Project Pages
Friday Evening Herland
Scotland’s first ever festival for Scottish women’s writing returns for its third edition. Expect creative workshops, in-depth discussions, open mic sessions and plenty of performances from the best literary talent this country has to offer.
Saturday Daytime Discussions
Scotland’s first ever festival for Scottish women’s writing returns for its third edition. Expect creative workshops, in-depth discussions, open mic sessions and plenty of performances from the best literary talent this country has to offer.
Saturday Evening Herland
Scotland’s first ever festival for Scottish women’s writing returns for its third edition. Expect creative workshops, in-depth discussions, open mic sessions and plenty of performances from the best literary talent this country has to offer.
Naomi Mitchison
Naomi Mitchison, 1887-1999 Words by Giovanna MacKenna NAOMI HALDANE MITCHISON was born into wealth and privilege in 1897 and went on to see 101 years of life. A women of […]
Agnes Owens
Agnes Owens 1926 – 2014 Words by Giovanna MacKenna AGNES OWENS had lived many lives before she began to write at the age of 51. She had known extreme hardship, […]
Janet Paisley
Janet Paisley 1948 – 2018 JANET PAISLEY’s early life was not kind to her. She endured her parents’ broken marriage, abuse as a child, rape in her teens and violence […]
Open the Door 2019
Open the Door 2019 is the third outing of Scotland’s literary festival that puts women to the fore. Featuring writers such as Liz Lochhead, Chitra Ramaswamy, Lucy Ellmann, Kerry Hudson, and Juana Adcock, the festival this year will take place over two days. A highlight of the festival includes a special interview with acclaimed Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist Ali Smith. Open the Door 2019 is supported by The Open University in Scotland.
The theme of this year’s festival is ‘celebrate, protest, and support’. Liz Lochhead, Claire Askew and Juana Adcock kick start the festival with an event celebrating the lives of three Scottish women writers: Agnes Owens, Naomi Mitchison and Janet Paisley. The festival gives space to protest with a focus on the underlying gender inequalities in Scottish literature, including explorations of a range of topics from the challenges of adapting your work for screen with best-selling author of The Cry Helen Fitzgerald, to setting up an alternative publishing initiative with one of the founders of Monstrous Regiment. Open the Door provides support with unique opportunities for women to get involved and explore their own creative potential; from researching historical fiction with writer and reviewer Lesley McDowell, to creating your own memoir with Catherine Simpson, author of When I had a Little Sister.
