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Jessie Kesson: 1916-1994
Jessie Kesson was the author of successful novels, poetry and plays for radio and television. Born in Inverness and raised in Elgin, she spent part of her childhood in an orphanage, and worked in jobs ranging from a cinema cleaner to an artist’s model before becoming a social worker in London and Glasgow. The early years of her life greatly influenced her work, and her most successful novels include The White Bird Passes (1958), later televised by the BBC; Glitter of Mica (1963); Another Time, Another Place (1983), which was made into a film; and the collection of short stories Where the Apple Ripens (1985). She wrote over ninety plays for TV and radio, and was the producer of Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4 for a number of years.
A fiercely proud Scottish writer, Jessie combined regional interests with larger themes and was a superb observer of Scottish idiom and character. She gave a genuine voice to the experiences of women and painted an honest depiction of the rigours of life. It is her authenticity, her earthy humour, her extraordinary memory and intellect, her deep feelings about her childhood and the human condition that make her so important in the development of Scottish writing. By the time of her death she was a great grandmother and the proud owner of two ‘scarlet goons’, conferred by the Universities of Dundee and Aberdeen. In 2007 her book The White Bird Passes was made into a musical, entitled Lady Lane, which enjoyed a successful run in her home town of Elgin.
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