To mark the end of his 8-week residency, Glasgow based author Rodge Glass spoke to Cove Park’s Director, Alexia Holt, about his experience at Cove Park and the work he was able to do with support from Creative Scotland’s Open Fund for Individuals.
Can you summarise your original experience of Cove Park, and what it was about your first residency that made you want to come back in 2023?
I was here in 2011, for five weeks. At the time I’d never done a residency before, but had been struggling to complete a novel for a while and wondered what a period of concentrated time in a different environment could do for me. It was really wonderful, just transformative for the book I was writing – I left with a finished manuscript, and the novel, Bring Me the Head of Ryan Giggs, was published a year later. I toured the book around a lot, it was translated into Italian and I had just a great time with it over the next couple of years. So I always felt positive when thinking back on my time at Cove Park, so calm, friendly, welcoming, and peaceful – and I always felt that without those five weeks, I might never have finished my book. After then, I always sort of idly dreamed about returning, and wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to. In early 2023, I came back to see how the place had grown and changed, and knew I had, for the first time in a long time, a period of weeks where I might be able to return. I was unsure whether I’d even be allowed to. I’m so glad I asked.
Did you find it easier to establish a writing routine in the second residency, given your familiarity with the site and facilities here?
Ha! Well, yes, I did find it easier to establish a routine the second time around, though I think that was at least in part because of what you might call, ‘off-site factors’! I just immediately felt comfortable here, I love being surrounded by other writers and artists, I’m one of these people who needs a community, but I think the main reason it was easier second time was because of how my life has changed since. After a period of writing lots of books in a relatively short time, there was then a significant gap when my daughters were very young, and this was me just returning to creative work. So I was determined to make the most of the time here, especially as I returned to Glasgow regularly to be with my children. So when at Cove Park, I just didn’t want to waste any time.
What did you work on, and did you get everything you wanted to do done?
I have been funded by Creative Scotland to write a novel called ‘Y*D’, a Jewish conspiracy thriller which draws on the history of the Scottish Jewish community, also on some of the familiar tropes and stereotypes that persist online in the 21st Century (but are rooted in thousands of years of prejudice) about what Jewish people are like. It’s a book which on the surface is a simple chase story, one Jewish man fleeing from being pegged as part of the alleged ‘worldwide Jewish conspiracy’. But embedded in the novel is an exploration of the ways in which antisemitism is hidden in our societies. I spent a lot of my Cove Park time reading histories of Jews in Scotland, developing research alongside the Scottish Jewish Archive Centre in Glasgow, and reading nonfiction about how antisemitism works, such as Dave Rich’s Everyday Hate.
Did I get done all I wanted to? Almost, but then I reached a little too far! I made a plan to try and draft a large chunk of a whole novel in 8 weeks, while also pursuing the research at the same time. That was a bit mad, and I didn’t quite get there – but I very nearly got there, and it was the most productive writing time I’ve had since….well. The last time I was at Cove Park!
What was a highlight of the residency for you this time?
The highlights involved other residents, or events, that showed just what a community-minded place Cove Park is. For the first few weeks I was there, other reisdents gave talks about their work – I particularly enjoyed one by the artists Miranda Bellamy & Amanda Fateux, who work together, and one of the summer meals where Cove Park is opened up to visitors and there was a new exhibition being opened too. At one of these I gave a reading of my recent nonfiction (from my next book, Joshua in the Sky) which was partly about the work of Alasdair Gray, and how I reflect on my time working with Gray, fifteen years after my biography about his life was published. That was particularly enjoyable – as was being able to discuss my practice with a group of visiting students from Glasgow School of Art’s Art Writing Masters course. I felt like I had the chance to share what I was doing, while I was doing it – and that was a real pleasure to do. The final thing I want to say is, a highlight was just how welcoming everyone was at Cove Park, and how inclusive and genuinely friendly. On my final weekend at Cove Park, my daughters were able to come and visit, and we went exploring on a wee nature trail walk. I could only do that as the team were so welcoming about making the residency happen for me in a way that fitted my personal circumstances. It made all the difference.
If you were to highlight three reasons why a residency can be so helpful for writers in particular, what would they be?
- Because the lives of most writers contain multiple, competing demands, and a residency affords you the chance to focus fully on your writing, leaving some of those other usual demands for a while
- Because with focus comes a greater chance of real progress, on whatever it is you want make, &
- Because we learn from each other. And when on residency, people tend to be more open to what their fellow residents are doing, thinking, saying, learning
Rodge Glass is the author of seven published books and winner of a Somerset Maugham Award for Non-Fiction. He is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde. His next book, Michel Faber: The Writer & His Work, is published by Liverpool University Press in August 2023.
Image: Rodge Glass at Cove Park, June 2023 (photography, Alan Dimmick)
