1.3 Rosie and Melanie
In this episode, guests Rosie Taylor and Melanie Reid talk about poetry, animals, empowerment, hardship and more.
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About our guests
Rosie Taylor
Chosen object: a book of poetry
Rosie Taylor is the incoming LGBT+ Officer for the 2019/2020 academic year. She was motivated to run because she wanted to remove barriers for students to feel safe and comfortable as part of the university community. She also wanted to be the representation she wished she had when she was feeling disillusioned and confused about her sexuality.
Rosie doesn’t stop there. She is a driven woman with many plans of improvement and she wears her identity as an asset for change. She is the founder of a wellbeing and mental health society for students at King's Buildings campus, called WellComm Kings, because she noted the absence of mental health support for students located at campuses other than George Square. Her inspiring voice is highly sought after – she has been featured on numerous news outlets, committees, panels, podcasts and profiles.
Along with her activism, she is also about to start the third year of her Biological Sciences degree.
Melanie Reid
Chosen object: a snaffle bridle
One day Melanie Reid’s life imploded. She had it all – outdoorsy, career orientated, a journalist and editor in her best years, walking the mountains of Scotland near her home and skiing in the Alps. Then, in a dramatic twist of fate, she fell off her horse in 2010 and broke her neck. The accident has left her paralysed from the neck down, although she has partial use of her arms.
She is described as "outwardly bright and breezy, but with more than a hint of vulnerability". She graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1980 with a MA Hons English Language and Literature. Before the accident, Melanie was an award-winning columnist at The Herald in Glasgow before reporting and commentating for The Times from Scotland and then on the Comment pages. After the accident, she has continued to write - The Spinal Column appears in the Times Magazine every week.
She has also written about her life in the critically acclaimed book 'The World I Fell Out Of', which explores how our identities are intertwined with our physical form, our mobility and our desirability – something most of us, in our able-bodied complacency, don’t spend much time thinking about.
Melanie's column for The Times
Note
'The Highwayman' is by Alfred Noyes, a close contemporary of Walter de la Mare. 'Peacock Pie' by Walter de la Mare features a poem called 'The Horseman'.
Transcript
View transcript for 1.3 Rosie and Melanie
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Credits
Host: Amalie Sortland
Theme music: Nathan Webb
Audio recording: Vicki Bell