Mairi Kidd
Hi, my name’s Mairi and I’m Head of Literature, Languages and Publishing at Creative Scotland, and also Deputy Director of Arts and Engagement. Which is a bit of mouthful, all told, and doesn’t even fit into my email signature. Previously I was a publisher, mainly of work for children. I started out in Gaelic and then moved to the ‘mainstream’ of trade children’s. For many years I ran a company that specialised in making reading accessible for children facing challenges such as dyslexia. I was proud to work with amazing authors and artists who never compromised on quality — and as proof, the books were loved by children, buyers, reviewers and prize committees alike. One boy wrote to say that before he found our books, he couldn’t read books at all, ‘but now I can read all of them.’
In the past I served as a board member of the Independent Publishers’ Guild and I still have a particular interest in the place publishing plays in maintaining a strong and healthy literature sector. Recently I have been working with Publishing Scotland on a project to support publishers to develop sales of Scottish books, and talking to The Bookseller about how we can help boost showcasing of brilliant Scottish work.
In my spare time I write. Recently I’ve written a non-fiction book for adults on Scottish women, a children’s book on changing the world, and some Gaelic TV comedy sketches about the Lewis Chessmen. I sometimes write articles at work; I had a recent piece in IBBY’s magazine, for example. With experience from both sides — as a creator of work and a publisher of it, I hope I can see the challenges many in the industry face, and advocate for better conditions and more opportunity for all.
My job leading the Literature Team includes line management for team members and working on our plans and budgets. There’s a fair bit of paperwork, because we are handling public money and have a duty to ensure our processes are appropriate, transparent and accountable.
Like all the Arts and Engagement team, I have a role in administering funding programmes and supporting applicants and funded bodies/individuals. This might mean advising a prospective applicant (often this means directing them to the best placed team member), chairing or sitting on a funding panel, assessing applications or writing feedback. I am Lead Officer for three Regularly Funded Organisations (Edinburgh International Book Festival, Scottish Book Trust and Scottish Poetry Library). I keep in touch with all sorts of other organisations and people, from Scottish Government to individual poets, and support on projects where I can. I sit as an observer on various groups and panels, such as interview panels for residencies, steering groups for book festivals, or campaign groups such as ROAR.
I’m also one of a small number of Gaelic speakers within Creative Scotland, lead on planning the Gaelic budget and support on the Gaelic plan. Faodaidh sibh sgrìobhadh thugam sa Ghàidhlig ma thogras sibh.
If I could give you one piece of advice — don’t be scared to pick up the phone or email us. Contacting an organisation can seem daunting, but I promise we’re all human beings.
