|
'Writer in residence' is becoming a more commonplace phrase across Scotland,
but what exactly does one do, and how influential are they?
Des Dillon was writer in residence at Castlemilk in
Glasgow for two years, between 1998 and 2000. His aim was to get as many
people's work published as possible, and he succeeded with six writers'
work eventually going into print. He kept to a simple but effective technique.
He would hold writers groups and ask writers to contribute their work.
After reading out a piece of work, the only question he ever asked the
group was: "If that was your work, how would you improve it?". Read
our exclusive interview with Des Dillon.
Alan Kelly is one of Des's success stories, and
proof of the influence of writers in residence. He worked for years with
the Council on the roads until he attended Des's Castlemilk writing group,
and turned his life around. Today he has a successful novel published by
Luath, The Tar Factory, based on the stories and characters he
encountered on the years with the tar squad. Des insists that Alan was
already a storyteller, and merely needed encouragement to put pen to paper.
This may also be the case for many others, and shows how valuable writers
residencies can be.
|
