Thank you to Sharon Zink for interviewing me for her blog, The Book Diner!

The blog title says it all - "History, Time Machines and Circuses: Novelist, Poet and Rock and Cabaret Star, Rosie Garland, brings her Magical World to the Book Diner"
… with some ruminations on research & how to keep going thrown in...
you can read the full text here:
http://sharonzink.com/the-book-diner-interviews/history-time-machines-and-circuses-novelist-poet-and-rock-and-cabaret-star-rosie-garland-brings-her-magical-world-to-the-book-diner/

ChinWag with Sister BangBang

Thank YOU Sister BangBang for your fun podcast interview!

16 ChinWag with Rosie Garland
Writer, performer, poet, singer, chinwagger extraordinaire - this is part of what the magnificent Rosie Garland is! We get to chat about Rosie's career as a writer (third book soon to be published!), the performer role as Rosie Lugosi and also more about Rosie's involvement in the March Violets - and a tune too! Yes, the first time on ChinWag there's yer actual tune!
Mad, fun and terribly addictive, ChinWag is one nun's quest to interrogate every guest, finding out their innermost secrets. Recorded in bars and cafes around Manchester, ChinWag is divinely unique, deliciously happy and incredibly nosey - it'll rival ELLEN one of these days!

Click to hear the podcast

I'm guest feature on the blog of inspirational designer Jed Phoenix!
You can read the full text below, or click on the link.

Click link to visit Jed Phoenix blog page

Monday, 14 March 2016
Jed Phoenix
Rosie Garland is a creative talent and wearer of a JPoL tie. She's a singer, poet, performer and writer who has experience of the rock n roll lifestyle and been on Radio 4's Women's Hour. She has won awards and secured book deals. But it hasn't been all plain sailing. There have been many bumps along the way.This blog post, will go into more detail about:
· Rosie Garland, singer, writer and performer
· Rosie Garland in the face of adversity
· What's next for Rosie Garland

Rosie Garland, singer, writer and performer
It is hard to deny that Rosie Garland embodies elements of the dark side in her creative endeavours. To quote from her Facebook profile "I've always written about outsiders; whoever they might be. I'm interested in character who won't (or can't) squeeze into the one-size-fits-all template they have been provided, and the friction that occurs when they try. I know that comes from always being an outsider myself. I celebrate it, proud in the face of the overwhelming sludge of "normality"". During a talk at the British Library on the subject of "Goth: The scene that wouldn't die", Rosie states that being "outside" suggests that there's a mainstream "inside" that people want to be in. Rosie, perhaps drawing from her associations with queer culture, asserts that she's just different. She doesn't even care whether people think she's goth or not. She cares more about whether her audience like her lyrics, poetry or novels. Despite current fashion trends that wish to emulate the glamour and style of the scene, goths are often sneered at. Rosie quotes from Tank Girl - The Oddessy, Issue 3, during a talk at the British Library "The fact that I've paid absolutely no attention to what goths wear is an even bigger insult to them and their turdy culture" - Jamie Hewlett.
Rosie Garland was born to a teenage runaway, so perhaps being an outsider is in her very DNA. She went to Leeds University in the early 1980s and came out both as a post graduate and as a singer in post-punk/gothic rock band The March Violets, with whom she's toured the US, UK and Europe. Her alter-ego Rosie Lugosi, the Vampire Queen, appeared on a multitude of stages as "A truly unique performer and one that straddles the literature, SM and queercore scenes with ease" - Designer Magazine. As a cabaret performer, Rosie Lugosi was able to bring her poems to life and be Queer for Britain. In the late 1980s, Rosie was inspired by the Roszika Parker book "The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine", which interwove the history of embroidery and the history of women. With an enthusiastic group of Manchester-based women, Rosie formed a group called Spinsters. Together they wrote a show called Tailormaids, looking at the history of unmarried women and how that tied in to the textile industry. Rosie and her fellow Spinsters pooled a range of talents: film-makers, theatre technicians, visual artists, singers, performers, researchers, musicians, fundraisers and writers. The sum was, as Rosie states, definitely greater than the parts, securing Arts Council funding to tour the show around art galleries and performance venues.
In 2013 Rosie Garland signed a book deal with Harper Collins and The Palace of Curiosities was published. A series of readings and book signings up and down the country were followed by the release of her second novel Vixen in 2014. But, like many subversive creative talents, Rosie Garland's success has been hard won.

Rosie Garland in the face of adversity

Rosie left The March Violets in the mid 1980s as the band, riding on a wave of good reviews and indie chart success, introduced more pop-sounding members. Rosie ploughed her energy into teaching for a couple of years at a sixth form college in Sudan - a far cry from the ever-increasing commercialisation of the band.
Between touring with Spinsters/Subversive Stitch Exhibition in the 1990s, establishing Club Lash in Manchester and continuing to perform as Rosie Lugosi, Ms Garland worked on her writing craft. She had an agent, submitted short stories and poetry to competitions, and offered up her take on the life and adventures of the outsider in the hope that they'd be published and promoted to as wide an audience as possible. For over a decade, Rosie Garland's agent told her that her style, her subject matter, her background wasn't flavour of the month; that there weren't any publishers willing to take a punt on her. Yet she continued to write and perform, just as Van Gogh continued to paint before folk other than his brother took a punt on him by buying his paintings. To be creative even though you face rejection after rejection takes passion, discipline and commitment . And those are traits that Rosie Garland seems to have in spades.
In 2007, Rosie Garland teamed up with Simon Denbigh and Tom Ashton again for a one-off gig in Leeds with The March Violets. The reception to the gig was fabulous and the band were invited to play at a number of venues and festivals around the UK and Europe. Plans, however, were interrupted by the news Rosie received at the beginning of 2009. She had throat cancer. For some, being a singer with throat cancer would have tipped them over the edge. But Rosie channelled her emotions into her solace - poetry. The effects that this consuming disease had on Rosie's femininity and connection to others is expressed in Dignity:
"Tolerating strangers who whisper 'You're so brave', And resisting the urge to deck them. Going bald. Watching your tits shrivel to the size of peanuts, And your arse go as flat as a burst paper bag. Remaining polite When the close friend disappears off the face of the earth When you tell him your diagnosis.....
...Standing up And saying 'I've got cancer' Without need, Without self pity. Standing up And saying 'I'm clear'"
Rosie had to learn how to sing again. And she did just that, taking to the stage at the O2 Academy in London for The March Violets Reunion gig in November 2010.

What's next for Rosie Garland

Rosie continues to perform with The March Violets. Following a Pledge Music campaign, they spent a month touring the East Coast of America at the end of 2015. The Pledge Music campaign was a roaring success, with the project fully backed within two weeks. 10% of the money raised after the goal was met went to Macmillan Cancer Support. Their Mortality album is due out this year.
Rosie's reading and speaking gigs see her travelling the UK. Earlier this month, she was guest lecturer at the University of Surrey as part of the "Cultures in Contact" seminar series. Coming up, she's on the panel of a discussion about "A Portfolio Career: When One Genre Isn't Enough" at the Surrey New Writers Festival on May 14th 2016. Rosie will also be a special guest at the Chorlton Arts Festival in Machester on May 24th. Just around the corner, however, Rosie will be returning to Bar Wotever at London's iconic Royal Vauxhall Tavern on Tuesday 15th March to help celebrate everything Goth, Bi and Fabulous!
Rosie Garland truly is a creative force to be reckoned with. She is warm-hearted and humble, talented and deep. If you haven't already read The Palace of Curiosities, Vixen, Everything Must Go, Things I Did While I Was Dead or any of Rosie Garland's other books, then do. Her writing captivates you and takes you on a journey into a visual and a visceral world. She also makes amazingly tasty plum jam...

Stirred Poetry's literary heroes

I've been named a Literary Hero by Stirred Poetry in the February edition of The Skinny!

"Rosie Garland commands the stage fully whether she is performing poetry, playing with her punk band March Violets or hosting cabaret. I learned stage craft watching her perform. Her novels, Palace of Curiosities (2013) and Vixen (2015), have been highly praised. She is particularly inspiring when she talks about the long, hard slog of writing, getting published, and managing to shut up her inner critic. We have been honoured to have her perform for us." [Anna Percy]

Read the whole article here -

The Skinny - Feb 2016

A stellar day in the neo-gothic pomp and circumstance of John Rylands Library's magnificent Historic Reading Room. It's been a dream of mine to read there... and dreams come true.
A delicious highlight of the event was the specially designed (and rather foxy) cake by the talented Annabel de Vetten of Conjuror's Kitchen.
Click to go to Manchester Gothic Festival page

GAYDIO – The Sunday Forum with Andrew Edwards

Writer Rosie Garland is perhaps better known as Rosie Lugosi the Lesbian Vampire Queen. Rosie started out in the gothic rock band The March Violets in the 1980s and has developed a hugely successful career as an award winning poet and and cabaret performer. Her most famous alter ego is Rosie Lugosi the Lesbian Vampire Queen and Rosie reveals to Andrew what it feels like to perform the character.

Rosie is enjoying new success as a novelist and her first book The Palace of Curiosities was published last year and won wide acclaim. Novelist Sarah Waters dubbed it "a jewel box of a novel".

Rosie has eclectic tastes in music and you can hear her choices and her reasons in the interview. Rosie also talks about her coming out as a lesbian and more recently as bisexual. The Mix Tape is on Gaydio on Sunday morning from 7am and then on demand from 10am nwplayer.gaydio.co.uk and 88.4FM.

Click here to listen to the full interview

Click here to visit the GAYDIO site

Two new blog interviews / reviews about the launch of The Palace of Curiosities – and how long it's taken to get here.

‘What has always amazed me is that you have so many different aspects to your work. You write in your name Rosie Garland; you write and perform as your alter-ego Rosie Lugosi; you are the lead singer of The March Violets; you are a Goth icon; a legend in the world of burlesque; star of Woman’s Hour and women’s magazines; are there any other facets we don’t know about?’

Read the full interview here - click this link

• 'An assured and magical novel. Her poetic output provides the writing's lyricism and her involvement in cabaret and Goth gives her an eye for the strange.'

Read the full interview here - click this link

 OUT OF PRINT

Creatures of the Night - performance poetry

Published by purpleprosepress, 2003 under Rosie Garland's stage name of Rosie Lugosi.

Published as part of Rosie's residency at 'Creatures of the Night' at greenroom Manchester, Manchester's longest running poetry slam.
Including poems such as 'Two Queens', published in Mslexia magazine.

Excerpt…

“Two Queens

I’d arranged the Palace Hotel bar, at seven. Figured
The cavernous hall, high gilded ceiling would suit
World-changers. They were already there;
Had ordered beer in straight glasses. I knew them at once:

Her, from the bas-reliefs in the Met; and her,
From technicolour gloss in A level History.
“You both look fatter,” I said, “than the pictures.”
“There’s court portraitists for you,” boomed Nefertiti,

Halfway through her pint. Patted a teak-stained
Roll of fat which hung about her navel. “Likewise:
When did you last see a royal virgin painted fat?”
Blared Elizabeth, and thumped me on the back…”

Coming Out At Night - performance poetry

Published by purpleprosepress, 2005 under Rosie Garland's stage name of Rosie Lugosi

Poem excerpt –

“Lights Go Out

The lights go out; there's a rustle of silk at the corner of earshot
The dark swims in, and ink closes over your head
Back row or back room my hand finds yours
Pulls you cheek to cheek, lip to lip
Go down for the third time and come up choking
And down again with my hand on your head.
The lights go out.
You said you wanted this
Screamed and bawled till mommy said
Come and tuck your little head in here
And I will stroke you, stroke you, stroke you
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have left the bed that you lie on
As you lay you down to sleep
Pass your soul to me to keep
I'll lock it in a box and prick it with a pin
And you will never see morning again.
The lights go out...”

Five star reviews on Amazon

“A delightfully eccentric and funny collection… I found the book to be like a favourite record or cd that you will return to time and time again.”

“Coming out at night is the latest collection of poetry by the ever charismatic Rosie Lugosi… pure comic genius”

“Witty, entertaining, thought provoking, funny, sad and spooky all in one delicious package. I liked it so much, I had the cover picture tattooed on my thigh. No, really.”

The Looking Glass Burlesque

The Brindley Theatre
High Street
Runcorn
Cheshire
WA7 1BG

Saturday 30th April 2022
8.00pm
Full price £16.00

The Looking Glass Burlesque returns for another evening of fabulous vintage and vaudeville entertainment. Feast your eyes upon dazzling showgirls, carny capers, beautiful songbirds, spellbinding magic and a whole host more! With a different line-up each time, you'll never see the same show twice at The Looking Glass. So step this way...we're waiting for you!
https://tickets.thebrindley.org.uk/en-GB/shows/the%20looking%20glass%20burlesque/events/2