Call for Papers – TOIL & TROUBLE: Towards A Responsible Witchcraft

October 6th, 2020

October adventures (49)Toil & Trouble: Towards A Responsible Witchcraft, ed. Dr Alice Tarbuck & Dr Claire Askew
Call for Papers

In 2018, we (Drs Alice Tarbuck and Claire Askew) created the six-week short course Toil & Trouble: Towards A Responsible Witchcraft, in response to the explosion of witchcraft themes and aesthetics in fashion, popular culture and on social media. We welcomed this growing interest in witchcraft and magic, but were troubled by some of the unexamined witch-related content we were seeing. Too often, depictions of witches – and indeed some contemporary witchcraft practices – perpetuate harmful racist, colonialist and culturally appropriative narratives. Gender essentialism crops up often in witchcraft circles. The proliferation by large companies and mass media of witchcraft as a trend (“#witchgoals”) raises troubling questions about the relationship between witchcraft and capitalism, and the effects of witchcraft practices on our natural world. The Toil & Trouble course sought to contexualise the contemporary witch-aesthetic boom by examining the witch’s long, fraught history; and by teaching simple, ethical witchcraft practices to those interested in a more responsible witchcraft.

Two years on, we want to create an anthology of essays on the subject of responsible witchcraft in the contemporary world. We want to collate a broad, diverse and much-needed resource by gathering submissions from experts and long term practitioners. We will prioritise submissions from Black and Indigenous writers, writers of colour, LGBTQIA+ writers, disabled writers, working class writers, and anyone who lives and works at the intersections between these. We encourage you to interpret “witchcraft” broadly: it is intended as a catch-all term encompassing occult practices and magics of all kinds. You will find a non-exhaustive list of suggested topics below.

Publication and fees:

We are currently seeking a publisher for this anthology, and cannot at this stage guarantee a specific fee. However, we will not be asking anyone to contribute for free, and will not enter into a publishing contract unless a fee for contributors is guaranteed. We hope that the book will be produced in print by a traditional publisher – please note that this is not a crowdfunding project.

To submit:

Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words by 23rd October 2020 by email to asktoilandtrouble@gmail.com
Full essays will not be sought until such time as a publisher comes on board. We will ensure that selected contributors are given at least four weeks’ notice of the deadline for final submissions.

Suggested topics:

– Witchcraft and race
– Witchcraft and cultural appropriation / colonialism
– Witchcraft and class
– Witchcraft and disability
– Witchcraft and the environment
– Witchcraft and gender
– Witchcraft and mental health / self care
– Witchcraft and capitalism
– Witchcraft and bodies / the body / the Body Politic
– Witchcraft and social media

About the editors:

Dr Alice Tarbuck is the author of A Spell in the Wild: A Year and Six Centuries of Magic (Two Roads, 2020), the poetry collection Grid and an academic based in Edinburgh. Her work on witchcraft has been featured in 404 Ink’s Nasty Women, the Dangerous Women Project, and she runs Toil and Trouble, a witchcraft course. She has been invited to speak on witchcraft as feminist practice by the Magickal Women Conference, Scottish PEN and by Freedom TV. Additionally, she has taught workshops for the National Library of Scotland, the Scottish Poetry Library and further afield. When she was born, a white wizard came to her house to bless her, and this, she suspects, is where the trouble started.

Dr Claire Askew is a writer, teacher and solitary witch. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh, and has been a Jessie Kesson Fellow and the University of Edinburgh Writer in Residence. Her books include the poetry collection This changes things (Bloodaxe, 2016), creative writing guide Novelista (John Murray, 2020), and the award-winning novel All The Hidden Truths (Hodder & Stoughton, 2018). She has written about witchcraft and witchcraft history for The Dangerous Women Project, Amelia’s Magazine and The Herald, among others.

Call for submissions: Forest Publishing celebrates 20 years of Forest!

June 30th, 2020

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^ The Forest Cafe’s current location, photographed by me in 2014.

Hello friends!

One of the few nice happenings of the past few weeks is this: I recently became a trustee of Forest, the legendary arts co-operative that’s been providing grassroots support for artists and writers in Edinburgh since 2000. If you’ve been around for ages, then you’ll remember me talking about how important Forest is here. If it weren’t for Forest and the bloody fantastic poet and all-round excellent human Ryan Van Winkle (one of its founding directors), I might never have made it in the weird and wild world of writing!

Part of my trustee role has been revitalising Forest Publishing, the publishing arm of the collective, in time to celebrate Forest’s 20th birthday. I’m delighted to say that the first of a series of anniversary publications is going to be an anthology of creative writing by… well, anyone. That means YOU, if you’d like to submit! All the details are below and you get one month to perfect your poems, stories, or flash pieces.

I look forward to reading your work! :)

Forest Publishing

Call for submissions: Forest 20/20/20

Forest is 20 in 2020! As part of the birthday celebrations, Forest Publishing will create a series of DIY chapbooks full of poems, stories, flash and artwork. These will be limited edition publications, hand made in short runs and produced as a series so readers can eventually collect them all!

Our first chapbook will be an anthology of poetry, flash and stories.

Submissions are open to absolutely everyone!

Send us your previously unpublished / un-broadcast writing on the theme of PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE.

Interpret the theme however you like!

There’s no limit on word or line count, but we may favour shorter pieces in order to fit more good stuff in our chapbook.

    We are particularly keen to receive submissions from Black and indigenous writers, writers of colour, LGBTQIA+ writers and disabled writers.

Send your submissions to forestpublishing20@gmail.com by 5pm on Friday 31st July

What is Forest?

We are a volunteer-run, collectively-owned, free arts and events project that has existed in Edinburgh (and elsewhere) since 2000. We run a free-to-access café/gallery/performance space for people to get involved in any creative activity imaginable. Our events have included music, theatre, dancing, yoga, massage, poetry recitals, art displays, knit-ins, book tours, language teaching, monsterbike making…and plenty more. We’re always on the lookout for new events and ideas, even when they take us to space.

Our aims are:

To enable greater access to all forms of the performing arts

To provide opportunities to learn and develop skills

To increase access to art

To facilitate the development of artists’ work and skills

To build co-operation and cultural understanding

Find out more at theforest.org.uk and on #Forest202020

In 2019, I…

December 8th, 2019

Thank You
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Hello there. Yes, it’s me. I’m still around these parts every so often, though I am shocked to see I haven’t posted in over a year.

I’m here to talk about gratitude.

Every year for eight years, I wrote a post entitled “In [year], I…”, and posted it here.
(Although I’ve archived 90% of ONS’s content — spanning 13 years! — you can still see those posts here: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.)
Each one was a chronicle of my year, of the things I’d achieved, and how I felt about them.

I didn’t do one of these posts in 2016: the year I published my first ever book and did loads of other things besides. Though the year started well (the book came out in January), by the end of it I was deep in the grip of depression and anxiety. Donald Trump had been elected, the British public had voted for Brexit, and I honestly thought the world was going to end. I didn’t know it then, but my relationship (of six years) wouldn’t last the first quarter of 2017 (my own fault). By March, I’d have run out of freelance work, and would find myself needing to move out of my ex’s house, along with all my worldly possessions. Though I wasn’t consciously aware this was coming, I remember sitting by myself in my living room, in the dark, on Christmas Eve, listening to the Carols from Kings carol service on the radio and crying bitterly. I did know I wasn’t in a good way. Writing a grateful, celebratory end-of-year post was just out of the question. I didn’t do it, and then because I’d broken the chain, I didn’t do a 2017 post or a 2018 post either.

You have no idea how much I regret that now. Imagine if I’d had an unbroken run of posts spanning eleven whole years?

I regret it for another reason, though.
I realise now that I fell totally out of the habit of being grateful.

(Those of you who’ve followed this blog for a long time will remember that I also used to do weekly gratitude posts on Thursdays, of which only one hasn’t been archived now — this was an error I think, but I’ll leave it there anyway.)

For half of 2017, all of 2018, and most of 2019, I was in therapy. I was surviving — and then I was recovering from — a long spell of mental ill health and emotional upheaval. At the same time, incredible things were happening in my professional life: 2017 was a truly life changing year. Selling All The Hidden Truths set in motion a chain of events that moved so fast I could barely see straight, let alone take stock. I knew what was happening to me professionally was amazing, but I struggled to process any of it — for almost two whole years — because I was busy trying to get things back on track emotionally. People kept saying things like, “you must be SO HAPPY!”, and I’d nod and bluster along. It was great, it was great, I knew it was great — but for a really long time I couldn’t feel the greatness, because I was too busy having to feel so many other things. Gratitude was in the mix, but it wasn’t important enough to be at the forefront, because jostling for position were other, bigger things like learning to trust my new partner, learning how to set new boundaries, or learning not to catastrophise everything to the point where I assumed the world was going to end.

And, as Oprah and Brene Brown and all these other smart and worthy folk are constantly telling us: gratitude is a practice, like going to the gym and working a muscle.
If you don’t use it, you lose it.

I have not done enough gratitude practice over these past two years. I’m well enough now to see that. All the other noise has died down, and I can see for the first time what a sorry state my gratitude is in. The muscle has withered, friends. And now that’s the problem, that’s what’s contributing to the new and ever-changing mental health stuff I’m grappling with.

(Just to add: there was another reason I wasn’t openly SUPER GRATEFUL for the massive blessings that came my way in 2017 and 2018. Underneath all the noise, I was also aware of a thin seam of worry about looking braggy. I didn’t want people to think who does she think she is, the Queen of Sheba? That insecurity was fed, of course, by the fact that my mental health was on the floor. I’m back up off that floor and now realise that anyone who looks at someone else talking about their achievements — especially if that someone is a woman — and thinks “she’s just up herself” IS A JERK. A jerk who needs to go away and look at their own life to figure out what’s making them feel that insecure and inadequate. There’s enough pie to go round, and seeing someone else getting a big juicy slice ought only to serve as an illustration of that. PIE ALL ROUND.)

So here goes. Here are all the amazing, unexpected, unusual, cool and downright great things that happened to me in 2019. I am so grateful for all of them.

In 2019, I…

* started the New Year as I meant to go on: with an amazing solo writing retreat in York, where I wrote the very first words of Cover Your Tracks, my third novel.

* took on a fantastic freelance contract with the Edinburgh International Book Festival — the final major Scottish literature organisation that I hadn’t yet worked for! — as their Schools Writer in Residence for the Citizen Project.

* proof-read and sent off the FINAL FINAL FINAL draft of What You Pay For, aka the ‘difficult second novel’

* went into the final semester of my two-year contract as Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh. As an eighteen year old undergrad, I used to attend workshops with then-WiR Brian McCabe, and think, “one day, I want to do this job.” It still blows my mind on the reg to know that I made that happen.

* I continued on with several of the freelance teaching gigs I love dearly: leading Write Like A Grrrl! courses and Golden Hare Writers workshops at the beautiful Golden Hare Books.

* helped my lovely partner Dom to bring his established spoken word night, Listen Softly, to Edinburgh from London. Over the course of this year we’ve attracted standing-room-only crowds and booked some truly incredible performers. We also produced a beautiful and hopeful anthology, Luminous, defiant! In February 2020 we’ll celebrate one year of listening softly in Edinburgh.

* bagged a week’s writing residency at the gorgeous Moniack Mhor — it was incredible to get to go back exactly two years after my month-long stint there as the winner of the 2017 Jessie Kesson Fellowship. I spent a whole week writing poems while it snowed outside, and it was blissful.

* launched the paperback edition of All The Hidden Truths. Full disclosure: April/May was HARD. Right before the paperback was due to drop (so, basically the worst possible moment) my entire publishing team just happened to find new jobs — literally, within two weeks of each other. It really was the weirdest fluke! My new editor wasn’t appointed for a further five months, and it was a scary, lonely and difficult time. I still wonder how it affected the book and how things might have been had it not happened. But the book came out, and I was grateful for all the support I received from readers. I’m especially grateful to Waterstones in Scotland, who made All The Hidden Truths their book club choice as part of the paperback release, and who booked me for events in Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee and Inverness, and even took me out for a lovely dinner with all their Glasgow booksellers! It made such a difference at a tricky time.

* finished work on my second poetry collection — thanks largely to that precious Moniack week — having had to put poetry aside for such a long time as fiction literally took over my life. I’m delighted to say that the collection was accepted for publication by Bloodaxe Books — it’s called Break & Closure, and it’ll be out in 2021.

* was a Hatchards Author of the Year (link to an incredible retro 90s Tatler article about this accolade)! And got to go to the extremely swank Authors of the Year reception where I fangirled over Anna Burns, who was wearing seriously cool shoes.

* helped run a frenetic and very fun day-long festival for ~80 teenagers at North Edinburgh Arts as part of the ongoing Citizen Project. Creating a giant collaborative poem on the floor of the main theatre was an experience I will NEVER forget.

* IAN RANKIN READ MY NOVEL AND TWEETED TO SAY IT WAS “METICULOUS AND COMPELLING” AND I MADE AN EXTREMELY HIGH-PITCHED NOISE IN PUBLIC

* I went on a bloody amazing For Books’ Sake writing retreat, led by the GREAT Jane Bradley, hit 50k words on Cover Your Tracks, and realised for the first time that I might just be able to write this god damn book. Maybe. Possibly.

* launched What You Pay For in the midst of EDINBURGH FRINGE MADNESS. People seemed to quite like it — indeed the Scotsman liked it so much that they made it one of their Books of 2019. Apple Books did too!

* SOMEHOW co-ordinated a two-day takeover of the Edinburgh International Book Festival Schools Programme by the Citizen teenagers, topped off by a spectacular showcase of all the work made by Citizen participants over the course of the project. I then stepped back from Citizen because MY LIFE IS, AS YOU SEE, VERY FULL OF THINGS, but I wrote a retrospective about my year right here. It was SO GOOD.

* appeared at Granite Noir, the Edinburgh International Book Festival (for the third consecutive year!), and Bloody Scotland (for the second!)…

* …and while at Bloody Scotland, I only went and won the inaugural McIlvanney Debut Crime Fiction Prize for All The Hidden Truths! Presented to me by Richard Osman!? And then I met DAVID BALDACCI?!? And walked at the front of the annual torchlight procession??!!! MY MIND IS STILL BLOWN. I am SO GRATEFUL.

* helped my lovely, supportive, long-suffering parents celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary!

* went on the holiday I’ve been dreaming about since I was ten years old and first saw the movie Hocus Pocus: Dom and I spent two weeks in Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, USA! I went in EVERY WITCHY STORE and took about five billion photos of incredible Halloween themed, pumpkin-bedecked houses — you can see the whole lot on my Instagram!

* met a brand new tiny human in the form of Dom’s cutie-butt of a nephew, baby Alfie!

* did my usual tour of Scotland’s libraries and community spaces for Book Week Scotland: six days, six events, five local authorities and 342 miles covered. Thank you so much to the organisers who booked me and the many readers who came to hear me speak in Stockbridge, Dunshalt, Granton, Bishopbriggs, Coatbridge and Kelso!

* brought ‘witch school’ back to Edinburgh with the help of Dr Alice Tarbuck, who is the Batman to my Robin. Toil & Trouble: towards a responsible witchcraft is perhaps the coolest teaching gig I’ve ever done? We’ve got day workshops coming in 2020, too!

* just recently signed up to become the new tutor of Write Here, a seven-week novel writing course based in Edinburgh. Come and join me in 2020 for taught seminars, workshopping and one-to-ones, plus a session with a real live literary agent!

* finished — days ago! — the copyedit on Cover Your Tracks. My third novel is finished! And it’ll be in the world in February 2021! I DID IT AGAIN, FOLKS! I don’t think I’ll ever not be amazed.

* was fortunate enough — most importantly — to spend another year surrounded by the best, most brilliant, most supportive, kindest friends and family members a girl could hope for. I feel so lucky to have so many incredible people in my life: grrrls, witches, wise women, writers, and just damn fine pals. I hope you all know who you are. To Dom and Nick especially: I love you guys so much.

Here’s to gratitude, here’s to doing ALL THE THINGS, here’s to taking time to notice and appreciate them, and HERE’S TO 2020!

Now you! What are YOU grateful for from 2019?

Book Week Scotland x All The Hidden Truths: a tour of Scottish FE colleges!

November 6th, 2018

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Photo by Lewis Khan

Rebel Claire Askew embarks on Scottish student tour for Book Week Scotland

Book Week Scotland 2018 runs from 19 November to 25 November

#BookWeekScotland

Rebellious, award winning Scottish author Claire Askew will embark on a tour for Scottish students as part of Book Week Scotland.

Appearing in six colleges across east and central Scotland over five days, members of the public are also welcomed at a number of the events. Last year Book Week Scotland, organised by Scottish Book Trust, toured colleges in the west and south of Scotland. This year, Scottish Book Trust will visit Newbattle Abbey College, Perth College, Fife College, West Lothian College, Edinburgh College and Forth Valley College.

Claire Askew is a poet, novelist and the current Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh. Her debut novel, All the Hidden Truths, was the winner of the 2016 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, and longlisted for the 2014 Peggy Chapman-Andrews (Bridport) Novel Award. Claire holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh and has won a variety of accolades for her work, including the Jessie Kesson Fellowship and a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award.

Her debut poetry collection, This changes things, was published in 2016 and shortlisted for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award and a Saltire First Book Award. In 2016 Claire was selected as a Scottish Book Trust Reading Champion, and she works as the Scotland tutor for women’s writing initiatives Write Like A Grrrl! and #GrrrlCon.

Claire is passionate about working as a writer in communities in Scotland, particularly with marginalised or hard-to-reach groups and young adults. In her books Claire tackles tough themes like violent misogyny and nuanced characters and events, shining a light on difficult topics.

Working with a wide range of partners, Scottish Book Trust – the national charity changing lives through reading and writing – will deliver events and activities across the country during Book Week Scotland 2018, which runs from 19 November to 25 November, linked to this year’s theme of Rebel.

During Book Week Scotland there are hundreds of free events taking place across many different local authorities, funded by Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC).

Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “Claire Askew is a writer that embodies the rebellious theme of this year’s Book Week Scotland. Tackling tough topics that are often on the edge of taboo, Claire is an important voice in Scottish literature and represents the importance of literature as an outlet to explore difficult and complex issues. Scottish Book Trust is delighted to bring this tour to colleges, and the potential next generation of writers, as part of Book Week Scotland.”

Claire Askew said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be going on a tour of some of Scotland’s FE colleges this Book Week Scotland! I worked as a further education lecturer for five years, and know what vibrant, essential places our colleges are. Books can take us to all sorts of places – they can provide an escape into magical worlds, they can make us smile and lift our mood, or help us think differently about the world. My novel, All The Hidden Truths, aims to get readers thinking about how we respond to tragedy: as individuals and as communities. I know that the students I’ll meet during Book Week Scotland will have a great deal to bring to these conversations, and I can’t wait to talk with them.”

Full tour schedule:

Monday 19th November

9:30am to 11:00am, Newbattle Abbey College, Newbattle Rd, Newbattle, Dalkeith EH22 3LL
Unticketed, more info here!

2:30pm to 4:00pm, Perth College, Crieff Rd, Perth PH1 2NX
Book tickets here!

Wednesday 21st November

Fife College (students only)

Thursday 22nd November

9:30am to 11:00am, West Lothian College, Almondvale Cres, Livingston EH54 7EP
Unticketed, more info here!

Edinburgh College (students only)

Friday 23rd November

9:30am to 11:00am, Forth Valley College, 1 Devon Rd, Alloa FK10 1PX
Unticketed, more info here!

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If you are interested in an interview with Claire Askew or would like a reporter or photographer to attend one of the events please contact Keara.Donnachie@scottishbooktrust.com or call 0131 524 0184.

Scottish Book Trust is a national charity changing lives through reading and writing. We inspire and support the people of Scotland to read and write for pleasure though programmes and outreach work that include:

• Gifting books to every child in Scotland to ensure families of all backgrounds can share the joy of books at home.
• Working with teachers to inspire children to develop a love of reading, creating innovative classroom activities, book awards and author events.
• Supporting Scotland’s diverse writing community with our training, awards and writing opportunities.
• Funding a range of author events for the public to enjoy and promoting Scottish writing to people worldwide.

www.scottishbooktrust.com @scottishbktrust www.facebook.com/scottishbktrust

For more information about Book Week Scotland, visit www.bookweekscotland.com. Follow @Bookweekscot on Twitter, check out #bookweekscotland or like the Book Week Scotland Facebook page.

Creative Scotland

In addition to general fundraising, Scottish Book Trust receives Creative Scotland support through Regular Funding. Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information about Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com. Follow us @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland

The Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) is the independent advisory body to the Scottish Government on library and information services. It leads the implementation of Ambition and Opportunity: A strategy for public libraries in Scotland 2015–2020, develops innovative projects like Film Education in Libraries and provides support for libraries in the form of advocacy, consultation and research. It administers Scottish Government funding for public libraries (Public Library Improvement Fund), for school libraries (School Libraries Improvement Fund) and funding for the wider library and information sector (Innovation and Development Fund). It supports public libraries to participate in Book Week Scotland by providing Scottish Book Trust with event funding for every public library service and Further Education College Libraries.

All The Hidden Truths Tour! + forthcoming events

July 11th, 2018

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Hey friends! This is a list of THINGS I will be doing this summer / autumn… things that involve words I have written and opportunities for you to listen to them. It’s mostly to do with the launch of All The Hidden Truths (pre-order and I might just love you forever), but I’ve also thrown in some poetry events, too!
This list will be updated as more events are added, so watch this space!

Thursday 12th July: The Riff Raff
Effra Social, London
Full details and tickets here.

Friday 3rd August: Belladrum Festival
Belladum Estate, nr Inverness
Full details and tickets here.

Tuesday 14th August & Wednesday 15th August
Listen Softly Edinburgh

Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh
This is the Edinburgh Fringe Festival special outing for the night usually known as Listen Softly London. Join Dominic Stevenson and I as we introduce an amazing line up of features, new voices, and an open mic! Starts both nights at 6.45pm and is FREE to attend. Come along on the night or keep an eye on the SPL website to book yourself a ticket!

Thursday 16th August: That’s What She Said at The Fringe
Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh
Full details and tickets here.

Friday 17th August: Poetry’s New Guard
(in conversation with Zaffar Kunial)
Edinburgh International Book Festival
Full details and tickets here.

Saturday 18th August: All The Hidden Truths Edinburgh launch!
(with Golden Hare Books!)
Customs House, Edinburgh
Full details and tickets here.

Sunday 19th August: Crime Debuts To Die For
(in conversation with Alan Parks)
Edinburgh International Book Festival
Full details and tickets here.

Thursday 23rd August: All The Hidden Truths Glasgow launch!
Waterstones Argyle St, Glasgow
Full details and tickets here.

Thursday 30th August: All The Hidden Truths goes to the Borders
Main Street Books, St Boswells
Full details and tickets here.

Thursday 6th September: That’s What She Said
Tribeca, Manchester
Full details and tickets here.

Saturday 15th September: Killer Debuts
Noirwich Crime Writing Festival
Full details and tickets here.

Tuesday 18th September: All The Hidden Truths goes to Linlithgow
Far From The Madding Crowd Books
Details here. Free entry!

Wednesday 19th September: All The Hidden Truths goes to Carlisle
Cakes & Ale (Bookcase Bookshop)
Full details and tickets here.

Saturday 22nd September: All The Hidden Truths
Wigtown Book Festival
Full details and tickets here.

Saturday 22nd September: Ready, Set, Write!
Wigtown Book Festival
Full details here: free for under 26s!

Sunday 23rd September: Crime in the Spotlight
Bloody Scotland
Full details and tickets here.

Lots more to come, so keep an eye out!

Meanwhile, you can pre-order All The Hidden Truths on Amazon, Hive, Book Depository, Audible, or by visiting your local bookshop and asking them to order a copy in for you (this would be the best option, by the way!). You can also leave a review on Amazon, NetGalley or GoodReads in order to earn my eternal gratitude. Happy reading!

Where is Claire? AUGUST MADNESS edition

July 30th, 2017

The Flint & Pitch Revue #6
Photo by Chris Scott

August is almost upon us, and every Edinburgh resident knows what that means. MADNESS IS ABOUT TO DESCEND. But also gigs. Lots of them.

Listen Softly Edinburgh
Friday 11th August, 6pm – 8pm
Forest Cafe (Tollcross Junction)

Okay, I am really glad this one is the first event I get to put under your eyeballs, because I REALLY want it to go well! I AM MAKING ANOTHER FORAY INTO POETRY PROMOTING, friends, after a long hiatus (I must have forgotten how stressful it is again), and this is the first dipping-of-my-toes-into-the-water. I’m teaming up with the inimitable Dom Stevenson of Listen Softly London, to deliver a one-off LSL-style Edinburgh event for the Fringe. However, if all goes well I’m hoping to turn LSE into a semi-regular thing. So call this a pilot phase, if you will…
There’ll be poems from the brilliant Theresa Munoz, Colin McGuire and Laura Rae — one other feature TBC! You might get the odd poem out of Dom and I, too. AND, there are five open mic slots up for grabs, which YOU could read in if you email claire@onenightstanzas.com and ask me to put your name in the hat!
The Facebook event is here — please come along, bring friends, help me fill the Forest and convince me that becoming a promoter again is in fact a good idea…

She Grrrowls
Monday 14th August, 7.20pm
Black Market (venue 399)

“London’s favourite feminist arts night”, says the Facebook event, “bringing you a night of the best women in spoken word, mixed in with some music and comedy. There are new features every night and you can give us your best growl with the all-inclusive open mic!” I’ll be one of three feature readers at this — the others are Katie Pritchard and Beth Hunt. I’m also hoping to be sharing the stage with some pals as part of the open mic! Come along!

Political Poetry with Andy Jackson and WN Herbert
Tuesday 15th August, 12.30pm
Edinburgh International Book Festival, Bosco Theatre (George Street)

Andy and Bill are the brains behind some of the best anthologies of Scottish literature to happen lately: most recently, they edited New Boots and Pantisocracies, which started out as a daily blog and then became a fantastic book. I’m honoured to have been picked from among the contributors to read my contribution at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. This one’s ticketed but well worth the ticket price! And perfect for your midweek lunchtime…

Edinburgh, City of Poetry with Russell Jones and Claire Askew
Thursday 17th August, 12.30pm
Edinburgh International Book Festival, Bosco Theatre (George Street)

So, yaknow I helped the lovely Russell Jones to edit that wee book of Edinburgh poems and stories, Umbrellas of Edinburgh, recently? Well we’ve only gone and bagged ourselves a Book Festival event! Come along and hear Russell and I introduce work by the geniuses that are Harry Giles, Jane Yolen, Finola Scott and Marjorie Lotfi Gill. There’ll also be poems by Russell and I that have been specially commissioned for the event! This one’s also ticketed but you get six — SIX — writers for the price of one event!

Reshuffling The Pack with MacGillivray and Courtney Sina Meredith
Sunday 20th August, 5pm
Edinburgh International Book Festival, Writers’ Retreat (Charlotte Square)

I’m chairing this one, but I’m counting it as a gig because I am super excited and also SUPER NERVOUS about doing it! These two poets are very different, but both of them make mind-blowing work that is complex, experimental, political and brilliant. This one is well worth every one of the shiny pounds of its ticket price… come and ask smart questions in the Q&A, and I shall field them!

She Grrrowls
Monday 21st August, 7.20pm
Black Market (venue 399)

My second go at this fine feminist night… again, I will be one of three features! The other two are Katie Pritchard and Kathryn O’Driscoll. There’s also that open mic, if you fancy coming and sharing a stage with yours truly!

That’s What She Said
Tuesday 22nd August, 5.45pm
Bar Bados, Cowgate (venue 281)

I am really excited to be reading as a feature at this bloody amazing women’s spoken word night, run by none other than fellow #GrrrlCon organiser and all-round magical goddess Jane Bradley! I get to appear alongside Rosie Freakin’ Garland!!! And also my lovely lovely pal Sasha de Buyl — trust me, you do NOT want to miss a very rare appearance by Sasha! That’s What She Said is doing a whole run, and every single night looks absolutely golden. It’s at a great time of day as well… come along before you head to your evening shows!

Coffee and a Poem with Paul Muldoon
Thursday 24th August, 10am
Golden Hare Books, Stockbridge

YES, I AM CHAIRING AN EVENT WITH PAUL MULDOON. YES, THAT PAUL MULDOON. Obviously come along to this one because it’s PAUL FREAKING MULDOON. But also, come along and make supportive faces at me so I can at least attempt to form sentences in the presence of this man? The event is, after all, free — and you get coffee!

Please come along to these events, friends! But mainly come to this one. Seriously.

Where is Claire? Upcoming events Spring/Summer 2017

April 22nd, 2017

Claire Askew, Edwin Morgan Poetry Award

Hello blog, long time no see! It feels like all I ever do here these days is tell you where you can come and see me in person… but that’s because I like hugs and real things. Come and find me in the following places this spring/summer…

Edinburgh City of Literature Literary Salon
Tuesday 25th April 2017, 6pm
The Wash Bar
I’m really pleased to have been invited to speak at this special salon on the theme of libraries and how we can diversify / strange-ify them by using them for new and interesting purposes! I’ll be talking about my work at Craigmillar Library, and specifically about libraries as spaces for gaming and youth work.

Interrobang: Lost in Space?!
Saturday 29th April 2017, 2pm – 6pm
The Biscuit Factory
Oh hello, four-hour daytime literary cabaret! Includes me, JL Williams, Ever Dundas, and all sorts of other fine folk. Poetry / music / an indoor market / all sorts of shenanigans on the theme of ‘lost in space’. I’m really excited to have been invited to be part of Interrobang! More info on the event here.

Inky Fingers May
Tuesday 2nd May 2017, 7.30pm
Monkey Barrel Comedy
I love the Inky crew and I’m really happy to be back in their feature slot. Also because I don’t leave my house enough, this’ll be my first time in this venue… I’m intrigued! Come and hear me read alongside what is always a fine crew of Inky open mic-ers.

The Flint & Pitch Revue: May
Friday 19th May 2017, 7pm
The Bongo Club
I’ve been itching to get on the stage at Scotland’s newest literary cabaret juggernaut, hosted by the legend that is Jenny Lindsay! It’ll be a night of Cla[i]res, because reading alongside me (among others) will be CLARE FREAKIN’ POLLARD. You want to be at this one, trust me.

Scottish PEN launch “I’m Coming With You”: an anthology of work from PENning
Wednesday 24th May 2017, time TBC
Waterstones, Edinburgh
“I’m Coming With You” is an anthology of work by Scottish PEN members, taken from issues of SP’s brilliant magazine, PENning. I’m really pleased that my poem “In Defense of the Page”, from the PENning Power issue, was selected to be the closing poem of the book! I’m even more pleased that I’m going to get to read it at the launch! Time TBC — watch this space.

Bloodaxe poets showcase at the Scottish Poetry Library
Saturday 10th June 2017, 7pm
Scottish Poetry Library
I’ve sneaked onto this line-up late, so I’m not yet billed here, but I promise I will be reading alongside these four other talented ladies! Come along to hear me read poems and watch me try and hold myself back from fangirling all over Cheryl Follon.

Claire Askew & Russell Jones
Thursday 20th July, 7pm
Scottish Universities International Summer School
OK, you can’t actually come to this one because it’s for SUISS students/staff only, but I’m putting it here because I read for them last year and it was one of the best readings I think I’ve ever given so I’m very pleased and smug to’ve been asked back… AND I’ll be reading alongside my pal RJ!

More events to be added… watch this space!

Where is Claire?: upcoming events!

November 1st, 2016

Literary Death Match
(Photo credit)

Thursday 3rd November
6pm to 7.30pm, Scottish Poetry Library
Umbrellas of Edinburgh: the launch!

I’m so excited to finally be bringing this fabulous anthology into the world! I’ve been working on the behind-the-scenes editing of it for several months alongside editor extraordinaire Russell Jones (he of Where Rockets Burn Through fame). It’s an anthology of poetry and prose about Edinburgh — Edinburgh in all its moods and guises. There are poems and stories about people, parks, pubs and places famous and infamous… every corner of Edinburgh from the Castle to Kay’s Bar is covered. At this exciting launch event there’ll be readings from poets Aitch Giles, Theresa Munoz, Colin McGuire, Marjorie Lotfi Gill, Jonathan Bay, Louise Peterkin, Colin Will, Elizabeth Rimmer and Jane Griffiths. There’ll also be free wine, cake and the chance to buy copies of the book from the lovely folk at Freight. Entry is free and all are welcome!

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Saturday 5th November
6pm to 7.30pm, 24 Royal Terrace Hotel
K/RK with Claire Askew

“Spoken Word producer Freddie Alexander presents and hosts K/RK; a new events series seeking to witness and engage with spoken word artists. Drawing from the rich UK live literature circuit, K/RK invites some of the best touring artists to perform and discuss their work. An intimate and exclusive, this event series will be hosted in the sumptuous surroundings of the 24 Royal Terrace.
This event series will occur fortnightly on Saturday evenings, with a performance by the feature artist followed by a Q&A with the audience. The event will last one hour, but there will be opportunities for further networking afterwards. Pre-booked tickets will include complimentary hors d’oeuvres.”

HOW FANCY DOES THAT SOUND, FOLKS? And this weekend the poet is little old me! I am so looking forward to this!

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Thursday 10th November
10.30am to 11.30am, Royal Botanic Gardens (Botanic Cottage)
Open Book weekly drop-in with Claire Askew

I’m really excited to be attending this Open Book session — the first of three, two of which are open to the general public! (More on the next one below…) You can find out more about what Open Book do at their website. At my session, I’ll be unveiling an extract from my novel in progress for discussion (its first public outing, eek!), and we’ll also be discussing some of my poems.

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Friday 11th November
1pm to 4.30pm, Craigmillar Library
Robert Louis Stevenson Day: make your own monster!

This is an event I am running with my Reading Champion hat on! 7th – 13th November is Robert Louis Stevenson week, and this year the theme is ‘crime’. Jekyll and Hyde is my all-time favourite RLS book and on 11th November I’ll be running a fun event for kids and adults alike. Come along and rummage in my box of monster-making materials, bring a friend or dress yourself up as the best monster you can be. The winner gets a prize!

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Saturday 12th November
10.30am to 6.30pm, Scottish Poetry Library
Scottish Women’s Poetry Symposium 2016

I am so excited to have been invited to speak at this event — and I love that I am described as an ‘independent academic’ in the official programme! Look out — academic at large! Anyway… this is going to be ONE AMAZING DAY of cool stuff, with speakers including Theresa Munoz, Jane Goldman, Helena Nelson and JL Williams. For my part, I’ll be taking part in a round table on Poetry in the Community with the lovely and talented Jane McKie, and then I’ll be reading some of my own work at the end of the day, when there’ll be free wine and nibbles and all good things. Places are limited, but you can see the full programme and register for a free place here.

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Tuesday 15th November
6.30pm to 8pm, Blackwells South Bridge
Umbrellas of Edinburgh: a celebration event at Blackwells

Another Umbrellas of Edinburgh event! This time we’ll be featuring two of our lovely fiction writers — Jane Alexander and Sandy Thomson — as well as poets Ruth Aylett, Roddy Shippin, Andrew Wilson, Patricia Ace and Tracey S Rosenberg. There’ll be readings, there’ll be wine, there’ll be cake, there’ll be a warm welcome and of course, more books than you can shake a bookish tote bag at!

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Tuesday 13th December
10.30am to 11.30am, National Library of Scotland
Open Book weekly drop-in with Claire Askew

This is the other Open Book session I mentioned above. Much like the first except: BONUS CHRISTMASSY-NESS!

I hope to see some of you at one or more of these events! In the meantime, you can keep up on my various shenanigans over on Twitter at @onenightstanzas.

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I wrote a book of poems! It’s called This changes things, and you can order it here! You can also support me by checking out the many sweet and sparkly things at Edinburgh Vintage, my Etsy-based store for jewellery and small antiques. Or if you just want to say hi, you can find me on Twitter.

How Many Wrongs Make A Mr Right? Debut novelist Stella Hervey Birrell on rejection, writing, and men jumping up and down in nightclubs…

April 16th, 2016

Hello friends! Remember me? I am indeed still alive, though my blog hardly shows it. Thankfully, I am lucky enough to know the brilliant Stella Hervey Birrell, and even luckier enough to be able to host one of the stops of her blog tour… so I am, rustily, back to blogging! (Thanks, Stella.) Stella’s debut novel is described as “chick lit with grit,” a slogan so great I wish I came up with it — and it’s called How Many Wrong Make A Mr Right? I managed to corner Stella for a small interview… you’re going to enjoy what she has to say, so grab a cuppa and get settled!

1.  I’m always interested to hear about how people started out writing.  I know that you’re also a singer-songwriter, and wonder — did that come first, then story-writing, or the other way around?  Or do you see them as being wholly unconnected?

Not wholly unconnected, no. I had to think really hard about this question: which did come first? It was terribly earnest poetry, really, as a child and then an angsty teenager. Songs have been part of the deal as an adult for a long time, and my husband normally writes the tunes, so it’s something we do together.
But when I gave up work, it wasn’t to write songs, it was so that I could write a commercial, full length novel. Songs are mostly written as gifts, or for my band, The Domestics, which isn’t a full time job.
I’d love to think that writing lyrics informs my prose, but actually I think they’re pretty different. Although it’s probably best that I don’t write in rhyming couplets!

Sam Burns Yard Domestics Pic
‘And now I will read you my full-length novel…’ Stella with her band, The Domestics. Picture by Caroline Pearson.

2.  Kind of related to that first question: what do you think, say, your sixteen-year-old self would make of the fact that you’ve published a novel? 

Oh my goodness she’d be delighted! She was so pretentious though, she’d have been super snooty about the fact that I don’t have a traditional, paper based publishing deal, or an agent.
She’d probably be more surprised that I’m a generally happy, settled person though, neither of us thought that would ever happen…

Correct cover!
Available on UK Amazon, US Amazon, Kobo, Nook and iBooks. (sorry, 16 year old Stella)

3.  What do you see as the major themes of your work?  What questions are you interested in exploring?  Not necessarily just in your novel, but in your writing in general, I mean.  I’m always nosy about the things folk want to drive at with their writing.

At root, I write for women. In my first book, the strongest theme is probably ‘loving yourself first.’
I’m also interested in writing about the female orgasm, in an educational way though – I don’t write erotica.
In other work, women’s empowerment, women’s support networks (good, bad and non-existent), and the whole parenting lark: things I’m experiencing now. For example, my youngest son started school last year, and the piece that came out of the devastation I felt was accepted by the Ropes Journal. Nothing is wasted, as they say.

Strident Feminist cropped
Melissa, How Many Wrongs Make a Mr Right?

4.  I know (*eyebrow-wiggle*) that you’re a member of at least one writer’s group.  Can you talk about the ways in which being part of writing community helps or influences your writing?  

When I started writing ‘seriously,’ my cousin advised me to join a writers group. I’m so glad she did. Being part of Tyne & Esk Writers means I have a place to read works in progress, the impetus to improve as a writer, a community of writers that I now consider friends, access to a ‘proper’ published author and mentoring from her, a beta-reader who surpasses all other beta-readers, the opportunity to read and comment on other people’s work, and somewhere I go every second Wednesday where I know I’ll have a laugh.

5.  If time, money, and lifestyle circumstances were not a factor, what would your writing career look like in 10 years’ time?

In ten years’ time I’d like a readership, not made up of my close family and friends, and a good few novels under my belt. Like about a million other people!

6.  I have to do it: what advice can you give to other writers?  What have you learned that you wished you knew before you started?

Oooh, advice. Er, no idea. Actually, there have been a few things I didn’t do, because I didn’t think to use Google. For example, I didn’t write a one-line pitch for my debut novel, and at first I didn’t write a good cover email either.
Having short works placed in journals really helps, as you have something to write about in said cover letter. All this advice is online, I wish I’d done my research before going out to agents and publishers! Or read ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King. Especially as one agent emailed me the other day saying she doesn’t accept a second pass, once you’ve been rejected, she’s not interested in looking at future works.

Rejection email table
This is part of the deal folks. I love the smell of rejection on a Monday morning…

7.  I guess we should devote at least one question to your novel…!  What’s your favourite moment in the novel?  And was that moment the most fun part to write?

I really like the scene where the ‘gang’ all go dancing. I’m too old for clubbing now, but I used to go out a lot. It was fun, trying to get across the whole club atmosphere: how you lose all your friends but you don’t care, how obvious it is when a guy wants to snog you on the dancefloor, how, when a particular type of song comes on, all the men jump up and down a lot…

8.  Finally… what’s next for your writing?  Do you have a new novel in progress, or is there something else on the cards for you?

I have a work in progress (The Perfects) which is with my aforementioned beta-reader that surpasses all beta-readers. I am really excited about this second novel, and can’t wait to share it with other people. And I’ve got a sketchy plan for a third too (Having it All). My sisters are slightly nervous about it, because my main characters are two sisters. I’m still submitting short works as and when I can, and blogging twice-weekly.
For me, it’s about keeping going. Helen Fielding said ‘there’s always someone trying to tell you you’re not really a writer,’ and for a long time that person was myself. But with the support of my writing community and the validation of a publishing deal, I’m very nearly convinced.

17.11.2015. Stella Hervey Birrell.
Trying to act normal while getting your photograph taken, there’s another lifeskill I could do with learning… (Photo: Gordon Bell)

Stella says: “please come and say ‘hi’ in one or more of these places!
My blog space is
https://atinylife140.wordpress.com/
Twitter is @atinylife140
I have a page on Facebook here.
Email me at atinylife140@gmail.com.
I can also be found wandering the streets of various East Lothian villages.”

Thanks, Stella!

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I wrote a book of poems! It’s called This changes things, and you can order it here!

You can now get more content from me — and help me pay the bills! — by supporting my Patreon. Get a monthly writing support pack for just $5 a month! It’s like buying me a pint.
You can also support me by checking out the many sweet and sparkly things at Edinburgh Vintage, my Etsy-based store for jewellery and small antiques.
If you just want to say hi, you can find me on Twitter, or email me via claire[at]onenightstanzas.com. You’ll get a fairly good sense of the kind of person I am by checking out my Tumblr.

Where is Claire? Readings & happenings in Spring 2016

January 21st, 2016

Me, reading at the Dark Horse 20th anniversary launch, Edinburgh

I have a book to promote, folks! So I guess that means I need to get out of my fluffy slippers and go forth into the world… here’s where to find me. (And yes, I’m counting late January as ‘spring.’ I’m trying to be optimistic, OK?)

The Arts & Precarity: Forging New Solidarities (Cabaret)
Friday 22nd January 2016, 19:00, FREE
Kinning Park Complex, Glasgow
This cabaret, featuring a variety of writers, artists and musicians (including the brilliant Harry Giles) is part of a whole-weekend exploration of precarity in the arts. Most artists live precariously: they are precariously employed, precariously housed, surviving thanks to a precarious income, or some mixture of the lot. I’ll be reading poems from the point of view of individuals I have known whose lives might be called ‘precarious.’ There’s also a day of workshops on these themes the day following the cabaret.

Neu Reekie!: The Burns Belter
Saturday 23rd January 2016, 18:00, £16 / £14
Pilrig Church, Leith Walk, Edinburgh
Don’t panic! I won’t be reciting Burns! Burns will, of course, be recited… but not by a clueless Cumbrian bint like myself. I’ll be reading from ye olde collection. There’ll also be haggis and whisky and music and lots and lots of hip stuff. And it’s in the Republic of Leith!

This changes things: the launch (THIS IS MY BOOK LAUNCH BY THE WAY, JUST SAYIN’)
Friday 5th February, 18:00, FREE
Blackwells Bookshop, South Bridge, Edinburgh
Come and help me celebrate MY BOOK BEING OUT IN THE WORLD OMG!!!! There’ll be about a half-hour of free wine, cake, and book-buying, before my dear friend, the amazing poet Colin McGuire will entertain us with some great poems (because he’s ace and more people should know about his work, and also because I didn’t want it to be a solid hour of JUST ME TALKING). Then I’ll read some poems from the book and say some dorky things, most likely. Then there’ll be another half-hour of free wine, when I will be available to sign books, if you’re into the whole defacing of books thing. We all get kicked out by 8pm when the shop closes, so it should all be pretty painless. Come along?

World Book Day event with Scottish PEN – TBC!
Thursday 3rd March

University of Edinburgh George Square campus
The event’s TBC, so I can’t say much about it so far… but maybe pencil it into your diaries, because any event Scottish PEN does is worth going to.

Shore Poets APRIL: The Open Night, + little old me
Sunday 24th April, 19:00, £5 / £3

Oh! (The Outhouse), off Broughton Street, Edinburgh
I always really like reading alongside the Shore Poets open night. It is probably my favourite Shore Poets night of the year, because we welcome brand new voices to our stage and always hear such a great variety of diverse work. I’ll have a fifteen-or-so minute set in the midst of this, during which I will probably read poems from, you guessed it, This changes things. If you’re not sick of them by April, it’d be great if you wanted to come along! (Also, get in touch via publicity[at]shorepoets.org.uk if you’d like to be part of the open mic! But be warned — spaces fill FAST.)

Writing Poetry: Getting Started workshop
Friday 27th May, 15:00, £6

Dunbar Library, Bleachingfield, Dunbar
I’m really pleased to be delivering a workshop as part of the CoastWord Festival in Dunbar! For the past four months I’ve been working as the Creative Writing Fellow at Tyne and Esk Writers, and I’ve discovered that there’s a thriving and brilliant writing community all across Mid- and East Lothian. I hope you’ll come along to this workshop and meet some great local writers, and get started on a new poem with me.

NB: This is not an exhaustive list — more things will be added as they come up! So please check back!

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I wrote a book of poems! It’s called This changes things, and you can order it here!

You can now get more content from me — and help me pay the bills! — by supporting my Patreon. Get a monthly writing support pack for just $5 a month! It’s like buying me a pint.
You can also support me by checking out the many sweet and sparkly things at Edinburgh Vintage, my Etsy-based store for jewellery and small antiques.
If you just want to say hi, you can find me on Twitter, or email me via claire[at]onenightstanzas.com. You’ll get a fairly good sense of the kind of person I am by checking out my Tumblr.