Writer, Filmmaker, Mother, Grandmother
I had the pleasure of reading my short story Ellen's 25th anniversary at the Bold Types Showcase at the Glasgow Women's Library last week. The theme for all entries was '25th anniversary', in line with the Women's Library's momentous year, and submissions were invited in poetry or short story form. Four poems and four stories were shortlisted from the… Continue reading Being a Bold Type for #BookWeekScot
I was at an event in Scottish Parliament last night. It was the Association for Scottish Literary Studies' annual international lecture and Professor Marie-Odile Pittin-Hedon of Aix-Marseille University was demonstrating how contemporary women writers are shaping our concepts of Scottish identity for the twenty-first century. She argues that Scotland is in the midst of political,… Continue reading Contemporary women writers are shaping our concepts of Scottish identity for the twenty-first century.
It's time to post my 'trick or treat' angst again... It's Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve. The 31st of October is the night before All Saints' Day (All Hallows) in the Christian calendar, or the traditional Celtic festival of Sumhuinn, which marks the end of summer and the harvest, and the onset of a bleak and unsheltered… Continue reading We go guising in Scotland, there’s none of this trick or treat nonsense at Halloween.
While it may appear that I've been quiet on the writing front (my latest novel is progressing well, but is still a work in progress) I have been incredibly busy writing, producing and directing another project. My latest film, 'Jimmy Johnstone' was premiered at the IMAX cinema in Glasgow on Monday 19th of September to a… Continue reading Writing brilliant characters in fiction and creative non-fiction; a real privilege.
A piece I wrote about writing, producing and directing my latest purpleTV film; Jimmy Johnstone, is on the Glasgow Live website today. You can view it on the site, or below. The premiere screening is at the IMAX Glasgow on Monday evening! Growing up in a football family I was always aware of Celtic’s greatest-ever player: Jimmy Johnstone.… Continue reading From idea to cinema screening, the making of the #JimmyJohnstone film.
I was really delighted to be part of the audience that swayed, laughed, wept and even sang, at the ‘Carol Ann Duffy with Jackie Kay’ event at the Edinburgh Book Festival last week. I was there as a guest of the team behind the phenomenal ‘Dangerous Women’ project. The project, in case you haven’t already… Continue reading A Laureate, a Makar, the @edbookfest and @DangerousWomen_
A short time ago, I attended a seminar at the Scottish Oral History Centre at the University of Strathclyde. Professor Callum G Brown was discussing "Laughing Out Loud in Oral Testimony: what does it mean?". Callum was talking about personal testimony interviews he had been recording as part of the research for his latest book, stating that he… Continue reading Laughing in literature, working class women in Scottish writing
I'll be in conversation with Professor Richard Haynes from the Stirling University Centre for Gender and Feminist Studies at a LEAP Sport Scotland / Scottish Book Trust Live Literature event tomorrow, 8th June 2016 at 18.30pm. Ironically, and quite aptly, we'll be discussing representations of gender in sport at the Stirling Boy's Club. You can book tickets here.… Continue reading Come along to my @leapsports @scottishbktrust event, 8th June.
I was incredibly thrilled to win a Royal Television Society Scotland award at a glitzy ceremony in Glasgow on the 25th of May for Jim Baxter, a documentary film I wrote, produced and directed. The film, produced by my co-owned production company purpleTV, is an intimate portrayal of the personal and professional life of Jim Baxter,… Continue reading RTS award for ‘Jim Baxter’.
The Dangerous Women Project is an initiative of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. The Project asks: what does it mean to be a ‘dangerous woman’? The idea that women are dangerous individually or collectively permeates many historical periods, cultures and areas of contemporary life (despite, and in some instances in… Continue reading Honeyballers: Lady Florence Dixie and the dangerous women of Scottish women’s football
