AMY LIPTROT
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amy Liptrot, a journalist and acclaimed author, has shared her insights through various publications, including numerous magazines, journals and blogs. Her regular column for Caught by the River was part of her creative journey toward her first book and memoir The Outrun. Awarded the 2016 Wainwright Prize and shortlisted for the 2016 Wellcome Prize, The Outrun shares the story of Liptrot’s return to Orkney after living in London for seven years. The follow up to this, The Instant, was published in 2022. Amy’s writing explores addiction and recovery in the context of geography, place, identity and time.
ABOUT THE TALK
For the final talk in part 3 of our series, we invited the visual artist Siobhan McLaughlin and Amy Liptrot to join us in conversation. Both share an approach to the Scottish landscape that is very personal without romanticising it: humans are part of nature’s fabric, and their experiences link places that can be far or close. Whereas Siobhan sews together remnant materials which function as the picture plane to her abstract landscape paintings, in The Outrun, Amy and her story become the connecting link between the skyscrapers in London and the cliffs of windy Orkney, where she grew up. This is further highlighted when Amy speaks of her personal geography, which contrasts conventional analogies that have traditionally asserted conquest of both female bodies and natural landscapes - in Amy’s writing, it transforms into a way of connecting and grounding. Both their work speaks to a distinct sense of place that feels approachable and down to earth. Meanwhile, it encourages to explore care, healing and regeneration as a challenging process, contrasting - in many ways - immediate gratification.
