Hi there! This is Aishwarya (she/her), a placement volunteer at my Glasgow Women’s Library. I have been working in this space since 19 September 2022 and my placement came to an official completion on 10 March 2023. The bond never ends though! I still remember my first day in the Library. I was nervous, totally unaware of how my placement is going to pan out, this being my first time working for anyone! I didn’t had any previous exposure. But I will tell you this: I was very excited as working in a Library is my dream job. I still feel dreamlike. The fact that blew me away was that there is no hierarchal structures here. Part of my reasons to expect that was my own familial and cultural doctrines. I am from India and our culture is more family and work oriented and by work oriented I mean, strict without a good work-life balance. I was amazed and this element is my most favourite element about GWL. I am here. I am working and I have accomplished so much that it has brought more light and depth to my character. It’s a pleasure to bring to you Open The Door for this year inspired by Feminist Lines of Flight which was created by through the ingenious minds of artists Faith Wilding and Kate Davis, supported by The Centre for Contemporary Arts and Glasgow Women’s Library. It stems from ideas that explore, find out and further reach feminist heritage in arts and politics. We aimed at collecting recommendations for text/writings/other art forms and sharing them with people in our community and beyond. You can have a closer look into this idea on our Feminist Lines of Flight page. In the next paragraphs, I will be signposting Open The Doors and reminiscing my journey as well.
Open The Doors is sparked from this desire to ‘reduce the physical, emotional and intellectual distance between an author and a reader’. It’s our Reading and Writing Festival to which we open our doors to more innovative, kind and magnificent readings by writers from Glasgow and the Globe. We are bringing to you amazing recommendations from the staff at GWL, people thriving in Glasgow and those coming from other regions and using their voices to remain active in this world. Our theme for this year is ‘Women Writers and Activism’ and I am pleased to share with you my feelings on ‘activism’ –
‘Having the right to show up and speak are basic to survival, to dignity, and to liberty. I’m grateful that, after an early life of being silenced, sometimes violently, I grew up to have a voice, circumstances that will always bind me to the rights of the voiceless’ (Rebecca Solnit’s words from Men Explain Things To Me)
Activism…begins from one word, one revelation, one choice and one step. What are your thoughts? I am curious to listen! The next blog will cover my personal readings (my recommendations) and my readings of other recommendations that reached to me in this wonderful, intense and eye-opening journey of Open The Doors. I hope you linger on!
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