Patricia Ace
Home address:
29 Victoria Terrace, Creiff, Perthshire, PH7 4ADEmail:
patriciaace@hotmail.comBRAW network:
noLL funded:
yesPublisher:
HappenStance PressBiography:
Patricia Ace was born in Cleethorpes at the end of the Sixties of Welsh-West Indian parentage. Brought up in England, the Middle East and Canada, she studied English and Drama at the Universities of London and Glasgow before settling in rural Perthshire in 1993 to bring up a family. A stay-at-home Mum when her kids were small, she qualified as a yoga teacher in 2002 and currently teaches both yoga and creative writing to adults in the community and young people in schools. She has recently completed a Masters in Creative Writing at Glasgow University. She lives in Crieff with her partner and two teenagers.About writer's work:
I am a writer of both poetry and short fiction, currently engaged with writing my first novel. I have published poems and short stories in many literary magazines including Chapman, Edinburgh Review, The New Welsh Review, Honest Ulsterman, Envoi,, Poetry Scotland, Haiku Scotland, Orbis, 14 and Northwords. Publications in anthologies include The Keekin-Gless and The Lie of the Land (Perth & Kinross Libraries), My Mother Threw Knives (Second Light), Safe World Gone (Honno), Skein of Geese (The Shed Press), The Research Club (CHROMA), Cleave: New Writing by Women in Scotland (Two Ravens Press) and Let’s Pretend: 37stories about (in)fidelity (Freight).
In 1995 I was short-listed for the Christian Salvesen Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award. I have also won prizes in several poetry competitions, including the City of Cardiff International Poetry Competition, the Word’s Out! Poetry Competition, the Litfest Poetry Competition, inspired? get writing! Competition (National Galleries of Scotland) and the Mslexia 2008 Women’s Poetry Competition. In 2005 I became a founder member of Lippy Bissoms, an all-female poetry collective, who performed their cabaret-style poetry show to full-houses in Perth and on the Edinburgh Fringe in 2006. In November 2006 a chapbook of poems, First Blood, appeared from HappenStance Press. From 2006 to 2008 I have been studying on the MLitt Creative Writing at Glasgow University, working on developing a full-length poetry collection and a novel-in-progress.
Themes in my work include relationships, places and nature. My writing has been described as funny, moving, mysterious, dangerous, witty, frank and sexy. I’m interested in blood and the body, family dynamics and human experience from cradle to grave. I’m interested in communicating the truth of that experience, however messy and emotional that may be. I also like to write about the natural world and the sense of solace and spirituality I find there. I like to uncover the humour in ugly situations; the novel I’m working on is a dark, domestic comedy-drama set around the Christmas holiday from hell.
About writer's events and projects:
I enjoy the performance aspect of my work and reading in public and have read for a number of women’s groups, including the SWRI and Soroptimists, and for the past two years at Lochee Library in Dundee on International Women’s Day. I also teach regular workshops in Creative Writing (poetry and prose) to adults in the community which often involve stimulating the imaginations of those new to writing. For the past two years I’ve helped several groups of teenagers with writing poetry as part of their Advanced Higher English exam, both in Glasgow and Aberdeenshire. In my workshops I try to free off the creative imagination using a simple meditation and by providing exercises to use as a springboard for writing. I’ve also given talks about Getting Poetry Published, Pamphlet Publishing and Reading in Public. Language:
EnglishAge groups:
5-8, 9-12, Teens, AdultsBooks written
The poems in First Blood focus on domesticity and rites of passage – closely-observed universal experiences with a personal dimension.
