Fierce Salvage: A Queer Words Launch

Start the weekend here!

A night of queer words and delights, performance and discussion, all to mark the launch of the OUTSTANDING new queer anthology from 404Ink: Fierce Salvage!

This event will be followed by a signing and a wee drinks reception!

A handpicked crew of dykes board the Caledonian Sleeper bound for Glasgow. A couple wrestle with gender roles when their flat inventory includes a brand new baby. A young man's world expands with possibility in Barcelona, while lust mingles with faith and celebrity in verse. Curious and provocative, sometimes domestic, sometimes otherworldly, this collection of stories, poems and memoir provides a snapshot of Scotland’s queer community and LGBTI+ writing scene, and captures the variety of experiences that bind our community together.

Our performers:

Suki Hollywood Born in Belfast on Valentine's Day, Suki Hollywood is a writer and poet. Her self-published debut novel Jesus Freaks – a queer thriller – is available now. Her work has been featured in Gutter, Deleuzine, SPAM, Water Wings and more. Suki’s two poetry pamphlets, Heart Eyes and This Suit, are available now via www.sukihollywood.com, along with This Suit’s companion film, which was included in the SQIFF 2021 selection. In 2023, Suki provided the words for ‘☆ Yes, I can see the stars ☆’, a billboard campaign for beloved queer venue, Bonjour (RIP)

Colin McGuire is a Glaswegian living in Edinburgh. In 2018 he published a pamphlet, Enhanced Fool Disclosure with Speculative Books. He won the Out-Spoken Prize for Best Poem and Film in 2018 for his poem ‘The Glasgae Boys’. In 2020, he received the Ignite Fellowship, from the Scottish Book Trust to work on a new collection of poetry. He facilitates writing workshops as part the Live Literature Program with the Scottish Book Trust and Open Book Charity. He teaches ESOL with refugees, is a meditation teacher with an MSC in Mindfulness from The University of Aberdeen, as part of the course he studied at Samye Linge Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Eskdalemuir.

Lakshmi Ajay is a visual artist, writer and social worker in Mental Health and Addictions. She has performed at the Feminist Cabaret at the Edinburgh Radical Book Fair in November 2023, and is currently a writer-in-residence at ECHO, the editorial platform of Take One Action Film Festival. Her art has been exhibited at Blunt Knife Co. and she has completed a Rhubaba writing salon curated by Lola Olufemi. Her work is inspired by her experiences of migration, finding pockets of community along the way and dreaming of abolitionist futures. She creates art in the hope that they lead to enduring spaces of care, connection and revolution.