Zines, Wild Garlic, and Fledgling Socials
April news from the wild verge
In this Missive
- Upcoming Appearance—the Edinburgh International Book Festival
- Zines at the Brooklyn Museum in 17 November - 31 March, 2024
- Review of Ashes and Stones in Cerridwen
- New Substack Feature—Notes
Spring is beaming down on us in Northeast Scotland. I’m not quite living out of boxes yet, but my move to Orkney is imminent. This week I went into Wrack Wood one last time to forage wild garlic. I was a bit late this year and the invasive, delicious plant was already in flower. White blooms like little hankies waved at my departure— a vast send-off near the hidden holy well of the wood, where they grows best.
I used to fill bags with it and immediately went home to cook up large batches of pesto and soup. For the last two years, I didn’t manage it at all—my arthritis is unmanaged and much worse. This week, I gathered a few handfuls and put them in the fridge for a time when I have enough energy to cook with them. I was late to the harvest and they are bitter.
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📚 I’ve been invited to be in conversation with Mairi Kidd from Creative Scotland, speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival at noon on 16 August.
📚 Beehive, the zine I created with artist Laura Splan in the 1990s will be exhibited as part of the Brooklyn Museum’s Copy Machine Manifesto: Artists Who Make Zines, on from 17th November 2023-31st of March 2024. Beehive was assembled and painted by hand for an intimate community of feminist, queer artists and writers, part of the multifaceted outpouring of Riot Grrl. I’m looking forward to telling you the story of Beehive and sharing more in a future update about this rich time in my creative life.
📚 Ashes and Stones is reviewed by Priestesses Elan and Gail Spiritstar at Cerridwen, the blog of Bee Helygen, a priestess of Avalon in Glastonbury. You can read it here. https://cerridwen.co.uk/ashes-and-stones-a-scottish-journey-in-search-of-witches-and-witness-by-allyson-shaw
This review is invested and in-depth, written by women who have long been working in memorial in similar ways to my own. Their connection to the book underscores my realisation that some of the most effective memorial work comes from people who self-identify as witches, those who feel a debt to people accused of witchcraft, even if those executed weren’t witches themselves. (I need to clarify one point, though—the review implies that I am not Scottish because I was born in the US. I am a British citizen and am Scottish; legally the Scottish government recognises me as such.)
🎠 Substack has rolled out a new feature called Notes, which you can see in the app and on the desktop. It’s a new tool for us to share links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more.
Here is a recent Substack Note, I’ve published. Join me there!
How to join
Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. As a subscriber to Missives from the Wild Verge, you’ll automatically see my notes. Feel free to like, reply, or share them around!
You can also share notes of your own. I hope this becomes a space where every reader of Missives from the Wild Verge can share thoughts, ideas, and interesting quotes from the things we're reading on Substack and beyond.
If you encounter any issues, you can always refer to the Notes FAQ for assistance. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Missives from the Wild Verge is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
