Spotlight: Kris Haddow, Joshua Jones, Sam Phipps & Gill Shaw
One of the greatest privileges of publishing Gutter, is being able to connect with writers familiar and new. Each issue, we’ll shine a spotlight on some of our contributors, to discover more about what inspires them, and where they hope their writing takes them next. Today, it’s our pleasure to speak to Issue 27 contributors, Kris Haddow, Joshua Jones, Sam Phipps & Gill Shaw.
Kris Haddow
Twitter: @KrisHaddow / Instagram: @KrisHaddow
What was the inspiration behind your submission?
The event in my story actually took place while I was staying with my parents. I often write satirical responses to things that happen in my life, good and bad, and try to find the funny side in silly situations. I may have taken a few liberties and heightened the drama a bit, but Mum did actually cut herself on a new knife I bought them. I’d been moaning about the useless old ones they got in a housewarming or wedding present some 40+ years ago, and decided I’d do them a solid (or so I thought) by buying a new set. Mum swiftly rejected them, insisting she’d be back to ‘yaisin the auld yin’ after slashing herself twice the first week they were in the house.
I’d been living in Kent for a few years before moving back to Scotland in 2021, and while I was staying with my folks, was confronted by the fact they were aging in ways I hadn’t previously noticed — wee habits, ticks and catchphrases they’ve both developed since retiring are particularly telling. I liked the juxtaposition in the title, ‘The Auld Yin’, as it’s a knowing jibe at the nickname Mum’s lovingly picked up (and takes in good heart!) and a nod to the useless utensil she resolutely refuses to throw away.
Who do you imagine to be your ideal reader?
Anyone at all who enjoys reading Scots! I tend to lean into my native Dumfriesshire dialect when writing satire. I think our tongue lends itself to comedic flash fiction, and to skits and sketches. It is, after all, a bit of a performance on the page. I try to use localisms and idioms sparingly in the hope that it doesn’t become impenetrable, erring in favour of a blended style that is accessible to all. I think Scots can be enjoyed by readers who are equally as new to it as those who are familiar—including international readers learning it via English as a second language. If all else fails, they’ll usually get it if they read it out loud, as Scots is as much a spoken language as it is written. I always relish the opportunity to read my work to an audience and to see how they respond.
Are you working on anything exciting or challenging at the moment?
Comedy and satire have always felt like safe ground for me as a playwright and poet writing short form Scots. I’m currently working on a book set on the Southern Upland Way as part of my doctorate in Creative Writing at University of Glasgow, and hope to eventually turn out a full length crime novel. Only time will tell if the dialect lends itself as well to more serious subject matters in long form as it does to the craic!
Joshua Jones
Twitter: @nothumanhead / Instagram: @joshuajoneswrites
What's your favourite part of the writing process?
The editing! I love talking about writing with my peers, exchanging ideas, critiques and editing tips. I love the refinement of writing and language over time, watching my writing grow as I grow and ideas evolve.
Are you working on anything exciting or challenging at the moment?
I'm currently wrapping some last minute edits on my short story collection, Local Fires, published by Parthian Books in September. I'm also in the planning stages of a writing project I'm coordinating between queer/LGBTQ+ Welsh and Vietnamese writers, which will take up most of this year.
What's been your favourite book of the last twelve months?
Flower Factory by Richard Foster, released in June 2022 by Ortac Press, has been one of my favourite reads in a long-time! It’s preoccupation with documenting a time and place that doesn't exist anymore, through the memories of the people that were there, was profound and moving, yet also funny, witty and extremely engaging. I also loved the publication of Derek Jarman's 1971 novella, Through the Billboard Promised Land Without Ever Stopping, by Prototype Press's House Sparrow imprint. It's a richly poetic, queer, psychedelic road trip full of flavour and images, and I loved the experience of reading it very dearly.
Who is an author or poet you think more people should know about?
Claire Carroll. Her short story collection, The unreliable Nature Writer, will be published by Scratch Books in 2024. It's going flood every reader with warmth and brilliance.
Is there anything else you want our readers to know about you and your writing?
My debut short story collection, Local Fires, will be published on September 7th by Parthian Books and can be pre-ordered here: https://www.parthianbooks.com/collections/pre-order/products/local-fires
Sam Phipps
What was the inspiration behind ‘Make’?
With the poem, I wanted to play around with the idea of dictionary definitions and examples of usage, then ramp it up into something a bit odd/comical/unsettling. The refrain "I will make my bed out of ash" is meant to suggest a quality of invocation or ritual. I've done a similar thing elsewhere with other words, including 'Act', which is an incredibly versatile three letters - noun and verb, deed and pretence etc.
What's your favourite part of the writing process?
Every stage of the writing process is exciting and absorbing. The moment when a phrase or image you've been carrying around for ages becomes the start of a poem, or finds a place somewhere in a poem, is pretty special. I also like the way a poem gestates over weeks, months or years and you find ways to change and improve it - you hope!
Who is an author or poet you think more people should know about?
The US poet Kim Addonizio is brilliant. She turns desperation into humour in a way that often makes me laugh out loud. That is rare for poems.
Gill Shaw
Twitter: @gillshawwrites / Instagram: @gillshawwrites
What was the inspiration behind ‘I Reflect On Our Relationship Through The Lens Of Wabi-Sabi’?
I love cherry-blossom season - fleeting as it is! And also love the incredible words in Japanese which describe various concepts - here, the concept of wabi-sabi, which is about finding beauty in things which are imperfect and impermanent. It seemed fitting to compare lost love to the transience of the blossom season, and use that filter to explore the beauty that can still be found in endings.
What's your favourite part of the writing process?
I love finding a unique point of entry to a poem - there is much joy in those moments! I also love the challenge of writing in established poetic form - it's like a jigsaw in poetry. Once I have first drafts, I also enjoy playing around with how poems sit on the page and (like in this poem)
Who is an author or poet you think more people should know about?
My friend Helen Bowie whose poetry pamphlets are WORD / PLAY (Beir Bua Press) and Exposition Ladies (Fly on the Wall Press)
What's been your favourite book of the last twelve months?
One of my most memorable reads last year was Married to a Bedouin by Marguerite van Geldermalsen. I read it after taking a trip to Jordan and Petra last October. It's the autobiographical account of a New Zealand woman who visited Petra in the 1970s and married a bedouin man living there.
Are you working on anything exciting or challenging at the moment?
My debut pamphlet Touching Air was published by Stewed Rhubarb Press in April. I am currently pulling together dates for a series of readings. Touching Air is a series of poems about heartbreak and my writing now is about the next stage of the journey - the healing process. I'm finding it more difficult to write about the healing than the heartbreak! I'm a fan of spoken word and earlier this month (with a huge push outside my comfort zone!) I competed in my first poetry slam. It was a wonderfully terrifying experience and I have an appetite to do more!
