News

Thrilled to see my episode of BBC One Scotland’s ‘River City’ go out on 26th July! It’s also available on iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001p4jj/river-city-26072023

I’ve also reached the top 3% in the latest BBC Writersroom Open Call with my script, ‘Sleeping Dogs’, and I’ve been accepted for BAFTA Connect membership!

Callum Balmforth’s brilliant performance in If You See My Dad… at the Barons Court Theatre, directed by Michael Gyngell, is still available to view at: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/706925931

About Me

I am a screenwriter, playwright, short story and flash fiction writer.

I was selected for BBC Writersroom Voices – Scotland in 2023, and have reached the top 3% of the BBC Writersroom Open Call. I am a BAFTA Connect member.

My short stories have been published in journals such as Mslexia and Firewords, and I have won national competitions for short plays and flash fiction. My poetry has been broadcast on Radio 4 as part of a Woman’s Hour Poetry Competition, and I won an international haiku competition run by the journal Still.

My short play / monologue, If You See My Dad… won ‘Playclub’ run by the London Playwrights in winter 2019 and is part of ‘Scratching the Surface’ at Barons Court Theatre March 2022, directed by Michael Gyngell and produced by Kibo Productions.

Another short play, The Waiting Room, was produced by Get Over It Productions as part of ‘The Scene 2020’ at Chiswick Playhouse in January 2020, directed by Caroline O’Mahoney, while Power Cut was shortlisted by Subtext Theatre for the Earl of Derby’s New Writing Festival 2020.

What I’m Watching

The Bear (Disney+) – The first series was funny, compelling and moving and series 2 is shaping up to be just as good – if not better. All the characters are fantastically charismatic, flawed and vulnerable. And all that delicious food…

A Spy Among Friends (ITVX) – Fantastic performances bring this story of espionage, betrayal and treason to life brilliantly. It shows how personal human relationships can drive international events, and asks whether you can ever really know someone’s true intentions – maybe it’s impossible to even know your own.

Colin From Accounts (BBC) – Pitch perfect comedy with a fresh take on the rom com. Now spotting ‘Colin’ dogs everywhere – wonder if their owners are getting sick of the attention?

And Just Like That (Max) – The clothes! The quips! The privilege! This one might count as a guilty pleasure; the characters entertain and infuriate me in equal measure.

What I’m Reading

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver – Late to the Kingsolver party and I’m kicking myself – what an incredible writer I’ve been missing out on all these years! The Lacuna is a beautiful story about finding a place in the world, fighting for basic human rights and how truth and love can be found in the unlikeliest of friendships. It’s even got Frida Kahlo as a character, what more could a novel need?

Foster by Claire Keegan – I am now officially a Claire Keegan fan. She achieves in slim novels what many writers struggle to achieve in books five times the length. Moving, heartbreaking, and ringing with emotional truth.

Behind the Seams by Esme Young – A captivating account of Young’s creative life. To be read in conjunction with Viv Albertine’s Clothes Clothes Clothes… to inspire everyone – but perhaps particularly women? – to just get out there and do it. Whether creative efforts ‘succeed’ or ‘fail’, they always add something to the world.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen – A novel set in the Vietnam war and its aftermath, featuring a double agent whose actions provoke the question: if you pose as the enemy, at what point do you become the enemy? Can contradictory, changeable humans ever thrive in a rigid belief system, whatever political hue it is?