Authors
Neil Renton
Neil, from Leith, has long channelled his creative side into writing, firstly for the Hibs FC fanzine, Mass Hibsteria, and then as a football reporter focusing on Scotland's Championship, League 1, and League 2 matches.
In 2023, he met Mark Fleming, a fellow writer, at The Changing Room at Easter Road, a mental health support group run by Scottish Action for Mental Health. Heids Up is their joint anthology of fiction, memoirs, and essays inspired by their respective journeys.
Mark Fleming
Mark, from Edinburgh, has been into creative writing since he was producing lyrics for post-punk band, 4 Minute Warning.
Since the heady days of that late 70s music and cultural scene, he has had numerous stories published in diverse outlets: The Big Issue in Scotland. The Leither. The Picador Book of Contemporary Scottish Fiction. Shorts: the Macallan/Scotland on Sunday Collection. Front and Centre (Issue 18). Scottish Child Magazine. Cutting Teeth. 404Ink. His most recent publication is Heids Up.
Rodney Relax
Rodney Relax started performing in bands in Fife from 1977 with mixed results! It wasn’t until 1979 when he joined Alternative that things started to move forward.
"In 1983 we managed to get an EP: In Nomini Patri out on Crass Records. Sadly, the first incarnation of the band spilt up in the same year!"
Undeterred, he formed a new line-up with Linda Linger. In 1985, Corpus Christi released the only album: If They Treat You Like Shit. Although the band folded in 1986, this paved the way for Rodney's passionate new creative focus: the written word.
Moving to Edinburgh in 1992 proved pivotal. The seminal underground publication, Rebel Inc, had been launched, pioneering dynamic new writing, including excerpts from a 'novel in progress' by Irvine Welsh (shortly to blow a hole in the literary world as the cult novel, Trainspotting, equivalent to the punk revolution 15 years earlier!) Radical Scottish poets like Sandie Craigie and Paul Reekie were also at the forefront of this exciting literary scene.
Inspired by what Kevin Williamson had created, Rodney set up Yellow Cafe in 1994. Many new writers came through, including Nicky Melville, Cal King, and Jim Ferguson. Along with DJ’s and film, they created quite a buzz, gaining good press across the U.K.
Once again, things had ran their course, but moving into the 21st century, Yellow Cafe did leave a lasting legacy .
In 2007, Rodney co-formed Shellsuit Massacre with Nicky Melville, then Northern Upland Sheep Strategy in 2010 with Martin O’Donnell.
With both projects at an end, he started working with SPK to create Second Space poetry which has been running since 2015. Over the last 10 years, many publications have followed, mainly anthologies.
His forthcoming collection on Tartan Moon, Bar Codes for Spring, will be his first 'proper book'!