Valentina maintains a wide-ranging work portfolio. She is always open to discuss new opportunities and projects, and can be contacted directly at info@valentinabold.org.

Currently she is half-time Heritage Policy and Projects Officer with the Crichton Trust. As a result of a recent oral history project, she developed an exciting new creative event, partnered by Emily Smith, Jamie McLennan, Amanda Edmiston and Kathleen Cronie. This was performed, in a series of sold out events, in 2022 as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories: ‘Up the Middle Road: Crichton Stories of Resilience and Recovery’, alongside Learning Picnics for schools. It was supported by Year of Stories’ Community Fund, Museum Galleries Scotland, Event Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Creative Scotland, the Crichton Foundation and Archie Sutter Watt Trust.

As Heritage Project Manager with the Theatre Royal, Dumfries, Scotland’s oldest working theatre, Valentina is developing a series of new theatre tours. She is completing work as Lead Researcher on Food Heritage Scotland, supported by Scotland Food and Drink. An expert on Scottish literature, Valentina is Convenor of the Scots Language Centre, Vice-Chair of Literature Alliance Scotland, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a member of the Oral History Society. She chaired the Poetry Panel for the 2022 Saltire Literary Awards; the Book of the Year and First Book panels in 2021 and the Fiction Panel in 2019.

Valentina is General Editor for Peter Lang‘s successful series of books, Studies in the History and Culture of Scotland which has recently published its thirteenth volume. From 2023 she will be editor of the Review of Scottish Culture for EUP. She recently started writing a biography of Scottish journalist, poet and travel writer Florence Dixie, with funding from the Society of Authors. She is also preparing an edition of James Hogg’s The Brownie of Bodsbeck for Edinburgh University Press.

Launch of the ‘Kitchen Conversations’ book, Winchburgh 2019

Often, Valentina provides guest lectures for universities — most recently for the University of the Highlands & Islands fully online MLitt in Scottish Heritage. She is external examiner for Heriot-Watt University in Cultural Heritage and Tourism.

Over 2020-21 Valentina led the co ordination and development of celebrations for the literary anniversary James Hogg 250, hosted by the University of Stirling in partnership with Ettrick & Yarrow Community Development Trust. Before Coronovarius restrictions began, she co-organised an event in Washington DC at Library of Congress (March 2020) and contributed to a podcast for Wigtown Book Town’s 2020 Festival. An additional event was held with the National Library of Scotland in December 2020, celebrating Hogg and Scott’s 250th anniversaries. With funding from the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, she is preparing an online exhibition on the Material Culture of James Hogg, and its legacy, for later this year.

E-mail: info@valentinabold.org