Scottish PEN with the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH)and GENDER.ED invite you to an inspiring afternoon event on International Women’s Day, Friday 8 March, in central Edinburgh. First, join IASH Fellows and writers-in-residence Isla Cowan and Jaspreet Kaur for a conversation around creative writing and inclusion. Together, they will explore ecofeminism, privilege and social change, and consider the future of inclusion in literature. After a short break for coffee, you will hear from writers who are disability activists, have experience of other cultures, Palestinian and Chinese, and of an inclusive LGBTQIA+ community, chaired by well-known Scottish writer and Scottish PEN Honorary President, Louise Welsh.
When we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world.
When women themselves are inspired to be included, there’s a sense of belonging, relevance and empowerment.
So, collectively, let’s forge a more inclusive world for all women.
More information and tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-womens-day-inspiring-inclusion-tickets-835854331807?aff=erelpanelorg
Part 1:
Isla Cowan is a playwright, performer and director from Edinburgh. Isla was winner of the 2022 Assembly ART Award and the 2021 Alpine Fellowship Theatre Prize for her acclaimed monologue play She Wolf, and nominated for the 2022 Filipa Bragança Award for best female solo performance. Playwriting credits include: To the Bone (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), Progress Review (Stellar Quines, Traverse Theatre), Alright Sunshine (A Play, A Pie and A Pint, Òran Mór), And… And… And… (Strange Town Touring Company, Traverse Theatre) and Daphne, or Hellfire (Pleasance), amongst others.
Jaspreet Kaur, also known by her online handle ‘Behind the Netra’, is an award-winning spoken word artist, history teacher and writer from London. Her work tackles issues related to gender discrimination, mental health stigma, the postcolonial immigrant experience, and more. She is the author of #1 Amazon bestseller, Brown Girl Like Me, one of the first books to speak directly to the experiences of South Asian women in Britain since 1978, delving into some of the most complex conversations brown women are tackling today.
Part 2:
Louise Welsh is the author of ten novels, including The Cutting Room and To the Dogs. She is Honorary President of Scottish PEN and Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow.
The writers:
Amira Al Shanti is a Scottish-Palestinian actor, singer and writer, shortlisted for the Kavya Writers Prize in 2024. Her work has been published in Dardishi and The Herald. She also wrote and starred in the short film “Said the Dove to the Olive Tree”.
Xinyi Jiang was from China, and discovered poetry when studying towards her MLitt with the University of Dundee. Her work has been published in Gutter, PENning and Poetry Scotland. She was a mentee of the Clydebuilt 14 Verse Apprenticeship Scheme.
Alice Tarbuck is an award-winning poet and writer. She has taught Creative Writing at the University of Dundee, and is a 2019 Scottish Book Trust New Writer’s Awardee for poetry. Her debut non-fiction book A Spell in the Wild: a year (and six centuries) of Magic is published by Hodder & Stoughton.
Nuala Watt is a Scottish poet and disability activist. Her first collection The Department of Work and Pensions Assesses a Jade Fish is due from Blue Diode Press in February 2024.
This event is presented by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, in partnership with Scottish PEN and GENDER.ED.
This event has limited access and is open to ticket holders only. You must book a ticket in advance and be able to show it on arrival at Reception in order to attend. We reserve the right to decline bookings on the basis of participant numbers. This is a free event, which means we overbook to allow for no-shows and to avoid empty seats. Admission is on a first come, first served basis. Latecomers cannot be admitted.
Accessibility: room 2.55 at the Edinburgh Futures Institute has step-free access from the entrance and an accessible WC is located in the adjoining toilet block. Disabled persons’ parking places are available on Simpson Loan behind EFI and in Q-Park Quartermile nearby.
More information and tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-womens-day-inspiring-inclusion-tickets-835854331807?aff=erelpanelorg