Join the Scottish PEN Writers in Exile Committee and a variety of published writers as we hear readings from PENning magazine.
About this event
Our free online event will take place on Tuesday 18th January at 7.00pm, and will feature readings from the magazine, including fiction and poetry from Sandra Ireland, Mandy Haggith, Fidan Meikle, Xinyi Jiang, Ross Walker and David Hunter.
The writers will discuss their interpretation of the theme of ‘Diary’, and encourage attendees to contribute their work to the next edition of PENning magazine, which has the theme Gifting.
Zoom joining details will be shared in advance of the event.
Please note that this event will be recorded.
While we endeavour to ensure free access to our events, donations to Scottish PEN’s work are always greatly appreciated. You can show your support by donating here.
Writer biographies
Sandra Ireland is based in Carnoustie, Angus. She is the author of four psychological thrillers, including her current book Sight Unseen (Polygon). Her poetry has appeared in various publications, such as New Writing Scotland, Seagate III and ‘Furies’, published by For Book’s Sake. She won the Scottish Association of Writers’ Dorothy Dunbar Rose Bowl for Poetry in 2017 and 2018. She is currently an associate creative writing tutor at the University of Dundee, facilitates workshops and courses on a freelance basis, and has a special interest in writing for wellbeing and folklore.
Mandy Haggith lives in Assynt, northwest Scotland, and teaches Literature and Creative Writing at the University of the Highlands and Islands. Her books include four poetry collections (letting light in, Castings, A-B-Tree, Why the Sky is Far Away), a poetry anthology (Into the Forest), a non-fiction book (Paper Trails) and five novels: The Last Bear, Bear Witness and a novel trilogy set in the Iron Age, The Walrus Mutterer, The Amber Seeker and The Lyre Dancers.
Fidan Meikle is a writer, a linguist, and a teacher based in Scotland. Originally from Azerbaijan, she writes both poetry and prose for children and adults in English, Azerbaijani and Russian. Fidan’s favourite book of the decade is “The Buddha in the Attic” by Julie Otsuka. Her reliable friend is coffee, which she drinks too much of, which usually results in her uniting with the keyboard over another scheme in the middle of the night.
Xinyi Jiang was born in China’s Qingdao and studied in Nanjing and Shanghai. She taught in Fudan University before moving to the UK. She had lived in England and Wales before settling in Scotland. Xinyi discovered poetry when studying with the University of Dundee and had poems published in Dundee Writes, New Writing Dundee, PENning, and Gutter.
Ross Walker is a Scottish poet and teacher currently living in northern Italy. He writes in English, Scots, Italian and (a little) Piemontese – the local dialect of Northwest Italy. He writes about the passage of time and people in nature.
David Hunter is from Falkirk in Scotland and is an MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. As
a poet and a writer, his work tries to capture our interaction with our environment through distinctive and original references to science and nature.