Two Edinburgh-based authors are set to become living, breathing, working parts of the collection at the Writers’ Museum in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, when they each embark on a two-month residency, writing at a desk inside the museum as visitors come and go.
The Writer’s Room Residencies, which run June-July and September-October, will be taken up by Lucy Ribchester, a historical novelist and thriller writer, whose latest book Murder Ballad is set in 18th century Edinburgh, and Shelley Day, a novelist and short story writer, whose collection what are you like won the 2020 Edge Hill Prize.
The residencies, run by Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature, began in 2024. This year’s residencies invited women authors with an EH postcode and at least one publication to their name to enter into a lottery.
The residencies come with a £1000 stipend and seek to redress the gender imbalance in the Writers’ Museum collection, which focusses on the lives and work of Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.
Ribchester, taking up her residency in June, is planning to use the time to redraft her next novel, set in medieval Scotland and based on an urban legend from Perth. “I’m excited and curious to become part of the Museum’s temporary collection,” Ribchester says. “I really do want to use the time to get my head down, as like many writers I juggle multiple freelance jobs and raising young children as well as my writing. Having a desk space and some ring-fenced time to write is absolutely invaluable.
“However I’m also intrigued to see how museum visitors react to seeing a writer at work. I’m curious to know what questions people might have regarding the life and challenges of a 21st century writer.”
Day will start her residency in September and is planning to work on her memoir-in-progress, or start something new, using the Writers’ Museum as inspiration. She said, “I’m absolutely thrilled to be selected for The Writer’s Room residency at the Writers’ Museum! How great to have writing time in such a magical space, among our celebrated Scottish writers and the visitors who come to share in the experience. This all makes me feel truly special.”
The desk the writers are offered is in the main hall of the museum, meaning the writer will be at work with visitors browsing the collection around them.
Edinburgh City of Literature Director Harriet MacMillan commented: “We were delighted to receive over 80 applications for this iteration of Writer’s Room, indicating the ongoing need for time and space for writers. Lucy and Shelley will both be wonderful additions to the Museum’s writerly atmosphere, creating works of the future surrounded by words from the past. We can’t wait to see what they will produce during their residencies.”
The Writer’s Room Residencies, won by Lucy Ribchester and Shelley Day, run 1 June to 31 July and 1 September to 31 October 2026
