Thu 6 Aug
2for1 on Mon 10 & Tue 11

Grab yer tickets here and check out the Facebook event here.