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
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
I am not a fan of poetry. The decision to attend an event that was not only a reading of poetry, but poetry set to music, was not mine. Subsequently, I was not looking forward to spending a wet and grey afternoon listening to a genre towards which I had an aversion, accompanied by a Read More
Maybe it’s a quirk of crime-writers that they remain reserved and secretive, but this session afforded little in the way of scoops or sensational confessions from either of the authors. Or perhaps with only an hour in which the audience could question the two crime-writing specialists, such admissions were unlikely. Quintin Jardine can justifiably be Read More
As a fellow writer, I was excited to be asked to review A.L. Kennedy’s event. Kennedy’s latest book, On Writing, is a collection of her regular blog posts for The Guardian newspaper, as well as a selection of essays, and is one in a long line of works that includes novels, short story collections and Read More
Best known as a radio DJ, Vic Galloway is also a musician, journalist and presenter. He has now fulfilled a personal ambition by adding “published author” to this list. His book, Songs in the Key of Fife, tells the story of the hugely influential musicians hailing from the East Neuk of Fife, many of whom Read More