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
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
Jane Rodgers, presents to the world her first collection of short stories, Hitting Trees with Sticks. The collection is a wide reaching one, taking us from Manchester to Uganda, and touching upon subjects as diverse as African tribal politics, homosexuality, the true nature of love, and death. Each story presents a snap shot, which though Read More
In his eloquent Reith Lectures of 1993, Edward Said argued that intellectual work is also political, that as an intellectual one had a “special duty” to make sure that the “authorised powers of one’s own society” are “accountable”. The public intellectual is both inside and outside society, knowing his society intimately but also seeing it Read More
Immediately following Weiwei’s detention the whole world had demanded to know why he had been arrested. Overnight he was transformed into a martyr… In April 2011, the artist Ai Weiwei was arrested and imprisoned in his home in China. Since then, he has become something of a Western folk hero – a champion of artistic Read More