Claire aims to read all about it
Writer opens her own publishing company
A Paisley writer wants to nurture local talent by opening her own publishing company.
Fantasy fiction fan Claire Casey has her sights set on establishing a company in the town which will offer a big break to new authors.
The 33-year-old wordsmith, who studied Scottish literature and archaeology at university, has been independently publishing her own work since 2014.
The Paisley woman was inspired to set up a small press, called Cloister Publishing, on the back of the City of Culture 2021 bid, to promote local writers.
Claire explained: “There’s only one local publishing company as far as I’m aware which was only recently set up and one that publishes poetry – most companies are based in Glasgow.
“I want to bring something to Paisley that will give new writers the opportunities that I never had when starting out.
“With Paisley going for City of Culture status, this is the perfect time for such a project – it would highlight the fact that there are people in the town who are interested in art and that have ambitions in a cultural sense.
“If successful, I believe the publishing company would really give back to the community.
“Paisley has so much potential and that can be recognised by celebrating talented writers.”
As well as publishing her own work - including poetry collections Goddess of the Night, The Winter Queen and a collection of short stories and poems, King and the Spider, Claire is making sure the whole world knows all about some of the most talented Buddies ever.
She published a collection of songs and poems by Robert Tannahill, best- known as The Weaver Poet, as well as a collection of poems by Alexander Wilson, called Lines Written on a Summer Evening.
Claire claimed: “Both Tannahill and Wilson were poets and weavers from Paisley, and contemporaries of Robert Burns.
“Through Cloister Publishing, I want to celebrate the town’s heritage.
“In Scottish literature there’s so much focus on Burns, and Tannahil is often overlooked. It’s important to get Paisley names out there.”
The writer has recently drawn upon her archeological knowledge to pen a book about the area’s history called Monks, Weavers and Radicals.
It explores the legend of the tunnel running under the Paisley Abbey and the British forts which existed at the summit of Oakshaws in the last few centuries BC.
You can make a donation to Cloister Publishing by visiting https:// www. gofundme. com/ cloisterpublishing