Cara L. McKee — Sedition
Cara L. McKee is a poet, librarian, & mother from Scotland. She’s interested in connecting with the wheel of the year and breaking down boundaries (eg gender, the nuclear family, borders). She has published two poetry pamphlets, First Kiss (2020), & Little Gods (2023, with Roswell Publishing) and is widely published in journals, zines, anthologies and collectives.
We are selling a limited edition (of 20) of Sedition, McKee’s poem from Seedlings Spring. It is a 25cm square letterpress print of the poem, with a digital reproduction of McKee’s own handwritten original beside. It is printed on Hahnemühle laid paper stock at London Centre for Book Arts by Will J. Wood.
The photo above is a digital preview as we will produce the prints to order then update the photo in due course.
Cara told Harry Hiscox:
When I'm writing I like to start with a handwritten version in my notebook. I start everything in my notebook! I use any old notebook - I have boxes of them which were given to my kids who don't use them. I stick stuff in and use stickers & washi tape to brighten things up. The thing that matters to me is that I write in fountain pen - either a basic Manuscript calligraphy pen (like I've used in the pictured page) or a Lamy Safari. I use lots of different colours of ink, although Pick Me Up by Diamine is my current favourite. I like using different colours & supporting British ink manufacturers, and use bottled inks and refill cartridges whenever I can to avoid throwing out lots of bits of plastic. I've been writing in these notebooks with fountain pens ever since I got my pen license at middle school around 40 years ago!
Writing this way limits the possibilities of cutting and pasting, and physically limits line length. Most of my poems are not as short as the one I wrote for Seedlings, in fact Sedition started out bigger, woolier & bloated. I didn't like it. I ended up cutting and cutting with crossings out everywhere until what was left was almost Sedition.
I take my notebook in my bag with me wherever I go so I can write anywhere, but my favourite place to write is at my desk, pictured. This desk used to belong to my father in law, and before him, to his uncle, who ran a bus company from it. My father-in-law gave it to me to encourage my writing. I am aware that it's old, but happily the uncle was a messy man who spilled ink on the desk before I got anywhere near it! I am constantly in a phase of tidying up the desk while getting distracted, and also adding to the clutter. It's always messy and homely and it's the only space in my home which is mine. If a tree must be cut down to make furniture then I'm glad it can become a well used desk.
I'm no Mary Oliver but I am very politically minded, a member of the Green Party & I was a candidate in the 2024 Westminster election. Thinking about people and the planet, it's important for people that what we do matters, and for the planet it's important that we don't entirely trash the place! I think crafting a beautiful thing, mindfully, with care about what we're putting in to the world and what we're taking, can help us make the most beautiful things.
I wanted to be involved with Seedlings because of real human beings creating things with their hands. I liked that the numbers were always limited, that there wasn't going to be an online version, but there was an online presence, and that human connection has always been important. I wish numbers were limited in more things (eg James Patterson novels), and something that is beautifully made is more likely to be passed from hand to hand, and that inspires me.
It does, although I feel there's a lot in the history of women's poetry in particular which has been occluded, so we can only see what has survived, and sometimes that's only scraps. I like to use poetic forms as structures to bring more out of my poetry, whether I choose to keep the form or not!
I write a lot about my role as mother. I think that that's a neglected area because of women's roles being understood through a male lens, so it's important to bring it into focus, but also that's what I know! Since becoming a mother 18 years ago I have lost my previous career, and experienced a diminution of my status in people's eyes. It is difficult to maintain the idea that you're capable when everyone around you acts like you are not. And yet, here I still am, and now I also have children. Sedition discusses the role of the mother in breaking down unhelpful dynamics in society. We may not always be able to take to the streets, but we are left to ourselves to teach our children wrong from right, and we plant the seeds in them, fostering rebellion and a growing movement for change.
I am struggling to write at the moment. I have been physically silenced by trigeminal neuralgia (0 stars, would not recommend), hence the written interview, and am finding myself inspirationally silenced as well. I do not believe that this silencing will last forever, but I hate it. Somebody suggested I find words in others' work, and that is a beautiful idea, which there is merit in, because hiding words in the texts of others speaks to the words in me that are obscured. So my disabled identity constrains my art, but right now, I am yet to find the way to make that work. To be honest, my pansexuality seems irrelevant now, except in that it helps me to recognise that there are more things we cannot see about everyone.
Interview by Harry Hiscox.
Profits from the sale of the print are split equally between Seedlings and the artist. Please allow two weeks for printing and processing for your order — thanks for your patience, we believe it’s worth it!
Cara L. McKee is a poet, librarian, & mother from Scotland. She’s interested in connecting with the wheel of the year and breaking down boundaries (eg gender, the nuclear family, borders). She has published two poetry pamphlets, First Kiss (2020), & Little Gods (2023, with Roswell Publishing) and is widely published in journals, zines, anthologies and collectives.
We are selling a limited edition (of 20) of Sedition, McKee’s poem from Seedlings Spring. It is a 25cm square letterpress print of the poem, with a digital reproduction of McKee’s own handwritten original beside. It is printed on Hahnemühle laid paper stock at London Centre for Book Arts by Will J. Wood.
The photo above is a digital preview as we will produce the prints to order then update the photo in due course.
Cara told Harry Hiscox:
When I'm writing I like to start with a handwritten version in my notebook. I start everything in my notebook! I use any old notebook - I have boxes of them which were given to my kids who don't use them. I stick stuff in and use stickers & washi tape to brighten things up. The thing that matters to me is that I write in fountain pen - either a basic Manuscript calligraphy pen (like I've used in the pictured page) or a Lamy Safari. I use lots of different colours of ink, although Pick Me Up by Diamine is my current favourite. I like using different colours & supporting British ink manufacturers, and use bottled inks and refill cartridges whenever I can to avoid throwing out lots of bits of plastic. I've been writing in these notebooks with fountain pens ever since I got my pen license at middle school around 40 years ago!
Writing this way limits the possibilities of cutting and pasting, and physically limits line length. Most of my poems are not as short as the one I wrote for Seedlings, in fact Sedition started out bigger, woolier & bloated. I didn't like it. I ended up cutting and cutting with crossings out everywhere until what was left was almost Sedition.
I take my notebook in my bag with me wherever I go so I can write anywhere, but my favourite place to write is at my desk, pictured. This desk used to belong to my father in law, and before him, to his uncle, who ran a bus company from it. My father-in-law gave it to me to encourage my writing. I am aware that it's old, but happily the uncle was a messy man who spilled ink on the desk before I got anywhere near it! I am constantly in a phase of tidying up the desk while getting distracted, and also adding to the clutter. It's always messy and homely and it's the only space in my home which is mine. If a tree must be cut down to make furniture then I'm glad it can become a well used desk.
I'm no Mary Oliver but I am very politically minded, a member of the Green Party & I was a candidate in the 2024 Westminster election. Thinking about people and the planet, it's important for people that what we do matters, and for the planet it's important that we don't entirely trash the place! I think crafting a beautiful thing, mindfully, with care about what we're putting in to the world and what we're taking, can help us make the most beautiful things.
I wanted to be involved with Seedlings because of real human beings creating things with their hands. I liked that the numbers were always limited, that there wasn't going to be an online version, but there was an online presence, and that human connection has always been important. I wish numbers were limited in more things (eg James Patterson novels), and something that is beautifully made is more likely to be passed from hand to hand, and that inspires me.
It does, although I feel there's a lot in the history of women's poetry in particular which has been occluded, so we can only see what has survived, and sometimes that's only scraps. I like to use poetic forms as structures to bring more out of my poetry, whether I choose to keep the form or not!
I write a lot about my role as mother. I think that that's a neglected area because of women's roles being understood through a male lens, so it's important to bring it into focus, but also that's what I know! Since becoming a mother 18 years ago I have lost my previous career, and experienced a diminution of my status in people's eyes. It is difficult to maintain the idea that you're capable when everyone around you acts like you are not. And yet, here I still am, and now I also have children. Sedition discusses the role of the mother in breaking down unhelpful dynamics in society. We may not always be able to take to the streets, but we are left to ourselves to teach our children wrong from right, and we plant the seeds in them, fostering rebellion and a growing movement for change.
I am struggling to write at the moment. I have been physically silenced by trigeminal neuralgia (0 stars, would not recommend), hence the written interview, and am finding myself inspirationally silenced as well. I do not believe that this silencing will last forever, but I hate it. Somebody suggested I find words in others' work, and that is a beautiful idea, which there is merit in, because hiding words in the texts of others speaks to the words in me that are obscured. So my disabled identity constrains my art, but right now, I am yet to find the way to make that work. To be honest, my pansexuality seems irrelevant now, except in that it helps me to recognise that there are more things we cannot see about everyone.
Interview by Harry Hiscox.
Profits from the sale of the print are split equally between Seedlings and the artist. Please allow two weeks for printing and processing for your order — thanks for your patience, we believe it’s worth it!
Cara L. McKee is a poet, librarian, & mother from Scotland. She’s interested in connecting with the wheel of the year and breaking down boundaries (eg gender, the nuclear family, borders). She has published two poetry pamphlets, First Kiss (2020), & Little Gods (2023, with Roswell Publishing) and is widely published in journals, zines, anthologies and collectives.
We are selling a limited edition (of 20) of Sedition, McKee’s poem from Seedlings Spring. It is a 25cm square letterpress print of the poem, with a digital reproduction of McKee’s own handwritten original beside. It is printed on Hahnemühle laid paper stock at London Centre for Book Arts by Will J. Wood.
The photo above is a digital preview as we will produce the prints to order then update the photo in due course.
Cara told Harry Hiscox:
When I'm writing I like to start with a handwritten version in my notebook. I start everything in my notebook! I use any old notebook - I have boxes of them which were given to my kids who don't use them. I stick stuff in and use stickers & washi tape to brighten things up. The thing that matters to me is that I write in fountain pen - either a basic Manuscript calligraphy pen (like I've used in the pictured page) or a Lamy Safari. I use lots of different colours of ink, although Pick Me Up by Diamine is my current favourite. I like using different colours & supporting British ink manufacturers, and use bottled inks and refill cartridges whenever I can to avoid throwing out lots of bits of plastic. I've been writing in these notebooks with fountain pens ever since I got my pen license at middle school around 40 years ago!
Writing this way limits the possibilities of cutting and pasting, and physically limits line length. Most of my poems are not as short as the one I wrote for Seedlings, in fact Sedition started out bigger, woolier & bloated. I didn't like it. I ended up cutting and cutting with crossings out everywhere until what was left was almost Sedition.
I take my notebook in my bag with me wherever I go so I can write anywhere, but my favourite place to write is at my desk, pictured. This desk used to belong to my father in law, and before him, to his uncle, who ran a bus company from it. My father-in-law gave it to me to encourage my writing. I am aware that it's old, but happily the uncle was a messy man who spilled ink on the desk before I got anywhere near it! I am constantly in a phase of tidying up the desk while getting distracted, and also adding to the clutter. It's always messy and homely and it's the only space in my home which is mine. If a tree must be cut down to make furniture then I'm glad it can become a well used desk.
I'm no Mary Oliver but I am very politically minded, a member of the Green Party & I was a candidate in the 2024 Westminster election. Thinking about people and the planet, it's important for people that what we do matters, and for the planet it's important that we don't entirely trash the place! I think crafting a beautiful thing, mindfully, with care about what we're putting in to the world and what we're taking, can help us make the most beautiful things.
I wanted to be involved with Seedlings because of real human beings creating things with their hands. I liked that the numbers were always limited, that there wasn't going to be an online version, but there was an online presence, and that human connection has always been important. I wish numbers were limited in more things (eg James Patterson novels), and something that is beautifully made is more likely to be passed from hand to hand, and that inspires me.
It does, although I feel there's a lot in the history of women's poetry in particular which has been occluded, so we can only see what has survived, and sometimes that's only scraps. I like to use poetic forms as structures to bring more out of my poetry, whether I choose to keep the form or not!
I write a lot about my role as mother. I think that that's a neglected area because of women's roles being understood through a male lens, so it's important to bring it into focus, but also that's what I know! Since becoming a mother 18 years ago I have lost my previous career, and experienced a diminution of my status in people's eyes. It is difficult to maintain the idea that you're capable when everyone around you acts like you are not. And yet, here I still am, and now I also have children. Sedition discusses the role of the mother in breaking down unhelpful dynamics in society. We may not always be able to take to the streets, but we are left to ourselves to teach our children wrong from right, and we plant the seeds in them, fostering rebellion and a growing movement for change.
I am struggling to write at the moment. I have been physically silenced by trigeminal neuralgia (0 stars, would not recommend), hence the written interview, and am finding myself inspirationally silenced as well. I do not believe that this silencing will last forever, but I hate it. Somebody suggested I find words in others' work, and that is a beautiful idea, which there is merit in, because hiding words in the texts of others speaks to the words in me that are obscured. So my disabled identity constrains my art, but right now, I am yet to find the way to make that work. To be honest, my pansexuality seems irrelevant now, except in that it helps me to recognise that there are more things we cannot see about everyone.
Interview by Harry Hiscox.
Profits from the sale of the print are split equally between Seedlings and the artist. Please allow two weeks for printing and processing for your order — thanks for your patience, we believe it’s worth it!