Donna Ashworth shares exclusive poem

Poet Donna Ashworth shares her new work, Home, written for Scottish Field. HAILING from Tillicoultry, Donna Ashworth rose to fame on social media, with her poetry winning a legion of celebrity fans, including Cat Deeley, Lisa Faulkner, and Lisa Snowden. A new collection of her poems, I Wish I Knew, has been released by Black…

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Abbotsford prepares for tomorrow’s ScottFest

SIR Walter Scott’s home at Abbotsford near Tweedbank is making the final preparations for its “ScottFest”. The three-day festival celebrating the life of Scotland’s most famous author begins tomorrow. Events include jousting, terrier racing, and birds of prey displays. The festival marks Scott’s birthday, which this year coincides with the 200th anniversary of the author’s…

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FRINGE REVIEW: “9 Circles”

9 Circles – Assembly George Square Studios – Studio Two – 1.30pm THE title is structured around the nine rings of Dante’s Inferno. Watching this gritty, hard hitting, and at times raw and troubling production leaves you rattled. That’s good theatre in my book. The play is based on a US serviceman called Steve Dale…

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Edinburgh Festival Fringe begins in style

THE world’s biggest arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, kicks off in the Scottish capital today. Acts from 58 countries will mount nearly 50,000 performances of more than 3,100 shows between now and 29 August. The festival is marking its 75th anniversary this year, with previews of shows running over the past couple of days.…

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Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers at the Fringe

THE Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers – a band made up of tartan noir authors – is preparing to play four shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The super group – which consists of Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre, Doug Johnstone, Val McDermid, Stuart Neville, and Luca Veste – play “songs about murder and death”. Its covers…

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Marianne Dissard debut photo show in Glasgow

GLASGOW is hosting the debut solo photography exhibition by singer, author, and filmmaker Marianne Dissard. Dissard found herself living in Kent at the end of 2020 after her singing tour of Europe was cancelled. Over the next 18 months, she turned to street photography and captured life on the Isle of Thanet. She moved to…

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Dundee becomes ‘Beanotown’

DUNDEE has been transformed into “Beanotown” for a week, with a Hollywood-style sign on the Law. The sign is part of the Dundee Summer (Bash) Streets Festival, which runs until Sunday. At six metres high by 38 metres long – or 20 feet by 125 feet, in old money – the sign can be seen…

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Val McDermid and Ian Rankin at Largo Arts Week

AUTHORS Val McDermid and soon-to-be-Sir Ian Rankin are topping the bill at Largo Arts Week, which begins on Saturday. The writers will take part in “An audience with…” events in the Fife village’s Crusoe Hotel. Lower Largo is famous as the birthplace of Alexander Selkirk, the man who inspired the story of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson…

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Why do authors use pen names?

THE reasons why writers use pen names is the theme for a new exhibition at the National Library of Scotland. “Pen Names” opens at the library on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh on Friday. The exhibition draws on material from the library’s archive to cover a range of writers using pseudonyms from the 1800s to…

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