Residencies

2019

I was awarded a Saari Residency (Kone Foundation) and spent two months in south-west Finland working on a new project, Vegetal Souls, exploring the life of plants through poetry, short fiction and essays.

Cove Park – Varuna exchange: I spent four weeks at Varuna, the National Writers’ House in the Blue Mountains of Australia, working on short fiction.

2018

I was awarded a Hawthornden Fellowship and spent four weeks at Hawthornden Castle in Midlothian, writing short fiction.

2016

Timespan Museum & Arts Centre, Helmsdale, Sutherland. I was awarded a two-week residency to explore the concept of ‘Deep Time’ in relation to my own creative practice.

Creative Carbon Scotland: ‘Thinking Through the Anthropocene‘ at Cove Park. I was awarded a place on this interdisciplinary residency exploring artistic practice and sustainability.

 2014

Emerging Scottish Writer Residency at Cove Park Artist Centre (11^th August – 7^th September 2014) awarded to give me time to begin writing my novel about John Ruskin, Brantwood.

Collaborations

I was a participant in Loch Computer in 2013-16, an interdisciplinary project funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh exploring themes of remoteness and connectedness. This project involved writers, artists and scientists from institutions across Scotland and I was commissioned to write a new piece of short fiction, ‘Crex Crex’, for The Book of Iona (Polygon, HB: 2016; PB: 2019), an anthology of writing about the island of Iona. I also contributed a text extract and sound recording to the ‘Loch Computer’ exhibition which was held at the Edinburgh College of Art in 2016. 

I have a longstanding interest in the intersections of literature and science, and my PhD (St Andrews, 2013) explored the myriad connections between contemporary poetry and science, including work by poets who are also scientists, as well as poets who engage in scientific ideas in their writing. I am currently working on a new project, Vegetal Souls, exploring the lives of plants through poetry, short fiction and micro-essays. I’d be pleased to hear from anyone interested in engaging in interdisciplinary projects involving literature and science, and also from scientists looking to collaborate with a writer.