New Voices in Poetry: Gabrielle Tse for Rustlings

We are delighted to be welcoming Edinburgh-based poet Gabrielle Tse for the launch of her debut poetry pamphlet, Rustlings. Also joining her to read will be Nazaret Ranea, Olivia Calderon, James Appleby and Sean Wai Keung.

Dreamy and playful, Gabrielle Tse’s debut pamphlet Rustlings speaks to memory and domesticity, maintaining a balletic lightness above fractures in language and heritage. With all its subtle sounds and textures, Rustlings is a sensuous exploration of the absences and complications of daily life.

‘What is remarkable is that Gabrielle Tse’s poems already possess such a mature voice. This is rich and formally inventive poetry with dynamic descriptions. Her first poem states, ‘Hurry: each day is taut and newly-spun’ – yes, isn’t it just, and doesn’t she capture just that.’
– Niall Campbell

‘An elusive, suggestive and beautiful debut, Tse’s poems are like threads ravelling up into a silk dress, or a ribbon tying tight around your neck.’ – James Appleby

Gabrielle Tse is a Hong Kong-born writer with Chinese and Filipina roots. She was shortlisted for the Scottish Book Trust’s New Writers Award in 2025, selected as a Young Critic by The Poetry Society in 2024, and has won the Hong Kong Young Writers Award two years in a row. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Edinburgh and previously read Law at the University of Hong Kong.

Nazaret Ranea is a Spanish writer living in Edinburgh. She was named one of Scotland’s Next Generation Young Makars in 2023 and is this year’s Poet in Residence for StAnza Poetry Festival’s translation award. Her debut poetry collection, Nettles, will be published by Drunk Muse Press in June 2025.

Olivia Calderón is an Edinburgh-based Cuban-American poet and editor. Her work appears in Gutter, Interpret, Moss Poppy Magazine, and various anthologies. She was shortlisted for the Grierson Verse Prize and has a Creative Writing MSc. Her debut zine, Florida Woman, was published in 2024.

James Appleby is editor of Interpret, publishing winners of the International Booker Prize. His own poetry appears in The London Magazine, The Kenyon Review, and The Best American Poetry Blog. His first pamphlet, Spurious Language, was commended in the International Book & Pamphlet Competition, and will be released in June 2025 with Blue Diode.

Sean Wai Keung is a Glasgow-based poet and performance maker. His collection sikfan glaschu was published by Verve in 2021 and was subsequently nominated for the Kavya Prize. He is the poetry reviews editor at Gutter and poetry editor at Middleground.