Two short films by an independent Scottish filmmaker have been selected for a prestigious film festival in New York and could even win him an international prize to be awarded during the Cannes Film Festival — all thanks to a friend’s wish to see New York. Seance Fiction and Mixed Messages, written and directed by […]
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The Launch of Cargo Crate
First published by The Skinny (April 2011) As launches go, the birth of Cargo Crate was definitely a tale of two cities. On a Friday evening in a chilled Edinburgh, within the hallowed halls of the National Library of Scotland, there were serious talks on the past and future of ‘the book’, with publishers and academics in […]
Reasons to be Cheerful
1979: it’s a time of change, and disabled people in Britain are feeling increasingly excluded and threatened by the talk of cuts to benefits and public services that’s coming from the new Conservative Government. 2010: it’s a time of change, and disabled people in Britain are feeling increasingly excluded and threatened by the talk of […]
Connie Willis Interview
First published in Interzone, Issue 227 (March/April 2010). From your 1983 story Fire Watch to the novels Blackout and All Clear, you’ve frequently written about the London Blitz. What is it about this period that interests you? I’ve been in love with the Blitz ever since eighth grade, when my teacher read aloud Rumer Godden’s An Episode of Sparrows, about a little […]
Gareth L Powell Interview
First published in Interzone, Issue 218 (September/October 2008). How does it feel to see your stories gathered together in a printed collection? I’m extremely proud of this collection. It represents one of the busiest periods of my life: five years in which I got married, became a father of two, worked my ass off at a […]
EIBF: Some Random Thoughts
Some random thoughts and memories from the previous four days at the Edinburgh International Book Festival: • A L Kennedy gets a very “I know it’s a bit impertinent, but…” opening question from the audience during her main Festival appearance: “Why aren’t you married?” Her reply is that the somewhat selfish needs of being “the best […]
A Question of Language
Typically, the most controversial, and potentially most interesting, question came at the end of the event, when there wasn’t really any time. To explain, I was at a “breakfast” reading at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, featuring Scottish writers Des Dillon, Anne Donovan and Alan (I’m not stalking him, honest!) Bissett. They each read from […]
