I was, and am …
Crazy about animals
Really short-sighted
A fan of food
A fashion icon
Keen on sleep
At home in snow
A bookworm
A photobomber
An epic adventurer
Fascinated by graveyards
Fond of babies in boxes
A public speaker
Part thistle, part maple leaf
- I was born in 1953 in Toronto, Canada.
- I moved to Scotland in 1978 to work as secretary at the Abbey on Iona, and never looked back.
- I have 4 grown-up sons and 1 grandson.
Degrees
- BA in English Literature (University of Toronto) (1976)
- MA in English Literature (University of Toronto) (1978)
- PhD in English Literature (University of St Andrews) (1985)
- CT ABRSM (Certificate of Teaching from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) (Glasgow) (1998)
Fellowships
- Hawthornden Fellow (2009)
- Jessie Kesson Fellow, Moniack Mhor Writers’ Centre (2011)
- Royal Literary Fellow at Dundee University (2016-2019)
Residencies
- Chateau de Lavigny, Switzerland (2010)
- Hospitalfield Interdisciplinary Residency, Aberdeen (2014)
- Writer-in-Residence for East Perthshire (2014)
Miscellaneous
- Patron of Reading, Aberdeen Reading Bus (2014 – 2015)
- Patron of Reading, Queensferry Primary School (2015 – 2017)
- Judge and tutor for the Pushkin Prizes (2016, 2017, 2018)
- Tutoring at Moniack Mhor Writing Centre (2012, 2015, 2018)
Book Festivals (Author Events and Writing Workshops)
To find out more about my author visits and writing workshops and how to book them, visit Live Literature Scotland.
- Edinburgh International Book Festival
- Northern Children’s Book Festival
- Borders Book Festival
- Islay Book Festival
- Wigtown Book Festival
- Aberdeen Word Festival
- New Lanark Book Festival
- Hairst Festival
- North Lanarkshire Works Book Festival
- Craigmillar Book Festival
- Off the Page Stirling Book Festival
- Aye Write Book Festival
- Encounters Book Festival
- Dundee Literary Festival
- Turnberry Book Festival
- BOOKMARK Festival
- Arts Across Learning Festival
- Spirit of Moray Book Festival
- Crookfur/Eastwood Reading Festival
- Faclan Oga a Deas (Outer Hebrides)
- Wee Write Glasgow
- Orkney Live Literature Book Tour
- Bladins International School Book Festival (Malmö, Sweden)