Fractured Families, Resilient Women with Kanza Javed and Pam Williams

Award-winning authors Kanza Javed and Pam Williams explore the themes of migration, displacement, and the heaviness of family expectations when trying to build a life in a new country.

Kanza Javed was born and raised in Pakistan. Her recent short story collection, What Remains After a Fire (W. W. Norton, US/UK), was recently longlisted for the 2026 Dylan Thomas Prize. She is the winner of the 2020 Reynolds Price Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted by the Santa Fe Writers Project. Her work has appeared in American Literary Review, Salamander, The Malahat Review, The Greensboro Review, Punch Magazine, Narrating Pakistan, and elsewhere.

A Londoner of Grenadian heritage, Pam Williams graduated from St Martin’s School of Art in 1984 with a degree in Fashion, and spent the next two decades working in the industry as a journalist, Fashion Editor (at She, PS, Shape and Now magazines) and freelance stylist. In 2010, Pam made a career change and became a foster carer before moving into education three years later as a supply teaching assistant. A Trace of Sun began as a memoir of her mother’s life, which she had started 30 years prior and transformed into a fictionalised story inspired by some of her family’s experiences as part of the so-called Windrush generation. Pam lives with her husband in London, together they have one son.

About the Festival
The Edinburgh Women’s Fiction Festival is back for 2026!

This year's festival will take place on Saturday 26 October 2026, returning to our lovely venue of Christ Church Morningside - just five minutes walk from Bruntsfield Links and a short bus ride from the city centre.

The Edinburgh Women's Fiction Festival is a literary festival celebrating writing for, by, and about women. We are an inclusive event and welcome everyone who finds joy in reading women's fiction - commercial, romance, historical, literary, book club and beyond. Our festival showcases authors of genres that are often overlooked, and our aim is to give readers the opportunity to connect with their favourite writers.

2026 Programme
Details of our full programme can be found on our website.

Tickets
General ticket sales will begin on 31 August 2026

Our festival strongly believes in paying our authors, chairs, and workshop leaders the fee recommended by the Scottish Book Trust, which has increased (which is wonderful for our authors!). This has meant an increase in ticket prices, but we are certain you’ll think it’s worth it!

Concession tickets — Where applicable, are available to students, registered disabled (plus one companion), registered unemployed, under 16s, Young Scot card holders and sponsors. Proof of entitlement will be required.