Northern Highlight - Dean Atta

NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT

DEAN ATTA

1. Why did you become a writer?

I began writing as a teenager to share my thoughts and feelings, and assert my pride in being black and gay. I started going to open mic nights in places like The Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden in London. I was spotted by a radio producer and invited to record a poem for BBC Radio 4 when I was eighteen, and I kept going from there. I went to the University of Sussex in Brighton and was pretty prolific at the campus poetry nights. 

When I finished university, I moved back to London and got involved in more open mic nights all over the city and eventually I started getting paid to perform my poems and run poetry workshops in schools, theatres, libraries and prisons. I had some more poems on radio and TV, and eventually published my first poetry collection. More recently I published my second book, a Young Adult novel in verse called The Black Flamingo. 

2. Tell us about where you live.

I now stay in Glasgow in Scotland. I moved here on 9th August 2019. I remember the exact date because it’s the day after The Black Flamingo was published. On 8th August 2019 we had the book launch with family and friends at Gay’s The Word bookshop in Bloomsbury, which was also my farewell party. I moved here to live with my partner Tom who is a doctor working in a hospital in Ayrshire. 

Cover illustrated by Anshika Khullar

Published by Hachette Children's Group

I’m gradually getting involved with the community here. I’ve fallen in love with our local independent bookshop, Category Is Books, and I’m currently part of a local LGBT+ project with them and Govanhill Baths, and I’ve also joined two amazing writing communities: Glasgow Children’s Writers Group and Scottish BAME Writers Network. 

3. Where do you write? 

At the moment (during lockdown), I’m just writing from home but when I was able I loved writing in local libraries and cafes. I stay in the Southside of Glasgow and there’s so many great cafes here, although that does get expensive because I end up buying coffee, a sandwich, another coffee and a cake! Always cake! I do travel further for groups and workshops; Glasgow Children’s Writers Group usually meet at the Gallery of Modern Art in the city centre, and Scottish BAME Writers Network have a poetry group that meet at the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh. Both are meeting online at the moment during lockdown.

4. What for you is the 'spirit of Scotland’?

I’ve not quite figured that out yet. What I do know is this: I’ve experience more friendliness from strangers here than I ever experienced in London; I’ve felt very welcomed in all the spaces I’ve gone into so far; our neighbours have been so friendly and considerate during lockdown but I’m hoping that will be the case everywhere; there seems to be great pride in devolution and at parties when you get talking to people it’s not long before they tell you they want total independence from England. Being here has made me more aware of my Englishness, which was not something I ever thought about when I was living in London. 

5. Has this spirit influenced your work?

Scotland has raised questions for me about my Englishness, and also meeting black Scottish people I have become very curious about that identity because it seems very different to a black London identity or being black in Brighton, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester or elsewhere in England. Also, my work often deals with racism but something that I had never considered before moving here was sectarianism in Glasgow between Roman Catholics and Protestants. Naively of me, I didn’t know that was an issue here. I’m really interested in learning more about all of these topics and potentially writing about them in the future. 

6. Who for you are the great Scottish writers?

Jackie Kay is a writer I’ve admired for a long time. I’ve engaged mostly with her poetry but I’m impressed with how prolific she is in so many genres. She’s a great black queer role model, with her being out and proud and holding the position of the Scots Makar (national poet of Scotland), and she was my beacon of hope for me when I decided to move to Scotland! I got to have a drink with her and Carol Ann Duffy at Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2019 just a few weeks after I moved. 

7. If you could be transported to anywhere in Scotland right now, where would it be? 

I would love to be on the Isle of Arran right now. A couple of friends, Carol and Jules Lee, run a vegan bed and breakfast there called Stonewater House. I’d love to be there with my partner so we could walk and cycle around the island and climb to the top of Goatfell again, or on my own getting on with writing my next book. 

8. What would you like to see from children's publishing in Scotland?

I’d love to see more Scottish writers of colour being published in all genres of literature. I’d love to see all the independent publishers in Scotland thriving, especially those that are championing BAME and LGBT+ voices, such as Knight Errant Press and Monstrous Regiment Publishing. 

 

9. What's your favourite children's book set in Scotland?

Wain by Rachel Plummer is so cool! I was part of Authors Live for BBC Scotland alongside Rachel and got to hear them read from this book. It’s a collection of poems retelling traditional Scottish stories from an LGBT+ perspective, and it’s a Young Adult book - you can’t get cooler than that!

Published by Emma Press Children's Books

You can follow Dean on:

Instagram deanatta

Twitter @DeanAtta