Jemma Neville is a writer with a background in human rights law. She is director of the national development agency for community-led arts, Voluntary Arts Scotland. She was the inaugural Community Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities, University of Edinburgh, and has been shortlisted for the Guardian International Development Journalism Award.

Her debut book Constitution Street: Finding Hope in the Age of Anxiety (404 Ink, 2019) considers what real-life stories from neighbours of one street in Leith reveal about today’s constitutional crisis in an age of anxiety. Part memoir, part social history, part exploration of a new constitution for the day we live in, Neville’s debut encourages a reclamation of human rights practice as something that belongs to each of us, too important to be left to politicians and lawyers.

Jemma gets to know the people and stories that have lived on her street for decades, showcasing real life accounts of perseverance, courage and vulnerability, and that extraordinary stories are behind each door. Constitution Street takes a view on the global issue of human rights through the lens of one street and its inhabitants.

Creative Conversations with Jemma Nelville will take place on Monday 16 March, 1pm-2pm at the University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel.

All Creative Conversations events are free and open to the public.

First published: 26 February 2020

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This event is part of Creative Conversations speaker series, sponsored by the Ferguson Bequest and programmed by Creative Writing at University of Glasgow. For upcoming events please visit: https://www.gla.ac.uk/events/creativeconversations/

Books by featured authors are for sale at Creative Conversations events (cash only) and in John Smith’s students store: https://www.johnsmith.co.uk/gla