The Ladies of Scot Lit

Hi! Thank you so much for clicking on my first ever blog post it's so lovely to have you here:)

This summer I graduated from university with a degree in Scottish Literature - well I hope I have, depends if this marking boycott ever ends. In those four years I read many, many, many books with varying degrees of pleasure. I spent a lot of that time trudging through dull and occasionally shockingly racist classics, and discovering that I absolutely cannot read another book trying too hard to be clever or anything from the unyieldingly depressing Scottish Miserabilism genre. However, I was also introduced to some of the writers that have become all-time favourites, and, as September always gives me that back to uni feeling, I got that itch to start speaking and writing about books again. So here is a testament to some of my favourite literature I read at uni. Before I started my undergrad the only examples of Scottish Literatue I really knew were things like Trainspotting, Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson etc which although I admired, I didn't feel particularly connected to. Maybe that's because from an academic point of view the canon is overwhelmingly male so I assumed that's kind of all there was. That was until I encountered the ladies of Scot Lit. There is a plethora of talented Scottish women creating wonderful literature who are criminally underrated and too many people miss out on reading. Here are some of my favourites, I hope you enjoy!

It was Jackie Kay’s poem ‘Keeping Orchids’ which I studied for an English exam at school that first influenced me to choose Scot Lit at uni so it is unsurprising that she is the first writer that comes to mind. Kay has the rare skill of mastering many modes of literature creating stunning poetry, prose and drama. In my opinion anything and everything she writes is worth reading but these two texts are the ones I found the most compelling and have stayed with me.

Reality, Reality ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kay’s collection of short stories follows the tales of women from all walks of life with the sense of compassion and empathy that she is so adept at. Each story in Reality, Reality is unique and explores the many facets of life as a woman, stretching the confines of geography, genre, race, age and sexuality. Kay consistently creates female characters that are well-rounded and emotionally complex, ranging from an elderly lady in a care home to two lesbians navigating their queerness in Shetland to an immortal singer battling loneliness. I found myself relating to them all despite the vast distance between my own life experiences and theirs which is a testament to the expertise and care Kay employs when crafting her characters. Considering so many of these stories deal with themes of loneliness, and a struggle to understand or accept reality, the warmth and humour Kay employs make it a true pleasure to read. I particularly enjoyed Margaret’s story in “These Are Not My Clothes” which details the daily life of a woman being abused in a care home. We are so rarely invited to pay attention to, or sympathise with older women which is perhaps what made this story so enthralling, I felt as though I was hearing a radical voice. To me Reality, Reality was the perfect conjunction between the radical and the understated. A series of quiet but wholly immersive tales of often unheard voices.

The Lamplighter ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Lamplighter is one of the most poignant beautiful explorations of the narratives of enslaved peoples and the vile role of Britain in the slave trade I have ever read. It is heartbreaking, enraging, moving and utterly unforgettable. Kay originally wrote The Lamplighter as a play and it has been performed both on stage and adapted for radio but it has also been published as a novella (there is some debate over whether it should be classed as a novella, a play or poetic prose but whatever you call it just read it!). It follows the stories of a group of women and the horrifying realities of the slave trade with a narrative style that is immediately entrancing with its flowing poetic style. Kay’s original intention of The Lamplighter to be heard rather than read is evident with the aurality of the words reverberating throughout creating an added sensory dimension that pulls you even more completely into the story. As much as The Lamplighter will have you sympathising with the enslaved women it asks more of the reader than just that. The problem of ‘Scottish amnesia’ is confronted here head on. Writing for the Guardian Kay commented on the way Scots distance themselves from their involvement in the slave trade saying “The plantation owner is never wearing a kilt.” (‘Missing Faces’, The Guardians, 24 March 2007). This uncomfortable truth causes you to interrogate your own perceptions and is an essential and accessible read for those who want to dig deeper into Scotland’s buried past.

Shifting focus to the natural world and our relationship with it and each other, I discovered and fell in love with the writing of Jenni Fagan. I’ve read a few of her other works now, including Hex, a fun spooky read for this time of year, but the one that felt to me the most fresh and exciting was her incredible novel The Sunlight Pilgrims. The last essay I ever wrote at uni explored how she uses magical realism to explore human connections both between people and with the natural world, but you absolutely don’t have to do any extra research or read any literary criticism to enjoy this stunning novel, just give it a try!

The Sunlight Pilgrims ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jenni Fagan’s The Sunlight Pilgrims details the struggles and relationships of a group of misfits living in a caravan park in the Scottish Highlands at the begginning of an apocalyptic climate catastrophe. Fagan’s novel reflected my personal state of climate anxiety in a way I had never found in another book and many of the events are eerily similar to headlines we’ve seen this summer. However, Fagan centres community, the importance of relationships and human connection in a way that gives the novel an uplifting, life-affirming quality. However paradoxical that may seem in an apocalyptic story! She also allows the earth to take on a quasi-sentient quality so it becomes almost like another character. It is both the villain and biggest threat of the book and the only thing that can save them. It is both magical and entrancing but terrifying in its deadly beauty with imagery that is incredibly striking throughout. Another feature of Sunlight Pilgrims I particularly enjoyed was the main characters of Estelle, a young trans girl navigating her new identity and Constance, her mother who was an absolutely incredible character; a strong self-assured woman who defies society’s expectations and creates a beautiful life for her and Estelle. Fagan’s exploration of their relationship creates a warm bubble at the center of a story of the world freezing over. Her writing style is at times almost magical and gives the text a very different feeling than most dystopian books I’ve read before. Even if you think you’re not the kind of person who likes this genre I would really reccomend you give it a try and immerse yourself in Fagan’s entrancing world.

Back to poetry to finish off!:) I want to talk about the incredible Liz Lochhead. Although aside from poetry she has also written multiple plays, of which I especially enjoyed Mary Queen of Scots Got her Her Head Chopped Off. Her poems never fail to make me laugh, shock me, move me or make me think about things in a whole new way. I especially enjoy her poems that explore the complexity of Scottish Identity and what it means to experience the world as a woman.

Dreaming Frankenstein & Other Collected Poems ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This collection of Lochhead’s early poetry is an amazing introduction displaying many of her key poetic themes and concerns. My personal favourite section is “The Grimm Sisters” in which Lochhead reimagines fairytales and folk stories by centralising the female voice. This radical form of myth-making creates some incredibly striking poems. If I had to choose, “Rapunzstiltskin” which explores female rage as a response to male entitlement and objectification and “Mirror’s Song” which is a call to arms for women to reject the contradictory pressures of the patriarchy and smash the metaphorical and literal mirror that cause women to be enslaved to the external. I love how Lochhead is not afraid to explore the gritty, vulgar, ugly messy parts of femininity. She rejects conformity of any kind and her poetry is always unapologetic and exceptionally self-assured. Her work is a must-read of contemporary Scottish poetry.

I guess this will probably be much longer than most of my future posts but I thought this would be a fun introduction! Hope you enjoyed reading and got some ideas for what to add to your own bookshelf. Can’t wait to speak again soon!

Love, Grace xx