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Rafael Torrubia

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Contact: [email protected]
Local authority: Perth and Kinross
Languages: English, Scots
Rafael Torrubia's headshot

Rafael Torrubia is an award-winning writer, recipient of the Deirdre Roberts poetry prize, and twice shortlisted for the Bridport Poetry Prize. Their writing centres folklore, queerness, protest history and community through a fantasy lens. They have published with Poetry Scotland, the National Gallery of Scotland, Claw & Blossom, Corvid Queen and others.

 

Hailed as ‘the most exciting new voice in Scottish fantasy’ their debut epic fantasy novel The Shipwright and the Shroudweaver is out October 2025 from Gollancz, offering an effortlessly queer world of god-fuelled ships, goth-as-hell villains, shadow-warping assassins, and well-worn love.

 

They have performed at the Wee Gaitherin in Stonehaven, Jupiter Artland, and the Write Highland Hoolie in Mallaig. They studied and taught at the University of St. Andrews, exploring the linkages between plantation folksongs and the protest songs of the civil rights movement, and examining the cultural inheritances of the Black Power movement in America. They have also worked in wine, whisky, and at the National Museum of Scotland.

 

They currently work with the writing charity Open Book, delivering creative writing and poetry workshops to participants across Scotland, and have experience with bespoke workshops for audiences of all sizes, from art gallery tutorials to university lectures.

Local authorities will visit

Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Argyll and Bute; Clackmannanshire; Dundee; East Dunbartonshire; Edinburgh City; Falkirk; Fife; Glasgow City; Highland; Midlothian; Perth and Kinross; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire; West Lothian

Events will deliver

Mentoring; Panel event; Reading; Residency; Talk; Workshop

Audience will work with

Adult learners; Care-experienced people; Carers; English as an additional language (EAL); Intergenerational learning; Outdoor learning; People experiencing mental health problems; People living with dementia; Prisoners & young offenders; Reluctant readers; Vulnerable young people (under 18); Vulnerable adults; Vulnerable older people; Young people in the community (e.g. Youth clubs, Guides, Scouts); Young people with additional support needs (under 18) (ASN/SEN)

Topics of work

Activism & protest; Adventure; Ageing; Animals; Childhood; Class & society; Coasts, seas & oceans; Contemporary fiction; Death, grief & bereavement; Discrimination & prejudice; Editing & editing your own work; Emigration & immigration; Environment & climate; Fairy tales, folklore & mythology; Fantasy; Food; Friendship; Gender equality; History; Horror; LGBTQIA+ characters; Loneliness & isolation; Love & romance; Music; Nature; Publishing & getting published; Science fiction

Age groups published for

Teens; Adults

Age groups will work with

12-14; 15-18; 18+

Audience size

0-10; 11-30; 31-100; 100-500; 500+