Josie McSkimming: "Gutsy Girls: Love, Poetry and Sisterhood"

In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, pychotherapist, university lecturer and author Josie McSkimming, chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Gutsy Girls: Love, Poetry and Sisterhood.

Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:

• Why Gutsy Girls began as a 180,000-word biography of the poet Dorothy Porter, though later transformed into a hybrid of memoir, biography and family history.
• Why Gutsy Girls is a pioneering work placing sibling relationships at the centre of the narrative.
• Why Josie waited until both her parents had died before publishing.
• Why Josie shaped the 19 chapters of Gutsy Girls to mirror Dorothy Porter’s published and unpublished works chronologically, from her childhood creation ‘My Pocket Book of Prayer’ (spelled P-O-K-E-T), through to her acclaimed verse novels, including The Monkey’s Mask.
• Why Josie chose the title Gutsy Girls.
• How Josie found her own authentic voice beyond religious constraints, while honouring the strength of all three sisters who had to forge paths beyond childhood trauma and family expectations.