Kill, F*ck, Marry: Circe, Clytemnestra and Medea - GO.

I've got mythological women coming out of my EARS at the moment and god it is sublime.

qotd: [Circe speaks to Medea when her niece visits her island]

“‘Poor girl,’ she said, ‘you have indeed contrived for yourself a shameful and unhappy homecoming; for I am sure you will not long be able to escape your father's wrath. The wrongs you have done are intolerable, and he will soon be in Hellas to avenge his son's murder. However, since you are my suppliant and kinswoman, I will not add to your afflictions now that you are here. But I do demand that you should leave my house, you that have linked yourself to this foreigner, whoever he may be, [bloody Jason] this man of mystery whom you have chosen without your father's consent. And do not kneel to me at my hearth, for I never will approve your conduct and your disgraceful flight.’

Medea's grief, when she heard this, was more than she could bear. She drew her robe across her eyes and wailed till Jason took her by the hand and led her out of doors shivering with fear. Thus they left Circe's house.”

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. 662.

Circe by John William Waterhouse.

Before we get stuck IN, a real quick plug, two of the absolute CLEVEREST creatures (Erica + Liv I love you and you are the dream-team) made a video and you should watch it: Let's Talk About HOMER, Baby! Liv Albert Talks The Mythology of The Iliad & The Odyssey 🏺

Now it has been a particularly fabulous week ~ I just got back from Jennifer Saint’s Mythology Writing Retreat in ATHENS (it was as magical as it sounds) and then collaborated with Spare Ribs Book Club for Mythology March ! This newsletter is gonna be a debrief from the weekend AND the book club (with event updates chucked in at the end ~ if you live in LA or know anyone who lives there please fling the event links around, they’re shaping up to be incredibly special and I am SO excited).

SO the writing retreat was essentially a stunning long weekend full of learning, frolicking in the sun, and the most gorgeous group of women!! The retreat was put on by Travel Gems who run a whole BUNCH of them (I may or may not be going to another one in July with Natalie Haynes and Edith Hall 👀). We were staying in this gorgeous hotel about an hour out of central Athens with a very glam pool and blinds that shut with a button which was a moment. Jennifer Saint was, however, the main attraction 🤩

Jennifer is the Sunday Times BESTSELLING author of two female-centred retellings of Greek mythology Ariadne (2021) and Elektra (2022), both of which are mind-blowing (and heart-wrenching). She’s also got her THIRD book Atalanta coming out in Spring 2023! Jennifer has been passionate about Greek mythology and storytelling her whole life, bringing the two together when she wrote her debut novel Ariadne whilst working as an english teacher. Jennifer is now a full-time author(!!), and continues to write feminist reinterpretations of ancient myths (which are then translated into many, MANY languages all around the world).

We had 3 sessions with Jennifer where we discussed our intellectual, emotional connection with people of the past and how to access the texture of the ancient world by visiting ruins and engaging with archaeology. She also took us through the specifics of a narrative arc, the different ways of going about writing a novel, and the importance of the opening and closing image. I learnt about the different narrative voices (omniscient third sounds so creepy), the value of sensory, atmospheric descriptions when transporting your reader to the ancient world, and how to write an elevator pitch! Jennifer was so patient with ALL our questions and the whole retreat was wildly informative.

We ALSO got to visit the Acropolis!!! Which is always an absolute TREAT. Our tour guide was wiiiiiiildin (like talking about how Athena was a girls’ girl, Medusa was toxic, and the different energy frequencies of all the deities???????), BUT the visit itself was dreamy, as always.

I need to take a sec to rave about the group of women ~ I feel like I’m always raving about this but god this group was special! So many different personalities, backgrounds and areas of interest, it MADE the weekend <3

Ignore the pixels pls.

Also I rolled up to Athens a day early, had way too much ouzo with my darling Alyce, and ended up very hungover at Lake Vouliagmeni 🫠

Okay then I got BACK to London and then started prepping for my ~ guest appearance ~ at Spare Ribs’ mythology march book club! Now this was the cutest night in the world.

This month’s book (which gets voted on by the whole book club, how fab) was Madeline Miller’s Circe and god WHAT A BOOK (I was so happy it was selected mwaHA). We spent the night discussing Circe’s characterisation, her relationship with other female characters, the connection between magic and womanhood, the codifying of patriarchal dictates in Greek myth and its ongoing relevance to us now as feminists in 2023. I brought the nerdiness, forcing the group to listen as I read out the passage in Homer’s Odyssey that describes the first interaction between Circe and Odysseus (we love historical CONTEXT). We went down so many rabbit holes (we legit spoke about eels for a solid 15 minutes), and covered so much mythological, historical and political ground ~ it was dense, it was JUICY, and I loved every second of it.

A super lovely thing was the dinner party vibe, everyone brought a Mediterranean-themed dish and we all FEASTED before we started discussing the book. Also Alex’s tablescape was 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 We were essentially on mount Olympus.

Also I got to fling together a lil pop-up shop moment which I always love! 🥰

So, to sum up, my DREAM EVENING. Also there were gift bags :’)

A massive thank you to dear Alex for inviting me, giving me such a special, intimate platform to share my knowledge was both touching + life-affirming <3 Follow Spare Ribs on Instagram HERE / visit their Substack here:

Spare Ribs Club

🪷

If you are interested in collaborating on literally anything historical/mythological/arty/nerdy please do hit me up ~ it is straight up my favourite thing in the world so reply to this email/message me on Instagram/send a carrier pigeon, I am so down.

Speaking of COLLABS, here’s a reminder of the few events I’ve got coming up:

I’m co-hosting a poetry symposium in LA (WHAT) on Friday the 24th of March ~ you can find all the details here:

Pure Nowhere & Cosi's Odyssey Present: A POETRY SYMPOSIUM

early bird tickets are still available if you’re after a discounted price (sliding scale is also available, head to the link for details).

I’m also collaborating with Charlie Ann Max to bring you another Renaissance & Rebirth themed FÜDE Dinner Experience on the 26th of March (also in LA!) ~ visit the website for more info/tickets:

THE FÜDE DINNER EXPERIENCE ~ Renaissance & Rebirth ~ In collaboration with Cosi’s Odyssey & Bruxa

And last but not least, there is ONE SPOT left for Dildo Decorating with Adele Brydges in London on Saturday the 1st of April ~ head to this link for all the info:

The Art of (Self) Pleasure x Cosi's Odyssey

If you’re not based in LA or London but have some international pals that you think might be keen please forward this info to them <3 Also keep your eyes peeled for even MORE events, my chaotic plotting continues 👀