Reviews & features: Books
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2012 Edinburgh Festival of Politics highlights
11 Jul 2012
Talks on George Wyllie, the music industry, Canongate and Scotland's wood cabins
Singin’ I’m No a Billy, He’s a Tim. The difficulties of overcoming ignorance associated with the issue of sectarianism in Scotland were perfectly highlighted last season when one football radio pundit accused Des Dillon’s play of actually promoting…
Interview: Nikita Lalwani at 2012 Edinburgh Book Festival with new novel The Village
11 Jul 2012
Booker Prize-nominee inspired by visit to open prison in India
In 1998, Nikita Lalwani visited an open prison of convicted murderers in India, with the view to making a BBC documentary. What she saw there haunted her for years, eventually working its way out as The Village, the superb follow-up to her acclaimed…
Love letter to the transport system
22 May 2012
Semi-autobiographical monologue inspired by the drivers who get people to places on time
Love Letters to The Public Transport System, a beautifully crafted semi-autobiographical monologue inspired by the drivers who get people to places on time is to tour venues across Scotland from next month before a full Edinburgh Festival run this…
Interview - Alan Bissett
24 Aug 2011
Writer tackles Scotland’s sectarian shame in fourth novel Pack Men
With the rivalry between the Old Firm reaching dangerously manic levels recently, you’d think that sectarianism would be reflected in our nation’s fiction, but it’s hard to think of many novels that examine our unique bigotry. Step forward Alan Bissett…
EIBF 2011: five lengthy literary works
24 Aug 2011
featuring Adam Levin, Thomas Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, Stephen King and Tolstoy
The Instructions The story of a megalomaniac 10-year-old boy who may or may not be the messiah takes place over the course of just four frenetic days, but Levin’s massive book takes in Israel’s battle for existence and an entire religion’s search for…
Jane Harris
24 Aug 2011
The author of The Observations and Gillespie and I on making Glasgow an evocative character
‘The secret was what I began with,’ says Jane Harris about her most recent work, Gillespie and I. And what a mystery we unravel, as narrator Harriet Baxter reflects on her time in 1880s Glasgow and the consequences of a chance meeting with ‘soulmate…
Rebecca Hunt
24 Aug 2011
The author of Mr Chartwell creates a credible and empathetic vision of illness
One of the most intriguing and delectably-crafted debut novels of the past year is Mr Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt. The black dog of Winston Churchill’s legendary deep depression is brought vividly to life through the eponymous mutt (also known as Black…
Janice Galloway
24 Aug 2011
The All Made Up author takes on our Q&A
Give us five words to describe All Made Up? True. Funny. Sad. Teen-to-adult. Novel. Which author should be more famous than they are now? VS Naipaul. Because he’s irritating, self-regarding and self-involved enough that massive fame would be in…
EIBF 2011: Christopher Brookmyre adopts subtle pseudonym for latest work - interview
23 Aug 2011
Chris, not Christopher, for Where the Bodies are Buried
When Christopher Brookmyre has three syllables thrown at him, he knows he’s done something wrong. Despite his full first-name appearing on every book jacket since his debut novel in 1997, those around Brookmyre have called him Chris for years. ‘I tend…
An Evening with David Sedaris
23 Aug 2011
Bona fide literary superstar reads from his works
David Sedaris is that rarest of beasts: a bona fide literary superstar and recording artist who regularly appears on TV shows such as Letterman, has performed at Carnegie Hall and has the fanbase to be able to sell out a week-long run at Edinburgh’s…
Interview: Jon Ronson - The Psychopath Test
19 Aug 2011
Author on madness, public appearances and panicking unnecessarily
During his career, he’s met a sports commentator who believes giant lizards rule the world and encountered Christians who donate human kidneys for Jesus. In his new book Jon Ronson learns the skills for spotting psychopaths. Brian Donaldson wonders…
Profile: Sapphire - The Kid
19 Aug 2011
Author set for appearance at 2011 Edinburgh Book Festival
Sapphire is the voice of America. She doesn’t write about the glitz of Manhattan, the subtle discontents of suburbia or the gothic claustrophobia of the deep south. Her terrain is one in which the American Dream has not only failed but is a total joke…
Will Self
19 Aug 2011
The author on his upcoming reading of Fleck with Alasdair Gray
I’ve known Alasdair Gray for a long time now, nearly 20 years. We had the same publisher in England and he came to one of my events in Glasgow, probably in about 1982 or ‘83. We did some other events together around that time and struck up a…
Moon Talking - Ben Mezrich Interview
19 Aug 2011
The Social Network author brings new novel to Edinburgh Book Festival
Ben Mezrich is not finding it hard to find subject matter for future books. The American author started as a novelist but is better known for writing a string of bestselling non-fiction books including The Accidental Billionaires about Facebook founder…
James Yorkston
19 Aug 2011
A droll and heartfelt memoir from the Fife bard
Earlier this year, James Yorkston seduced a full-house in Glasgow, clad with a well-thumbed touring diary. It was not the first time, and it won’t be the last. While the Fife-based singer-songwriter and commended Fence Collective affiliate has long…
David Almond
19 Aug 2011
Crossing the divide from children’s books to adult fiction
Since penning his first children’s novel, 1998’s Whitbread Award and Carnegie Medal-winning Skellig, David Almond has been lauded as one of the UK’s greatest authors for younger readers. In 2010, the Skellig prequel, My Name is Mina, had critics falling…
Julie Myerson
17 Aug 2011
The author's apocalyptic novel 'Then' delves into the heart of darkness
‘Oh dear, I’m sorry!’ says Julie Myerson. She’s apologising for giving me nightmares with her latest novel, Then. ‘Well, I’m only half-sorry as I suppose I do want to have that effect.’ The London-based writer has never shirked from disconcerting…
EIBF 2011: five book-to-screen adaptations
17 Aug 2011
Featuring Joe Dunthorne, Val McDermid, Michel Faber, Alan Hollinghurst and Alexander McCall Smith
Joe Dunthorne With his debut, Submarine, the Welsh poet and author captured the peculiar, rainy-day awkwardness of adolescence, and Richard Ayoade’s film, with Dunthorne’s assistance, did a fair old stab at bringing it further to life. 19 Aug…
Edinburgh International Book Fest 2011: 5 poetry picks
17 Aug 2011
Featuring Michael Longley, Robin Robertson, Czeslaw Milosz, Wendy Cope and John Burnside
Michael Longley One of the most decorated verse-conjurors at this year’s festival, the Belfast-born writer has the TS Eliot Poetry Prize, a Whitbread and the Hawthornden Prize under his belt as well as being the proud recipient of the 2001 Queen’s…
First Writes: Sunjeev Sahota, author of Ours are the Streets
17 Aug 2011
The debut author discusses his first novel, Edinburgh and some of his favourite novels
Give us five words to describe Ours are the Streets? Fathers. Sons. Responsibilities. Belonging. Home. Which author should be more famous than they are now and why? I don’t know how famous or not she is, but I don’t think I hear that much in the UK…
Jo Nesbø
17 Aug 2011
Crafty Oslo crime scribe brings us his fiendish ’tec
There are many ways to cause a fatality, and crime writers are renowned for finding the most imaginative route to the grave possible. But Norwegian author Jo Nesbø has really outdone himself in his latest novel The Leopard. His serial killer’s…
First word: Bob Servant
16 Aug 2011
Hero of Dundee (and creation of Neil Forsyth) on Jesus, Brian Cox and Broughty Ferry
Bob Servant, Hero of Dundee (and creation of Neil Forsyth) talks to The List about Jesus, Brian Cox and Broughty Ferry First record you ever bought The theme tune to Puff the Magic Dragon. I have never heard anything sum up life’s challenges better…
Darren Shan, Barry Hutchison and Alexander Gordon Smith talk horror
16 Aug 2011
Creating terrifying tales for teenage readers at the EIBF
As far as groundings in the horror business go, young adult writer Barry Hutchison knew exactly what fear was from an early age. ‘I lived in a perpetual state of terror when I was a kid,’ says the Fort William-based creator of the Invisible Fiends…
Horror Stories for Kids at 2011 Edinburgh Book Festival
16 Aug 2011
Darren Shan, Barry Hutchison & Alexander Gordon Smith talk horror
As far as groundings in the horror business go, young adult writer Barry Hutchison knew exactly what fear was from an early age. ‘I lived in a perpetual state of terror when I was a kid,’ says the Fort William-based creator of the Invisible Fiends…
Gordon Ferris - The Hanging Shed
16 Aug 2011
Evoking the dark side of 1950s Scotland
For an author whose subject matters might be referred to as solidly traditional – a compelling combination of post-war historical drama and ripping crime thriller – Gordon Ferris is at the leading edge of a publishing revolution. The first two novels in…
