Welcome to the Glasgow Anthologies online, where information about all the various publications that have come out of the University of Glasgow creative writing programme is gathered together for the first time.

The details given here have been extracted from ‘The Glasgow Anthologies: A Short History’ by Mary Paulson-Ellis (April 2008). If you have any queries, questions, or revisions please contact fromglasgowtosaturn@gmail.com in the first instance.


Nine Lives
Ed. Willy Maley
76pp, Clydeside Press (1998)
ISBN 1-873586-16-7
£3.95

‘Were the reader to put these eight names in an envelope marked to be opened in (say) 2018, at least one and probably more of those names would be recognized as familiar by that time.’ Philip Hobsbaum

The very first of the Glasgow University anthologies, Nine Lives, is a self-published book/chapbook (146mmx220mm), perfect bound, with a glossy cover featuring the title in red and listing the names of the contributors. It contains short stories, extracts from novels and a number of poems by eight writers, most of whom were, or had been, students on the course between 1995 when it began, and 1998 when the book was published. Nine Lives was designed, edited, typeset and generally driven forward by Professor Willy Maley, co-originator of the creative writing programme at Glasgow University, and includes a preface by Philip Hobsbaum, also co-originator of the course along with Professor Maley. It received funding of £500 from the University of Glasgow to assist with printing costs.

Contributors: Freda Churches; John Hancox; Shug Hanlan; Andy Manders; Landon J Napoleon; Sarah Neely; Daniel Sellers; and Holly Young.


spoke
bletherink (2000)
ISBN 0-9538328-0-5
£8.00

‘New Scottish voices’ spoke

Not a book, but ‘an audio anthology of new literary voices - a periodical on a CD’, spoke features twenty-two pieces of poetry, prose and some sound and music written and delivered by twelve contributors (students and non-students) most of whom who were on the course between 1998 and 2000. It was devised by bletherink - a production company co-directed by students Sam Trainor, Jason Nikolarakos and Edward P Clapp - who selected writers to appear on the CD based on their ability to perform their own work. It was funded via a £1000 grant from Glasgow University and is still available for purchase from AK Press (www.akuk.com).

Contributors: Donna Campbell; Bobby Christie; Edward P Clapp; Anne Donovan; Shug Hanlan; Jim Ferguson; Bethan Lewis; Dave Manderson; Laura Marney (subsequently a tutor on the course); Nick E Melville; Jason Nikolarakos; and Sam Trainor.



Confluence
Ed. Aonghus Collins, Bethan Lewis and Fiona G Parrott
101pp, University of Strathclyde (2002)
ISBN 0-947649-01-8

‘The editors of this anthology have coined a new collective noun for writers…a confluence.’ Willy Maley

Another self-published book/chapbook (146mmx205mm), Confluence is the only one of the anthologies to specify that it was produced when the creative writing course was run jointly by the University’s of Glasgow and Strathclyde. Perfect bound with a soft cover in black and white, it features work by nineteen students, a preface by Professor Willy Maley and an introduction by Margaret Elphinstone (then a tutor at the University of Strathclyde). Although not published until 2002, the students represented in the book had all completed the course by 2001. Some have gone on to considerable publishing success including Louise Welsh with The Cutting Room (Canongate, 2002) and Anne Donovan with Buddha Da (Canongate, 2003).

Contributors: Edward P Clapp; Aonghus Collins; Anne Donovan; Jim Ferguson; Stephen Gordon; Bethan Lewis; Joanna Lilley; Alistair McDonald; Carol McKay; Cathy McSporran; Dave Manderson; Ann Montgomery; Will Napier; Jason Nikolarakos; Fiona G Parrott; Julie Smith; Louise Welsh; and Graeme Williamson.


Briefed
30pp, 2002

‘A short anthology of new writing.’ Briefed

The most ‘handmade’ of the Glasgow anthologies, Briefed is a pamphlet (146mmx210mm), stapled, with photocopied pages and a lilac cover. It features work by twenty-nine writers who made up the 2001/02 intake onto what was then an MPhil in Creative Writing. The brief was to submit work that would fit on a single side of A5 - hence the title - and there was no selection process, or editorial control. The students received a £300 grant from Glasgow University and did much of the design and layout work themselves, but were ultimately disappointed with the quality of the reproduction. Successful contributors include Rodge Glass with No Fireworks (Faber and Faber, 2005), Nick Brooks with My Name is Denise Forrester (Orion, 2005) and Karen Campbell with The Twighlight Time (Hodder & Stoughton, 2008).

Contributors: Dorothy Alexander; Annette Allison; Stephen Barnaby; Nick Brooks; Colin Campbell; Karen Campbell; Colin Clark; Ailsa Crumb; Rodge Glass; Griz Gordon; David Govier; Scott Graham; Dave Hancock; Linda Henderson; George Inglis; Dorothy Johnston; Heather Mackay; Fiona Mackellar; Brendan Maclaughlin; Ann Mackinnon; Nick E Melville; Alison Miller; Maureen Myant; Ali Nimmo; James Porteous; Margot Rhead; Jas Sherry; Gary Steven; and Kate Tregaskis.


The Knuckle End
Ed. Adrian Searle
Design Alison Stewart; Photography Kenny Drew
Two volumes, 203pp per volume, Freight (2004)
ISBN 0-9544024-2-1
£11.95

‘A meaty collection of the best new writing in Scotland.’ The Knuckle End

Perhaps the most distinctive of the Glasgow anthologies, The Knuckle End was the first to be professionally printed, designed and distributed. Conceived as an ‘art object’ as much as a literary one, it features two small (171mmx129mm), chunky volumes - one containing poetry, short stories and novel extracts, the other a series of images charting the visual journey of a cow from field to plate - hinged together at the top. Writer and artist Alasdair Gray (then one of three Professors heading up the course) wrote a Foreword charting how the book came about. Controversially, submission was open to all previous and current students on the course in 2002/03 (although the anthology did not appear until 2004), and content was selected by an independent panel comprising writers Bernard Mac Laverty and Aonghas MacNeacail, and literary agent Jenny Brown. The Knuckle End won three or four design awards for publisher Freight, was reviewed in The Herald and Scotland on Sunday and is still available to buy in bookshops or via the internet.

Contributors: Dorothy Alexander; Nick Brooks; Colin Clark; Anne Donovan; Jim Ferguson; Rodge Glass; Griselda Gordon; Scott Graham; Stephanie Green; Shug Hanlan; David Hancock; George Inglis; Carol McKay; Lynda McDonald; Fiona MacKellar; Brendan McLaughlin; Nick E Melville; Maureen Myant; Will Napier; James Porteous; Gary Steven; Zoë Strachan (subsequently a tutor on the course); Louise Welsh (subsequently a tutor on the course); and Graeme Williamson.


The Human Machine
61pp, Clydeside Press (2003)

The Human Machine came about as a direct result of the controversy that surrounded the selection process for The Knuckle End. A self-published book/chapbook (205mmx148mm) with a black and white line drawing by Richard Todd on the cover, it was produced at the same time as The Knuckle End but published a year earlier. All thirty students from the course in 2002/03 are represented through a mixture of poetry, novel extracts and short prose and the book was funded using part of the £3000 raised for The Knuckle End. Contributors who have gone on to publish include Alison Miller with Demo (Hamish Hamilton, 2005) and Nicola Barry with Mother’s Ruin (Headline, 2007).

Contributors: Annette Alison; Nicola Barry; Angela Brown; Lynsey Calderwood; Karen Campbell; Aimee Chalmers; Colin Clark; Ailsa Crum; Rodge Glass; Griselda Gordon; Scott Graham; Stephanie Green; Jamie Johnston; Lynda McDonald; Heather Mackay; Fiona Mackellar; Ann Mackinnon; Brendan Maclaughlin; Nick E. Melville; Alison Miller; Clare Morrison; Maureen Myant; James Porteous; Kenneth Pratt; Margot Rhead; Robin Sen; Chiew Siah Tei; Gary Steven; Marc Vigliotti; Yi Wei.


Stramash
144pp, ICP creative communicators (2004)
ISBN 0-85261-808-5
£3.99

‘There’s fresh and original writing to be met in this anthology.’ Tom Leonard

Another self-published book/chapbook (148mmx210mm), with a Foreword by Louise Welsh, Stramash was a step up in terms of quality and design. Printed on recycled paper it has a soft, glossy cover featuring ‘contact sheet’ style photographs of the contributors. The students who produced Stramash took an entrepreneurial approach to securing funding, setting up a constituted organisation - Glasgow University Creative Writers - to help secure donations from Trusts and Foundations, and opening a bank account. Free design and production work was secured from ICP creative communicators in Edinburgh and an additional £1000 came from Glasgow University. Altogether work by twenty-two students is included - poetry, short prose, novel extracts and flash fiction - all of which went through a peer review process before being submitted.

Contributors: DC Aitchison; Jane Alexander; Nicola Barry; Jennie Berner; Angela B Brown; Eunice Buchanan; Lynsey Calderwood; Jason Donald; David Ramos Fernandes; Stephanie Green; Mandy Haggith; Carole Hamilton; Ashley Lennon; Lynda McDonald; Iain Maloney; Kate Orson; David Pettigrew; Kenneth Pratt; Alison Reid; Robin Sen; Anya Stern; and Richard Todd.


Snacks After Swimming
Ed. Adrian Searle, Andrew Doig, Rosemary McIntosh, Rosemary McLeish
Design Alison Stewart; Photography Alaisdair Smith
251pp, Freight (2006)
ISBN 0-9544024-3-X
£9.95

‘A pool of the best new creative writing talent in Scotland.’ Snacks After Swimming

With it’s larger than normal size (148mmx228mm), blue text, swimming related photographs and hard cover mimicking the mosaic blue tiles of a swimming pool, Snacks After Swimming represented a return to the Glasgow anthology as a creative, rather than simply a literary, project. Published once again by Freight - the company behind The Knuckle End - it contains poetry, prose and novel extracts from twenty-seven students who were on the course in 2004/05. The Introduction is by Zoë Strachan, previously a student on the course, now a tutor, and contributors who have gone on to publish include Jennifer McCartney with Afloat (Penguin, 2007).

Contributors include: Jane Alexander; H.L. Armstrong; John Bolland; Felix Boon; Janice Brown; Ann Burnett; Lorna Callery; Andrew Doig; Jason Donald; Elizabeth Dutton; Mandy Haggith; Carole Hamilton; Jamie Johnston; Ashley Lennon; Jennifer McCartney; Rosemary McIntosh; Rosemary McLeish; Andrea McNicoll; Kate Orson; David Pettigrew; Alison Reid; Hannah Ritchie; Alastair Sim; Pamela Timms; Maggie Walker; Kristina Weaver; and Les Wood.


Outside of a Dog
277pp, CHROMA (2006)
ISBN 1-84502-101-0
£9.99

’Touch this and it will burn!’ Suhayl Saadi

Published professionally by Black & White, Edinburgh, under its CHROMA imprint, Outside of a Dog was the first of the Glasgow anthologies to look most like a standard paperback. Perfect bound (189mmx126mm), with a glossy cover, the text inside is split into three sections - novel extracts, poetry and short fiction - each preceded by a piece from the Groucho Marx quote, ‘Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read’. The book features an introduction by novelist Alan Bissett (then a tutor) and work by twenty-six students all of whom were on the course in 2005/06. Outside of a Dog was heavily promoted with a launch party funded by Black & White (which also covered the production costs), advertising on the Glasgow underground, distribution to bookshops, libraries and also review copies. Students were invited to read at the Wigtown Book Festival and at Waterstones in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Contributors include: George Anderson; Kirsten Anderson; Fiona Bingham; Felix Boon; Sara Bryce; Ann Burnett; Lorna Callery; Allison Deeds; Kate Dowd; Ewan Gault; Alison Irvine; Christin Lee; John Mc Geown; Katy McAulay; Andrea McNicoll; Anneliese Mackintosh; Marie-Anne Mancia; Theresa Muñoz; Allan Radcliffe; Hannah Ritchie; Alastair Sim; Mary Smith; Eleanor Thom; Maggie Walker; Vincent Wells; Les Wood.


The Research Club
249pp, CHROMA (2007)
ISBN 978-1-84502-156-6
£10

‘The fun in reading an anthology like this is in spotting the talent.’ Laura Marney

The second of the Glasgow anthologies to be published by Black & White, The Research Club is a perfect bound paperback (189mmx126mm) with a glossy cover in gray and black. Tutor Laura Marney wrote the introduction and it includes work by ex-students Anne Donovan and Zoë Strachan, along with poetry, novel extracts and short stories from twenty-three students who started the course in 2006. Content was selected by an independent panel comprising writers Liz Lochhead and Rodge Glass, literary editor Rosemary Goring and literary agent Maggie McKernan after the students voted for a professionally published, but selected, volume in place of a self-published, all inclusive, anthology because of fears that the number of students that year (the highest ever at over forty) would make the latter unwieldy.

Contributors: Patricia Ace; Deborah Andrews; Jane Arden; William Gault Bonar; Frances Corr; Anne Donovan; Salka Gudmundsdottir; Jack Henry; Susannah Jabaily; David Keeney; Joe McInnes; Roy McGregor; Sean A McLaughlan; Jessica Parkinson; Jane Patience; Mary Paulson-Ellis; Steve Petchey; Fiona Rintoul; Jemima Scott; Adrian Searle; Zoë Strachan; Kate Tough; Conrad Watts; Genevieve Wheeler; and Sue Wilson.


(In)Fidelity
Ed. Susan Kemp and Fiona Rintoul
St Andrew Press (2008)
ISBN 978-0-7152-0869-4

‘Diverse in style and content, the stories range from tales of heart-breaking poignancy to laugh-out-loud farce.’
(In)Fidelity

At the time of writing the eleventh book in this series, (In)Fidelity, has yet to be published. A perfect bound paperback, it will mark another shift in the history of the Glasgow anthologies by containing short stories only, all around fifteen hundred words each, all written in response to a specific theme - (in)fidelity - hence the title. Submission was open to all students on the course in 2007/08 and featured a series of peer review workshops at which contributors could polish their work. (In)Fidelity will be launched in September 2008 at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, as part of an exhibition to promote the Glasgow University creative writing programme.

Contributors: Patricia Ace; Lucy Adams; Jennifer Adcock; Deborah Andrews;
Colin Begg; Liam Murray Bell; William Gault Bonar; Jenni Brooks; Elinor
Brown; Amy Burns; Margaret Callaghan; Celaen Chapman; Maria Di Mario; EGJ;
Barry Gornell; Ulrich Hansen; Joyce Henderson; Susan Kemp; Kirsty Logan;
Euan McClymont; Roy McGregor; Joe McInnes; Sean McLaughlin; Fiona
Montgomery; Jessica Parkinson; EJ Patience; Mary Paulson-Ellis; Tom Rae;
Fiona Rintoul; Adrian Searle; Helen Sedgwick; Sue Reid Sexton; A
Singerman; Alison Sommerville; Kate Tough; Lucy West; JL Williams; and Sue
Wilson.