#workingclasswriters — Public Fediverse posts

“In contemporary reviews she was likened to Muriel Spark and Beryl Bainbridge: her books thrive on the friction between comedy and sadness.”

—John Self on the working-class genius of Agnes Owens (1926–2014)

https://observer.co.uk/culture/books/article/the-working-class-genius-of-agnes-owens

#Scottish #literature #20thcentury #womenwriters #AgnesOwens #workingclass #workingclasswriters

Starting 31 Aug, BBC Radio 4: A WORKING MOTHER, by Agnes Owens (1926–2014)

Ten years after WW2, our unreliable narrator Betty – arch, witty, clever – is married with children & feels trapped. While her husband, Adam, drinks and complains, Betty flirts with their best friend Brendan, tries to avoid the roving hands of her new employer, & plots her escape…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0030x97

#Scottish #literature #20thcentury #womenwriters #AgnesOwens #workingclass #workingclasswriters #audiobooks

Creativity, Community & Class with Kevin P. Gilday

The Creative Resistance Podcast talks to Glasgow poet, performer, & playwright Kevin P. Gilday about gatekeeping of working-class stories, the role of art as a tool for survival rather than a luxury, & Kevin’s groundbreaking community projects like The Bank of Springburn & the Care in Scotland installation

https://thecreativeresistancepodcast.substack.com/p/creativity-community-and-class-with?utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e0_tv0

#Scottish #literature #poetry #drama #art #culture #workingclass #workingclasswriters #podcast

“Between her debut in 1984 – aged 58 – and her death in 2014, Owens published six short novels and two collections of stories. In contemporary reviews she was likened to Muriel Spark and Beryl Bainbridge: her books thrive on the friction between comedy and sadness.”

—John Self on the working-class genius of Agnes Owens (1926–2014)

https://observer.co.uk/culture/books/article/the-working-class-genius-of-agnes-owens

#Scottish #literature #20thcentury #womenwriters #workingclass #workingclassfiction #workingclasswriters

“In A WORKING MOTHER, Owens transforms difficulties from her own life into a glorious work of art in which nothing is quite what it seems”

—Dani Garivelli reviews all Agnes Owens’ books reissued so far

7/7

https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/26076770.author-agnes-owens-deadpan-gothic-style-entirely/

#Scottish #literature #womenwriters #20thcentury #AgnesOwens #workingclass #workingclasswriters

To celebrate her centenary, Polygon is publishing new editions of Agnes Owens’ books with introductions from contemporary Scottish writers. 4 are released this month: A Working Mother; For the Love of Willie; Like Birds in the Wilderness; & Gentlemen of the West

6/7

https://birlinn.co.uk/contributor/agnes-owens/

#Scottish #literature #womenwriters #20thcentury #AgnesOwens #workingclass #workingclasswriters

Agnes’ writing was championed by Kelman and Gray but she remained mysteriously un-celebrated. “One publisher said people don’t want that kind of writing… about poor people”

Agnes Owens, through objects from the Glasgow Womens’ Library Collections

5/7

https://womenslibrary.org.uk/exhibition/agnes-owens/

#Scottish #literature #womenwriters #20thcentury #AgnesOwens #workingclass #workingclasswriters

“I’m writing about strange people, people on the edge, people that society doesn’t like much”: the precariat in the work of Agnes Owens

—Ronald Paul, Moderna Språk 112/2, 2018

4/7

https://publicera.kb.se/mosp/article/view/7675/6520

#Scottish #literature #womenwriters #20thcentury #AgnesOwens #workingclass #workingclasswriters

“I don’t write about people that are nice people. They’ve got to be sinners, with a wee touch of goodness here and there, you know”

—Jane Gray: ‘Giving “people like that” a voice: a conversation with Agnes Owens (1926–2014)’

3/7

https://journals.openedition.org/etudesecossaises/89?lang=en

#Scottish #literature #womenwriters #20thcentury #AgnesOwens #workingclass #workingclasswriters

“From time to time art publicists in London notice things are being achieved in Scotland… On one of these occasions an interviewer asked Agnes what made her write that story; she answered, ‘Spite’”

—Alasdair Gray, “Honest Poverty”: Agnes Owens at 70

2/7

https://www.scottishreviewofbooks.org/2009/10/honest-poverty-and-agnes-owens-at-70/

#Scottish #literature #womenwriters #20thcentury #AgnesOwens #workingclass #workingclasswriters

Agnes Owens: Out of the Margins

Agnes Owens (1926–2014) was born 100 years ago #OTD, 24 May. This short film presents Owens as a writer shaped by working-class life, whose fiction exposed power, resisted sentimentality, & centred overlooked voices.

A 🎂🧵

1/7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkYRPGGto2Q

#Scottish #literature #womenwriters #20thcentury #AgnesOwens #workingclass #workingclasswriters

2026 is Agnes Owens’ centenary year, & Polygon will publish 7 new editions of her novels & short stories in collaboration with the Agnes Owens Archive – also launching this year. These new editions will be introduced by some of Scotland’s finest contemporary writers.

https://birlinn.co.uk/2026/01/08/polygon-to-publish-new-editions-of-the-works-of-agnes-owens-to-mark-centenary/

#Scottish #literature #womenwriters #20thcentury #workingclass #workingclasswriters #AgnesOwens