PEARLER
“She’s a bloody pearler of a newsletter, mate.”
A play space for me to go trawling for pearls and share them with you. A place to reflect on the big stuff, the joy stuff, and the stories that make our hearts go boom.
What can you expect? Pep talks, ponderings and pearls of wisdom.
You can learn more about my work by visiting my website www.claireandpearl.com or checking out my Instagram @claireandpearl.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
GRIT GUILD.
Paid subscribers will get access to the GRIT GUILD, a reflective, journaling, commune who meet once a month to do a monthly stock take, share our pearls of wisdom and steady ourselves to navigate the beauty, mundanity and messiness of life. .
GRIT GUILD is low stakes and joy-led, it’s me actioning my deep sparkle punk belief that community is vital. You can read more about GRIT GUILD here.
WHY PEARL?
Pearl has been my nickname since I was about seven. The writer in me wants to tell you a grand and adorable tale of how it came to be. I wish I had been on an oyster farm with a magical matriarch who recognised the gritty life bits yet to unravel in my youthful eyes and assured me that if there was no grit, there’d be no pearl. But, alas, my brother and I created them for some reason as a riff on the words, ‘boy’ and ‘girl.’ That’s all I remember.
Pearl, in my mind now encapsulates the most audacious, vulnerable, authentic bits of me. When Claire isn’t brave I look to Pearl, because she’s the one that gets shit done. Maybe the words ‘pearl’ and ‘brave,’ have become interchangeable in my lexicon.
You’ll get both Claire and Pearl here. So, subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website and never miss an update.
ABOUT ME
I live to tell stories. A writer, theatre maker, and facilitator. I did a teaching degree at Uni when I left school and worked as a high school Drama and English teacher for many years before committing more wholeheartedly to my own artistry. For many years I have been balancing my loves of facilitation, teaching and art making working across many different contexts and sectors. I am the very definition of a multi-passionate.
My first novel, Beautiful Mess won the Text Publishing Text Prize in 2016 and was released in 2017. My second novel, It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake was released in 2020. West Side Honey came out in 2023.
I had the great joy of directing Michelle Law’s smash hit comedy Single Asian Female from 2017. My play Lysa and the Freeborn Dames, Talking to Brick Walls, Hedonism’s Second Album and The Landmine is Me are available through Playlab Inc. I am a proud member a proud member of the Mama’s Boys theatre collective whose debut show Brothers Book Club was performed in 2022.
I’m currently working on a bunch of different projects, which I’ll tell you about as they unravel, teaching for a few different organisations, and I also facilitate my own workshops which i’ll mention here too when they’re happening.
But all you really actually need to know is I’m an Aquarian, 3/5 Reflector, and an INFJ who loves garlic bread, thinks Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit is cinematic perfection, and that it should’ve been called Pacey’s Creek.
