An anthology of prose and poetry from the University of Edinburgh MSc in Creative Writing
 

Team

Team

The team behind the 2023-24 edition of From Arthur’s Seat

Editors-In-Chief

Jesús Nares Jaramillo
Prose Editor-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. 

Maisie Smith
Poetry Editor-In-Chief

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

Monica Davis
Managing Editor

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!

Ellie Boland
Managing Editor

What is your favorite literary trope?

Favourite literary trope is a tough one, but probably a good character arc. I'm not fussy if it's corruption or redemption as long as it's well executed.

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

Kayla Slack
Poetry Managing Editor

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.

Rebeccaa Harrison
Poetry Editor

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. 

Emily Wheeler
Poetry Editor

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

Aidan Dalton
Prose Managing Editor

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.

Holly Sargent
Prose Editor

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).

Jordan Gill
Prose Editor

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.

Mālina Todoran
Prose Editor

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. 

Jun Zhang
Prose Editor

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.

Maddie Heidari
Prose Editor

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.

Elsy Pawelak
Prose Editor

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!

Hannah McIntyre
Prose Editor

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

Anne Ward
Copyeditor & Proofreader

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!

Florentina Jungwirth
Copyeditor & Proofreader

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?

If I could have dinner with one person I'd probably like to choose Emily Dickinson because I love her poetry and it'd be awesome to learn about her writing routines and philosophies.
Hannah McIntyre
Copyeditor & Proofreader

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!

 

Sawyer Sinnet
Copyeditor & Proofreader

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. 

Aakarsh Manoj Asoka
Copyeditor & Proofreader

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

Amelia Aston
Art Director

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!

Jennifer Widelitz
Cover Design

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...

Xabier Usubiaga
Art Team

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?

Definitely Rilke, to warn and ward off him: don't come near. But I'm not sure if I could book an hour.
Kai Ray
Art Department

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

Barbara Athanasoulas
Co-Marketing Director

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.

André Hughes
Co-Marketing Director

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.

 

Eryca Worthen
Website Manager

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.

Bridget Shea
Social Media Manager

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…

 

Ines Renee
Events & Book Launch

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. 

Riley Donovan
Events & Book Launch

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!

Georgina Appleton
Treasurer

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.