Join Wuthering Dykes Book Club and Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive for an evening with the lesbian legend June Thomas, author of A Place of Our Own. June will be in conversation with Sigrid Nielsen, co-founder of both Scotland’s first LGBT+ bookshop and Lavender Menace, and Sophie Haynes, who runs Wuthering Dykes. 

The event is free. Just click here to book a ticket through Eventbrite:

About the speakers:

June Thomas is a journalist, podcaster, and the author of A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women’s Culture. She spent 25 years as a writer, editor, and podcast host at Slate.com, and her freelance work has appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek, Marie Clarie, the New York Times’ T magazine, the Washington Post, and the Advocate. She is now working on a biography of Rita Mae Brown.

Photo: Rachel Hein. [A photograph of June smiling outside a bookshop with stylish round glasses and a purple jumper]

Sigrid Nielsen is a graduate of St John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In Edinburgh in 1979 she joined Bob Orr in Open Gaze, the bookstall he ran at Edinburgh Gay Centre, and worked in other bookselling and publishing groups. She and Bob opened Lavender Menace, Scotland’s first Lesbian and Gay Community Bookshop, as a partnership in 1982. Sigrid managed author readings, mail order lists, and bookshop events. She left as a partner in 1987 and later co-edited In Other Words: Writing as a Feminist (Hutchinson Education, 1987) and published articles and short stories. In 2019, she and Bob revived Lavender Menace as an LGBT+ books archive and heritage organisation.

Photo: Liam Baker. [A headshot of Sigrid smiling at the camera wearing glasses and a rainbow knitted jumper.]

Sophie Haynes runs Wuthering Dykes Bookclub and holds an MLitt in Gothic Literature. She’s passionate about building queer community and where to find the best whiskey soda in Leith. Catch her browsing bookshops, marching at protests or making an appearance at the best lesbian events in the city.

Photo: Sophie Haynes. [A headshot of Sophie who is looking straight at the camera and wears a leather jacket.]

Venue & Access

The event will be held at Epworth Hall, Nicolson Square Venues, 25 Nicolson Square, EH8 9BX. This is a dry event and no alcohol is allowed on the premises.

The venue has step-free access and an internal lift. There is parking next door at 27, and an accessible gender neutral toilet on the ground floor: https://www.euansguide.com/venues/nicolson-square-edinburgh-edinburgh-14614/information

To see what the event room looks like visit: https://www.nsvenues.com/the-epworth-hall

For further information about the venue contact info@nsvenues.com and for questions about the event contact themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk