Glasgow is a huge influence on Chris Brookmyre

The Bloody Scotland crime writing festival is taking place in Stirling this weekend. One of the guests this year is the acclaimed Christopher Brookmyre. He tells Scottish Field about his life and influences. As a writer, I’ve always thought Barrhead was a great place to grow up because you got a sense of all of…

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No papering over the cracks at book festival

Interior decoration with wallpaper is nothing new – but to hang it on the outside of a building is definitely unique. Artist Astrid Jaekel has wallpapered the outside of around a dozen shops and other buildings in the centre of Wigtown ahead the town’s 20th annual book festival. Each design tells a story about a…

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Book review – Hometown Tales: Highlands & Hebrides

From a series pairing new voices and celebrated writers, this book weaves together two tales of the Highlands and the Hebrides in a celebration of regional diversity. Songwriter Colin MacIntyre’s The Boy in the Bubble is a funny memoir about growing up on Mull, while emerging writer Ellen MacAskill’s A9 is a piece of short…

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Let there be light at Kirkcudbright festival

International soprano Emma Morwood yesterday sang in what could be the world’s smallest opera house for the programme launch of next month’s Kirkcudbright Festival of Light. The 10-day event, from 5-14 October, is a celebration of the remarkable quality of light in the southern Scottish town which has attracted and inspired generations of artists. The…

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The facts of death come to Wigtown Book Festival

An agnostic bishop, a scientist and a ex-atheist with a fascination for a clerical killer will be exploring the many faces of death at Wigtown Book Festival. Former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway, forensic anthropologist Professor Dame Sue Black and literary critic Stuart Kelly will discuss various aspects of the one inescapable reality that unites…

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It’s been a magical 21 years for Harry Potter

It’s been 21 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone first hit bookshelves across the country but the magic of the award-winning series is as alive as ever, and perhaps no more so than in Edinburgh. A castle on the hill, a handful of grand boarding schools, cobbled streets and tales of witches and…

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WINE TO DINE – OCTOBER 2018 – WILD MUSHROOMS

Drinks writer Peter Ranscombe selects five wines to go with wild mushrooms. FEW ingredients are as versatile as mushrooms, offering plenty of pairing opportunities, from crisp whites that cut through sauces and creamy chardonnay that accentuates buttery accompaniments all the way through to fresh and fruity reds for meatier dishes. Check out the wild mushroom…

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New book marks a lost era in small Scottish town

A new book on a small town in the south of Scotland takes readers back into an almost forgotten era where people were far closer to the land and to each other. Whithorn: An Economy of People by Julia Muir Watt is one of many books about Dumfries and Galloway being celebrated as part of…

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Musicians and poets united for cultural exploration

Musicians and poets from throughout the UK and Ireland will come together in Scotland to explore their respective histories and languages through poetry and music. Ten of the UK and Ireland’s finest traditional poets and musical artists including vocalists using five languages, medieval instruments: crwth and northern triplepipes as well as fiddle, harp, accordian and…

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The man who destroyed Edinburgh Castle and Arthur’s Seat

Two of Edinburgh’s most famous landmarks are destroyed during the Festival in a new action adventure story from a Scots comedy writer. Earlier this week, Scottish Field reviewed Death on the Mile, a full-cast audio adventure story by Donald McLeary, from Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire. Donald co-writes award winning Radio 4 comedy Fags, Mags and…

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