Poem of the Week: Jenni Fagan, Spell for Hope and Renewal
26 Jan '21
Jenni Fagan has brightened the start of 2021 with the January publication of her novel Luckenbooth, which she describes as a “love letter to...
Tea Time Treat
Poem of the Week: Norman MacCaig, Praise of a thorn bush
18 Jan '21
An Edinburgh school teacher by profession, poet Norman MacCaig spent his summers in Assynt in the far north west of Scotland. From their first visit...
Birlinn Books – Notes from the Basement, December 21st, 2020
21 Dec '20
It’s the winter solstice, called by a poet ‘the year’s midnight’, and our final newsletter of the year comes just a few hours before the hour...
A January Bargain
21 Dec '20
Remember when there used to be the ‘January Sales’? Or did you ever queue up early on a freezing Boxing Day? We seem now to be in an...
Getting Over Christmas (in Japan)
15 Dec '20
Iain Maloney moved to Japan in 2005. This year, we published his memoir The Only Gaijin in the Village, the story of moving out of the city to the...
Poem of the Week: Winter by Alexander McCall Smith
15 Dec '20
We are now just a week away from the shortest day of the year, so it seems particularly appropriate to share the poem ‘Winter’ from...
A is for Applecross: A Gaelic Alphabet
08 Dec '20
Alistair Moffat’s In Search of Angels: Travels to the Edge of the World is his own journey in the footsteps of the Irish saints who brought...
A Sonnet of Ice and Fire: ‘The Salamander’ by Hamish Henderson
07 Dec '20
Soldier, academic, folklorist, political activist, songwriter, translator but above all a poet, Hamish Henderson’s collected work is an...
Poem of the Week: The Way to Warebeth Beach by Andrew Greig
30 Nov '20
This poem from Andrew Greig’s new collection, Later That Day, is about the familiar routine of walking your dog on a familiar beach on a...
Little Hands make Light Work in the Kitchen
23 Nov '20
Turkey is the flavour of the moment but it doesn’t have to be the big bird. Below is a recipe from Easy Peasy: Real Cooking for Kids by Mary...
Poem of the Week – ‘Mareel’ by Roseanne Watt
23 Nov '20
Our Poem of the Week is ‘Mareel’ from Roseanne Watt’s collection Moder Dy. This stunning collection has won both the Somerset...
In Praise of Bookshops and Booksellers – Alexander McCall Smith in Book Week Scotland
16 Nov '20
As Book Week Scotland opens, booksellers and librarians across the UK are in a state of, well… flux! Bookshops and libraries in England remain...
