It’s a “bit hectic” the day best-selling crime writer Ian Rankin speaks with The Scots Magazine. His new novel, Saints of the Shadow Bible, is officially published the following day, meaning he’s doing interviews, a talk and getting ready for a series of book tours around Scotland, England, Canada and–in the New Year–America. “My feet […]
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Derek Jarman
20 years after his death, why is the filmmaker, artist, writer and campaigner so revered? “I think he’s a really great artist, important in so many ways,” says Amanda Wilkinson, director of the Wilkinson Gallery in London which, in the latter part of 2013, hosted an exhibition of Derek Jarman’s “black paintings” which is now […]
All the Right Notes
“Music can communicate to everyone if you give it a go!” So said one of the many participants in a trial programme that has led to Sounds of Intent, a recently launched new teaching framework which underlines how unlocking the musical potential of thousands of children with special needs can make a genuine difference to […]
The Future of Astronomy
What will the next 10 years hold for astronomers, whether amateur or professional? It’s a well known fact that the deeper you look into space, the farther back in time you can see. But what about the future? Like Lippershey, Newton and Jansky before them, today’s astronomers are constantly pushing science and technology forward to […]
Norman Screen Conquest
Norman Maclean is one of the great heroes of the Gaidhealtachd, admired by people across the globe, not least Sean Connery and Billy Connolly. Though born in Glasgow, the outbreak of the Second World War saw him evacuated to Lochaber, where he learned Gaelic from his great uncle Seamas. Later schooled on South Uist, Norman […]
Andrew Rothney on filming ‘Blackbird’
Nominated for the Audience Award at the 2013 Edinburgh International Film Festival, Blackbird is the tale of a young man facing up to the changes in his small Scottish village. As the film gains a limited distribution in Scotland, Paul F Cockburn speaks with its young leading man. Paul F Cockburn: How would you describe […]
It’s not easy being Out on stage
First published by Chortle, 21/11/2013; to read more, click here. ‘Homosexuality still remains to some extent a taboo and therefore a basis–if not a target–for comedy,’ wrote Tom Crawshaw on these pages last month. Yet, despite his obvious interest in the life and work of the late Graham Chapman (the subject of his play Not The […]
