Bio

About Gillian

Gillian has lived many lives before this particular guise. She grew up in Scotland, where she currently resides, and has lived in Florida, Wisconsin, France, and Austria along the way. She first studied English Language with Literature at the University of Glasgow prior to embarking on a diverse career, spanning HR and teaching, before returning to her alma mater to complete a doctorate in Creative Writing. Gillian now spends her days researching, writing, teaching, and facilitating workshops, and looking after her much loved dogs, Hamish, Fergus, and Daisy. In addition, she works two days a week as a freelance HR consultant, focusing on employee engagement, employee development, and leadership development.

Gillian is working on various projects at the moment, including a novel in collaboration with Georgi Gill, in which two ill-matched characters embark on a riotous road trip from Harthill Services to the fictional Highland village of Invergill. In addition, she is working on a research project, Talking Objects, which examines the lived experience of medical places and spaces, and considers the relationship between object and illness. Gillian’s debut novel, Brodie, also explores these themes.

For examples of Gillian’s writing, check out the Fiction and Narrative Non-Fiction pages. Here is a selection of some of her publications to date:

Making Space for the Patient’s Voice, an essay published in the medical humanities journal, The Polyphony in January 2021.

Libbe, a short story published in the fiction magazine, The Common Breath in January 2021.

The Appointment, a short story published in the literary journal, The Interpreter’s House in June 2020.

Carole and Rumbled, two short stories published in ‘Stories from Home’, an anthology published to raise money for The Ambulance Service Charity, in June 2020.

Illness: A Narrative in Four Parts, a hybrid essay serialised in The Polyphony in May 2020.

Subject-Verb-Object, an essay published in The Polyphony in July 2019.

Croy Shore, a short story published in ‘Tales from a Cancelled Country: An Anthology of Fiction’ in 2015.

Jennifer Glendinning, a short story published in the fiction magazine, Thi Wurd in 2014.

Campsie Boys and Reverberations, two poems published by NVP in ‘Shorelines’ in 2012.

Diagnosis, a poem published in MS Matters in 2011.