“If you told me four years ago I would be writing stories like this, I would not have believed it,” says Omowunmi Ola-Edagbami.
A migrant from Nigeria who moved to Scotland four years ago to do her masters, she doesn’t have a background in journalism, but has previously written short stories. Now, alongside holding down a full-time job, she runs her own publication. The skills she has been able to bring to this stem partly from a Fellowship provided by Migrant Women Press.
In this regard, Omowunmi’s experience has much in common with that of JinLing Wu, who did have a journalistic background but had left the media to work in PR, before accompanying her partner on a move to Edinburgh.
“I think after the pandemic I was frozen in my current status,”JinLing explains,“but then I started really thinking about what I’m doing here. Is there anything more meaningful for me to do here? Then I saw the Migrant Women Press call. I think journalist has been an identity that I kept from in the past, so when I saw it, I feel like something unclenched. I just decided I wanted to write something relevant to my own experience.”
Broadening cultural narratives
Both women found that mainstream journalism here didn’t offer much room for what they wanted to do. JinLing had previously written for literary journals where she felt very comfortable but couldn’t find much opportunity to do similar work. For Omowunmi, the issue was about subject rather than style.
“When I came here and people started asking me where I learned how to speak, I found it very strange,” she says. “Like, why are you asking me? We speak English in Nigeria.
“I saw different ways that Black people were being portrayed, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t see anyone telling the story the way I would love to see it. I was seeing Black people being portrayed as people who needed saving, who needed help, who had to resort to charities, and I didn’t like it at all. I decided to do something about it.”
Setting up Black Scottish Stories, she reached out to find other Black people in Scotland who she felt were doing impressive work but might need support to tell their stories. Participating in the Fellowship made her aware that more than storytelling skills are needed to run a publication.
“It’s helped me in fact checking,” she says. “Before I put anything out online, I’ve thoroughly fact checked it. Migrant Women Press helped me with this, to build this skill and improve on it. Also, in the way I structure my writing, so my writing has improved greatly from the time before I joined. Now I know the difference between telling a story and writing a journalistic piece. I think it gives my work more authority when people read it and go and fact check me and see that what I’m saying is right. It builds confidence and trust.”
This is particularly important because she’s determined to break down stereotypes.
“And when I came here, I was like, okay, good: so for my children to have the opportunity to have more access to the world, we also have to contribute to the UK as well. So my husband was in full time work while I was schooling. I was working at as well. We were paying all our taxes and our utilities and everything. But when you see what is being written in the media, like most people are getting benefits…” She sighs. “We don’t have recourse to public funds. We can’t get benefits. It would affect our visas.”
“I’ve gotten backlash from different comments on Instagram and TikTok, just because I’m trying to promote Black people in Scotland. But it couldn’t stop me from doing what I have. I found purpose in it.”
Journalism and beyond
While Omowunmi has been focusing on building up her brand, JinLing found herself moving in a new direction.
“Last year while I was working on the project, it did inspire this theatre idea,” she says, “so I sent a proposal of a play to the Playwright Studio. I was given this mentorship opportunity to develop my play. So at the moment, this year, I actually spent quite some time just working on this play. I previously worked on a short play, so there is a continuation, but the topic is different.”
In 2023, she was commissioned by Framework Theatre to write a short play, which was performed at Traverse One. She won the Kavya Prize for her short story collection Cocoon in the same year, and in 2025 had the opportunity to read her work at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. This year, she has had poems published in New Writing Scotland and Wet Grain.
She still feels that the Fellowship was important in enabling her to develop her career.
“I felt like Migrant Women Press really held the space for us. I feel like the same topic, if I go to pitch to a different price, it’s very unlikely I would get accepted. When I planned to write a play featuring two Chinese immigrants, I was told by an experienced producer that it was not considered producible under the current political climate. But from my side, I feel like it’s something that haunted me for a long while, and I feel like as an individual, I need the space to process my experience.”
Omowunmi has now expanded beyond publishing to find other ways of reaching out and broadening people’s perspectives.
“In April this year I was in Rosyth,” she says.” I went to talk to elderly women. They have this community and they invited me to come and speak to them. It was so heart-warming to see that people who are advanced in age are actually wanting to change their mindsets. It’s one of my highlights of the year, going to speak to such people and ‘educating’ them and letting them know what it is to be Black, living in Scotland or living in the UK, and how there are so many misconceptions and how we are mostly treated like a monolith instead of individuals. And the feedback was good. It was great.”
Impressions of Scotland
One of the reasons why JinLing found it hard to get involved in mainstream Scottish journalism is, she says, that geopolitical rivalry made it difficult to fit in as a Chinese person. She found that the Fellowship was helpful in providing her with a deeper understanding of the industry’s internal culture. It also helped her to process the specific experience of being a migrant.
“It’s really very useful to just connect with people when some of our perspectives are quite similar. Even if you’re moving from different countries for different reasons, the fact that you moved and you are living in the culture, you don’t have roots and everything’s new. To be honest, I wish I had read their publications before I choose to move, so that I would make a more informed decision. I think moving permanently comparing to moving temporarily as a student, it’s a really very different experience.”
“Moving from Shanghai to Scotland has been quite a journey. There is a striking difference in intensity, and the market size and accessibility for me personally have changed significantly. But I am grateful for the vibrant arts sector here, which has given me opportunities to work across film, theatre, and literature. It has opened up a very different, and perhaps more meaningful, career than I might have had if I were still living my hectic life in Shanghai.”
Omowunmi also found that the reality of Scotland was different from what she had expected, but not in quite the same way. While she had to console herself over the fact that men only really wear kilts at ceilidhs and not all the time, she couldn’t be happier with her experience of the country as a whole.
“I love Scotland with my whole being,” she says. “I’ve not been everywhere, but I think Scotland is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Every time I go out, I always see something new. I live in Aberdeen and I’m always exploring. There’s this place I found, a storytelling circle with wooden stools and then a big seat carved with wood just for sitting down and telling stories. It’s just so, so beautiful.”
Migrant Women Press is currently seeking support to run its Journalism Fellowship again in 2027.
