We thought it was time to reintroduce ourselves x
Hi, I’m Trina, I’m one of the editors and issue put-together-er of Swimpress. My life has changed quite a bit since starting Swimpress so if you like to find out a little bit more about me and what I get up to beyond Swimpress then read on and I’ll tell you my hopes and dreams and maybe some of my favourite things.
Career
After studying English Literature at Lancaster University I applied for A LOT of jobs in publishing, marketing, even recruitment at one point (don’t ask) but I didn’t feel like I had found my thing and I found no joy in the process of applying. So…I went back to university to study for an MA in Songwriting in London. I realised there was a way to marry up my love of music and performing with my writing. For my final project I wrote about Essex witches and the Essex girl identity.
Where am I now? Well I am currently teaching piano and singing to all ages in Hertfordshire and writing songs when I can. I have 2 songs released in the world and I am working on another which I hope will be coming soon. Although life as a creative is very uncertain I feel like the path is becoming a little clearer and I remain hopeful that one day my songs will be heard by a bigger audience.
Writing
As I just mentioned, songwriting is the main form of writing I do these days. I find inspiration from my own life experiences and emotions as I like to put these across authentically in my writing and there’s no better way for me to process difficult emotions.
Although I love songwriting, I am going to challenge myself this year to try writing a short story or some poetry as I was surprised but inspired to hear at a poetry reading that Simon Armitage is a poet AND a songwriter. It sounds silly but I hadn’t really realised you could excel at both mainly because I had never heard of it happening before. Basically I want my fingers in all the pies as long as those pies allow me to be creative.
General interests
Two obvious ones: music and reading. I love going to watch live music as nothing beats it really. I also enjoy taking the time to really listen to albums, as I love lyrics and production and admiring the work of others. Just sitting down and listening from start to finish really allows you to absorb it. I also love reading, duh. For me, reading can be very on and off, if I read a book I’m not particularly keen on it can really take me out of the flow with it. I am well within the flow at the moment after reading The Betrayals by Bridget Collins which I adored.
I am also a keen runner and I hope to run a marathon this year (TBD). I use running to prove to myself I can get better at something as well as using it to benefit my mental and physical health. Yes, I am that annoying person that probably talks about running too much so I’ll leave it there.
Favourite books and authors
Authors:
- Madeline Miller
- Cassandra Clare
- Stephen King
- Kazuo Ishiguro
- Sally Rooney
Books:
- On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
- The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
- Circe by Madeline Miller
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
What do I look for?
Although I have specific interests, more than anything I like to be surprised by the things I read. I like reading something with it’s own unique style, so don’t worry if your writing doesn’t fit in with these interests, we don’t publish submissions purely based on personal preference so keep writing uniquely.
That being said, I like reading a lot of genres. I enjoy fantasy as it ignites my inner child, though as I’m getting older I appreciate fantasy which is very developed with strong, complex characters. Everything I enjoy will usually explore all different kinds of relationships in an authentic and relatable way.
I really enjoy complicated main characters that are not always likeable. I find this much more interesting which is why some of my favourite books include characters that are nuanced and quite frankly unlikeable. I enjoy the relatability involved with flawed characters – maybe that’s not a good sign for my personal character but I think humans are all deeply flawed and I am fascinated by that. Unreliable narrator? Big win for me.
I adore Greek mythology so anything which explores this is probably a yes from me. I don’t really know what it is that I love so much but ever since I first learnt about it at school I was drawn in I think and reading Circe really solidified this.
If you would like to keep up to date with what I am doing go and check out my socials: @trinareadmusic (Insta)
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