About Us
Celebrating Women’s Fiction
The Edinburgh Women's Fiction Festival is a new literary festival celebrating writing for, by, and about women.
We are an inclusive event and welcome everyone who finds joy in reading women's fiction - commercial, romance, historical, literary, book club and beyond.
Our festival showcases authors of genres that are often overlooked, and our aim is to give readers the opportunity to connect with their favourite writers.
Organising committee: Jane Anderson, Olivia Kekewich, Kristin Pedroja, Jen Hyatt, Robin Facer, and Emma Steele.
Women’s Fiction is an umbrella term for women-centered books that focus on the characters' life experiences, and are marketed — but not exclusive — to women readers.
The Women's Fiction genre includes many commercial and mainstream novels, romantic fiction, and other subgenres. It can be contemporary or historical and have elements of magic, mystery and more.
It is distinct from women’s writing, which refers to literature written by (rather than promoted to) women.
JANE ANDERSON
Jane writes historical fiction.
The Girl Who Fled the Picture was published in 2023. The Paintress is scheduled for July 2024.
She is a founder and host of the Edinburgh Writers’ Forum.
In 2023 Jane’s next novel The Orchid Hunter’s Daughter was Highly Commended in the Jenny Brown Associates Debut Writers Over 50 Award.
Currently Reading: Still Life by Sarah Winman
Book recommendation: Nessa's Seduction by Jayne Castel
OLIVIA KEKEWICH
Olivia is Assistant Manager and Events Coordinator at the award-winning Edinburgh Bookshop, and co-creator of Wee Three Indies virtual events platform.
In 2019, she received the James Patterson Young Bookseller Special Achievement Award and she has been shortlisted for Individual Bookseller of the Year at the British Book Awards twice (2022 & 2024).
Currently Reading: The Prospects by KT Hoffman
Book Recommendation: A Season for Scandal, by Laura Wood
KRISTIN PEDROJA
Kristin writes women’s fiction and won the Women’s Fiction Writers Association’s Rising Star award. She is also a writer and editor for a Swiss boarding school.
In 2008 she started the Highland Literary Salon in Inverness (now Highland LIT) which she hosted and coordinated until 2011. She has chaired book launches and events in Edinburgh, Inverness, and Melbourne and is a founder and host of the Edinburgh Writers’ Forum.
Currently Reading: One Love by Matt Cain
Book Recommendation: Talking at Night by Claire Daverley
JEN HYATT
Jen is a writer, performer, and activist.
Passionate about social justice, she founded many social purpose ventures raising £50m.
Jen writes fiction, as well as stage and screenplays; performing her own work at TED and the Edinburgh Fringe. She’s a Red Woman of the Year and a Freeman of London.
Currently Reading: Absolutely and Forever by Rose Tremain
Book Recommendation: Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
ROBIN FACER
Robin is a former television producer who writes women’s fiction, mystery, and suspense.
She is a Women's Fiction Writers Association's Rising Star award finalist and a graduate of Boston's Grub Street Novel Generator. Robin is currently represented by literary agent Gina Panettieri of the NYC agency Talcott Notch.
Currently Reading: A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke
Book Recommendation: A House Like an Accordion by Audrey Burges
EMMA STEELE
Emma writes women’s fiction.
Having previously worked as a commercial solicitor in Edinburgh, Emma now writes speculative love stories for Mountain Leopard Press (an imprint of Headline). Her debut novel, The Echoes of Us, was published in June 2024 in the UK and has been translated internationally. The book has also been optioned for an Amazon movie.
Currently Reading: The Silence In Between by Josie Ferguson
Book Recommendation: