Sci-fi music revives Dundee’s Frankenstein link

DUNDEE’S link with Frankenstein will be explored during next month’s Science Fiction Experience rock concert. David Darling, the science writer who is producing the gig, has penned a track inspired by the book, which Mary Shelley wrote after living in Dundee from 1812 to 1814. The show coincides with the 200th anniversary of the second…

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Glencairn Glass short story competition results revealed

THE Glencairn Glass – the world’s favourite whisky glass, produced by Scottish glassware company Glencairn Crystal – has today revealed the winner and runner-up of its Scottish-themed crime short story competition, in association with Scottish Field. Having supported and celebrated Scottish crime writing talent with its ongoing sponsorship of the prestigious McIlvanney and Bloody Scotland…

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Review: Potion Making 2.0 at The Cauldron

Megan Amato takes her cocktail ‘potion making’ to the next level at The Cauldron in Edinburgh. EDINBURGH’S magic aficionados, fantasy lovers, and cocktail enthusiasts alike may have experienced magic meeting science with the Cauldron’s molecular cocktail making sessions. However, the Cauldron Edinburgh – along with its six other locations – has launched a new and…

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Book Review: ‘One Hungry Dragon’

Megan Amato reviews One Hungry Dragon, the new children’s book from Edinburgh-based author Alastair Chisholm. IT’S no secret that Edinburgh-based children’s author Alastair Chisholm loves dragons as his early reader series, The Dragon Storm, is full of lore and popular amongst children ages six to eight. In One Hungry Dragon, he takes on a younger…

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Royal Highland Hoolie adds extra date

AN EXTRA date has been added to the “Royal Highland Hoolie”, a Scottish and Irish music festival running alongside the Royal Highland Show. Musicians will now take to the stage on both Friday 23 and Saturday 24 June. The line-up already includes Derek Ryan, Skerryvore, and Lisa McHugh. Jim Warnock, chairman the Royal Highland &…

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Record audience for Granite Noir festival

A RECORD 15,000 people visited Aberdeen over the weekend for the Granite Noir crime writing festival. The festival’s seventh outing attracted almost 11,500 people to its shows, with a further 3,000 or so visiting the “Curriculum of Crime” exhibition at the city’s Music Hall. Highlights of this year’s festival included author Val McDermid in conversation…

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The Peaky Blinders head to Edinburgh with Rambert Dance

A LEADING contemporary dance company is preparing to take its show, Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, to Edinburgh. Following sell-out performances in Birmingham and a successful London premier, Rambert Dance will be taking to the stage at Edinburgh Festival Theatre from Tuesday 28 February to Saturday 4 March. The show is inspired by…

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Walter Scott Prize longlist unveiled

THE longlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction has been published Twelve novels are in the running for the £25,000 prize, which celebrates books published in the UK, Ireland, and the Commonwealth. James Robertson won last year’s prize with News of the Dead. Katie Grant, chair of the judges, said: “This year’s submissions…

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Last-minute drinks for Valentine’s Day

Drinks blogger James Robertson recommends some last-minute drinks for Valentine’s Day. THE annual culling of red roses, carnations, and other flowers is taking place as florists prepare for Saint Valentine’s Day or, if one is being correct, the Feast of Saint Valentine. Chocolates, bottles of fizz, and maybe a few engagement rings are all being…

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Book review: ‘Wee Unicorn’

Wee Unicorn Meg McLaren Hachette THE unicorn has never gone out of fashion and its magical presence has long been rendered in children’s books in all manner of ways. However, in Wee Unicorn, Inverness-based writer and illustrator Meg McLaren transform’s the fabled creature from a being with mystical powers to a lonely protagonist who yearns…

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