Woman of Words

I am delighted to be apply for the Women of words studentship. the promotion and Celebration of woman's writing has been a major focus of my person and professional like for some years.

I am a well-prepared for continued academic work in the humanities. The focus of my BA was self determination in writing through an analysis of Virginia Woolf's work. I went on to complete an MSc Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh building on Woolf's lessons of self-determination within my own writing. With the knowledge and experience gained, I have pursed work on women's literary production at the intersection of academia and the creative industries.

I worked with the Institute for Advances Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh, co-editing and curating a public humanities engagement project, the Dangerous Women Project. As Engagement Assistant on the project, I connected with Scottish charities and festivals to bring scholarly research to the broader public. I helped to devise and implement an engagement strategy that focused on the digital publication of scholarly and non academic work addressing the questions 'what does it mean to be a dangerous woman?' We solicited invited and open submission and developed a supportive and sensitive editing process. We were keenly aware of gendered inequality in remuneration and committed to to paying all contributors.

As Project manager at Scottish PEN I collaborated with the Woman Writers committee to programme, manage and promote the International Woman's Day event in collaboration with IASH. The free symposium increased public access to woman's writing and academic deliberation. I also attended the PEN International Congress 2016 in Galocoa, where I built lasting international connection, enhancing my understanding of international issues around access to literary production and the effectiveness of advocacy in the field.

Connecting project management, research methods and advocacy, I led on Scottish PEN's project Many Voices with Scotland -wide and international reach and a budget of £100k requiring the management of freelancers. For this project, I ran a continuous contextual analysis and used outcome-based indicators for evaluation (questionnaires, observation, interviews). Building on experience of long form writing during my degree studies, I wrote and edited reports and public facing copy, aiming for clarity of content, structure and purpose.

I am a writer myself, and I have an understanding of the landscape of contemporary feminist discourse. Most recently, my active engagement in the community resulted in my contribution to inter-sectional feminist anthology Nasty Woman (404 Ink, 2017). My novella Amphobian was shortlisted for the Novella Award in 2016, which allowed me to gain first hand experience of a literary prize from a writer perspective.

I bring a broad understanding of the Scottish Literature sector and a wide range of contracts to the project, including personal and professional connections in programming, publishing, editing, journalism and creative writing. I am excited about the groundwork that has been done to make this project happen, and I beloeve my experience of working at the intersection of academia, creative industries and advocacy makes me the ideal candidate.