Writing Orkney was set up as a successor to the George Mackay Brown Fellowship in 2025. Formed to encourage and promote new writing from and about Orkney as well as to highlight and celebrate Orkney writers of the past, it continues the work of the previous organisation.
While we are updating the site, you can still find all the information about activities carried out by the George Mackay Brown Fellowship. Soon we will be adding new activities in the name of Writing Orkney.
What we did
The George Mackay Brown Fellowship was formed in 2006 to promote awareness of Orkney writers and their work and to encourage new writing.
The Fellowship ran two writing groups which met regularly throughout the year: Wirdsmit for young writers aged 8-15 and Orkney Voices for Orkney language speakers and writers.
It hosted the annual George Mackay Brown Memorial Lecture which was delivered by guest speakers – writers, artists, researchers and editors – from Orkney, Glasgow and London. In it they explored the work of George Mackay Brown and considered its legacy; increased awareness of other Orkney writers, introducing their work to new and wider audiences; and presented a variety of topics relating to writing and language in Orkney.
The Fellowship delivered a wide variety of events and projects. In the past these have included two writing festivals and three book festivals, a writing retreat and a range of writing residencies. Other activities have included readings and workshops by local and visiting writers; open mic sessions; and renga days for collaborative writing.
We have published anthologies of poetry, creative prose and non-fiction from writers in Orkney and guest writers, as well as a booklet on the history of writing in Orkney containing biographies of twelve Orkney writers.
How it worked . . .
The GMB Fellowship was a charitable trust run by a small board of volunteer Directors. They worked with both local and national organisations to deliver literary and collaborative events and projects. These included Orkney Library & Archive, West Side Cinema, the Pier Arts Centre, St Magnus International Festival, Scottish Poetry Library, Stirling University, Glasgow University, Edinburgh Shore Poets and Shetland Arts.
They received funding from Orkney Islands Council Culture Fund, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Creative Scotland, Leader and the Clore Duffield Foundation.
They valued greatly the support of individuals as well as local businesses in their events and projects.
Patrons . . .
The Fellowship had three distinguished writers as its patrons, all of them visitors to Orkney at various times: former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion, former Edinburgh Makar Stewart Conn, and former Scottish Makar Liz Lochhead.
If you would like further information or would like to help or support our work in any way, please contact us by email.
More . . .
You can find more details of their writing groups, events, publications and history on this website as new pages are added.
Writing Orkney 