Literary giant to give Lennox Literary Society talk

Nov 21 2008 by Marc McLean, Lennox Herald (main ed)

THE final event of the Lennox Literary Society's 2008 programme takes place in Dumbarton Library on Thursday, November 27.

The guest speaker will be Jenni Calder, daughter of the late Professor David Daiches. Like her father, Jenny is a Scottish literary historian of great repute, with an impressive body of published work.

This includes biographies of Robert Louis Stevenson and Naomi Mitchison, books on the Scots in both Canada and the USA, and a considerable output of poetry. She also at one time ran the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Jenni's talk will be on the work of Scottish PEN. Originally standing for 'Poets, Essayists and Novelists', PEN has now expanded to include all forms of literature, from journalism to academic writing.

It is also a campaigning organisation, which aims to protect freedom of expression and to support persecuted writers everywhere.

The event begins at 7.30pm and admission is £2 for members and £4 for non-members.