From Troubled Dreams under a glare of sky

From under the luminous glare of the laptop and cinema screen, From Troubled Dreams Under A Glare Of Sky gathers newly commissioned essays from nine writers in Scotland, exploring ideas of cinema and metamorphosis.

Considering films in the programme of EIFF @ Edinburgh International Festival and beyond, the texts — ranging in style, form and focus — encompass dreams and awakenings, the fatigue of cultural production, queerness and transness, Blackness and sacred spaces, and depictions of the immigrant. Each text creates space to understand, to make sense of what is on screen and what is out of frame.

Filmmakers discussed include Kelly Reichardt, Cauleen Smith, Celine Song, Paul B. Preciado, Babak Jalali, Liu Jian, Ng Choon Ping and Sam H. Freeman, Huw Lemmey and Onyeke Igwe. Expanding on an eclectic array of new and retrospective cinema, the collection seeks to introduce readers to a burgeoning Scottish scene of fresh voices in film and cultural criticism.

Edited by Michael Pattison | Produced by Tomiwa Folorunso | Designed by Philip Morrell

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Zebib K. Abraham’s first novel, Forward, is a speculative psychological tale exploring the boundaries between minds and the discovery of an alternate reality.

@pegasusunder1 | @pegasusunder | zkabraham.com

Eilidh Akilade’s writing can be found in publications such as Extra Teeth, gal-dem, Dazed, and Fringe of Colour Responses, amongst others.

@eilidhakilade_

Anahit Behrooz is the author of BFFs: The Radical Potential of Female Friendship. Her writing has appeared in AnOther Magazine, Little White Lies, i-D, and gal-dem, among others.

@bananahit | @anahitrooz | anahitbehrooz.co.uk

Harvey Dimond’s practices explore the entangled histories and trajectories of (neo)colonialism and the climate crisis.

@harveydimond | harveyldimond.cargo.site

Katie Goh has been published in The Guardian, Vice, Prospect, i-D, Dazed, and The Independent. Her first book The End: Surviving the World Through Imagined Disasters was published in 2021, and her debut book of nonfiction Foreign Fruit will be published in 2025.

Caitlin Merrett King has published writing with Sticky Fingers, MAP Magazine, Nothing Personal and Pilot Press. Her debut novella Always Open, Always Closed was published by JOAN earlier this year.

@caitlinmerrettking | caitlinmerrettking.cargo.site

Kate Morgan (they/them) has written for Sticky Fingers, Nothing Personal, MAP Magazine, Design Exhibition Scotland and Worms. Their book, Ingress, a suite of linked essays, was released in 2023.

@katemrgn | katezoemorgan.co.uk

Xuanlin Tham’s writing has been published in British GQ, The Skinny, i-D, Little White Lies, AnOther Magazine, W Magazine, and gal-dem, among others. They were a finalist for PPA Scotland’s Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2022.

@nilnaux | @xuanlintham

Jessica Widner’s debut novel, Interiors, was released in October 2022 by the87press. Her short fiction has appeared most recently in Extra Teeth, Gutter Magazine, and The Cardiff Review. She was the 2022 Writer-in-Residence for Open Book Reading.

@WidnerJessie | linktr.ee/jessiewidner