Elaine Burke is a writer of fiction, with a particular interest in crime. As a child she devoured the Famous Five, Secret Seven and Nancy Drew books and, at secondary school, her English teacher encouraged her to pursue her passion in literature. She left school at 17 to attend the University of Stirling, where she Read More
After a long apprenticeship in healthcare, with a short detour in education, William Hume (aka Ian) arrived in Dundee with no other expectations than to develop his writing skills. The rigour of workshops, seminars, tutorials, reading, writing and feedback exercises that followed directed his interests into poetry and essay writing, a few samples from his Read More
Jane Swanson has been putting words on paper and creating imaginary worlds since childhood. For many years she worked as an archaeologist, uncovering hidden narratives from deep beneath the ground, and later as a teacher, sharing her love of stories and writing with young children. She writes short stories, creative non-fiction, and reviews of fiction Read More
Kai Durkin has been a university student for the past 5 years, and likes to pretend they didn’t exist before that. They completed their undergrad in English and Creative Writing, and their MLitt in Writing Practice and Study, at the University of Dundee. They enjoy writing in a variety of mediums, but they especially love Read More
Bullet Point Are all repeated acts what make me who I am? It seems so, with the changes I make just being added to the list. Even if I scratch one off, there are always more to add. The clothes I won’t throw away The perfume I rarely use The overused baking tray and my Read More
If I were a painter I should paint these first impressions in pale yellow, silver, and green. (Virginia Woolf) [1] Blue I can paint my earliest memory in blue – my memory of the jam jar I dropped at my parents’ feet after being so certain I Read More
Know my name A name is a fickle thing. For me, it’s a way for people to get my attention; for others, it is me. For my part, I don’t think of myself as ‘Craig’. I answer to it, but I don’t like it. I’ve heard it remarked that it is a ‘good Scottish Read More
Building A House I have always been taken with the word ‘stanza.’ It has to do with its architectural etymology. It comes from the Italian word for ‘room’ and upon learning this, I thought: of course. Aren’t all great works of poetry just like houses? Or hotels? Buildings? Be it drawn from the Read More
I say to my daughters never trust March for its joy comes in a quarter but takes full month’s charge January 13, 1991 The Soviet Union president demands the restoration of the USSR constitution in Lithuania. When the Lithuanian government disagrees, tanks and trucks with armed soldiers fill city streets. The Lithuanian prime minister Read More
Utilising the Rare Books Collection and the manuscripts held in the Archive Collections (University of Dundee), this trove of disparate pieces is a fine example of the different ways that creative writers find answers to a common challenge. Fragments of ancient text with wonderfully obsolescent language, books on anatomy with archaic text and exquisite artwork, tomes Read More