At the end of a long and energetic day at the Book Festival, Open Book brought over 100 of our women and children readers from Maryhill Integration Network (Glasgow), The Welcoming (Edinburgh), and an Edinburgh-based group of Syrian Kurdish speakers to the Botanic Gardens to explore the gardens, blow off steam and meet the artist Jackie Morris. First, we were welcomed into Inverleith House see the exhibition of Jackie’s original work from The Lost Words and ask questions while we she painted some new work. (She then gifted Open Book some of her work from that day, pictured below.)
We even gave her our own lost words (or words we don’t hear any longer), including the word Yade, Kurdish for mother.
Afterwards, we all had a warm welcome at the Botanic Cottage, where the entire group was treated to coffee and tea, sandwiches, snacks and baklava, as well as some fresh produce from the garden! After a good look around the Cottage, some of the children played out doors despite the rain while we waited for Jackie to join us.
Over her own cup of tea and baklava, she patiently signed each gifted copy of The Lost Words before the entire crew loaded back onto the buses and headed for home. Jackie later called her visit with our readers the highlight of her Festival; it certainly was ours!