Anna Burnside on Salon: “a terrifying focus group, with wine”

It started in a taxi in March 2014, with four top burdz speeding home from a jolly dinner with a fifth. We noted, through the Aperol fumes, that Aye Write was on. Why don't, one of the others slurred, we all go to Jean Rafferty's event?

"Thassa great idea," I managed to get out. "I will organise this."

Then I went home and fell fast asleep. On waking up, I discovered Jean's event was that morning.

Despite the banging head I managed a second thought. Why do we need Aye Write? I know Jean. She was an award-winning journalist before she wrote novels and started the original WIJ Scotland back in the 1990s. I know at least four people, plus me, who want to hear her talking about her new book. Let's cut out the middle man and do this in my living room.

And so we did. I invited some chums and introduced Jean. She read from her novel Moira, Beyond Saddleworth, I got the Q&A started, then everyone else piled in. Jean claims I'm the only person to ask if Moira kept her wig on while she was having sex. I can't believe that this is true. Surely everyone wants to know about that?

Afterwards they all wanted to know when we would do this again and who the next writer would be. And so what I grandly christened my book salon was born.

It ran, intermittently, until the start of 2019.  We covered novels, short stories, essays, memoirs, political polemics, poetry. There were so many great guests: Jim Naughtie, Chris McQueer, Kirsty Wark, Katie Grant, Kaite Walsh ...

Lesley Riddoch had us singing Freedom All Come Ye after reading from Blossom, her thinkaround possibilities for an independent Scotland. Donald Murray was meant to be reading from Herring Tales, his fascinating fish-based history, but turned up with a load of his poems and read them instead.

Mark Douglas Home faced some tough questions about why a sparky female character from his first novel was absent from number two. He described it afterwards as "a terrifying focus group, with wine."

Why did I stop? Boring reason - I had the builders in and the house was a guddle. Bigger reason - I felt uncomfortable that I was asking writers to turn up and perform as a favour to me. Even as I plied them with soup, cake and wine, it felt like a bit of a cheek. But I didn't feel comfortable charging my pals either.

My workaround was to ask everyone who was coming to bring a donation for Maryhill Food Bank. And while their donations were magnificent and generous, it did not feel like enough.

Then WIJ suggested reviving salon in a slightly more organised format. I bit their hand off.

In its new iteration it will still hit the sweet spot between a domestic book group and a formal book festival. The lovely venue for the first event, The Outwith Agency  in Glasgow's Govanhill, is homely and cosy but we won't be disturbing my children with too much laughing. (Yes, that happened.)

Our first guest author, Ajay Close, appeared in my front room twice and was a roaring success. She's a former journalist - I worked with her at Scotland on Sunday back in the day. Her new book, What We Did in the Dark, is about Glaswegian journalist Catherine Carswell. There will be a collection for Beauty Banks.

I can't wait.

The first WIJ Salon will take place on the 19 March. Find out more about the event and reserve your tickets here.

Why Beauty Banks?

There was always a collection for Maryhill Foodbank at the original salon. This time the collection will be for Beauty Banks, an incredibly cool charity founded by journalist Sali Hughes and beauty PR Jo Jones. They collect toiletries, beauty products, sanitary towels and tampons and distribute them to food banks, women's refuges, homeless shelters and other organisations that help people who can't afford the very basic essentials needed to keep fresh and clean. All donations are kept locally and dropped off to one of their partner organisations. Our collection will go to Glasgow South West food bank.

So if you are coming, please bring a donation if you can. Sanitary products, soap, shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, wipes are all welcome. Miniatures from hotel rooms are good too - some clients like small bottles. Any left over press samples, PR gifts, left over Xmas sets - bring them along.
Direct donations are also great - Beauty Banks has a sweet deal with Easho, a bulk toiletries supplier, which gets them the maximum cleaning power for their donations, and cuts down on postage and packaging waste. It's all on their website www.easho.org.uk.