History of Whispering Gallery

Whispering Gallery is the successor to a letterzine named Marzipan and Kisses, founded in the USA in 1984 by Jean Clissold and Karen Brandl. Starting with issue 33, Dorothy Dunnett arranged for an international variant named Whispering Gallery to be created and published by the Dorothy Dunnett Foundation (DDF) for readers outside North America.

The DDF was wound up by Dorothy Dunnett in 2001 and its assets and rights assigned to the Dorothy Dunnett Society (then known as the Dorothy Dunnett Readers’ Association) which now publishes Whispering Gallery. In 2001, Marzipan and Kisses ceased publication and Whispering Gallery became available for readers in North America as well as the rest of the world.

After Val Bierman’s time, the editor’s role has been undertaken by unpaid volunteers, the latest of whom is Suzanne McNeill whose first issue was Issue 108 in September 2010.

Magazine Editors
Marzipan and Kisses
1984–2001	Jean Clissold with Karen Brandl
Whispering Gallery
1991–1994 (Issues 33–40)	Edinburgh Book Festival Staff
1994–2004	Valerie Bierman
2004–2007	Denise Gannon
2007–Jun 2010	Sandra Hall
Sep 2010–Present	Suzanne McNeill