Ellie Carr
Customer Services Officer (job share).
About me: I grew up in Edinburgh, before moving to London at nineteen, to attend London School of Contemporary Dance. Like so many soft-hearted Scots, I eventually returned home and have been a proud Leither for 30 years. I quit dance after a few years (don’t do the splits when drunk) and retrained as an arts and features journalist and editor (how’s that for a career shimmy?). I have held senior editorial positions at The List and Scotland on Sunday. I freelanced for several decades for The Herald, (Glasgow), Sunday Herald, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Independent, Metro, Marie Claire, BBC Radio Scotland and more. I was the Sunday Herald’s longstanding dance critic. I continued freelance writing when I had a young family, eventually retraining as a comprehensive Pilates teacher. Until recently, I was the founding partner of The Pilates Hub, Leith.
Contact me about: Customer enquiries and library services. Or just a blether at the front desk.
My favourite poetry quote is: “Yellow fingers/whisky dropped into a golden pint/I don’t trust your hairline.” (Jenni Fagan, ‘The First Time I Met My Dad’)
My favourite poets are: Ever-changing but: Emily Dickinson, Jenni Fagan, Len Pennie, Hollie McNish, Kae Tempest, Maggie Smith, Hannah Lavery, Gertrude Stein, Jackie Kay, Liz Lochhead, Don Paterson, Edwin Morgan, Tom Leonard.
When not working at the library: I’m a keen runner (nine marathons and counting), avid reader and extremely amateur linocut printmaker. I enjoy cooking with my family, and napping with my elderly whippet. I still write freelance and publish a Substack called The Also-ran.