Clockwork Orange Project: Round One

The Clockwork Orange Project is a relay-writing experiment taking place on the Glasgow Subway. The project will involve four rounds of relay-writing events, concluding with a small publication showcasing the work produced throughout the project.

Here's what each event will entail:

Participants will assemble at Cowcaddens Subway Station before the project begins.

One participant will board the Subway and write for a small number of stops. They will then get off at their assigned stop and hand over to another participant, who will get on the Subway and add to the piece of writing, before getting off at their assigned stop and handing over to the next participant, and so on until the cycle is complete and all participants have taken part. By the end, participants will have produced one collaborative piece of writing, inspired by the Subway.

This project is kindly supported by the Royal Society of Literature, and was a recipient of the 2025 Literature Matters Award.

Participation is open to anyone living in or around - or with some meaningful connection to - the city of Glasgow. All participant fares will be covered, and writing materials will be provided.

Secure numbers for this project are very important, as our route and structure will be determined by the number of participants at each event. Please only sign up if you definitely plan on attending, and cancel your ticket as soon as possible if you can no longer attend. Please note that each participant can only take part in one writing event, so you can only sign up for an event if you have not done so previously.

For more information about the project, please click here.

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A note on accessibility:

The Glasgow Subway can be a frustratingly inaccessible mode of public transport. There are some accessibility considerations throughout the Subway, such as lifts at St Enoch and Govan stations, allocated spaces on trains for wheelchair users, wider ticket gates, etc. We will also be implementing several of our own access measures to remove as many barriers to participation in this project as possible. For example:

• We have chosen a weekday evening to avoid typical peak times and public events that could make the Subway crowded or disruptive, such as football games or music concerts.
• We will provide earplugs, hand sanitizer, and disposable masks at the event.
• We will provide all necessary writing materials, and can provide tinted paper with advance request. If participants use alternative means of writing (e.g. assistive technology such as braille displays) we will support and adapt to that as much as we can.
• We will alter which station we start and end at to ensure a participant who may need lift access can take part.
• We will ensure that the project leader will be on the Subway at all times and accompanying the participant who is writing to ensure the smooth running of the event.

However, as we will be operating within this unpredictable and oftentimes inaccessible environment, some things will unfortunately be outside of our control. If you have any access requirements or concerns, please do get in touch and we will do what we can to adapt the project.

For official guidance about accessibility on the Glasgow Subway, please click here.

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Host or Publisher Jess Smith