Rosy Barnes
Email:
duckmocker@gmail.comBRAW network:
noLL funded:
yesBiography:
Rosy Barnes is a comic novelist and playwright. She is passionate about comedy. Her aim is to create insightful wicked novels that make people snort out loud in public places.
The Scotsman said of her debut novel, Sadomasochism for Accountants (Marion Boyars Publishers, Feb 2009): "Echoing PG Wodehouse, Tom Sharpe and even Douglas Adams, Sadomasochism for Accountants is a fine comic novel". Rosy has worked as an arts journalist and reviewer. Her comedy play, Bimbo, involving both actors and full-length cartoon puppets striding about the stage, toured Scotland and Ireland with great success, whilst her radio play, The Dog House was produced by RTE (Ireland’s national broadcaster) and shortlisted for the PJ O’Connor award.
Having spent 5 years in Dublin, she is set up a theatre company, Rosy has worked with a variety of theatre companies, including assistant director with Rough Magic in Dublin and The Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. Her theatre background means she is well-used to the work-shopping environment. She has also taught adult education classes in scriptwriting at Leith Academy and done a number of events at literary festivals around Scotland. She is one of eight women screenwriters being developed by She Writes Screenwriting Programme, supported by Skillset and the Birds Eye View Film Festival in London.
She writes for eclectic bookblog: Vulpes Libris and interested in all things blog and book. Rosy lives in Edinburgh with her very own Uber-Geek (and his space-consuming collection of electronic gadgetry), an energetic border collie (and his space-consuming collection of squeaky toys) along with a lot of general rubbish that inconsiderately refuses to tidy itself away. She would like to earn enough money so that if things got too messy she could just move house.
Website: www.rosybarnes.com.
About writer's work:
I want to create comedy that is stylistically playful and has fun with its genre and medium: whether in prose, theatre or film. The comedy of Sadomasochism for Accountants is all about contrast, and all about ordinariness – and shyness. Every character believes they are something they aren’t. All of them pretend to be better, higher status, more glamorous, a different kind of person. I want to explore the idea of what makes people happy and how they see themselves and the question of how that self-image relates to who they really are.
I love the part in the film, The Birdcage, for example, where it shows you that Albert’s (Nathan Lane) characterisation of a woman is, in fact, closer to Gene Hackman’s right wing senator’s view of the perfect woman than any of the “real” women sitting about him. I am fascinated by this sort of idea.
About writer's events and projects:
I’m available for readings and workshops and would be happy to come and chat to reading groups or libraries.
Readings and Events: Comedy novels
I am available to do readings and author events involving my comic novel Sadomasochism for Accountants. The emphasis in my events is on fun, laughter and discussion of themes such as:
•women and comedy •gender •alternative lifestyles •identity •creating comic characters
I can cater my readings towards more traditional literary audiences – such as recent events at the Borders Book Festival, the Edinburgh International Book Festival – or to suit more fun late-night audiences such as the performance cabaret evening, Underword, at Fingers Piano Bar during the Edinburgh Fringe– which was utterly fantastic! I have also done events with fellow writers, discussing themes in our work and inviting discussion from the audience.
Events: other
I have taken part in panel and discussion event with two other debut writers at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose discussing: •how to get published •experiences on the road to publication •dos and don’ts of submitting
With my more serious hat on, I am a member of respected book blog Vulpes Libris and I am particularly interested in the relationship between print and blog reviews. Approaching half a million readers, Vulpes Libris is one of the blogging success stories and I am happy to talk about:
•writers and blogging •the secrets of successful blogging •marketing yourself online •how to create a successful blog •how blogs are changing the nature of book reviewing
Workshops: comedy writing/scriptwriting (adults/teens) With a background in theatre, I am well-used to running workshops. I have taught scriptwriting course at Leith Academy and would be happy to give workshops on scriptwriting and comedy to both adults and teenagers.
My play Bimbo went down terrifically with teenagers and I have experience working with teenagers through Obsessions, a play performed by Dublin Youth Theatre and would be happy to give comedy writing or scriptwriting workshops to teenagers.
Language:
EnglishAge groups:
Teens, AdultsBooks written
A feel good comedy with edge: Excel spreadsheets and sequin leotards go head to head in this story of an overlooked yet resourceful woman called Paula who recruits the exotic and eccentric clientele ...
