There are belts to clinch, belts of bling and belts to hold up breeks, and then there is perhaps the most remarkable belt of them all – the Shetlander’s knitting belt. From that sturdy item, many yarns may spool, and they in turn create patterns, pick up motifs of tradition and knit up something warm Read More
To be treated to readings by two writers included in Granta’s 2013 Best Young Novelists list was double blessing indeed on a grey October morning in Dundee. In a venue steamy with wet raincoats, Jenni Fagan and Sarah Hall read from their latest works, each with her own distinctive style. Fagan’s prizewinning début novel, The Read More
Billed as “an exploration of Scottish crime writing from opposite sides of the country”, the session opened with readings from each of the author’s respective novels, then moved on to explore the past careers of both Mina and Johnstone, before a discussion of Scottish crime was conducted in intriguing and amusing detail. Mina’s reading from Read More
“Where does it all begin?” asks the opening line to Deirdre Madden’s Time Past, Time Present and it is the same question I ask myself as I sit down to write this review. Given the novel’s high school setting as ‘adolescent’ is the only way to describe the literary execution of this book. It’s difficult Read More
Comprising a panel of debut authors, Juliet Conlin, Neil McKay and the winner of the Dundee International Book Prize 2013, Nicola White, “The Road to Publication” gave a detailed insight into the process of emerging in print, from the initial approach to writing to ultimate completion of a work. The hour-long session was structured around Read More
Michael Hulse’s session was the first of the daily “Poem and a Piece” lunchtime events at the Dundee Literary Festival. The handing out of food and drinks to the audience was a little clumsy at the start but not disruptive enough for anyone to get annoyed about. Other than that, nothing disturbed Hulse’s readings and Read More
This session brought together three enthusiastic historical fiction writers and a professional historian, and promised to discuss some of the aspects of their work, as well as the genre in general; hopes were high for an interesting and informative session. Imogen Robertson’s most recent publication is Paris Winter set in the early twentieth century. Iain Read More
It is more than understandable that feminists, particularly those with affection for the work of Andrea Dworkin, might have expected to be- at least- a little offended by this performance. How pleasant it is to be proved wrong. Bissett delicately balances reminiscences of his own life, man and boy, with readings from the work of Read More
Bird-Woman Nothing is yet in its true form – C. S. Lewis The bird-woman is in the field in her blue dress, small bird wrapped in a rag of cotton in her hand, legs like twigs, throat between songs The sunlight is squeezing her, squeezing the field-grass until her blue dress is a distant boat Read More
I caught up with James Robertson as he was signing a copy of The Gruffalo for a wee boy who seemed perplexed at the adage ‘Lang may your lum reek.’ Robertson ha d, of course, recently translated Julia Donaldson’s children’s classic into Scots; I had also just witnessed a riotous storytelling session where he not Read More