clairesawers.bsky.social
@clairesawers.bsky.social
Freelance journalist in Edinburgh, writing for The Quietus, The Wire, The Times, Big Issue, The List etc

linktr.ee/clairesawers
The Oscars has a new category for casting directors in 2026
I spoke to Kahleen Crawford, Orla O’Connor and Simone Pereira Hind for @thelistuk.bsky.social about the crucial, albeit often invisible role that ‘CDs’ play in diversity, inclusivity and beauty standards

list.co.uk/news/casting...
November 13, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Thanks to bakery babe and beautiful food writer Flora Shedden for a hyggetastic chat at @portybooks.bsky.social last night, celebrating her new cookbook Winter in the Highlands 🕯️ 🌲 🍊

She sent me home with the best snacks too -👇including this honey and almond shortbread, so buttery and crunchy 💋👌
October 17, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Join me and fellow winter baby Flora Shedden (owner of ARAN Bakery and LÒN Store in Dunkeld) when we will discuss her wonderful new cookbook Winter in the Highlands 🕯️

@portybooks.bsky.social

Sign up here ⬇️
shorturl.at/886c1
Flora Shedden - Winter in the Highlands at The Portobello Bookshop
Please come and join us for Flora Shedden - Winter in the Highlands on 16th October, at The Portobello Bookshop
shorturl.at
September 25, 2025 at 12:42 PM
An amazing residency opportunity for Scotland based artists with caregiver responsibilities, from the good folks at SSW and Counterflows
✨ deadline 15 Oct ✨

Read my essay on the residencies here: www.ssw.org.uk/caregivers-e...
September 12, 2025 at 1:29 PM
The tough beats, the near celestial vocal, the lyrics. I’m currently obsessed with the new album from ‘gay church folk’ heroes The Hidden Cameras.
BRONTO is album of the week at @thequietus.com - read my reverent praise for this heavenly piece of dark, euphoric pop here👇
'At first blush this sounds a far cry from their early records, but there’s a clear throughline in the bittersweet sentiment, the soaring melodies and the sheer euphoria of the record’s yearning for transcendence'

Bronto by #TheHiddenCameras is tQ's Album of the Week

buff.ly/K37filF
September 11, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Thanks @boomsaloon.bsky.social for republishing my article from their 2018 magazine about Brian Teeling’s wonderful photography exhibition ‘Uncover’.
51 portraits of queer politicians, musicians, artists, activists and an ex-priest who went on to win Mr Bear Ireland

www.boomsaloon.com/uncovered/
Uncovered - boom saloon
“If you look at photos of him before and after coming out, he’s so fucking happy now!”
www.boomsaloon.com
September 10, 2025 at 10:12 AM
For a #bandcampfriday rec, Body Lapse is a beauty. I first heard these guys perform together at @counterflows.bsky.social - Cara’s ‘internal singing’ with Rian’s hypnotic beats made it a stone cold standout. Thanks @planetmurecords.bsky.social for asking me to write notes for the album release 🖤
Rian Treanor is releasing a collaborative album with Glasgow-born, Stockholm-based artist Cara Tolmie set for release on @planetmurecords.bsky.social

You can listen to lead track ‘My Little Loophole’ here:

buff.ly/n30K2ag
September 5, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Reposted
They only like you when you're... SEVENTEEN!

Happy birthday to The Quietus!

Please, please, please consider taking out a sub. We've introduced a new playlist perk. Sign up today and get 45 this month! Pls share & ask sugar mummies & daddies to dig deep.

thequietus.com/news/the-qui...
The Quietus is 17! We're Celebrating With New Playlists for our Subscribers | The Quietus
It’s now five years since we launched our subscription platform with Steady in a last-ditch attempt to save The Quietus during the desperate Covid crisis. Thankfully, we raised enough to temporally keep the wolves from the door, and the website is still here to celebrate its seventeenth birthday. SEVENTEEN! We can barely believe that we’ve […]
thequietus.com
September 4, 2025 at 11:24 AM
I spoke to Amy Love and Georgia South of Nova Twins about their new album Parasites and Butterflies.
We chatted about decolonising the punk scene, constantly feeling they have to prove themselves and giving a leg up to underrepresented POC artists 🦋💪🏾💪🏿

list.co.uk/news/nova-tw...
September 2, 2025 at 11:42 AM
My interview for @festmag.bsky.social with London-born queer artist Lewis Walker

They became world champion in acrobatic gymnastics when they were 18 and closed Edinburgh Art Festival on Sat night with a solo dance piece 💥 💥

festmag.com/2025/08/07/i...
Interview: Lewis Walker on Bornsick
The artist discusses their new solo performance piece Bornsick and how they work with the extremes of movement…
festmag.com
August 25, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Blessed be the fruit: it’s @msclairebiddles.bsky.social X @coseyfannitutti.bsky.social!🌹🍎(with added Jarman)
August 22, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Bernie Dieter’s grandma grew up in a travelling circus + was once smuggled over the border into West Germany in a caravan, hidden under sequinned costumes.
Now Bernie tours with a queer circus cabaret, bringing queer joy to Edinburgh. I spoke to her for @thelistuk.bsky.social

shorturl.at/039t1
August 14, 2025 at 7:56 AM
A big thrill to talk music and synaesthesia and mentoring with electronic artist @kaitlynaurelia.bsky.social for the cover of @festmag.bsky.social

festmag.com/2025/08/13/i...

She will be performing at Edinburgh International Festival, Sat 16 Aug 10pm
August 13, 2025 at 11:19 AM
I spoke to Karine Polwart for @thelistuk.bsky.social about her show Windblown, about a 200 yr-old-tree in the Botanic Gardens
"Being in the glasshouse with the palm was like being on a boat when a whale comes up. Losing the palm came with profound sadness and nowhere to put that" shorturl.at/NnFgc
August 11, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Last day of Rewind 2025 from the mighty @radiophrenia.bsky.social on Resonance FM, until midnight 🖤 🔊
August 10, 2025 at 10:27 AM
I spoke to Scottish Ballet dancers Roseanna Leney + Harvey Littlefield + artistic director Christopher Hampson before the world premiere of Mary, Queen of Scots, a thrilling new dance work.

Opens Aug 15-17 in Edinburgh International Festival, then touring.
In today's UK edition of @thetimes.com
The original game of thrones — Mary and Elizabeth’s dance duel
A new ballet about the rivalry between Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I features gender-swapped roles — and a giant spider. We go backstage
www.thetimes.com
August 9, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Sometimes when I’m interviewing someone for work I can immediately guess what will get picked as the pull quote - yup, this was one of those moments

Read my interview with clown Damien Warren-Smith aka @garrythestarr.bsky.social for @thelistuk.bsky.social 🐧

list.co.uk/news/damien-...
August 1, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Harlem-raised stand up comedian Zainab Johnson calls herself ‘the diversity trifecta; black, Muslim and a woman’. She’s got an Amazon Prime comedy special ‘Hijabs Off’ or you can catch her at the Fringe for the first time this year with her show ‘Toxically Optimistic’.

list.co.uk/news/zainab-...
August 1, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Reposted
ALT Book Fringe 2025
4–29 Aug, Edinburgh

Entirely run & curated by 3 of Scotland’s leading indie bookshops – @argonautbooks.bsky.social, @lighthousebks.bsky.social & @typewronger.bsky.social – ALT Book Fringe is a free, alternative August literary festival
www.lighthousebookshop.com/events/book-...
July 28, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Here’s artist Jonathan Baldock talking in @thelistuk.bsky.social
about his handcrafted animal menagerie, WYRD.
We spoke about the sinister insinuation that being gay is “unnatural” and learning to crochet with his nan.
(Warm Inside: on til 27 Jul, WYRD: on til 28 Sep)
list.co.uk/news/jonatha...
July 23, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Reposted
Today is your last chance to dive into our huge and ever-expanding vault of bonus tQ material at a special low price! Save 25% on our standard Subscription tier and 37.5% on our top level Subscription Plus tier

Details here:

buff.ly/tgxtqPa
June 9, 2025 at 7:01 PM
The @sadlerswells.bsky.social’s mod ballet remake of The Who’s Quadrophenia opens tomorrow in Edinburgh 🌊
I spoke with director Rob Ashford & dancers Serena McCall & Euan Garrett about male existential crisis, teen rebellion & queer confusion 🛵
June 9, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Reposted
After almost three years of campaigning and fundraising, Edinburgh's FIlmhouse has confirmed that it will reopen its doors on Friday 27 June.

Find out more ➡️ list.co.uk/news/filmhou...
June 4, 2025 at 11:05 PM
I spoke with music journalist @katehutchinson.bsky.social about her new Studio Radicals podcast, where she deep dives into the work of amazing engineers and artists, including @martasalogni.bsky.social @hannahpeel.bsky.social and my beloved #SuzanneCiani
'Interesting people creating incredible sound worlds, telling immersive stories.’

In Studio Radicals, Kate Hutchinson brings together bold, visionary women who are redefining how music is made, mixed and recorded. She speaks to us about why championing these voices matters.
Kate Hutchinson on her podcast Studio Radicals: 'Every woman has her own experience of sexism' | The List
Kate Hutchinson’s latest podcast takes a deep dive behind the music we listen to. The music journalist tells Claire Sawers why she’s spotlighting the women doin
list.co.uk
June 3, 2025 at 10:54 AM