Authors
Get to know the 404 Ink authors a little better.
ALAN CUMMING
Alan Cumming is an mutli award-winning actor, writer, producer and performer of numerous productions including Hamlet, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Endgame, Cabaret, X2, The Good Wife, Schmigadoon! and many more. He collaborated with Forbes Masson in the 1980s to create comedy alter-egos Victor and Barry before adapting the characters for The High Life.
ANDRÉS N. ORDORICA
Andrés N. Ordorica is a queer Latinx poet and writer based in Edinburgh, who creates worlds filled with characters who are from neither here nor there (ni de aquí, ni de allá). Publishing credits include The Skinny, Bella Caledonia, Confluence Medway, Somewhere: For Us, and Gutter. In 2020, he was awarded a Second Life grant through the Edwin Morgan Trust.
ARUN SOOD
Arun Sood is a Scottish-Indian writer, musician and academic working across multiple forms. He was born in Aberdeen to a West-Highland Mother and Punjabi father. Arun’s critical and creative practice ranges from academic publications, editorials and poetry to ambient musical tapestries. hIS outputs engage with diasporic identities, mixed-race heritage, ancestry, language and memory.
CARRIE MARSHALL
Carrie is a writer, broadcaster and musician from Glasgow. She’s the singer in Glaswegian rock band HAVR, a familiar voice on BBC Radio Scotland and has been a regular contributor to all kinds of magazines, newspapers and websites for more than two decades. She has written, ghost-written or co-written more than a dozen non-fiction books, a radio documentary series, and more.
CHRIS McQUEER
Chris McQueer is a 20-something year old writer in Glasgow. Chris kept his writing a secret from his friends and family for several months before he was encouraged to share his work through Twitter (@ChrisMcQueer_). Since then he has earned a reputation as 'That Guy Oan Twitter Who Writes Short Stories. His stories have been adapted for the BBC.
ELLE NASH
Elle Nash is a founding editor of Witch Craft Magazine and a fiction editor at Hobart Pulp. Her work has featured in Volume 1 Brooklyn, The Fanzine, Cosmopolitan, Elle, The Offing, Enclave, and other places. She lives in the Ozarks with her husband, daughter and their dog. You can follow her on Twitter at @saderotica.
EUAN LOWNIE
Euan Lownie is a student from Aberdeenshire, currently studying MA Scottish Studies at The University of Edinburgh. He received the University’s Delargy Prize, is one of The Hunter Foundation’s 100 Disrupters and is a member of the BBC Scotland Next project, and has spent years collecting advice from successful Scots for his book.
FORBES MASSON
Forbes Masson is an Associate Artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company, known for his roles in classical theatre and musicals as well as his part in The Crown. He is also known for his comedy partnership with Alan Cumming. Masson and Cumming wrote The High Life, a Scottish situation comedy in which they play the lead characters, Steve McCracken and Sebastian Flight.
GENEVIEVE JAGGER
Genevieve is a queer writer from Scotland, currently based in Glasgow, working as a barista and a tarot reader. Her writing has been published in The Honest Ulsterman, Banfit Fiction, Expat Press and X-RAY Magazine. She was raised catholic, which has very much informed the themes of Fragile Animals, and is a Scorpio. www.genajag.com
HELEN McCLORY
Helen McClory lives in Edinburgh and grew up between there and the Isle of Skye. Her debut, On the Edges of Vision, won the Saltire First Book of the Year 2015. She has since published Mayhem & Death and The Goldblum Variations, following Jeff around the known (& unknown) universe. There is a moor and a cold sea in her heart.
JASON REYNOLDS
Jason Reynolds is an Edgar Award Young Adult winner, New York Times bestselling author, amidst other numerous awards and accolades. The American Booksellers Association’s 2017 spokesperson for Indies First, his many books include Long Way Down, Boy in the Black Suit and the Track series, and Look Both Ways.
JEMMA NEVILLE
Jemma Neville has a professional background in human rights law. She is Director of arts charity Voluntary Arts Scotland and was the inaugural Community Fellow at IASH, University of Edinburgh. Jemma has written for a range of media and was shortlisted for the Guardian International Development Journalism Award.
JOE DONNELLY
Joe Donnelly is a Glaswegian journalist, writer, video games enthusiast and mental health advocate. He has written about both subjects' complex intersections for The Guardian, New Statesman, VICE, PC Gamer and many more, and believes the interactive nature of video games makes them uniquely placed to educate and inform.
LIAM KONEMANN
Liam Konemann is a queer Australian writer based in London. He writes music journalism, fiction and poetry with a focus on queerness and masculinity. His work has appeared in Dazed, HUCK, NME and more, and he published his debut non-fiction title The Appendix: Transmasculine Joy in a Transphobic Culture as part of 404’s Inklings series. @LiamKonemann
NADINE AISHA JASSAT
Nadine Aisha Jassat is a poet, writer and creative practitioner She won the British Council's open call for new writing from the UK and Turkey, is a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Awardee, was named in the Young Women's Movement 30 Under 30, and selected by Jackie Kay as one of her ten writers to watch.
Inklings
Adam Zmith is a writer and podcast producer whose work explores the beats of our bodies, in the past, present and future. He is the author of Deep Sniff: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures, which won the Polari First Book Prize 2022. As a writer he has also made work for theatre and film.
Author of: Solemates.
Adèle Oliver is an artist, scholar, and linguist from Birmingham. As a Black Brit of Jamaican descent, personal interest drives Adèle’s intellectual commitment to unravelling histories (and subsequent epistemologies) using an acutely critical lens. Outside of her academic work, Adèle is a music producer and artist.
Author of: Deeping It.
Arusa Qureshi is a writer and editor with a particular focus on music, diversity and accessibility within arts and culture. She was formerly the Editor of UK entertainment and events guide The List, and her work has appeared in Bella Caledonia, gal-dem, the Guardian, GoldFlakePaint and more. @arusaqureshi
Author of: Flip The Script.
Alli Patton is a writer and music journalist based in the American South. A lover of music, the written word, and combining the two, her work can be found in The Independent, Holler, and American Songwriter. She believes, above all things, in the power music has to bring about change.
Author of: Blitzkreig Bops.
Anahit Behrooz is a writer, editor, and journalist based in Edinburgh. She works as events editor at The Skinny and has written extensively on film and books for Little White Lies, The Quietus, MAP Magazine, Girls on Tops and others.
@anahitrooz
Author of: BFFs.
Anne East is a freelance writer in Suffolk. Anne read English linguistics and literature at the University of York and started a career as a retail buyer working in London and Cambridge. After having two children, Anne decided to quit the nine to five and go it alone as a content writer.
Author of: No Man’s Land.
Casci Ritchie is a fashion historian, writer, film programmer and doting Pomeranian mother. Her research specializes in twentieth-century fashion from creation to consumption. Currently she is researching all aspects of Prince’s sartorial legacy. @CasciTRitchie
Author of: On His Royal Badness.
Emily Garside is a writer and professional dog Mum. She spent a number of years as an academic and lecturer, beginning with her PhD on theatrical responses to the AIDS crisis, and the evolution of LGBTQ theatre. She has written for The Queer Review, Slate, BBC, The Stage and many more. @EmiGarside.
Author of: Love That Journey For Me.
Francesca Sobande is a writer and reader in digital media studies, who lives in Cymru (Wales).Francesca is co-author/co-dreamer with layla-roxanne hill of Black Oot Here: Black Lives in Scotland. Her bylines include Disegno, Paste Magazine, and The Vinyl Factory. Francesca enjoys midnight skies and all things emo <3
Co-author of: Look, Don’t Touch.
Heather Parry is a Glasgow-based writer, editor, and publisher. She is the co-founder and Editorial Director of Extra Teeth magazine, co-host of the Teenage Scream podcast and the Scottish Senior Policy & Liaison Manager for the Society of Authors. Her debut novel, Orpheus Builds a Girl, was published in 2022.
Author of: Electric Dreams.
J. David Reed is a working-class science-fiction and fantasy writer based in North-East England. He has had multiple short fiction pieces published, his most recent in dark fantasy anthology series Dark Magic. He is a teacher and works for a charity that supports NHS workers with CPD, and is a lifelong fan of Doctor Who.
Author of: We’re Falling Through Space.
James Coe works as the senior policy advisor at the University of Liverpool, and is studying for a Masters in Public Administration at the University of York. He is interested in the capacity of the public sector to transform the lives of all of those who come into contact with it, developed over years working in the charity, and higher education sectors.
Author of: The New University.
Jean Menzies is an ancient historian and author from Scotland. Jean completed her PhD in classics at the University of Roehampton in 2022, with a focus on gender, myth, and rhetoric in Ancient Greece. She can usually be found online harping on about queer literature and ancient history over on her channel Jean’s Thoughts.
Author of: All the Violet Tiaras.
Kajal Odedra is an author and activist based in London and New York. Her first book DO SOMETHING came out in 2019. She has spent over 15 years working in activism and led the strategy for some of the UK's largest online movements as the UK Director of Change.org. Her writing has appeared in the Guardian, Independent, New Statesman and The Times. Author of: Hair/Power.
Karl Johnson is a lecturer in Sociology, a life-long geek, and a Shetlander trapped in the Central Belt of Scotland. He researches and writes about widening access to higher education, social theory and pop culture, and issues affecting the Scottish Islands – such as gendered exclusion in Lerwick’s Up Helly Aa festival. @karlpjohnson.
Author of: The Loki Variations.
Karl Thomas Smith is a writer covering fashion, music, film, and other arts-adjacent topics across the broad culture spectrum for outlets including Dazed, Highsnobiety, i-D, etc. Previously an editor at HYPEBEAST and The Quietus, he lives in Brighton with his fiancée, Marianne, and their dog, Bowie. He can usually be found cooking. Author of: Now Go.
Katie Goh is a writer and editor of Chinese-Malaysian-Irish heritage, born and raised in Northern Ireland. She writes about culture and social issues for i-D, Vice, Huck and The Independent and is Intersections Editor for The Skinny. In 2019 she was shortlisted for PPA Scotland’s Young Journalist of the Year award. Author of: The End.
layla-roxanne hill is an independent writer, researcher + organiser. she thinks + feels about many things, including anti-colonial struggle, care + belonging + the way our conditions move us to act. layla-roxanne is co-author/dreamer with francesca sobande of Black Oot Here: Black Lives in Scotland. she is active in the trade union movement, holding elected positions within the bureaucratic machinery. Co-author of: Look, Don’t Touch.
Liam Konemann is a queer Australian writer based in London. In 2019/20 he participated in Spread the Word’s London Writers Awards scheme, and placed second for fiction in Streetcake Magazine’s Experimental Writing Prize. He writes music journalism, fiction and poetry with a focus on queerness and masculinity.
Author of: The Appendix.
Maud Rowell is a freelance journalist and writer. She read Japanese at the University of Cambridge, before training in journalism. Since going blind aged 19 while travelling in South Korea, she’s made it her mission to educate and inform others about the realities of sight loss. She also loves to travel, and is a keen amateur painter, film photographer, and mixed media artist.
Author of: Blind Spot.
Naomi Westerman is a playwright and former anthropologist. She is a recipient of the Royal Society of Literature Award, the Michael Grandage Futures Bursary, the Derby Theatre / In Good Co Mid-Career Commission Award, and was a finalist for the Theatre Uncut Political Playwriting Award at the Young Vic.
Author of: Happy Death Club.
Nathan Charles is a working-class theatre maker, producer and director from Portsmouth. He is also Co-Artistic Director of Brightmouth Productions, Co-Editor of The Crumb and Co-Founder of devised comedy group Red Biscuit Theatre. Nathan focuses on work that challenges our existing relationship to pressing socio-economic issues. Author of: No Dice: Gambling and Risk in Modern Culture.
Prishita Maheshwari-Aplin is interested in the historical, personal, and political stories of the queer community. As a digital campaigner and a grassroots community organiser, Prishita has been directly involved with the queer rights, anti-racism and climate justice movements - combining direct action, digital action and lobbying to connect people, build power and shift societal and political axes. Author of: Roses for Hedone.
Sam Gonçalves is a Brazilian writer and documentary filmmaker, based in Glasgow. His work has appeared in The National, Counterpoint, and The Skinny and he publishes bi-monthly interviews on Everything Mixtape.
Author of: How Does Change Happen?
Selin Bucak is a Turkish-British freelance journalist, currently based in Paris. She was the editor of Private Equity News at Dow Jones, and news editor of specialist B2B publication Citywire Wealth Manager. She writes about a variety of topics from finance and sustainability to gender diversity and human rights issues in Turkey. Author of: The Last Day Before Exile.
Tasmin Lockwood is a journalist from the North East of England covering the intersection of technology and the climate crisis. Previously a senior reporter at Business Insider, as part of its award-winning startups and venture capital team, Tasmin is now freelancing while travelling around Latin America. Author of: Clean Up on Aisle Earth.
Tanaka Mhishi is a writer, performer and storyteller. His works with issues surrounding masculinity and trauma have been produced on screen for BBC 3 and on stages nationwide. He is the author of This Is How It Happens, a play about male survivors of sexual violence, and Boys Don’t . Tanaka is a trustee for SurvivorsUK, a charity supporting male and non-binary survivors of sexual violence across the UK. Author of: Sons and Others.
Thom James Carter is a Scotland-based freelance writer, usually writing on tech, business, and culture. His work has been published by The New Statesman, Current Affairs, WIRED, Insider, Wellcome Collection, and more. He holds a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Creative Writing, both from Goldsmiths, University of London. He/him. Author of: They Came to Slay.
Titilayo Farukuoye (they/them) is a writer, educator and organiser based in Glasgow. Their work addresses social justice and community care and is informed by dreaming and the radical imagination. Titilayo co-directs the Scottish BPOC Writers Network and is a winner of the 2022 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award. Their debut poetry pamphlet In Wolf’s Skin is available with Stewed Rhubarb Press. Author of: But We Did.
Whatever Next? is a multi-media project designed to spark a few conversations surrounding adoption, founded by Adaline Bara, Hannah Feben-Smith and Josephine Jay. It was born out of conversations they found themselves having again and again questioning what it was like growing up as a Chinese adoptee in the west. Authors of: Whatever Next?
Wing Lam Tong (湯穎琳) is a writer, educator, and former lawyer from Hong Kong, currently living in London. Writing in both Chinese and English, her work has appeared in Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine, the Asia Art Archive’s IDEAS Journal, The Oxonian Review, and elsewhere. Her research and writing explore womanhood, in-betweenness, senses of belonging, and everyday life.
Author of: Speak Still.
Xuanlin Tham is a writer, critic, and curator based in Edinburgh. They write for British GQ, i-D, Little White Lies, AnOther Magazine, and The Skinny, among others, covering culture (and sometimes sports). They curate for Take One Action, an arts organisation harnessing the transformative power of film and storytelling for collective change. Author of: Revolutionary Desires.
Zara Rahman is a British-Bangladeshi researcher and writer based in Berlin. She has worked in civil society to support activists from around the world to support context-driven and thoughtful uses of technology and data. She has held fellowships at Stanford University and the Harvard Kennedy School, and is a trustee at Saheli, a charity providing support and refuge to women of colour fleeing domestic abuse. Author of: Machine Readable Me.
Anthologies
Meet the authors part of our anthologies or collaborative works.
FIERCE SALVAGE (2025)
Fierce Salvage is the follow up anthology to 2019’s We Were Always Here, capturing a vibrant snapshot of queer Scottish talent, both established and emerging writers. Part of the Queer Words Project Scotland.
GATHERING (2024)
Gathering will be an essay anthology of nature writing by women of colour from across the UK. The collection, edited by Durre Shahwar and Nasia Sarwar-Skuse, considers nature, landscape and the climate and is set to be “personal, moving, convincing, creative, fierce and everything in between” and a welcome addition to the growing and vibrant expansion of nature writing.
WE WERE ALWAYS HERE (2019)
We Were Always Here is a snapshot of current Scottish LGBTI+ writing and a showcase of queer talent. From drag queens and discos, to black holes and monsters, these stories and poems wrestle with love and loneliness and the fight to be seen. Part of the Queer Words Project Scotland.
WE SHALL FIGHT UNTIL WE WIN (2018)
We Shall Fight Until We Win is the graphic novel - co-published with BHP Comics - celebrating a century of pioneering political women in the UK, in honour of the UK centenary of the first wave of women gaining the right to vote in the UK. Celebrating ceiling smashers, firsts, and those who continue to fight today.
LILLY BANNING (2017)
Lilly Banning is a librarian based in London who likes the quieter things in life. She graduated with a BA (Hons) in Sociology more years ago than she cares to admit and spent a decade of her life working as an investigator. James Scythe was her last case. (She might also be an alias for Creeper.)
NASTY WOMEN (2017, OUT OF PRINT)
Nasty Women was the bestselling essay collection of essays and accounts on what it is to be a woman in the 21st century, described by Margaret Atwood as 'An essential window into many of the hazard-strewn worlds younger women are living in right now” and as having “vital spirit” by Ali Smith. It will no longer be in print once the remaining print run has sold out.