Meet Your Author Claire Buttrum

Claire Buttrum

Claire Buttrum
Author, Coach, and Therapist

For much of my life, I’ve existed in fragments. As a neurodivergent, hypermobile woman, my journey has been peppered with the specific, heavy shame that comes when your way of being doesn't align with the world's expectations.

I’ve been a dancer, yoga teacher, holistic therapist, project manager and coach. I’m now a therapist, mother, and creative, yet these facets felt disjointed until I found the courage to let myself be truly me.  

Today, I write from a place of integrated wholeness. My work is rooted in the secret, divergent experiences of women and their families; the noise, fear, and trauma often held silently in the body. I believe creativity is the ultimate release for these unspoken truths. Through my stories and therapeutic practice, I aim to help other women and their families give themselves permission to occupy their bodies and minds without apology. 

My approach is unapologetically bottom-up. I take my work directly to the people with whom it resonates, bypassing the diagnoses and pathology of the medical model. These stories are for the forgotten, the lost, and the resilient. By sharing the raw reality of ND life, I hope to turn the noise of our struggles into a chorus of recognition and peace. 

The Liminal Series

Writing is where my therapeutic work meets its quieter counterpart. Through my imprint, Bright Raven Press, I publish The Liminal Series, a collection of literary novellas that live in the in-between spaces: the moments before transformation, the thresholds we don’t quite know how to cross.

These books are for the invisible. The unheard. The ones the system missed.

The Roots of Bright Raven

The name Buttrum is patronymic, meaning it originally derived from a personal first name. It comes from the ancient Old Germanic name Bertram, which is composed of two distinct elements:

  • Berht: Meaning bright, famous, or illustrious.

  • Hrabn (or Hraban): Meaning raven.

In Germanic and Norse mythology, the raven was a sacred bird associated with Odin (the king of the gods), symbolising wisdom, battlefield prowess, and memory. Therefore, the literal meaning of the name Buttrum is Bright Raven or Famous Raven, which I thought was rather delightful.

And I love ravens and crows. I feed the crows in my garden. They are very partial to monkey nuts in their shells.