“Research is the fascinating bit [of writing historical fiction] but you have to get rid of a lot of it.” Clearly, a lot of what was not used for the writing of Unfashioned Creatures, was used during the book launch in what felt more like a lecture than a promotional event. Whilst the “lecture” was Read More
Unfortunately, as sometimes happens, the previous event ran over the allotted time and the session with Sarah Hall and Ruth Thomas was delayed by twenty minutes. It was unfortunate not only because waiting around is the last thing anyone enjoys doing, but because the discussion hosted by Peggy Hughes, the Dundee Literary Festival director, was Read More
Estás sola y nadie te mira. Eres la reina, bella como la luna envuelta en la seda de su noche. Estás sola y te vas a morir./ ’You’re alone and nobody looks at you. You’re the queen, beautiful as the moon wrapped up in the silk of her night. You’re alone and you’re going to Read More
Jenni Fagan’s first novel, The Panopticon, was an immediate hit, not only in Scotland, but worldwide – it was even chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her Book Club. Perhaps this latter fact isn’t so surprising, since the tough-childhood subject-matter is right up Oprah’s street, so to speak. The novel is set in a secure children’s Read More
This was the launch of Whaleback City, an anthology of poems inspired by the city of Dundee and its surroundings. The book, the last to be published by Dundee University Press, contains poems spanning five centuries – many of them written by poets from Dundee – and is dedicated to singer songwriter Michael Marra, a Read More
“At any given time, I have two things on my mind: a theme that interests me and a problem of verbal form, meter, diction, etc. The theme looks for the right form: the form looks for the right theme. When the two come together, I am able to start writing.” W.H. Auden A member of Read More
Following another of his periods in the wilderness, William McIlvanney is once again a name to conjure with. When he appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2011, McIlvanney vented his frustration that he could not get a contract for his latest book. The publishers “wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole”. Two years Read More
The first poem Paula Jennings read during her Literary Festival session shares a title with her debut collection, Singing Lucifer. In her poem, as she points out, “Lucifer gets a slightly better press.” He is not merely the archetype of hubris and the architect of his own fall, but the revolutionary, “striking out for freedom.” Read More
I have to admit I always do a double take when I see the work of world-renowned artists in a Dundee gallery, so rare are such events. This latest exhibition hopefully heralds of change in this respect. It is the latest exhibition held as part of the V and A at Dundee Project and contains Read More
Two seemingly disparate novels were brought together at the Dundee Literary Festival last weekend as authors Rosemary Goring and James Robertson shared the stage to discuss how they have been inspired by episodes in Scotland’s history to produce works of compelling fiction. Rosemary Goring’s debut novel, After Flodden, is a sweeping saga of political intrigue, Read More