Author Archives: GlasgowAnni

From ‘Battered Wives’ to ‘Coercive Control’: Domestic Abuse in Late Twentieth Century Scotland

Image reproduced courtesy of Scottish Women’s Aid Scotland’s response to male violence against their wives, partners or girlfriends has come a long way since the 1970s when ‘wives’ were ‘battered’, failed to protect their children and police didn’t get involved in ‘domestics’. Forty years since the publication of Violence against Wives – A Case against the Patriarchy, new legislation – The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act …

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Domestic abuse, culture and Scottish history

It takes a whole society and its culture to create a domestic abuse perpetrator. A critical look at our history can help us understand why. The annual 16 days of international activism against gender-based violence ended yesterday. During this year’s campaign a report by ‘Counting dead women’ on the UK National Femicide Census made harrowing reading and showed that …

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STORM FORCE Celtic Connections – Coasts and Waters 2020

STORM, a 10 meter high sea goddess arose from the River Clyde last Saturday morning 18 January 2020 in the calmer wake of her big brother Brendan who had battered these shore a few days previously.  Made entirely of recycled and natural materials, STORM is said to be the largest puppet in the UK. With …

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Through the Patriarchal Looking-glass: Write to End VAW Wooden Spoon Award 2018

A year ago I had the dubious honour of presenting the Write To End Violence Women Wooden Spoon Award. The Wooden Spoon is often awarded not for the stories themselves but for the way they are told – to journalism which is at the other end of the spectrum from the high quality work which …

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UCU Strike & 16 Days of Activism Against Violence against Women – Twin Struggles?

As I joined the strike called by my union’s UCU’s members for Monday morning 25 Nov 2019, I couldn’t help see the connections with the other reason we traditionally mark this date in the calendar.  On the 25 November every year, I join millions of other women worldwide to call for 16 Days of Activism …

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@ScotRevBks Madame Scotia – Queen of the Clarsach

Click here for Review of Madame Scotia, Madame Scrap by Helene Witcher Scottish Review of Books Vol 13 Number 1 2018 Published by The Islands Book Trust   Heloise Russell-Ferguson with ‘Harplet’ 1920 Author Helene Witcher will be appearing at Aye Write on 24 March 2018. For further information click here  

Bothy Culture & Beyond – pure Cirque d’Ecosse @ccfest #ccfest18

Martyn Bennett’s second studio album Bothy Culture was given the full orchestral treatment on Saturday 27 January in Glasgow’s Hydro arena – mid-point highlight of this year’s sell-out Celtic Connections 25th  Anniversary Festival.  Building on the success of Greg Lawson’s arrangement of his friend Bennett’s album Grit – Nae Regrets – premiered at Celtic Connections …

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#FLvaw MOOC  ‘Understanding against Women – Myths and Realities’

It’s not too late to join us for our third run which started 20 August 2018.  Click here to join us.  As acronyms go MOOC doesn’t roll easily off the tongue.  Massive Open Online Courses harness the reach of the worldwide web to the immediacy of social media and magically turn teaching and learning into something entirely new for …

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A century apart – the art of Margaret Barry and Karine Polwart

Celtic Connections columnist Anni Donaldson reviews one show looking at the life and music of Margaret Barry This article first appeared in Common Space https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/10265/anni-donaldson-century-apart-art-margaret-barry-and-karine-polwart THE gulf separating the lived experience of singers Margaret Barry and Karine Polwart could hardly be wider.  Margaret, born into a family of street musicians in Cork in 1917, and Karine, …

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