Too Hot To Sleep: A poetry night with Elspeth Wilson

In this brilliant poetry debut, Elspeth Wilson draws on the headiness and sorrow of first love in all its forms to craft a vivid image of a young person learning who they truly are.

With a hefty dose of pop culture, this is an exceptional study of youth, queerdom, neurodivergence, and how these qualities exist in a society that is still not quite adapted to their existence.

With its casual-yet-poignant tone and frank accounts of identity, Too Hot to Sleep is essential reading for anybody currently feeling trapped by their own understanding of the self. Join us for a night of readings and discussions, Elspeth's poems complemented by the wonderful verse of Andrés N. Ordorica and Sarah Stewart too!

*image credit Christy Ku

Our host is Caro Clarke and our poets are:

Elspeth Wilson, a creative writer and facilitator working across poetry and prose and Too Hot To Sleep is her first pamphlet. Her work has been shortlisted for the Nan Shepherd Prize and the Penguin Write Now scheme. Her background in social research, particularly Gender Studies and public health, is something she actively uses in creative practice. She is passionate about making creative writing truly accessible and is co-founder of the Writing Happiness project with Rachel Lewis.

Andrés N. Ordorica, a queer Latinx writer based in Edinburgh. His writing maps the journey of his diasporic experience and unpacks what it means to be from ni de aquí, ni de allá. He has been published widely including The Guardian, The Skinny, 14 Poems, Gutter, and Wasafiri. His writing has been shortlisted for The Saltire Society’s Poetry Book of The Year, the Morley Prize for Unpublished Writers of Colour and the Mo Siewcharran Prize. He is the author of the poetry collection, At Least This I Know, published by 404 Ink. How We Named The Stars, his debut novel is forthcoming in 2024 with Tin House.

Sarah Stewart is a Keats-Shelley Prize finalist, and her poetry has been widely published and anthologized, most recently in The Oxford Magazine and Best Scottish Poems. Her first pamphlet, ‘Glisk’, won the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award. She also writes fiction as Sarah Forbes and her books and poems have been published internationally.

Please note masks are still required at all indoor Lighthouse events.