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OPEN THE DOOR
New festival offers antidote to established literary views
Named after seminal author Catherine Carswell’s 1920 novel, Open the Door!, Scotland’s newest literary festival is a welcoming celebration of women writers from across the centuries. Hosted by Glasgow Women’s Library (pictured), Open the Door Festival will feature the brightest of the country’s literary talent: Val McDermid, Maggie O’Farrell, Kirsty Logan, Leila Aboulela and Lesley McDowell will all feature across this one-day event. ‘Open the Door promises an intimate, innovative literary feast,’ says Adele Patrick, creative development manager at GWL. ‘It’s an acknowledgement of the unstoppable burgeoning in recent years of women in all literary fields in Scotland.’ It’s not as though Scotland’s literary
heritage isn’t well-known, but Open the Door is poised as an antidote to the often male-centric view of this country’s cultural history. With more men on long and short lists for awards, and fewer books by women writers being reviewed, there is still a significant disparity between how female and male authors are treated. ‘Open the Door will involve the unleashing
of shared passions, a spotlighting of sources that fire the imaginations of established and emerging contemporary female literary lions,’ says Patrick. The two main festival events will be a unique take on the literary tea party, where authors congregate to discuss their career and work. That’s followed by a cocktail party-style salon with the chance to pick more authors’ brains about their artistic influences. (Kirstyn Smith) ■ Glasgow Women’s Library, Sat 13 May.
1 Apr–31 May 2017 THE LIST 65
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