'....freedom of speech is too important to be left to politicians and their parties.'
On Friday 20th September at 1.00pm in the Saltire Society Headquarters Alan Bisset and Jean Rafferty will be launching the latest in the Saltire Series of pamphlets. 'Freedom of Expression in the New Scotland' is published in partnership with Scottish PEN that interrogates the post McCLuskey, post Levison theme.
Ticket price of £5.00 for members and £8.00 for non-members includes a copy of the pamphlet and a glass of wine or soft drink.
Call 0131 556 1836 to book or email us at saltire@saltirescociety.org.uk
The Authors
Alan Bissett is a novelist, playwright and performer from Falkirk. He now lives in Glasgow. In 2011 he was the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Writer of the Year. He is the author of four novels, two of which were shortlisted for the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Fiction of the Year prize. His plays include his 'one woman show', The Moira Monologues, and Turbo Folk, which was shortlisted for Best New Play at the Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland. His new Edinburgh Fringe show is Ban This Filth! in which he will play radical feminist Andrea Dworkin.
Jean Rafferty is a novelist and award-winning journalist who has been nominated in the UK Press Awards on two separate occasions, an unusual honour for a freelance. Her work is wide-ranging, from Satanic Ritual Abuse for Guardian Weekend Magazine to Thatcher-bashing in the 80s for the Sunday People. Her writing has been called 'inspirational', 'brave’ and ‘gutsy,' qualities she was in dire need of following publication of her novel, Myra, Beyond Saddleworth, when everything from her morals to her eye makeup came under scrutiny.
The Saltire Series will see a succession of provocations from individuals to spark fresh thinking, ignite debate and challenge our orthodoxies in today’s Scotland.
We are;
- An apolitical membership organisation open to all
- An international supporter and patron of the arts and cultural heritage of Scotland
- A champion of free speech on the issues that matter to the cultural life of every Scot
- A promoter of the best of what we are culturally, now and in the future
- A catalyst to ensure new ideas are considered and the best of them are made real
The Saltire Series is an important part of the Society’s work as an advocate and as a place for diverse voices to be heard.
The Scottish PEN Centre was established in 1927 by – amongst others – Edwin Muir, Naomi Mitchison, Robert Cunningham-Grahame and its first President, Hugh MacDiarmid.
If you would like to find out more about the work of Scottish PEN, please visit our website at www.scottishpen.org
Full membership is £25 per annum and is open to published and performed writers, editors, translators and academics.
Associate membership is £15 per annum and open to publishers, literary agents, librarians and teachers, as well as students studying subjects likely to lead to writing professionally.