Introducing everyone on the Writer in Residence shortlist for 2026…
First in our ‘Meet the Shortlist’ series is poet, teacher and lecturer Alison Binney, who is shortlisted for her debut poetry collection The Opposite of Swedish Death Cleaning (Seren, 2025)
Was hearing about Writer in Residence the first time you’d heard of Gladstone’s Library?
I’d heard of Gladstone’s Library several years ago via social media. The photos of books and cream teas made me long to go there, so when I then saw that it was possible to apply to be a Writer in Residence I thought this was too good an opportunity to miss.
What made you decide to go for it with an application this year?
I was shortlisted for the Writer in Residence programme two years ago for my pamphlet, ‘Other Women’s Kitchens’, which led to an invitation to read at Hearth 2024. I loved the few days I spent there in February last year, and was determined to put in another application this year, around the time that my debut full collection, ‘The Opposite of Swedish Death Cleaning’, was published.
What do you think it is about a residential library that makes it such a great place to get down to work?
What struck me so powerfully when I visited Gladstone’s Library last year was the particular quality of the quietness. I would describe it as a companionable quietness, which is something that I highly value as writing can be such a solitary pursuit. I need long periods of uninterrupted time in which to write, which the residency would certainly provide, but the experience of doing that alongside others who are also reading and writing would lend that time a special quality that it’s hard to find elsewhere. I think it may be a bit like being on a spiritual retreat, only for writing.
Lastly, please tell us all about the book that got you onto the shortlist!
The title of my poetry collection, ‘The Opposite of Swedish Death Cleaning’, arose from the experience of sorting and clearing my Dad’s house after he developed dementia and needed to move into residential care. Quite a few of the poems explore the experience of caring both for my Dad and for his house, whilst others were inspired by some of the items I found in the house, such as my parents’ chalk tins, my Mum’s spice rack, and even the piece of Tupperware that all our salads were served in when I was a child. Just like the eclectic collection of things in my Dad’s house, there are poems in the collection on a range of other themes, too. My parents’ chalk inspired me to start writing about teaching, which is something I’d avoided doing for years after having had to work hard to make space in my busy teaching schedule for writing poetry. And there are also poems about coming out, first love, running, birds and the fragile relationship between humans and the natural world.
We’ll be posting responses from the Library’s eight-strong Writer in Residence shortlist twice a week from mid-July to mid-August. Click the Writer in Residence tag to see them all!