Spotlight: Claire Reynolds & Eleanor Simpson
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 28 contributors, Claire Reynolds & Eleanor Simpson.
CLAIRE REYNOLDS
Instagram: @clairefrancesreynolds
Bluesky: @clairereynolds.bsky.social
What was the inspiration behind ‘Pheremones’?
I wrote my submission thinking about when the pull of attraction towards certain people can feel like kismet. I was wondering where desire starts, and how it can be so visceral it’s like a reflex, but how it’s just too precarious a chemistry to maintain.
I think about attraction a lot, probably because I’m married.
Who would you most like to write to, or for, and what would you say to them?
I’d love to write something for my husband (boke).
I love Velvet Underground’s I’ll Be Your Mirror. Nico’s voice has a tenderness that hasn’t compromised an inch of itself, it puts honestly before sentiment. I aim for a similar balance when I write, though don’t always get there.
Maybe in a few years when we’re even more battle scarred I’ll attempt to write for him, but it couldn’t be dripping with compliments so he would know it came from the heart. I think he’d appreciate a sardonic tribute that would read like a kick in the balls and a hug at the same time.
Maybe this is it?
Are you working on anything exciting or challenging at the moment?
Exciting is that I’ve just started my DFA in Creative Writing at The University of Glasgow. Challenging is that I’ve begun writing my first novel. I hope to have the first draft completed by Spring of next year. Hope and a prayer being the thing it’s hinging on, so we’ll see! It’s my first attempt at long form writing and it’s just as hard as I thought it would be.
Which three guests, living or dead, would you invite to a literary salon, and why?
I genuinely can’t think of anything more intimidating than a literary salon, so I’d probably pull a sickie. But for the sake of Gutter, first on my guest list would be Jean Rhys because I think she should have been the main squeeze literary darling of her era. Good Morning, Midnight is my favourite book of all time.
I’d also ask Shirley Jackson, I love horror and thrillers, and her output was prolific. I re-read We Have Always Lived in the Castle recently and it made me think about how, at 50,000 words, it’s a really lean little novel. Sometimes the story is what it is and there’s no point in trying to wring more out of it.
My third guest would be Gwendoline Riley. My Phantoms was my favourite novel of last year, and she seems so enigmatic, total cool girl. And I know that’s three but Lana Del Ray can gatecrash with her poetry if she brings Alan Bennett as her plus one!
Who is an undersung author or poet you think more people should know about?
I was excited to be published in this issue alongside Kathrine Sowerby. I dip in and out of her poem sequence (Find Yourself) at Constant Falls, quite often. Also, the Manchester based poet Shamshad Khan. I read her short story Untamed in the anthology The Wild Isles, and had to track down more of her work. Khan’s poetry is just exquisite. I mean, they’re both published so they’re known, but they’re people I think should be FAMOUS. Also, over the past year working on my MLitt I’ve been blown away at how my peers’ work challenges my notion of genre in terms of form and convention. I like when artists respond across mediums and genres like it’s an extension of thought. Work like that gives me clarity and invigorates how I navigate my own practice. I found total bliss in those unexpected hits of poetry and hybrid in particular. So yeah, Glasgow Uni Mlitt Class of ‘23, take a bow.
Is there anything else you want our readers to know about you and your writing?
Nope. I’m trying to channel enigmatic for the first time in my life. It’s not going great tbh. I aways say too much and give myself away. Ruin the illusion.
ELEANOR SIMPSON
What was the inspiration behind ‘Between Ghosts’?
I think the poem is about the experience of being alone, as a woman, and what that's like. The daughter character is a sort of avatar for my child self I think - I work as a therapist by day so the 'inner child' idea is never far from my mind! The poem sort of found its own path and evolved its own meaning. One of the things I love about poetry is how it reveals things you didn't necessarily realise you wanted to write about.
What's been your favourite book of the last twelve months?
Since having a kid 2 years ago I haven't kept up very well! I'm still working my way through Unexhausted Time by Emily Berry which came out in 2022 I think. She is such an important modern poetic voice, and each of her books is so different. She never gets too comfortable, I so admire her range, and her ability to convey very complex ideas with a seeming effortlessness. That's the dream.
What attracts you to writing, what itch does it scratch?
I'm naturally very impatient and intolerant of fine detail, so poetry is a bit of a masochistic choice for me! But I think it forces me to slow down and be careful and thoughtful with my words, and I love poetry as a form for how small and beautiful it can be, like a world in miniature. Also I'd say the feeling of producing something that has its own life-force is very compelling.
Which three guests, living or dead, would you invite to a literary salon, and why?
I'd love to chat to the late New York poet Dean Young, his work is so surreal and yet with such a clear emotional tone, so I think his conversation would be fascinating! Margaret Atwood, because she writes so poetically in prose, and her poetry is also excellent - I'd want to ask her about longevity and generating her ideas. And finally Sharon Olds, one of my poetic heroes, who writes so beautifully about raw personal experiences. All three have very different ways of approaching writing and I'd love to have a conversation about how they come to their ideas and what their processes are.
Who is an undersung author or poet you think more people should know about?
I'm not sure if she's undersung but there's a contemporary American poet called Kimmy Walters who a friend put me on to, via Twitter. Her two books are great; sharp and funny and evocative.