Join poet and playwright Hannah Lavery for a writing workshop inspired by the remarkable photography of Sandra George.
This workshop is for Black writers and writers of colour based in Scotland.
All SBWN events will adhere to our Safer Spaces Policy. You can learn more about our policy here.
Led by Hannah Lavery, participants will be given a tour of Start from the Level at City Art Centre – the largest exhibition of Sandra George’s work to date – followed by a guided writing session responding to the core themes and ideas explored in the exhibition.
Basic writing materials will be available and light refreshments will be provided.
Tickets: Free.
Access
- Wheelchair access, lift. Full details.
- Gender-specific and gender-neutral accessible toilets.
- Quiet room.
- Travel and child/carer bursaries of up to £30 are available from Scottish BPOC Writers Network. Bursaries must be claimed by 31st July 2026. If you will need a bursary to attend, please complete our form.
After you have booked a ticket, please email scottishbpocwriters@gmail.com
About Hannah
Hannah Lavery is an award‑winning poet, playwright, performer and experienced workshop facilitator. She served as Edinburgh Makar from 2021 to 2024 and is an Honorary Fellow of the Association of Scottish Literature. Her poetry has been widely published, and her poem Scotland, you’re no mine was selected by Roseanne Watt as one of the Best Scottish Poems 2019.
Her autobiographical play The Drift toured Scotland as part of the National Theatre of Scotland’s 2019 season. In 2020, she was named one of the Scottish Voices for BBC Writers’ Room, won a Peggy Ramsay/Channel 4 bursary, and received a Creative Edinburgh Award for her work with the Writers of Colour group and Fringe of Colour.
Her highly acclaimed play Lament for Sheku Bayoh, which she directed, was produced in collaboration with the Royal Lyceum Theatre, the National Theatre of Scotland and the Edinburgh International Festival. Hannah is a former Imaginate Accelerator Artist and a former Associate Artist with the National Theatre of Scotland.
Her debut poetry collection Blood, Salt, Spring was published in 2022 and shortlisted for the Saltire Award. It was followed by Unwritten Woman in 2024. Her forthcoming collection, Everything Everyday, will be published by Polygon in May 2026.
About Sandra
Sandra George (1957-2013) was a talented and prolific social documentary photographer and a well-respected community worker in Craigmillar.
Sandra studied Photography at Napier University, Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art and Community Education at The University of Edinburgh.
She worked extensively as a freelance photographer for over 30 years for organisations and publications such as the Sentinel, the Tollcross Community Newspaper, Shelter, and the Craigmillar Newspaper, and taught photography and other arts skills to people of all ages in communities across Edinburgh. She started working in community development in Westerhailes in the 1980s, and in Craigmillar from the 1990s, and was an integral member of notable organisations like McGovan house, the Thistle Foundation, and the Craigmillar Arts Centre. She was the founder of many successful social action projects, and as Youth Services Manager with Hunter’s Hall Cooperative from 2008, she administered outstanding programmes of youth arts engagement in Niddrie, including the Niddrie Community Youth Group, a charity committed to community education and providing activities for children and young adults from all over the area.
Sandra’s main belief was in community education, and empowering others through new experiences and the arts, and across her career, she captured thousands of photographs documenting the social history of Craigmillar, Edinburgh, and Scotland at large.
Craigmillar Now currently holds Sandra George’s vast collection of negatives, which record arts and community projects across Scotland between the 1980s and the 2000s. With thanks to Tyler and Jimmy Hewitt, The Heritage Lottery Fund, The National Lottery Community Fund, The University of Edinburgh, and The City of Edinburgh Council.