By geo-locating the stories in unique places throughout the city centre, the project engages listeners by taking them on a journey of stories and poetry, exploring sides of the city they might not have found through conventional means. The use of the Podwalk app is supplemented by a website which features information about the project, biographies of the authors, written copies and audio files of the stories, and a map of where users can find and listen to them.

The project was inspired by the way social media companies use new technology to encourage people to engage with content in new ways. I thought, why not use technology to allow people to experience literature in a unique and immersive way.

Using Podwalk, which is a geolocational podcasting app that guides you around the location using a map interface and playing the stories as you get within the vicinity of where they are tagged, we pinned each story to a specific location.

After developing this idea into a more formal proposal, I took it to The Bridge Awards, a small philanthropic organisation in Scotland that microfunds the arts. They were on board immediately and with the support of Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature, I set up a website, organised calls for writing, set up social media (and a manager), and put the whole thing into motion in early 2016.

We received 79 entries from around the world. People from Canada, America, Cambodia, and around the UK wrote stories and poems set in and around Edinburgh. The long list was narrowed down, and the judges panel decided the final fifteen stories. The judges panel consisted of myself, Blythe Robertson (our social media manager), Eleanor Pender (Edinburgh City of Literature), Tracey Emerson (The Bridge Awards), Asif Khan (Scottish Poetry Library), and Roland Gulliver (Edinburgh International Book Festival).

We worked with the top fifteen authors to edit their stories and poems for flow, as these are mainly going to be heard and not read, and hired two exceptional voice actors. Natalie Barrett worked for 10 years in theatre and radio throughout the UK, and is currently recording the voices for the second series of the award-winning cartoon ‘Gigglebug’, and has enjoyed working on various radio and TV advert campaigns including Dobbies, Bupa, M&Co and 32 Red. James Mackenzie was a perfect accompaniment to Natalie. He has worked extensively on stage for many theatre companies including The National Theatre of Scotland, and has performed all over the country in everything from Macbeth to Sunshine On Leith the musical.

We had designers Chris Red and Jessica Dale create the logos, and the Saltire Society allowed us to record in their offices in Edinburgh. After our sound technician edited and sent the sound files back, they were up to be tested on the app Podwalk within days.

The project was officially launched on May 16th, with a social stroll down from the Castle. We strolled and listened to the stories nearby and had a drinks reception to follow, where we celebrated the achievements of the authors.

Overall, the project was a huge success!

 The website was archived in 2023.

Reviews of Edinburgh’s Dining Scene

Established in July 2011, Lunchquest aimed to give readers an insight in to Edinburgh’s vibrant lunch and dining scene. Populated by the fantastic reviews (mostly) by Blythe, we posted something new almost every day of the year.

With well over 2,500 posts under our belts, we published our fourth annual Guide to Edinburgh in August 2015.

There wasn’t a place that serves food that didn’t review. We covered as broad a range of places as we could, from the Michelin star finery of places like Castle Terrace to the humble burger van, and everything in between.

We tried to eat out (or get takeaway) from as many different places as the bank manager would allow, took pictures of what we’ve been served, and offered a few words to describe things. We rated on four categories:

• Food – what does it taste like;
• Presentation – what does it look like;
• Setting – what does the place that serves the food look like; and
• Service – how do the people serving the food serve it.

We used this method to reflect our overall experience, as considerations beyond what food is on offer often need to be made when choosing a dining venue. Some places might serve knockout food, but are a little down-at-heel, so are perhaps not where you might wish to go for an intimate interlude. Equally, some very swish places serve very mediocre grub, so you might prefer to go there for a light snack, just drinks, or with people you don’t like.

I think this work reached its peak when we were listed as must follow foodies on a Buzzfeed list. That’s winning right there.

We closed the site in 2022 after many years of great food and friends. 

The Istanbul Review creates a platform for dialogue between authors, new and established, and readers. It gives writers an opportunity to talk about their craft, showcase new work and discuss the philosophical implications of literature and its place in modern society, while creating a living history of 21st century literature.

The Istanbul Review was founded in January 2011 while Hande Zapsu Watt and I were PhD students in creative writing. We discovered that Istanbul, for such a massive and growing city and literary landscape, did not have a printed literary journal.

The Istanbul Review began with a simple wish: to bring together writers, critics and those influential people from other walks of life whose lives have been changed by literature and who in turn change the world.  The journal exists to bridge gaps, to cross borders and to be a platform for world literature.

We published big name voices next to newcomers. Including interviews with and original works from:

• Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
• Elif Shafak
• Ruth Gilligan
• Paulo Coehlo
• Sir Terry Pratchett
• Shaun Tan
• Kyung-Sook Shin
• Sara Sheridan
• Kirsty Logan
• Patrick Watt
• Julia Donaldson
• Claire Askew
• Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
• Banana Yoshimoto
• Gerhard Schröder
• Ngugi wa Thiong’o
• Shan Jiang
• Lin Anderson
• Gavin Francis
• Emrah Yucel
• Tracey Emerson
• Kate Mosse
• Phili Reeve & Sarah McIntyre
• Simon Sebag Montefiore

 

There were five issues of the review before we closed shop. The State of Literature, The Screen of Literature, Red, War Words One, and Royal Mile.