Hey up! It’s been a full-on fortnight, so I’m sharing a bit from the intro of my forthcoming chapbook, Lost + Found…
Lost + Found is a collection of previously lost things retrieved, rehomed and shared side-by-side. A cabinet of curiosities, or that one weird stall at the car boot sale with the bonkers assembly of esoterica, staged with an almost ritualistic precision like it’s more of an installation than a retail invitation. Like: kitschy Point Horror paperbacks stacked in an artfully angled tower, topped with a grubby Care Bear in raver sunglasses. A tarnished art deco mirror, propped up by an encyclopaedia of mythological monsters and a random padlocked diary with who knows what secrets inside. A massive mug with a picture of an adorably demonic cartoon black cat, the cup’s insides a chaotic rainbow vortex of broken jewellery and glittering loose beads. When I lived in London, I loved reading about the underground’s vast lost property vaults: a labyrinthine warehouse containing an assortment of abandoned wedding rings, trays of glass eyes, shelves upon shelves of stuffed animals of both the plushy and taxidermy varieties, an orchestra’s worth of musical instruments, multiple mannequins and thousands of books, skateboards, spectacles and keys. As a collection, Lost + Found is nowhere near as extensive, but I’m aiming for a similar vibe.
For the most part, the stories in this forthcoming chapbook have already had an entire other life, being published in literary journals or by small presses that haven’t always survived the years between then and now. As I’m sure is the case for so many writers, my list of publishing credits is a strange artefact: one or two publication names glowing with renown and reputation, but others lost to obscurity, without even any digital evidence left behind that they ever existed at all. I wanted to rescue these stories from that liminal, abandoned state, dust them off and claim and share them for what they are: flawed and clumsy in places, but still part of my creative journey so far.
I didn’t realise at the outset of this project how recurring these themes of uncertainty, loss and liminality would be, but there’s something pleasingly meta about the process echoing the stories’ content, and vice versa. Creative process is an infinitely fascinating topic for me, so each of the stories in Lost + Found is followed by a reflection: scraps of memories about the context the stories were written in and what they meant at the time. When we go digging about in the past, we balance the risk of getting lost with the possibility of finding ourselves. Putting together Lost + Found has been unexpectedly cathartic and generative – a laying to rest of old ghosts and a compass pointing to future possibilities – and I hope you’ll get a bit of both if you decide to give it a go.
Lost + Found is released in limited edition paperback at the end of the month, and you can pre-order your copy here.
Some other things I’m into right now and thought you might be too:
I’m gutted I can’t be there, but if you’re in Manchester please know that the launch of VICE VERA’s new single this Saturday is sure to be an amazing night. (Featuring support from my beloved sonic coven backofthebrain!)
Before Gods and mortals, there were The Fates – three sisters born out of Nyx’s darkness, destined to weave the lives, and deaths, of humankind for eternity. And my brilliant friend Rosie Garland has only gone and written a novel about them. The Fates is out now and I can’t bloody wait to get my teeth into it.
You know who deserves to know what the fashion industry is doing to the world? Every. Single. Person. Award-winning author Tansy Hoskins has a brilliant free newsletter where fashion and anti-capitalism collide. There’s even a problem page, Patched, where you can get your letters replied to with useful anti-capitalist advice. Sign up now.
There’s no way I’ll be ready to have something to submit in time (though I’m still incredibly tempted to try), but I am loving the look of The Northern Weird Project from Wild Hunt Books. They’re looking for weird short novellas by Northern writers and I’m already so excited about reading literally every book that comes out of this submissions call.
COMING UP
I’ll be in Blackpool for World Book Night, reading from Dear Neighbour and performing at Blackpool Central Library on Tuesday 23rd April, in what promises to be a cracking night. It’s totally free, no booking necessary, and there will be free books, drag bingo, dancing, singing and yours truly. It’s my first ever Blackpool gig so please come down or send your local pals!
Speaking of Dear Neighbour, the paperback of my debut novel is out at the end of this month, and you can buy a copy directly from my website here. Seems a good opportunity to nab yourself a chapbook bundle while we’re at it too. Just saying.
Can't wait for a rootle through your collection of curiosities.
Also loving your version of skipping the gatekeepers and gifting your words straight to us.
When the Tate Modern opened, my favourite exhibit was a cabinet of curiosities which contained all sorts of ephemera dredged from the banks of the Thames during the building process. Lost and found indeed. 😀