PENning magazine, the Writers in Exile Committee biannual online journal, presents work by Scottish PEN’s member-writers alongside work by writers living in exile in Scotland.
This issue is guest edited by Tawona Sitholé and focuses on the theme of ‘Diary’. It includes a feature on Chirikure Chirikure, alongside fiction and poetry from PEN members including:
- Ruth Aylett
- Xinyi Jiang
- Ross Walker
- David Hunter
- Karolína Kulicková
- Fidan Meikle
- Mandy Haggith
- Sandra Ireland
Read the magazine and learn more about submitting to PENning:
You can view readings of fiction and poetry featured in PENning magazine on the Scottish PEN YouTube channel.
History of PENning
From its start in 2009, each themed issue of PENning includes a selection of poetry and prose from this rich mix of writers. Each issue also includes a featured writer with links outside Scotland. These have included poet Ak Welsapar from the former Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan who was forced into exile in Sweden, and Ali Cobby Eckermann, an Australian writer removed from her Aboriginal family as a child.
We offer a literary community to established writers exiled from their own countries. We also welcome those who have come to live in Scotland and have an urge to write. We work with community refugee organisations and TESOL groups, encouraging work and organising peer to peer translation. This furthers intercultural dialogue.
Conflict or clampdown on freedom of expression in other parts of the world can make it necessary for a writer to leave their home. Being exiled can cause personal and professional suffering, endangering access to the usual sources of writerly support, publication and readership. We try to make that experience a little less lonely.