We'll survive what we get into
Community events and open calls for writers and writing
Hello, hello! Happy Pride, and welcome to The Good Egg Project Newsletter!
This week’s newsletter title is borrowed from Open Arms which is part of EPIC The Troy Saga. Look, the musical came into my life last week, and it is just filled with ear worms, so our next few newsletter titles will probably reflect my new obsession.
Pride is upon us and in Edinburgh this weekend, we begin with Porty Pride, which I wrote a preview for in last week’s newsletter.
There are loads of events happening down in Portobello from today, Tuesday, June 3, including a book event at The Portobello Bookshop with Milo Allan and Murray Hill, before festivities kick off properly on Friday, June 6. Browse the whole Porty Pride programme on their website.
LGBT Health and Wellbeing also have a jam-packed programme of events (as they always do, but I wanted to shout them out today), including queer board games night on Monday, June 9, an Open Book creative writing session on Thursday, June 12, Write Back! zine making and letter writing workshop on Thursday, June 19, and their QTIPOC writers group on Tuesday, June 24. You can find out more about LGBT Health and Wellbeing’s events on their website.
Pride isn’t all celebration, I know. But I think going to events and highlighting safe places for queer people (like me and many of our community members) is the least we can do in a political climate that grows more and more hostile towards trans and queer people seemingly by the day.
While many of these events (rightfully) prioritise queer people, many of these spaces welcome allies and loved ones as well. If you’re an ally do try to go along to shows, open mics, book launches, and workshops to support queer writers and creatives. Many of us need your support now more than ever.
Community events
Creative Circles Your Practice: Performing Without Burning Out
Join Creative Edinburgh today, Tuesday, June 3, for this free casual monthly meet-up for creatives, techies, makers, students, freelance folk and everyone in between who is interested in discovering more about what's happening in Edinburgh. Creative Circles is a free event, which is open to anyone to attend. This Creative Circles session is all about making your physical practice more sustainable. You’ll hear from dancer and choreographer Pirita Tuisku, who brings decades of international experience to this discussion on how to protect your body, maintain your energy, and set boundaries in a sector that rarely slows down. Ideal for dancers, physical theatre makers, choreographers and movement artists — or anyone whose body is their primary creative tool.
Book a ticket on Eventbrite
Tonight, Tuesday, June 3, Flourish Poetry Night is back at Mcchuills Bar in Glasgow. Join host Emma Dee for another great night of poetry, rap, and music. Entry is free and doors open at 7.30 pm. All slots have been booked this month, so pop down to listen or to see if you can get a spot on the door.
Follow Flourish on Instagram for more information
Also tonight, Tuesday, June 3, the Sleazy Speakeasy is back at Nice n Sleazy in Glasgow. Hosted by award-winning spoken word artist Rosie Jo Hunter, the night welcomes poets, rappers, and spoken word artists to share their work alongside the incredibly talented Speak Easy House Band.
Follow Sleazy Speakeasy on Instagram to stay up to date with their events
Good Egg Comedy: Cracking New Jokes
Join Good Egg Comedy for some fresh jokes on Thursday, June 5, at the Dragonfly in Edinburgh. They welcome professional comedians trying new material and a stacked bill of some of their favourite acts cracking brand new jokes! You will see a handful of acts, plus one of their resident hosts - Ralph Brown or Ross Leslie - holding the show together.
Book a ticket on Eventbrite
The Malt Whisky Murders and Whispers in the Glen Book Launches
Join author Natalie Jayne Clark at Waterstones in Glasgow on Thursday, June 5, for the launch of The Malt Whisky Murders. Jenny Brown Associates are also celebrating the launch of Whispers in the Glen by Sue Lawrence at Blackwell’s in Edinburgh on Thursday, June 5. You can read the rest of their June event line-up on Instagram, including their authors at Borders Book Festival, Dundee Book Festival, and more launches for The Malt Whisky Murders and Whispers in the Glen.
Tickets for TMWM and WITG launches and all JBA events are available in their Linktree
This Friday, June 6, at Lilybank Gardens in Glasgow, Bulb! returns with a banger of a line up! This week, they’re joined by writers and authors Elle Nash, Vik Shirley Rebecca Ferrier, and Meredith Macleod featuring music by Michael Calve.
Follow Bulb Readings on Instagram for more event updates
Queer Theory: The Future is Queer
Queer Theory is back with a stacked cabaret on Friday, June 6, at the Rum Shack in Glasgow. Hosted by RJ Hunter, they’re welcoming Elisabeth Elektra a femme pop singer-songwriter, Harvey L-R with plaintive piano and vocals, Jiayi Chen performance artist, King Hoberon for some drag, Theo Seddon with some standup and poetry, and poet Janette Ayachi to the stage. The event will be followed by and afterparty with DJ Melted.
Book a ticket on Outsavvy
Cymera, our local festival of science fiction, fantasy and horror writing, is back this weekend at The Pleasance in Edinburgh from Friday, June 6 to Sunday, June 8. There’s a wide range of online and in-person events including panels and book signings, and workshops, as well as a game room, book shop, and more. The workshop programme alone has me salivating as it covers all kinds of things for writers like getting your book ready for submission with Portobello Literary’s Caro Clarke, generating ideas with Lorraine Wilson, writing for video games with Stark Holborn, writing for audio with Emily Inkpen, and so much more.
Browse the Cymera programme and book tickets through their website
The Loud Poets Open Mic is back at The Canons’ Gait in Edinburgh on Monday, June 9. This time their open mic feature is Natalie Jayne Clark. Join Natalie as well as some awesome open micers for one of the liveliest open mics in the city. Entry is free and doors open at 6.30 pm for a 7 pm start. If you can’t make it, the Loud Poets are also back at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on Friday, June 13, for their next showcase with Gray Crosbie, Christie Gourlay, Abby Oliveira, and Shane Strachan, and they’re continuing their online workshop series on Saturday, June 14.
Find out more about all Loud Poets events through their website
Come join me and Orémi at August_21 in Newington, Edinburgh, on Tuesday, June 10, for some writing and making friends. This is the last Words and Friends of the summer! Words and Friends has been such a welcome and lovely time since the start of the year, and I’m so happy to have met so many wonderful people through these events. We’ve seen friendships blossom, written some excellent pieces together, fallen in love with the cakes at the cafe, and found time to play and experiment with our writing together. This month, we’ll have some collaborative writing activities and time for you to write for yourself as well. Don’t miss out on a chance to meet other writers and get your words on paper
Book a ticket on Eventbrite
Queer Folks’ Tales with Turan Ali, Josie Duncan, Ruth Hunter & Theo Seddon
Queer Folks’ Tales is back at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh on Thursday, June 12, for another hugely popular event. You’ll hear from queer storytellers from a diverse range of backgrounds, ages and cultures around Edinburgh and Scotland share stories of LGBTQ+ lives, past, present and future. The stories are sometimes hilarious, often moving, occasionally shocking, and the mix of true and fictional stories across the year is as varied as the range of storytellers invited.
Household names feature alongside new and diverse queer storytellers from the different communities of Scotland. Many of the stories told in the Queer Folks' Tales evenings will be true stories of LGBTQ+ experience in Scotland today. Hosted by Edinburgh’s Turan Ali.
Book tickets on the Scottish Storytelling Centre website
Head to Embassy Gallery in Edinburgh on Sunday, June 15, for readings from poets including Rosa Campbell, Xuanlin Tham, Karla Kelsey, Patrick Errington, and Alan Gilbert. Entry is free and there’s no need to book tickets. Doors are at 6 pm.
For more information check follow Patrick Errington on Instagram
Join host and poet, Ross Wilcock, on Monday, June 16, to celebrate Pride at Curler’s Rest in Glasgow. This month Ross is hosting a pride special, so dust off your gayest poems and come along for a night of spoken word and prose.
Get more information on Facebook
Versaye! is back with their Pride Edition at Bossa in Glasgow on Wednesday, June 18. This month they’re featuring the phenomenal, award-winning Slam Champion Rosie Jo Hunter! The open mic line-up is also looking spectacular and this one’s not to be missed! Message Lorna on Instagram for an open mic spot. Please note the limelight & the mic is reserved for queer poets this month.
Follow Lorna on Instagram to stay up to date with future events
Head to Category is Books in Glasgow on Thursday, June 19, for their brand new Trans History Night. Join historian Sam Rutherford for a discussion about queer and trans history and what we can do with it. Sam will share some of his thoughts, with a particular focus on the history of medical transition and on the legacies of Section 28. And there will be plenty of time for open discussion about what queer and trans history mean to you and how you see the role of the past in today's queer and trans political movements. The event is free and there’s no need to book tickets.
Follow Category is Books on Instagram to stay up to date with their events
TypeWRITErs! is Typewronger’s new monthly writing group where workshop leader Tee sets a new challenge to push the boundaries with your writing! Join Tee on Thursday, June 27, for a session thinking about the media you use to write your work - computers, pen and paper, your phone, a typewriter. They'll have 9 different writing setups from the conventional to the bizarre available on the night, and the Typewronger Gong will sound every 10 minutes when you will have to change places and continue on a different setup.
Spots are limited for this event and if you register for this event it is important that you attend, and if something prevents you from going you must let the Typewronger team know immediately so they can let folk on the waiting list know.
Register for a spot on Eventbrite
Open calls for writers and writing
Poem of the Month: Submit your best Villanelle
Only Poems’ June Poem of the Month is open for submissions, and this time, they want your villanelles. Whether you’re channeling Thomas, Bishop, or blazing your own 19-line trail, send them your best take on this mesmerizing form. It is free to submit and if selected you’ll receive a payment of $33 for your work. The deadline for submissions is Monday, June 9.
Read the guidelines and submit your work on the Only Poems Submittable
Alasdair Gray Archives: The City Art Writing Commission
In their new role as Curatorial Assistant funded by Creative Scotland, Holly Rennie Brown has developed a curatorial project under the theme of ‘The City’. Through donated materials from members of their community and networks they have curated an archival box that maps Glasgow through a queer, working-class lens. They were inspired by the Alasdair Gray Archive’s own developing collection of curated boxes that map Gray’s life through his connections to others. AGA are looking for an early-stage writer to respond to the newly drawn together materials and connections in Holly’s archival box and map them onto AGA’s wider collection. This text will be made available online and as part of an exhibition at AGA in October this year.
There is an eligibility criteria for this opportunity, they welcome applications from writers who identify as queer and working-class, are based in Glasgow, and are able to complete the commission in the agreed upon time frame. Detailed feedback will be offered to all unsuccessful shortlisted applicants. The project has a flexible word count, form and structure, and successful writers will be paid £250. To apply send your CV, a short paragraph about your approach to this project, and a sample writing piece to holly@thealasdairgrayarchive.org. The deadline for applications is 5 pm on Friday, June 13.
Find the whole project brief on the AGA website
Extra Teeth is open for submissions for Issue Ten. They are accepting fiction and non-fiction between 800-4000 words. There is no theme, but as ever, reading the magazine and their Substack With Bite will give you the best sense of what they publish. They pay £140 for printed pieces and £100 for online works, published on With Bite.
Extra Teeth is a Scottish magazine with an international outlook—meaning that they will always champion and cultivate great Scottish writing, but they also publish work from writers located elsewhere. They especially welcome submissions from underrepresented groups. The deadline for submissions is Saturday, June 14.
Read their guidelines on the Extra Teeth website
Extra Teeth is also open for mentorship applications. Two mentorships are available, with their fiction editors Cal Bannerman and Anna Walsh. A huge part of Extra Teeth is writer support and development. The Extra Teeth team knows how difficult it can be to find guidance and, at its most basic, other writers who get what you’re trying to do. So please don’t self-reject; fire in an application and see what happens. The deadline for applications is Saturday, June 14.
Find out more about the mentorship scheme on the Extra Teeth website
Summerhall Surgeries is back for 2025 and applications are now open. Summerhall Surgeries is an artist development initiative presented during the Fringe. The opportunity gives artists the chance to showcase unfinished works-in-progress to an audience of national and international peers and industry figures. The deadline for applications is Sunday, June 22.
For more information on the initiative and on how to apply, head to the Summerhall website
Submissions for Reverie’s fifth issue are officially open. Submissions are free and they accept poetry, prose, short fiction, nonfiction, photography, art, and hybrid works. There’s no theme and they accept simultaneous submissions as well. Send your pieces to reverie.litjournal@gmail.com to be considered for publication! The deadline for submissions is Friday, August 1.
Visit the Reverie website for full submission guidelines and details
Thanks for reading!
To all our queer community members, I wish you a joyful Pride. Whether you’re resting, resisting, or connecting with your community, this is a month for you and however you choose to spend your energy and time it’s all valid.
To our non-queer community members, I hope that this Pride you have time to connect with queer stories on the stage, the page, or the screen, love and listen to your queer friends, and speak up for people when the world wants to silence them. Your support for this queer-run community is so appreciated, and I hope you find more ways to support other queer communities too.
If you are looking for other ways to support queer people this month, write to your MP or MSP to protect trans rights, consider donating to local charities like LGBT Health and Wellbeing who support the LGBTQIA+ community in Edinburgh, national organisations like Not A Phase and TransActual who are campaigning for trans rights, or the Good Law Project’s challenge to the UK Supreme Court’s judgement.
I’ll be back in your inboxes next week with more events and updates!
Until next time, take care of each other,
Naomi
P.s. Share this newsletter with other writers in your life and help make writing less lonely. You never know who’s in need of community and I know ours is pretty good.