Featured Writer
Dorrith M Sim
Founder member and Honorary member of Ayr Writers’ Club
I’m proud to have been one of the founders of Ayr Writers’ Club. I also feel very humble to have been made an honorary member. I actually attended Elsie Miller’s creative writing class in Ayr Academy from which it all evolved.
I had a young family at the time and so my stories were triggered off by happenings at home. My first published story was about triplets who had the measles. My husband’s Auntie Aggie and Uncle Joe were also a great source of inspiration with Auntie Aggie’s Clootie Dumpling becoming quite well known.
I’d always enjoyed the BBC’s Listen with Mother. I was delighted when they accepted some of my work. Then Radio Scotland began a new programme for the same age group called Nickity Nackety. I did well with them, even having a week’s programme called Auntie Aggie’s Cooking Week. Sadly these programmes are no longer broadcast.
I had a story published in Child Education called Auntie Aggie and the Tomato Sandwich Plant. As a result of that I received a call from Bernagh Brimms of BBC Northern Ireland. Could they use my story for their series One Potato, Two Potato? Of course I agreed and this started a wonderful contact for me and taught me how to write whole scripts. Although this programme is still around, only repeats are now being played.
Some other publications which published my children’s stories were Nursery World, Scottish Farmer, Press & Journal, My Weekly, Roundabout, Girls’ Brigade Gazette and Pippen. I have also written quite a number of articles.
I came to the UK in July 1939 as a German Jewish refugee. I was with a Kindertransport, a scheme that allowed only unaccompanied children to travel to Britain. I was met at London’s Liverpool Street Station by my new foster parents and taken to their home in Edinburgh. Almost 50 years later I found myself helping to publicise a 50th Reunion of Kindertransport to be held in London. This proved so popular that we started up our own Association in Scotland. Still meeting twice yearly, the Scottish Annual Reunion of Kinder now includes ex-camp survivors, refugees and Kindertransportees.
My story has been published in quite a few books, newspapers and magazines including the Ayr Writers’ Club’s Anthology and I came alone: The Stories of the Kindertransports edited by Bertha Leverton and Shmuel Lowensohn.
My own picture book In My Pocket illustrated by Gerald Fitzgerald describing my journey from Germany and arrival in Edinburgh is still available. (www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/holocaust)