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Indelible Ink: Nina de la Mer’s ‘4a.m.’
In previous columns, mention has been made of the Chemical Generation of writers, whose members included Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner, Gordon Legge, Laura Hird and Paul Reekie among others. They were a group who appeared in the mid 90s and who were collectively thought of as writers who reflected the thoughts, hopes and dreams (and […]
October 1, 2012
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Indelible Ink: Ajay Close’s ‘Forspoken’
One of the best things about writing this column is that it has given me the excuse to revisit books from my past, and it’s always interesting to see how they’ve aged. In the late 90s I picked up a copy of Ajay Close’s ‘Forspoken’ for the simple reason that she was one of the […]
September 3, 2012
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Indelible Ink: Andrew Raymond Drennan’s ‘The Immaculate Heart’
Recently there has been hot debate about the nature of the Booker Prize and if it has institutionalised class and national prejudice at its heart. I understand why writers view these things as important, but as James Kelman said in his speech following his win in 1994 for ‘How Late it Was, How Late’, he […]
August 6, 2012
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Indelible Ink: Martin Millar’s ‘Lux the Poet’
As with love, defining what makes something cult is difficult, but you know it when you encounter it. In the late 1980s Scottish writing had been reinvigorated by Iain Banks, James Kelman and Alasdair Gray, amongst others, all of whom are great writers, but who are too high profile to be ‘cult’, and anyway, whether […]
July 3, 2012
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Indelible Ink: Ewan Morrison’s ‘Swung’
I’d love to say such things are deliberate, but as Indelible Ink is planned five months in advance it is pure coincidence that I’m looking at a Ewan Morrison novel just as his latest book ‘Tales from the Mall’ is published to great acclaim (and you can read my review of that at Scots Whay […]
June 4, 2012
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Indelible Ink: Zoe Strachan’s ‘Spin Cycle’
Novels set in Glasgow often play up to the grittier side of the city. Ever since the success of ‘No Mean City’ writers would ramp up the violence, hard drinking and gang culture as if these were somehow unique to my home town. But in the last 20 years there have been many Glasgow novels […]
May 7, 2012
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Indelible Ink: Stuart David’s ‘Nalda Said’
Novels by rock and pop musicians are a mixed bag. For every success such as ‘And the Ass Saw the Angel (Nick Cave) or ‘I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive’ (Steve Earle) there’s an unreadable, if admirable, attempt like ‘Tarantula’ (Bob Dylan), or something ludicrous such as ‘The Adventures of Lord Iffy Boatrace’ […]
April 2, 2012
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Indelible Ink: John Burnside’s ‘The Devil’s Footprints’
John Burnside recently won the T.S. Eliot prize and the Forward prize for his amazing poetry collection ‘Black Cat Bone’. In 1988 his debut book of poetry ‘The Hoop’ won The Scottish Arts Council Book Award. In between he has published eight novels and 13 collections of poetry nearly all of which won awards of […]
March 5, 2012
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Indelible Ink: Toni Davidson’s ‘Scar Culture’
Over the months I’ve written about some difficult and disturbing books. Duncan McLean’s ‘Bunker Man’ immediately springs to mind, but perhaps Toni Davidson’s 1999 debut novel ‘Scar Culture’ unsettles more than any other Scottish novel I have read. It’s never as salacious as McLean’s novel often becomes, but like ‘Bunker Man’ it deals with abuse; […]
February 6, 2012
