Laeth Quellin is a writer and actor attending the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Laeth is the recipient of the Norman Sayle Award, awarded in August 2020. We caught up with Laeth who started his course in September 2020 to tell us more about how his first semester has been going so far.

What have you been working on in your studies?

I’m currently working on two plays as well as a new collection of Manx inspired poems all of which I hope to get published this year. I’m also beginning a new novella which I started planning during our second lockdown.

What inspires your writing?

My writing is very much about lived experiences, even stories about other people I tell through my own artistic filter, so having a world where everyday was spent in the same way for me, (especially when I lived in Manchester then London) very much took away all my ideas and drive. I didn’t write for a few months, I remember actually asking myself whether I would be able to write again. I also was (and still am) worried like most students, about accommodation fees, and the uncertainty of things. I don’t think we’ve had the easiest time of things.

What kinds of challenges have you faced since studying as a student living through a pandemic and how have you overcome them?

I overcame this kind of creative dry patch by moving inward I suppose. I had a dream one night that contained an entire play (one I'm working on now) and I had the idea that if I wasn’t collecting and drawing stories from the outside world, I may as well draw from what’s going on in my own head. I’ve learnt so much about myself this way, and my writing got a lot weirder after that. I suppose it's stayed that way, which I like.

What is next for you?

During this year, I am being asked on my course to find and arrange a staging of some of my dramatic work, so that’s really exciting. Especially because we can actually go to and use the wonderful stages here. I want to stage work representative of the Isle of Man, because little is known about us culturally in the creative world abroad. It’s something I’m still exploring because I want to make a truly Manx play.

Where can we stay up to date?

You can find all my poetry on my instagram ‘laethquellin’ as well as any updates on my plays, features or general writing as well as any acting work I’ve been involved in. As for my Manx Drama, hopefully that will be staged and ready to watch within the year! I’d like to thank the Isle of Man Arts Council for their constant endeavors to encourage and support Manx Creatives. It’s a really special community we have.