The status of screenwriters within the film industry has long been a source of strife. Jay Presson Allan - the late writer of Marnie, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Cabaret - once placed those of her profession 'somewhere just below the publicists but above the hairdresser.' A joke, perhaps, but one that resonates: just where do writers figure in the pecking order, when directors claim so much of the glory attached to successful films? And why is so much more respect afforded to scribes in the realms of television and theatre? In association with the Traverse Theatre, where countless writing careers have taken flight, we examine the treatment of writers within various media. Speakers will be confirmed nearer the date. HM