Held in the Scottish Poetry Library, a unique and enchanting literary space tucked away in a side-street of Edinburgh’s bustling Royal Mile, the Glasgow Women’s Library’s Connect and Create Showcase boasted a glowing evening of flash fiction, poetry and novels in-the-making, accompanied by friendly faces and a paid-for bar.
Entering with little knowledge about the Scottish museum and their events, a quick perusal of their website revealed that the “Glasgow Women’s Library is the only Accredited Museum in the UK dedicated to women’s lives, histories and achievements”, and is a “well-used, welcoming and accessible service’, hosting ‘continually growing communities of users, from professional researchers to those who, for whatever reason, feel remote from culture and learning.”
The accessibility of the showcase was immediately apparent, as an emphasis on diversity voiced by the host permeated across the writings throughout the evening, with stories from women (allied with or part of the LGBTQ+ community) of varying ages and literary backgrounds. The Scottish Poetry Library itself similarly catered for such inclusivity, offering great wheelchair access and gender-neutral bathrooms. Their free Edinburgh-based Connect and Create workshops are designed to cultivate connections between women writers with a “combination of discussion, reading, writing activities and prompts, and sharing of work.” It is also specified that these women-focused events are “inclusive of Trans, Intersex women, non-binary and gender fluid people” as well.
Interspersed within the readings of literary work from the five women partaking in this showcase was a poem the group had collectively written and eponymously titled ‘Connect and Create’. Much of the work generated in these workshops is in response to the people and objects found in their direct surroundings. Particularly resonant pieces included flash fiction depicting the slimy wanderings of a supposedly deceased snail; this was a continuation of archived literature from the Glasgow Women’s Library. Another, a tender and poetic reply to a painting within the Scottish Poetry Library illustrating the writer’s intimate encounter with the artwork and her personal life, coloured by a recent phone conversation with her daughter.
An overarchingly warm and thoughtful evening, future events by the Glasgow Women’s library are well worth watching out for. A zine created by the five women who presented their work at the Connect and Create showcase will be posted online in the coming weeks, titled Succession.
Image: byronv2 via Flickr