Gillean McDougall was born in Glasgow to a musical family – her parents met while taking part in a BBC Scottish Home Service radio variety show produced by the legendary Howard Lockhart. She studied music at the University of Glasgow and opera at the RSAMD before joining BBC Radio 3 as PA to the producer Elaine Padmore. One of her jobs was to type up and then deliver lengthy opera scripts to the Radio 3 announcers at Broadcasting House. She thought this looked like a great job…and then joined BBC Scotland as a continuity announcer and radio newsreader.
Over years spent in studios, Gillean witnessed many developments in style, editorial choices and technology. From introducing concerts with the BBC SSO, programme presentation and keeping the network on air, she moved into television continuity and network direction. As a voice-over artist, she has portrayed Hildegard of Bingen, Queen Victoria and one third of The Andrews Sisters. The writing element of her work developed to become a necessary part of her life, and something she wanted to explore. She took some classes and joined some workshops, and in 2015 decided to return to study.
Gillean studied on the respected Creative Writing MLitt course at the University of Glasgow, graduating with distinction and establishing the Honest Error workshop on Charles Rennie Mackintosh as part of her studies. For the Doctor of Fine Arts, which she completed in 2022, her thesis was a memoir, A Year to Find My Father (shortlisted for the Mslexia Memoir Prize); an exploration of a year walking the grounds of an abandoned asylum near her home reflecting on the empty space left in a family when a member – in Gillean’s case, her much-loved father – was absent because of mental illness. Her research led her to the archive of Gartnavel Royal Asylum, held at Glasgow’s Mitchell Library but little-known. Giving voice to these forgotten patients became important as a creative force, and the project Writing the Asylum allowed her to form a collaborative group to generate more creative work in the area which is so important to her. Details on the ‘Projects’ page.
As she learned more about Gartnavel Royal, Gillean wanted to write fiction set there. Her debut novel, The Legacy of Gabriel Thorne was completed on a Curtis Brown Creative course in 2022 and tells the story of a young psychiatrist at ‘Applefields Asylum’ in 1912. Choices he makes in life and love come back to haunt him – and the young archivist who inherits his house in Glasgow, where the walls hold dark secrets. The novel was shortlisted for the inaugural Jenny Brown Associates Debut 50+ Award in 2023, and Gillean is now represented by Jenny Brown.
In 2023, Gillean was invited to form a creative writing group at The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and the prescription came into being. Together with the staff of the College, the group looked at items from the archival collection and were joined by guests to discuss the areas of ‘Bones’, ‘Breath’, ‘Delinquents’ and ‘Death.’ An anthology of writing was published in October 2023, and there are more details on the ‘Projects’ page.
Gillean McDougall was born in Glasgow to a musical family – her parents met while taking part in a BBC Scottish Home Service radio variety show produced by the legendary Howard Lockhart. She studied music at the University of Glasgow and opera at the RSAMD before joining BBC Radio 3 as PA to the producer Elaine Padmore. One of her jobs was to type up and then deliver lengthy opera scripts to the Radio 3 announcers at Broadcasting House. She thought this looked like a great job…and then joined BBC Scotland as a continuity announcer and radio newsreader.
Over years spent in studios, Gillean witnessed many developments in style, editorial choices and technology. From introducing concerts with the BBC SSO, programme presentation and keeping the network on air, she moved into television continuity and network direction. As a voice-over artist, she has portrayed Hildegard of Bingen, Queen Victoria and one third of The Andrews Sisters. The writing element of her work developed to become a necessary part of her life, and something she wanted to explore. She took some classes and joined some workshops, and in 2015 decided to return to study.
Gillean studied on the respected Creative Writing MLitt course at the University of Glasgow, graduating with distinction and establishing the Honest Error workshop on Charles Rennie Mackintosh as part of her studies. For the Doctor of Fine Arts, which she completed in 2022, her thesis was a memoir, A Year to Find My Father (shortlisted for the Mslexia Memoir Prize); an exploration of a year walking the grounds of an abandoned asylum near her home reflecting on the empty space left in a family when a member – in Gillean’s case, her much-loved father – was absent because of mental illness. Her research led her to the archive of Gartnavel Royal Asylum, held at Glasgow’s Mitchell Library but little-known. Giving voice to these forgotten patients became important as a creative force, and the project Writing the Asylum allowed her to form a collaborative group to generate more creative work in the area which is so important to her. Details on the ‘Projects’ page.
As she learned more about Gartnavel Royal, Gillean wanted to write fiction set there. Her debut novel, The Legacy of Gabriel Thorne was completed on a Curtis Brown Creative course in 2022 and tells the story of a young psychiatrist at ‘Applefields Asylum’ in 1912. Choices he makes in life and love come back to haunt him – and the young archivist who inherits his house in Glasgow, where the walls hold dark secrets. The novel was shortlisted for the inaugural Jenny Brown Associates Debut 50+ Award in 2023, and Gillean is now represented by Jenny Brown.
In 2023, Gillean was invited to form a creative writing group at The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and the prescription came into being. Together with the staff of the College, the group looked at items from the archival collection and were joined by guests to discuss the areas of ‘Bones’, ‘Breath’, ‘Delinquents’ and ‘Death.’ An anthology of writing was published in October 2023, and there are more details on the ‘Projects’ page.