Posts Tagged ‘writer’
Peter Mullan’s Orphans find a new ‘home’
Scottish movie classic Orphans – released 20 years ago this month – is being celebrated by BBC Scotland. The recently launched channel is screening the film, directed by Peter Mullan and hailed internationally as a darkly comic masterpiece, on Saturday 11 May. Preceding the movie screening will be a specially commissioned new documentary Orphans Reunited,…
Read MoreExamining the people accused of witchcraft
Remembering Scotland’s Witches is an all-day public event being held later this month. The talk, on Sunday 19 May, chaired by writer and broadcaster Lesley Riddoch, will combine the academic knowledge of Julian Goodare and Louise Yeoman (co-authors of the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft), author Dr Lizanne Henderson (author of Witchcraft and Folklore in the…
Read MoreExtermination to germination for the jay
The naturalist Henry Williamson described the distinctive shrill call of the jay as like the sound of tearing linen. But this bird has a large repertoire of vocalisations and is one of the best mimics in the avian world, particularly adept at mimicking sheep, lambs and horses. Some become specialists; I once followed the sounds…
Read MoreMcIlvanney was the godfather of tartan noir
Long before Rankin or Welsh had ever picked up a pen, William McIlvanney had already created some of the most iconic hard men in Scottish literature. The writer, who died in December 2015, casts a shadow over the literary world in Scotland even today, and his memory lives on with a prize named after him…
Read MoreSports stars headline Borders Book Festival
Scottish sporting legends David Coulthard, Stephen Hendry and Gregor Townsend are just some of the highlights at this summer’s Baillie Gifford Borders Book Festival. Along with inspiring women Kate Humble, Ruth Davidson and Susan Calman, and jockey Bob Champion, they will attend the prestigious event. The full-line up of over 100 events is announced today…
Read MoreThe Scotsman who was a hero to Albert Einstein
When Albert Einstein, perhaps the most famous physicist of all time, published his special theory of relativity in 1905, he used the opening sentence to mention one of Scotland’s greatest scientific minds – James Clerk Maxwell. Later, when marking the centenary of Maxwell’s birth, Einstein wrote: ‘The theory of relativity owes its origins to Maxwell’s…
Read MoreScotland’s picture perfect islands star in new book
Scotland is known throughout the world for its natural beauty, with its islands – great and small – attracting international interest. These have now been captured in a visual odyssey of adventure and exploration, in one of the world’s most alluring natural environments Award-winning, globally travelled landscape photographer Allan Wright demonstrates his unique ability to…
Read MoreBoswell Book Festival to hear from Grenfell duo
As is often the case, the most awful of tragedies can bring out the very best in a community. Following the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower in 2017 a group of women would gather at the community kitchen in the Al-Manaar mosque. Twice a week they would cook recipes they had grown up eating in…
Read MoreShining a light on Glasgow’s colourful past
Scotland’s second city deserves a book devoted to its colourful past and Alan Taylor demonstrates that there is much more to the ‘no mean city’ than meets the eye in Glasgow – The Autobiography. He strides across centuries and delves into numerous sources for these incisive anecdotes from natives such as Liz Lochead and Tartan…
Read MoreThe Full Monty stage show is all set to be hot stuff
The musical version of hit movie The Full Monty is to get down to business at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow later this month. Simon Beaufoy’s The Full Monty has an all-star cast and stellar moves as part of the production’s final ever UK tour. Opening on Tuesday 23 April and running until Saturday 27…
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