Garvagh poet Anne McMaster explores women’s writing in Northern Ireland in BBC documentary Out Of The Silence

Ulster-Scots poet Anne McMaster explores women’s writing in Northern Ireland in Out Of The Silence, a new documentary for BBC iPlayer and BBC One Northern Ireland to be broadcast on Tuesday 11 February at 10.40pm.

The documentary has been produced by DoubleBand Films, with assistance from the Northern Ireland Screen Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund.

Anne McMaster grew up on her family farm outside Garvagh, County Londonderry, before leaving Northern Ireland for California.

Her father’s death brought her back home, to look after the family farm, and to write. It wasn’t only Anne’s return that inspired her to become a poet. It was also her Presbyterian family background and language of her homeplace – Ulster-Scots.

Today, Anne is a leading voice in the creative resurgence in Ulster-Scots writing.

In Out Of The Silence, Anne explores how women’s writing in Ulster has moved from the margins into the mainstream – through an Ulster-Scots lens. She uncovers unsung literary heroines from our past and meets members of the new generation of female writers from Northern Ireland, to find out what has inspired their literary imaginations.

Anne discovers how the poems of little known Aghadowey poet Olivia Elder offer a unique insight into a 17th Century rural Ulster community, as seen from a female perspective. She also hears how Donegal poet Sarah Leech used Ulster-Scots to dramatic effect, and how Janet McNeill’s Presbyterian family background shaped her novels set in 1950s Northern Ireland.

Jan Carson tells Anne how her Presbyterian upbringing has shaped her writing, while Michelle Gallen describes how Ulster-Scots words influence her character’s dialogue. And Wendy Erskine reveals how she finds inspiration in the lives of the people of east Belfast.

Interwoven with the stories of past writers and her encounters with contemporary female writers is Anne’s personal reflections on how she discovered her own literary voice – by embracing her Ulster-Scots heritage and language. She also considers how Ulster-Scots, after decades of rejection within the classroom, has been embraced and revitalised by a new generation of writers, including herself.