Jessie Kesson (1916-1994) was a Scottish author of novels, poetry and plays for radio and television.
She spent part of her childhood in an orphanage, and worked in jobs ranging from a cinema cleaner to an artist’s model before becoming a social worker in London and Glasgow. The early years of her life greatly influenced her work, and her most successful novels include The White Bird Passes, later televised by the BBC. She wrote over ninety plays for TV and radio, and was the producer of Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4 for a number of years.
A fiercely proud Scottish writer, Jessie was a superb observer of Scottish idiom and character. She gave a genuine voice to the experiences of women and painted an honest depiction of the rigours of life. By the time of her death she was a great grandmother and the proud owner of two ‘scarlet goons’, conferred by the Universities of Dundee and Aberdeen.