13th Cromarty Film Festival plans announced

The full programme has been announced for the 13th annual Cromarty Film Festival. Guests including best-selling author Denise Mina, acclaimed journalist Lesley Riddoch, sound engineer to the stars Stuart Wilson and directors Zara Balfour and Vicki Lesley will introduce some of their favourite films and more at the Black Isle town 6-8 December Everywhere from…

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Celebrating the Gaelic experience

A forgotten and marginalised culture, the Gaelic experience is exposed as it was, is and all it might be. Written in both English and Gaelic, Shore to Shore, is an anthology of Gaelic raps, secular poems and aphorisms artistically and vividly bringing the Gaelic world to life. Descendants of Gaels now reside in every corner…

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A historical novel that’s so intense it feels real

Rosemary Goring’s powerful sequel to her critically acclaimed debut After Flodden is set in the tumultuous borderlands of Scotland and England. Dacre’s War is a story of personal and political vengeance at the heart of the power struggle. It has been a decade since the battle at Flodden and the unrest is rife in the…

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Granite Noir announces its first two guests

Granite Noir, Aberdeen’s international crime writing Festival, returns in February 2020 with an exciting line-up of Scottish, UK and International authors. While the full programme won’t be announced until early December, organisers have released the names of two headline speakers as part of an early-bird booking package. Sara Paretsky is the award-winning American author who…

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Writing TV drama was a Guilt-free pleasure for Neil

New Scottish TV thriller Guilt continues on BBC Scotland. The four part series, with a black humour, tells the story of Jake (Jamie Sives) and Max (Mark Bonnar), who two brothers who accidentally kill a man. They try to hide their mistake by placing the dead man in his home – but after Jake left…

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Author Ian Rankin launches quirky tourist attraction

Rebus writer Ian Rankin has launched Save the Children’s ‘rescued’ phone box ‘Gilbert’ on Edinburgh’s Queen Street. The old-fashioned red phone box, which is kindly run and maintained by bespoke tailors, Stewart Christie & Co, has been decked out in traditional tiling and bespoke features and contains items of dressing up, such as hats, pipes…

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Exclusive crime event for Book Week Scotland

Ian Rankin will discuss his recently re-launched lost novel, Westwind, with bestselling crime author Stuart MacBride at an exclusive event during Book Week Scotland. Published for the first time in almost 30 years, the espionage thriller about spies, satellites and a global conspiracy of sinister surveillance, is strikingly relevant in today’s political climate. Tickets for the…

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Shortlists for Scotland’s national book awards

The Saltire Society announced the shortlists for the 2019 Saltire Literary Awards, as well as two brand new prizes, at an event in Edinburgh this evening. This year, for the first time, the Saltire Society will be awarding a prize for Scottish Book Cover and a special Award for Lifetime Achievement. The winners of all…

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Experience Christmas like Royalty this year

This December, visitors to the Palace of Holyroodhouse will see the State Apartments transformed with shimmering Christmas trees, twinkling lights and a range of activities to celebrate the festive season. Christmas at the Palace of Holyroodhouse will run from 6 December until 6 January 2020. The festive decorations at the Palace of Holyroodhouse will include…

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