Team
The team behind the 2023-24 edition of From Arthur’s Seat
Editors-In-Chief
What is your favorite literary trope?
My favorite literary trope is the nostos, the return home.
What is your go-to café order?
Cappuccino, with a little cinnamon on top.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Cleopatra. She was a great conversationalist; she partied hard, and —more importantly— was said to have dissolved a pearl earring in vinegar just to win a bet: that’s the kind of spending I want on my dinner date of history.
What is your favorite literary trope?
Favorite literary trope: Found Family
What is your go-to café order?
Go-to cafe order: Iced lavender latte
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Dinner with anyone from history: Probably Cicero so I can get all the behind-the-scenes tea on the Roman Empire. He’s also one of history’s greatest orators so I feel like he’d have a lot of interesting things to say.
Managing Editors
What is your favorite literary trope?
A big twist at the ending, bonus points if it’s a scandalous family secret. Parents are cousins, you had a conjoined twin, mom stole dad’s fortune then ran away and told you he died in an accident!!!! (I’m not well.)
What is your go-to café order?
Oat Milk Latte
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Anna Nicole Smith because she's the 2000's Marilyn Monroe and people just try to forget about her, but I won't!
What is your favorite literary trope?
What is your go-to café order?
My cafe order is usually a latte with some form of cake (bonus points for buttercream icing).
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
I'd have dinner with C.S. Lewis because I grew up loving the Chronicles of Narnia, and I'd love to ask him about writing and The Inklings.
Editorial – Poetry
What is your favorite literary trope?
I am a sucker for The Chosen One literary trope, especially when it is complicated further -- a chosen one who has zero interest in being the chosen one.
What is your go-to café order?
My go-to cafe order is a mocha (and pain au chocolate if I'm hungry)!
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
If I could have dinner with anyone from history, I think I'd want to have dinner with Anna Akhmatova. I have really admired her poetry and story ever since doing a presentation on her in my undergrad, and I would love to talk to her about her life and writing.
What is your favourite literary trope?
This is tricky because I can be very inconsistent with what I enjoy, but as much as I resist it, I do really tend to love a good old prophecy. I love making theories about the direction of a plot and they are perfect for that (and they’re just so spooky and ominous!). I don’t always love how they’re executed though.
What is your go-to cafe order?
I order hot chocolate wherever I go. I wish I liked coffee more, but I just have a massive sweet tooth.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Aaah this is so difficult! There are so many people I would love to chat with so I think my answer would change depending on the day you asked me. I’ve just finished my first Toni Morrison novel and would love to talk to her right now. I’d also love to have dinner with Greta Gerwig so I can tell her how much I loved Little Women and Barbie.
What is your favorite literary trope?
Honestly, I am a sucker for a good Enemies to Lovers arc.
What is your go-to café order?
My go-to cafe order is typically an Oat Latte with Vanilla (or a Matcha Latte if I want to switch it up), and I love a good croissant sandwich.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Okay, this is definitely hard to choose! I absolutely love Oscar Wilde's work and I also completely and utterly love Sylvia Plath's poetry, so perhaps both of them. I think that would be a really interesting dinner party, and the vibes would be a nice mix conversationally and entertainment-wise!
Editorial – Prose
What is your favorite literary trope?
I like a protagonist who is also a writer.
What is your go-to café order?
Coffee of some kind and a slice of carrot cake.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Proust is my favourite writer, so Proust.
What is your favorite literary trope?
I love a good redemption arc.
What is your go-to café order?
Vanilla latte or a peppermint tea.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Robert Louis Stevenson, because I love his work and I bet he would have some great stories from Edinburgh (and all over the world in fact).
What is your favorite literary trope?
Being sold to one direction because your mum can’t afford to feed you anymore.
What is your go-to café order?
Nothing, cafes are overpriced, I just go there to look interesting.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Probably a peasant from the Middle Ages just so they can taste a chicken balti before they die from tuberculosis.
What is your favorite literary trope?
Enemies to Lovers.
What is your go-to café order?
Oat Chai Latte
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
I would have dinner with Charlotte Brontë. She fascinates me, both as a writer and as a person. It would be extremely interesting to discuss her approach to writing and about what it means to write about what you know.
What is your favorite literary trope?
Quests
What is your go-to café order?
Always hot chocolate
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Probably Rabindranath Tagore, just to peer into his mind.
What is your favorite literary trope?
Irony, of course.
What is your go-to café order?
A cup of cappuccino.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
The Persian poet, Hafez, to find out once and for all if he was actually talking about real wine or merely as a metaphor.
What is your favorite literary trope?
- Dystopian Future
What is your go-to café order?
- Caramel oat milk latte with an extra shot and a mushroom & brie toastie even though I'm lactose-intolerant. Balance, baby!
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
- Prince. I would say Lady Gaga, but I still have time!
What is your favorite literary trope?
My favourite literary trope is most likely alliteration. I feel that you can make any two words sound poetic and exciting when paired through alliteration.
What is your go-to café order?
My go-to cafe order is usually a matcha these days as I make coffee at home with my trusty machine.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
If I could eat dinner with anyone from history, it would definitely be Shakespeare. I'd like to know if he spoke in iambic pentameter too!
Copyediting and Proofing
What is your favorite literary trope?
Favorite literary trope: solitary heroine in an uncertain world.
What is your go-to café order?
To-go order: Alas, innumerable food allergies mean I'm grain-free, dairy-free paleo. (I'd smuggle in my own food, order an Americano, and sit-in).
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Dinner... I'd have dinner with my ancestors. Great-great grandparents...as many generations as would fit around a table. The table would need to be large!
What is your favorite literary trope?
My favourite trope is enemies to lovers.
What is your go-to café order?
My go to order is black tea with milk.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
What is your favorite literary trope?
My favourite literary trope is most likely alliteration. I feel that you can make any two words sound poetic and exciting when paired through alliteration.
What is your go-to café order?
My go-to cafe order is usually a matcha these days as I make coffee at home with my trusty machine.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
If I could eat dinner with anyone from history, it would definitely be Shakespeare. I'd like to know if he spoke in iambic pentameter too!
What is your favorite literary trope?
Refusal of the Call, followed closely by "The Call Won't Take 'No' for an Answer"
What is your go-to café order?
Scottish Breakfast tea with milk and sugar. And an almond croissant, if you're offering.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Ursula K. le Guin, easy. I'd just love to be in her presence, to talk about nature and imagination and music and love. Or we could just sit in silence, I wouldn't mind that either.
What is your favorite literary trope?
My favourite Literary Trope is difficult to pin down, but I do like Irony and Satire.
What is your go-to café order?
Hot Chocolate.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Napoleon Bonaparte or Marcus Tullius Cicero.
Art Department
What is your favorite literary trope?
Female rage
What is your go-to café order?
Dirty chai latte
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
The Fox sisters - I’m writing a novel where the main characters are very loosely based on them, so it’d be great to pick their brains!
What is your favorite literary trope?
Depends on the genre. I'm a fan of the red herring and locked door mystery, unreliable narrator, hero's journey, chosen one, and enemies to lovers, but I can never get enough of the haunted house trope.
What is your go-to café order?
Tea. Any and all tea. Though my weakness is a Chai Latte with oat milk.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Edgar Allan Poe. He's my favorite writer. But after reading the question again, I'm thinking maybe I should have chosen a chef...
What is your favorite literary trope?
Synecdoche, without a doubt.
What is your go-to café order?
Lately, just a glass of water, for my wallet is suffering the beautiful but strict exigence of Edinburgh.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
What is your favorite literary trope?
Probably the fantasy heist with a touch of morally grey or just any snarky non-human sidekick
What is your go-to café order?
Usually copious amounts of lattes, or chili cocoa
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Sobekneferu, the first female pharaoh to be recorded in the Turin King list. She helped build the Labyrinth at Hawara, and was just generally cool.
Marketing
What is your favorite literary trope?
Enemies to lovers is an oldie but a goodie
What is your go-to café order?
Freddo espresso with a splash of milk
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Rasputin. I just want to know what in the hell was going on with that guy.
What is your favorite literary trope?
Unresolved Endings
What is your go-to café order?
Oat Chai Latte, Vegan Scottish Breakfast
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
André Gide, Because of Fruits of the Earth, Amyntas, The Coiners, and his collected journals. Gide had very broad interests and an intent curiosity for life and art; I'm not sure if we would ever stop talking.
What is your favorite literary trope?
Friends to Lovers or Enemies to Lovers
What is your go-to café order?
Sweetened Iced Oat Milk Matcha Latte
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
James Baldwin so I can ask him about his influences and advice he has for any aspiring African American authors. I would also like to ask about his life in France over a nice glass of wine.
What is your favorite literary trope?
I love a fantasy book with some good ‘enemies to lovers’ woven into the plot.
What is your go-to café order?
Huge tea person myself though I wouldn’t say ‘no’ to a peppermint mocha… On that note, my go-to order would be a peppermint tea with a spoonful of honey!
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
I would have dinner with myself from the past. The reasons to do so are endless, but mostly it would be to tell myself NOT to get that pixie cut…
What is your favorite literary trope?
Fall from grace
What is your go-to café order?
Strong iced black americano
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
Elvis so I can ask him questions about fame and identity and use his answers to expand my many poems about him.
What is your favorite literary trope?
I love when a romance has a bright, cheery protagonist, and they fall in love with the gloomy, brooding character who wears exclusively black and owns a leather jacket. The contrast is great.
What is your go-to café order?
I usually order a cappuccino with extra foam.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
I would have dinner with Matthew Perry. I love Friends and was quite sad about his passing. I was very moved when I read his memoir, and I'd love to talk to him about his journey into sobriety and the making of Friends!
What is your favorite literary trope?
I'm a crime drama fan and love an imperfect female detective - Siobhan Clarke, Claire DeWitt, Robin Ellacott and more.
What is your go-to café order?
Gallons of tea and cake, or cappuccino and a banana.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you eat with and why?
I'm not out to solve all the mysteries of the world, so I'm going to choose Jonah Lomu. He would be a wonderful person to share a meal with and he could tell me stories of rugby and New Zealand. Hilary Mantel would be my next choice.