Janet Coats was part of the renowned thread-making family, J&P Coats. The eldest daughter of Thomas Coats and Margaret Glen, her father was one of four brothers who inherited a Paisley-based thread manufacturing company that was renamed J&P Coats in 1830. Janet’s literary aspirations resulted in two volumes of nature-inspired poetry, one of which was published as Verses and Rhymes, in 1899. She was also the wife of publisher James Tait Black.

Paisley Book Festival’s theme this year is Radical New Futures, motivated by the importance of green spaces which can offer solace and recuperation at a time of crisis. They can be grand places of outstanding beauty or small, resilient patches of nature in the hearts of our towns and cities. They could be anything from parks to window boxes. Some are carefully manicured, others unkempt and wild.

Paisley Book Festival would like to read, hear and see your poetry on the theme of Green Spaces.

Learn more here.