Displaying items by tag: vixen novel

As if it wasn't exciting enough to be invited to speak at The British Library on its Gothic panel on 9th November...

 

I was invited to talk on the Steve Lamacq show on BBC Radio 6, live from the Library! Click the link to hear me ramble on about the fantastic Gothic- themed exhibition, writing gothic and singing in The March Violets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04pgz3g

 

 

Published in News
Sunday, 23 November 2014 13:19

20.11.2014 - A passion for libraries

I was delighted to be invited to read at The Feminist Library - and they invited me to write a blog about my passion for libraries!

 

"I wish I could wax lyrical about all the reasons why I'm a fan of libraries – but there's neither space nor time. However, take it as read: I'm passionate about libraries. I'm passionate about feminism. There, I said it. Out and proud.

My feminism can be summed up as "the radical notion that women are people" (Marie Shear, 1986. For the history of this misattribution see http://www.beverlymcphail.com/feminismradicalnotion.html ). I have an equally radical belief that books – and by extension, education – should be freely available to all, and not just the wealthy. There's nowt so radical as a reader. Malala Yousafzai was right when she said "Extremists have shown what frightens them the most: a girl with a book".

Libraries are exciting, magical, transformative and dangerous.
A happy childhood memory is the Saturday trip to the local library. I chose four new books, which were mine for a whole week! And wonder of wonders: the Saturday after there were four more, then four more. I could never read them all... I explored new worlds, I learned new things. And here's the dangerous part: I thought new thoughts. It was the beginning of a love affair that's still going strong.

Which brings me to my recent visit to The Feminist Library, tucked into a University building on Westminster Bridge Road. I was honoured to read from my own work in such a great setting. It's a treasure trove of books, pamphlets, magazines and much more: many out of print, rare, if not unique. As I scanned the spines I recognised things I'd once owned but were lost, stolen or strayed over years of house moves in and out of the UK.

This is part of the power and importance of The Feminist Library and archives like it. We assume that 'somebody, somewhere' has these books and that we will never lose sight of them. It's a dangerous assumption. All too often it is simply the determination and dedication of rare individuals that stops such vital material from disappearing.

Anyone who tries to tell you that we don't need libraries any more because 'everything is online' is either woefully misinformed or lying. Besides – real, solid, here and now books can't be deleted at the click of a button or lost in a glitch in a 'hacker-proof' cloud. Libraries are time machines to the past and stargates to the future.

The Feminist Library celebrates its 40th birthday in 2015. At times it's been a bumpy ride. We need it more than ever in the face of the undermining of education for all, the wholesale eradication of public libraries and the ongoing struggle against misogyny.

I'll leave the last word to Neil Gaiman, another fervent advocate. "Libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication".

 

http://feministlibrary.co.uk/2014/11/guest-post-rosie-garland-a-passion-for-libraries/

 

Published in News
Tuesday, 28 October 2014 10:42

26.10.2014 - Gothic Manchester Festival 2014

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

Published in News
Vixen is longlisted for The Green Carnation prize 2014!

The thirteen strong longlist of titles celebrating LGBT writing have been announced after several days of debates between the judges over an exceptional list of submissions, the most the prize has seen in its history to date. This list takes us from fairytale lands to the call centres of Scotland, from Calcutta to Russia and includes fiction, memoir, essays, short stories, non-fiction and the graphic novel.

Chair of the judges for 2014, journalist Kaite Welsh said of the longlist "The judging panel for this year's prize were in luck – some of the most dynamic and exciting books from the past twelve months have been from LGBT authors. Out of those, we've compiled an amazing longlist that should be on everyone's to-read list. The 2014 Green Carnation Prize has coincided with a bumper year for LGBT writing from established authors to new voices. Whittling the list down to 13 was difficult and enjoyable, and we're confident that picking the shortlist from such a great collection will be just as challenging."

Click to go to Green Carnation Prize site

 

Published in News

Thank you to Write-Track for featuring me on their blog for a second time!
Here is the text in full, with the link at the end.

On the Write Track - Adventures with writing habits
Rosie Garland – the bonus interview: channelling characters and living a creative life

In our first interview with Rosie Garland we found out how she kept going using rituals to support her writing and overcome the fear of the blank page. She spoke about having to "hack out time for writing" amongst work and grown up responsibilities. Here we find out how she took steps to adjust the balance of her working and creative life, and get an insight into how she writes such amazing characters.

The work-writing balance

Rosie made the decision to go part time in her job, not to write novels specifically, but to shift the balance of her work life and creative life, which she felt was out of kilter. She describes her life as being a process of getting off the career ladder: decreasing the amount of time given over to conventional work and increasing opportunities for creativity.

"When I was a kid I was always writing and had time to draw pictures, write poems, and create alternative universes. Then at the age of 18 'real' life happened. Time to get a sensible job and put creative self-indulgence away. It may only have been a handful of years, yet it felt like a long sojourn away from what I really wanted to do. I realised that all that creativity I had as a kid was a vital part of my existence, not an add-on. What I was doing was moving away from it and denying its importance. Since my late 20s my life has been a slow process of going back to it, partly by taking part-time jobs that gave me time to think."

Despite day jobs taking Rosie away from herself, she didn't resent it: "I got gifts from work and I am very grateful for the things it has given me. I don't think I would have been right being a full time writer back then. I needed to go and engage with the outside world and not stare at my navel."

Writing is the process not the end

Like many writers, Rosie says she writes because she has to. She describes writing as being a process and uses a Zen proverb to illustrate. "If you meet the Buddha on the road – kill him." I must admit to being rather puzzled by the idea of killing the Buddha, so Rosie explains.

"Rather than being literal, the proverb symbolises the creative 'road' I travel as a writer. The 'Buddha' could stand for some idealised faultless novel and therefore the end of needing to strive, grow, create... you get the picture. This deceptive Buddha suggests that I'll reach some magical, perfect endpoint. That a magical endpoint exists. No it doesn't. So I need to throw out that illusion and keep writing. There is no retiring from being writer."

Character: it all starts with a question

The rituals Rosie previously talked about help open her up to ideas and characters. She said "Part of the process is to find ways to put myself in the way of characters, to make it easier for them to come to talk to me." I was fascinated about this approach to developing character and asked her to tell me more.

"When I'm at the absolute beginning of developing a character it will often start as a question that niggles me. So for Abel [the central character in The Palace of Curiosities] the question in my head was – 'what would it be really be like to live forever?' I began to daydream and found that a particular character was answering. He – and his answers – developed into the voice of Abel. He's one example. It happens with the others in a similar way. Often, inconveniently, at 3am..."

"I write pages and pages of conversations with these characters in notebooks, longhand. I might fill six or seven notebooks with rabbiting, unedited scribble. When I've done that I start typing up to see what I've got, where all the gaps are, whether there is a story in the mess. And if, out of all the whatever-thousand words, I see the root of a story then I will start writing."

Right character wrong novel

Rosie says that her characters have very insistent voices and they can stay with her for a long time. Abel began in "awful novel two which was woefully in search of a plot" and couldn't tell his story. Rosie carried him around in her head until she introduced him to Eve in The Palace of Curiosities who enabled him to grow and develop. "He just needed to meet the right people at the right time."

Abel has left Rosie alone. She explains. "He has told his story now. It's like closure. He gets the last line in Palace, 'I am joy, complete, forever'. And that's it. Abel has told his story and has left me alone."

Don't get it right – get it written

Tom Clancy summed it up when he said "just tell the damn story". Rosie believes that you don't have to get it right but get it written. It's very easy to get carried away with research, especially when writing novels set in the past. Because Vixen is set in 1349, it's important the historical details were correct, but they mustn't get in the way of the story. She explains,

"I did some research about mediaeval laundry and some of the awful stuff they used to bleach it, but none of it is in the story – what's important is that Thomas makes Anne do the laundry far more often than necessary and it drives her nuts having to waste all her time. That's the important thing, the interaction between them, not about what paddle she uses. Just tell the damn story."

If you get stuck over a detail Rosie advises putting it in brackets for checking later and carrying on with the storyline. She says "No one cares whether the arrow is tipped with pigeon feather, eagle feather or goshawk feather, what's important is who the hell does he shoot with the arrow."

Read our first interview with Rosie Garland. Find out what she's been up to by following her on Twitter @rosieauthor and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rosielugosi. Or better still read her excellent novels Vixen and The Palace of Curiosities.

Click to go to Write-Track blog page

Published in News

I was delighted to be asked by Waterstones Bookshop to be a guest contributor to their blog- and here it is. Strange things have been happening since I embarked on my second novel, Vixen... read on!

Coincidence and synchronicity

Was Rosie Garland really being stalked by foxes because she'd just finished writing a book called Vixen- or was something else going on?

When Alex Allden, designer at HarperCollins, showed me Lindsey Carr's remarkable painting of a fox in a tree and suggested it as a cover for my forthcoming novel Vixen, I knew it was perfect.

That's when it started. Since then I've noticed foxes wherever I go – appearing in cathedrals, airports, pubs and museums; on ink cartridges, matchboxes and dashing across supermarket carparks.

I have no idea what's happening, if indeed anything is. I am not superstitious. My grandmother was so bitten by its bug she could barely walk up a flight of stairs without hanging on to a rabbit's foot, which put me off at an early age.

But there is so much foxiness going on. Logically or not, it feels like more than coincidence. As Auric Goldfinger remarked to James Bond, "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action".

Maybe coincidence is different to superstition. After all, Albert Einstein said "coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous" (The World As I See It) and he knew a thing or two about how the universe works. Conversely, Vladimir Nabokov remarked how "a certain man once lost a diamond cuff-link in the wide blue sea, and twenty years later, on the exact day, a Friday apparently, he was eating a large fish - but there was no diamond inside. That's what I like about coincidence" (Laughter in the Dark).

I noticed the first outside the post office (sending a copy of my first novel The Palace of Curiosities to the USA). Browsing a craft stall, I was presented with a woodcut of a fox on a village green. How pretty, I thought, buying a set of vulpine greetings cards. What a coincidence when I've just finished a book called Vixen.

It escalated. After performing in York with my band The March Violets, I took a detour to visit Beverley Minster. On the north wall was a medieval carving of a fox disguised as a pilgrim. Standing on its hind legs, flashing its fangs in a broad smile and brandishing a hefty staff (for self-defence of course).

I needn't have gone as far afield. Manchester Cathedral boasts two wonderful fifteenth-century carvings of foxes: one teaching its cubs to read and the other poring over a book. After 28 years of living in this fair city I didn't know they existed (call myself a medievalist? I should hang my head in shame).

It's not just up north. A Hampshire pub surprised me with a Victorian etching of foxes dressed in pink hunting jackets, seated at a table groaning with roast pheasant and grinning slyly as they toast each other, joking about huntsmen tumbling into ditches.

It occurs to me that I'm not tripping over 'straight' representations. All my sightings (and these are a tiny selection) are of trickster foxes, camouflaged and hoodwinking foolish humans. None of them are what they ought to be. Which, 'coincidentally', are some of the themes of Vixen.

Are sly foxes really dogging my footsteps? Is it all a load of old cobblers or is it connected in some way to the imminent publication of my novel? Carl Gustav Jung would have said yes. In the 1920s he coined the word synchronicity to describe what he called "temporally coincident occurrences of acausal events." To put it in (slightly) simpler words: synchronicity is the experience of two or more events as meaningfully related, where they are unlikely to be causally related.

Hmm. Perhaps I should call my next novel 'Finding Viking Treasure in the Garden'. Sadly, I don't think it works that way.

They aren't done with me yet. A couple of weeks ago I landed in Seattle and headed for the information stand to grab a city map. Amongst the brochures was a museum guide with a cover image of Jenny Andersen's enchanting 'Fox Spirit Travelling with the Human Soul'. So - if I am being followed by foxes, they are the most benign of guardians. Even if I don't believe in coincidence, maybe it believes in me. I have decided to enjoy their benevolent appearances.

As for synchronicity, I'll leave the last words to The Red Queen; my favourite character in that under-rated book on quantum physics, Alice Through The Looking Glass.
'I don't understand you,' said Alice. 'It's dreadfully confusing!'
'That's the effect of living backwards,' the Queen said kindly: 'it always makes one a little giddy at first -'
'Living backwards!' Alice repeated in great astonishment. 'I never heard of such a thing!'
'— but there's one great advantage in it, that one's memory works both ways.'
'I'm sure MINE only works one way,' Alice remarked. 'I can't remember things before they happen.'
'It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,' the Queen remarked.

Rosie Garland, for Waterstones.com/blog

Click to go to Carl Jung site

Click for Lindsay Carr's artwork, Morpheus

Click to see Jenny Andersen's Fox Spirit artwork

Click to go to Waterstones blog

Published in News
Diva magazine has given 'Vixen' a great review!

'A compelling story about love and devotion set against the backdrop of superstition, pestilence and hardship that dominate the muddy 14th century landscape. Poetic, surprising and ultimately deeply moving, Vixen will have you hooked faster than it takes to drink a jug of ale and – unlike ale – it will stay with you long after you've reached the final page.'

Diva august 2014

Published in News
Friday, 01 August 2014 09:56

17.7.2014 - VIXEN HARDBACK LAUNCH

My second novel, Vixen, launches today – 17th July 2014!

It has already featured as Grazia magazine's Best Historical fiction pick for summer 2014. Plus, this wonderful review is in the August 2014 issue of Diva magazine.

'A compelling story about love and devotion set against the backdrop of superstition, pestilence and hardship that dominate the muddy 14th century landscape. Poetic, surprising and ultimately deeply moving, Vixen will have you hooked faster than it takes to drink a jug of ale and – unlike ale – it will stay with you long after you've reached the final page.'

 

Published in News

Vixen has been dubbed 'Best for Historical Fiction fans' in Grazia's Summer reading list!

Published in News
English Literature & Creative Writing at Lancaster University
Visiting Writers Series - Rosie Garland

Ruskin Library
Bailrigg
Lancaster University,
Lancaster, LA1 4YZ

Tuesday, 26 February 2019 from 18:00-19:00

Join us for an evening of conversation with Rosie Garland.

Everybody is welcome, this event is free and no registration is needed.

Tagged ‘literary hero’ by The Skinny, Rosie Garland is a novelist, poet and singer with post-punk band The March Violets. With a passion for language nurtured by public libraries, her writing has appeared in New Welsh Reader, The North, Rialto, Butcher’s Dog, Bangalore Review, Mslexia, Envoi, etc. She’s received writing commissions from Bronte Parsonage Museum, Tate Modern and Women’s Words Manchester as well as nominations for the Pushcart and Forward Prizes. Her latest poetry collection, As In Judy, is published by Flapjack Press.

Debut novel, The Palace of Curiosities, was nominated for both The Desmond Elliott and the Polari First Book Prize and Vixen was a Green Carnation Prize nominee. Her latest novel The Night Brother (Borough Press) was reviewed in The Times as "A rich and ambitious tale with shades of Angela Carter... Garland's prose is a delight: playful and exuberant.”

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/english-literature-and-creative-writing/news-and-events/events/?view=fulltext&day=26&month=2&year=2019&id=d.en.394094×tamp=1551204000&

Published in Gig List

News and Events

  • Royal Society of Literature - Fellowship
    Royal Society of Literature - Fellowship
    Royal Society of Literature Fellowship

     

    On 12th July 2023 I was made a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature! It was something I never imagined in a hundred years.

    It's a tremendous honour, & a testament to the quality of my writing. To say I am thrilled is a huge misunderstatement.

    https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rosie-garland/

    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/12/royal-society-of-literature-aims-to-broaden-representation-as-it-announces-62-new-fellows

    Written on Monday, 21 August 2023 09:12
  • Manchester City of Literature - Festival of Libraries 2023
    Manchester City of Literature - Festival of Libraries 2023

    Delighted to get the opportunity to talk to Manchester Festival of Libraries about the importance of libraries in my life!

    https://youtu.be/18VPl5qXvkM

    And there are many more –
    Watch all the short films featuring four accomplished Manchester creative practitioners who have worked closely with libraries over the course of their careers.

    Hear how libraries can support artists, writers, dancers, musicians and more to create original work, access valuable resources, gain practical support and inspire creativity.
    These films aim to highlight the rich creative diversity of our libraries, and pave the way for emerging artists to head to their local library for ideas and insight for their next big project.

    You can view all the films below.
    https://www.manchestercityofliterature.com/event/creatives-in-libraries/

    Written on Thursday, 22 June 2023 09:40
  • 'Because goddess is never enough' - a new film-poem!
    'Because goddess is never enough' - a new film-poem!
    ‘Because goddess is never enough’ – revealing the new film poem, made in collaboration with filmmaker Jane Glennie.

    Absolutely thrilled to announce this new film poem – created over 2021 in collaboration with amazing filmaker Jane Glennie. Inspired by the life of dancer and choreographer Tilly Losch, the film explores notions of erasure, strategies for persistence and the centrality of creative expression for the life of a woman in perpetual motion.

    We are delighted with the reception the film is receiving! A list of film festivals is below.
    AND there’s a ‘Book of the Film’!

    'Because Goddess is Never Enough (Peculiarity Press, 2022)
    Available from Blackwell’s (Waterstones, Amazon, etc)
    https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Because-Goddess-Is-Never-Enough-by-Rosie-Garland-Jane-Glennie/9781912384167

    Flick through the book here –
    https://photos.app.goo.gl/zzDN5KKbUccqPZsQ7

    Film festivals & events 2022 that have selected & featured 'Because Goddess is Never Enough'

    Moving Poems May 2022
    'Because Goddess is Never Enough' – selected as one of ‘the best poetry films on the web’
    https://movingpoems.com/2022/05/because-goddess-is-never-enough-by-rosie-garland/

    Fringe Arts Bath Festival 27 May - 12 June 2022
    Bath’s annual free festival of visual arts
    'Because Goddess is Never Enough' – selected for WORDPLAY programme
    https://www.fringeartsbath.co.uk/festival-2022
    https://www.fringeartsbath.co.uk/wordplay

    Tranås at the Fringe International Arts Festival 2-9 July in Tranås, Sweden
    'Because Goddess is Never Enough' – selected for the LIVING FEMININITY programme.
    https://www.atthefringe.org/film-program-2022

    Women X Film Festival 2-4 September in Darlington, UK.
    'Because Goddess is Never Enough' - Honourable Mention
    https://riannepictures.com/womenx

    Women Over 50 Film Festival
    'Because Goddess is Never Enough' – nominated for Best Experimental film, selected for the AT MY CORE programme
    https://wofff22.eventive.org/films/62e15892943cb70054a692d9
    https://wofff.co.uk/2022/08/wofff22-films-announced-find-out-more-about-our-fantastic-official-selections/

    Athens 10th International Video Poetry Festival 28 September - 1 October 2022
    'Because Goddess is Never Enough' – screened 29th September within 'Feminist Struggles' programme
    https://theinstitute.info/?p=5226

    HOME Manchester, Filmed Up 28th September 2022
    ‘Because Goddess is Never Enough’ selected for Filmed Up programme.

    https://homemcr.org/event/filmed-up-sep-2022/

    The Feminist Film Festival, Bucharest, 13-16 October 2022
    'Because Goddess is Never Enough' – Official Selection
    https://filmfreeway.com/TheFeministFilmFestival

    Sunderland Shorts Film Festival October 17th, 2022
    'Because Goddess is Never Enough' – selected for the Art & Experimental Films programme
    https://filmfreeway.com/SunderlandShorts

    Zebra Poetry Film Festival, Berlin 3-6 November 2022
    'Because Goddess is Never Enough'.
    We are very proud to be selected for Zebra, the oldest and largest international festival of poetry films.
    https://filmfreeway.com/ZEBRAPoetryFilmFestival
    https://www.haus-fuer-poesie.org/en/zebra-poetry-film-festival/home-zebra-poetry-film-festival/

    Still Voices Film Festival, Ireland 9-13 November 2022
    'Because Goddess is Never Enough' – Official selection Experimental
    https://stillvoicesfilmfestival.com/

    Written on Thursday, 29 September 2022 09:41
  • Sept 2022 - The March Violets announce 5 CD boxset release!
    Sept 2022 - The March Violets announce 5 CD boxset release!
    Announcing the Novemeber 18th 2022 release of 'The Palace of Infinite Darkness'

    It's 40 years since The March Violets released our 1st 7" EP (seriously, FORTY).
    So it’s a great time to announce that this tasty 5 CD Box Set is now up for pre order from Jungle Records!
    The Palace of Infinite Darkness - In addition to all the singles plus all the extended versions, the box has six excellent BBC sessions, 23 tracks with 9 unreleased songs (also reissued as Big Soul Kiss 2LP yellow vinyl after a sold-out RSD release). Then there are two whole discs of unreleased demo sessions – one from the early period 1982-84 and another from 1985-87. Founder-member Rosie Garland recounts the band’s story in a 44-page booklet.
    Check out the link:
    https://smarturl.it/MV5CDbox

    Written on Thursday, 22 September 2022 12:19
  • June 2022 - Queer Poetry for The Arvon Foundation
    June 2022 - Queer Poetry for The Arvon Foundation
    Residential Writing Week: Queer Poetry

    A wonderful experience – for the first time, I co-tutored a residential writing week for the prestigious Arvon Foundation! It was such a thrill to work alongside inspiring co-tutor Keith Jarrett and electrifying guest reader Jay Bernard.
    A very special week. I won’t forget it.

    Monday June 27th - Saturday July 2nd 2022
    Totleigh Barton, Sheepwash, Beaworthy Devon
    https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/residential-writing-week-queer-poetry/

    Written on Wednesday, 21 September 2022 15:16