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Indelible Ink: Candia McWilliam’s ‘Debatable Land’
One of the never ending discussions about books is whether the meaning comes from the reader or the writer. Of course, the answer is both, but where the balance lies is constantly shifting, and often circumstances and situation dictates this as much as the writing itself. Candia McWilliam’s ‘Debatable Land’ is full of rich metaphor […]
Alistair Braidwood
September 25, 2014
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Indelible Ink: Christopher Brookmyre’s ‘Quite Ugly One Morning’
We have said before in these columns that the early to mid-nineties in Scotland was one which was politically bleak, no matter what your persuasion was. The victory of the John Major led Conservatives in 1992’s UK election saw Labour victorious in Scotland, and with no power in the rest of the UK, the promised […]
Alistair Braidwood
August 18, 2014
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Indelible Ink: Matthew Fitt’s ‘But n Ben A-Go-Go’
In the last couple of years there was a lot of debate about which Scottish books and writers should be taught in Scottish schools as part of the set texts for the Higher English exam. If I had had a vote, Matthew Fitt’s ‘But n Ben A-Go-Go’ would’ve been in my top three choices for […]
Alistair Braidwood
July 10, 2014
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Indelible Ink: Andrew Greig’s ‘Fair Helen’
The historical novel often gets a bad press, especially in Scotland where Sir Walter Scott has cast a long, and unfairly prejudicial, shadow. As if to prove my point, this month’s novel, ‘Fair Helen’ by Andrew Greig, is inspired by the Border ballad, ‘Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea’, which was published by Scott in Volume […]
Alistair Braidwood
May 6, 2014
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Indelible Ink: Michel Faber’s ‘Under The Skin’
One of most eagerly anticipated film of recent years, at least round these parts, was Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Under The Skin’, much of which was shot on the streets of Glasgow, with an (almost) unrecognisable Scarlett Johansson in the lead role. You can read my review of the film over at Scots Whay Hae!, but news […]
Alistair Braidwood
April 9, 2014
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Indelible Ink: Kirsty Gunn’s ‘The Big Music’
I first came across the term ‘The Big Music’ with reference to The Waterboys in the early 1980s. It was the name of a track on their 1984 album, ‘A Pagan Place’ and I think it was Mike Scott, in an interview from that time, who explained this was what the band aimed to make; […]
Alistair Braidwood
February 4, 2014
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Announcing the Winner of the Dear Scotland Writing Competition
Thank you to everyone who entered our first writing competition this year. It was genuinely thrilling to read the stories and poems as they came in and I know that the judges, Vic Galloway, Nina de la Mer, and Alistair Braidwood, had an enjoyably difficult time picking a winner.
Pete Reid
December 23, 2013
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Dear Scotland Writing Competition: Win 50 of the Greatest Scottish Novels
Next month sees the 50th edition of Indelible Ink, Dear Scotland’s monthly column on the best of Scottish writing. In an act which can only be described as impulsive, Pete Reid, Editor of Dear Scotland has just bought all 50 books featured since the first column was published four years ago. From ‘Morvern Callar’ to […]
Alistair Braidwood
November 5, 2013
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Indelible Ink: Leila Aboulela’s ‘The Translator’
One of the best things about reading books written in and of the country you live in is that they give you new perspectives on the familiar and everyday, making you look again at places and people you had long since taken for granted. In the last few years I have read work by English, […]
Alistair Braidwood
November 4, 2013