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Indelible Ink: William McIlvanney’s ‘Weekend’
With the recent success at home and abroad of Scottish writers such as Irvine Welsh, Iain Banks, Ali Smith, Ian Rankin, A.L Kennedy etc, it’s perhaps odd to think of a time when having Scottish novels post R.L. Stevenson in a Scottish house was the exception rather than the norm, at least with most of […]
Alistair Braidwood
November 6, 2012
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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 […]
Alistair Braidwood
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 […]
Alistair Braidwood
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 […]
Alistair Braidwood
August 6, 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 […]
Alistair Braidwood
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 […]
Alistair Braidwood
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’ […]
Alistair Braidwood
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 […]
Alistair Braidwood
March 5, 2012
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Indelible Ink: Robin Jenkins’ ‘The Changeling’
When we think of modern Scottish literature it is usually accepted that we are considering writing from the 1970s to the present day. However, there are writers who spoil that neat picture, writers who were being published in the 1950s and 60s and continued to produce new work into the latter decades of the 20th […]
Alistair Braidwood
June 6, 2011