Wigtown Spring Book Weekend
2–4 May
Covenanters & women crime writers will be two of the themes woven into this year’s Wigtown Spring Book Weekend. With dozens of events from author talks to guided walks, writing, photography & music workshops, the programme is now available online:
https://www.wigtownbookfestival.com/blog/wigtown-spring-book-weekend-2026
#Scottish #literature #books #bookfestivals #historicalfiction #crimefiction #womenwriters #Wigtown
Betsy Whyte’s autobiography THE YELLOW ON THE BROOM – “a beautiful book, shining with honesty, a classic” – is a fascinating insight into the life & customs of traveller people in the 1920s and 1930s, & is available as an ebook from Birlinn
2/3
https://birlinn.co.uk/product/the-yellow-on-the-broom-2/
#Scottish #literature #20thcentury #travellers #autobiography #womenwriters
Agnes Owens in the archives
23 April, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh. Free
2026 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Agnes Owens, described by Alasdair Gray in 2003 as “the most unfairly neglected of all living Scottish authors.”
Explore the collections left behind by Owens, & learn how her archives are being used to reappraise her legacy & secure her status as a major Scottish literary figure.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/agnes-owens-in-the-archives-tickets-1983616132249
"A literary revolution is sweeping South Korea - and being led by women.
A quiet revolution is unfolding as women writers carve out space in the wake of an anti-feminist backlash."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2rpl7xzpvo
#writing #writers #authors #books #feminism #womensvoices #women #womenwriters #SouthKorea #literature
Marion Cleland Lochhead (1902–1985) was born #OTD, 19 April, in Wishaw. A founding member of Scottish PEN, Lochhead was a versatile figure of the 20th-century Scottish literary scene.
👇“Painted Things”, by Marion Lochhead – published in Painted Things & Other Poems (Gowans & Grey, 1929)
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #womenwriters #20thcentury
Take Four Books: Jenni Fagan
On BBC Sounds: Jenni Fagan tells presenter James Crawford about her new novel, The Delusions, in which she takes readers to the afterlife – or, at least, to its anteroom. Jenni’s three chosen influences are Nina Cassian’s poem “Temptation” (1966), Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN (1818), & Jeanette Winterson’s WEIGHT (2005)
Bang-Bang You’re Dead by Muriel Spark
via BBC Sounds
Sybil’s friends begin to see her in a new light when they watch film footage, peppered with hippos, poets & shooting affairs, taken during her time in Africa. First published 1958. Dramatised by Gowan Calder.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002tzst
#Scottish #literature #20thcentury #MurielSpark #womenwriters #radiodrama
Where to start with: Muriel Spark
Today, 13 April, marks 20 years since the death of the novelist, short story writer, poet & essayist Muriel Spark. She was best known for her 22 novels – uncanny, astute & witty – beginning with her 1957 debut The Comforters. James Bailey, the author of a new biography, Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark, guides readers through her oeuvre.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/apr/09/where-to-start-with-muriel-spark
🟡🔵 "I don’t write to hide from the world."
at @citapress
On the legacies of Kathleen Collins; love and literary recovery; and women who tell women's history: Anna Julia Cooper, Gerda Lerner, & Emma Willard.
#Literature #WomenWriters
https://citapress.substack.com/p/i-dont-write-to-hide-from-the-world
Assoc for Scottish Literature
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Penny Richards
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