One of Scotland’s best-known naturalists and conservationists is “quietly confident” that Brexit won’t automatically lead to declining environmental standards—as long as we’re careful. Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival to promote his new memoirs, Sir John Lister-Kaye admitted to being worried about the situation but also thought “it might be quite healthy”. “What’s happened […]
Tag Archives | myself
Lack of a Scottish Film Studio ‘a Disgrace’, says John Gordon Sinclair
The lack of a proper film studio in Scotland is “shameful” and “a disgrace”, according to John Gordon Sinclair, star of iconic 1981 film Gregory’s Girl. Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, while promoting his third crime novel Walk in Silence, the actor and author was asked by an audience member for his perspective […]
Most Literature ‘Plays the Same Games as Governments’, says French Author Édouard Louis
Most literature works with, rather than against, the way the world is, according to French writer Édouard Louis, author of the autobiographical novel The End of Eddy. Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Monday evening, Louis explained: “When we talk about Literature or Arts, we always have the impression that they are kind […]
Collecting Magazines
What makes any magazine collectable? Well, at the risk of stating the obvious, the principal reason is that it still exists to be collected; yes, there’s likely to be some value placed on a particular publication because of what’s inside its covers, but what’s most likely to make any issue collectable is the fact that […]
Avoiding Spoilers
As I write this, the Edinburgh Festivals – in particular the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and Edinburgh International Book Festival – still have more than a week to run. My Festival, however, is already over; I’ve reviewed all the shows I’m reviewing, and am back to pitching for work – albeit taking advantage, whenever […]
‘I saw him before he was famous, you know!’
Mark Gatiss is, for the time being, the one. No, not like that! With one notable exception, we’ve never breathed the same air. Nevertheless, Mr Gatiss is the one. To elaborate: the much-admired actor/writer/producer/etc is the one person I can honestly point at and say: “I saw him on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before he […]
Writing non-fiction: 1
There was a time when I foolishly associated “being a professional writer” only with someone who wrote fiction. Or a journalist. From quite an early age, I’d decided that I certainly wasn’t the latter; those journalists I had seen (either in films or on the TV news) were clearly determined, news-hungry hounds with no compunction about […]
