A writer, poet and playwright who was well-regarded as a champion of the Scots language has died at the age of 70.
During her glittering career, Janet Paisley was nominated for awards from organisations including Bafta and the Royal Television Society and even had a novel shortlisted as Scottish Book of the Year.
Born in in Essex in 1948, Ms Paisley grew up in Avonbridge near Falkirk and lived in the area her whole life – later moving to another small village nearby.
>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter
She trained as a primary school teacher and then, after the break-up of her marriage, looked to creative writing as a way to earn a living and care for her six children.
Ms Paisley’s first work – a short story – was published in 1979 and this spurred her on to try her hand at all manner of storytelling.
She followed up the piece with five tomes of poetry, several more stories and work in the theatre, including turns at the Edinburgh Festival and Glasgow’s Mayfest.
Having previously worked in a school, the author was a regular to classrooms up and down the country entertaining youngsters with readings of her work.
The author also used these skills to teach classes in creative writing at Glasgow University.
Outside of literature, Ms Paisley contributed to a series of BBC Radio education shows and worked as a scriptwriter for Scottish television series High Road and River City.
After studying the Jacobites for radio stories and a stage play in the 1980s, Ms Paisley revisited the topic with her first novel, White Rose Rebel, in 2007.
She then delved further back in time for Warrior Daughter two years later, which explored Celtic history in the year 1 AD.
Ms Paisley said her literary inspirations spanned a wide range of works, including everything from the King James Bible to Victorian author Margaret Oliphant and fellow Scots poets Violet Jacon and Liz Lochhead.
Her books and poems have been translated into twelve languages, including Lithuanian and Ukranian.
She has also spoken at academic symposiums in Russia and taken part in reading tours in locales including Paris and Slovakia, helping her reach a truly global audience with her work.
With many of her pieces dealing with the subject of domestic abuse, Ms Paisley was invited to Elgin in 2004 to speak at the Moray domestic abuse forum’s annual conference.
One of Ms Paisley’s six sons, David, posted a tribute online yesterday afternoon.
He wrote: “My mum, poet, author, playwright, Janet Paisley died this morning, surrounded by love.
“She was a vivid and inspiring talent and a much-beloved mother and friend.”
A spokesman from the Scottish Poetry Library said: “The SPL is sad to learn of the passing of Janet Paisley, poet and playwright.
“She contributed to two of our publications, The Thing that Mattered Most and Addressing the Bard.
“She’ll be much missed by family, friends and readers.”
