Why subscribe?

I’m an author who loves visual culture. My debut novel, Ava Anna Ada (White Rabbit, 2024) was compared to Nabokov’s Ada by Stuart Kelly and called ‘every bit as gripping as it is horrifying’ by Ian Rankin. My debut memoir, The Last Days (Penguin Random House, 2022) was a Guardian Book of the Year. In January 2024 The Scotsman named me an artist to watch.

My first love is textiles. I can pretty much draw a simple, although not straight, line between my MA in Creative Writing and BSc in Textiles. I use Substack to write about encounters with visual art and literature, mostly through life writing.

My writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Stylist and The Sunday Times. I have appeared on Channel 4, BBC World Service, BBC Radio Scotland, ABC Australia and regularly chair book events. I have interviewed some of the world’s leading authors and artists, including Maggie O’Farrell and Jeremy Deller.

I combine all of this in a slightly disparate, possibly haphazard Substack. I am bad at writing along a set theme and find my writing varies in response to my current preoccupations. I think this is ok; I’m bad at being a brand, which likely flies in the face of what I should be doing online. Either which way, 3 am things is a Substack featured publication, it’s great to have you here, thank you for reading.

Stay up-to-date

You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.

Join the crew

Be part of a community of people who share your interests.

To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.