https://www.theskinny.co.uk/ Latest articles from The Skinny en-us Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:09:46 +0100 We speak to Syrian journalist Samar Yazbek about her latest book, a collection of testimonials from Gazans living under genocide https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/samar-yazbek-on-your-presence-is-a-danger-to-your-life-voices-from-gaza https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/samar-yazbek-on-your-presence-is-a-danger-to-your-life-voices-from-gaza hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Tue, 12 May 2026 10:44:32 +0100 We chat with author and journalist Shahed Ezaydi on her debut book The Othered Woman and her years of research into the harms of white feminism https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/shahed-ezaydi-on-the-othered-woman-white-feminism-and-islamophobia https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/shahed-ezaydi-on-the-othered-woman-white-feminism-and-islamophobia hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Tue, 31 Mar 2026 13:28:00 +0100 In Sarvat Hasin's beautiful friendship break-up book Strange Girls, the intimacies, co-dependencies, and queernesses of female friendship prompt a crisis https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/sarvat-hasin-on-queer-friendship-novel-strange-girls https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/sarvat-hasin-on-queer-friendship-novel-strange-girls hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Mon, 09 Mar 2026 12:24:00 +0000 Acclaimed poet Sophie Robinson chats to us about her debut novel Prairie Oyster, and why poetry wasn't enough to tell this particular story https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/sophie-robinson-on-her-debut-novel-prairie-oyster https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/sophie-robinson-on-her-debut-novel-prairie-oyster hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 19 Feb 2026 11:29:24 +0000 This year, relying on relationships to fix us is out. We talk to author Roxy Dunn about her smart and sexy new novel Wants and Needs, and how we figure out who we are outside of our desire for love https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/roxy-dunn-on-her-new-novel-wants-and-needs https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/roxy-dunn-on-her-new-novel-wants-and-needs hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Tue, 20 Jan 2026 12:53:59 +0000 We asked The Skinny book team to name their favourite book of 2025 – it's not too late to make your reading goals for the year https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/the-skinny-books-of-the-year-2025 https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/the-skinny-books-of-the-year-2025 hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Fri, 05 Dec 2025 16:14:35 +0000 Ahead of his annual Christmas show and New Year's Day appearance with former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the incumbent Edinburgh Makar takes on our Q&A https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/the-skinny-on-michael-pedersen https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/the-skinny-on-michael-pedersen hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Tue, 02 Dec 2025 11:33:00 +0000 We chat with poet and multi-slam champion Jay Mitra about the role of punk in poetry ahead of their appearance at Push the Boat Out Festival https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/jay-mitra-on-punk-poetry-and-push-the-boat-out https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/jay-mitra-on-punk-poetry-and-push-the-boat-out hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Wed, 12 Nov 2025 11:51:48 +0000 We chat with author Dalia al-Dujaili about her migration memoir Babylon, Albion ahead of her appearance at Edinburgh's Radical Book Fair https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/dalia-al-dujaili-on-her-memoir-babylon-albion https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/dalia-al-dujaili-on-her-memoir-babylon-albion hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Tue, 04 Nov 2025 11:35:00 +0000 Storytellers Tom Muir and Eileen Budd and programmer Daniel Abercrombie introduce the 36th Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which looks to the folklore, myths and fairytales of the Nordic region, Scotland and Northern Europe https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/true-north-scottish-international-storytelling-festival-2025 https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/true-north-scottish-international-storytelling-festival-2025 hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 09 Oct 2025 11:58:00 +0100 To celebrate 20 years of The Skinny we look ahead, presenting our Next Generation of Scottish Writers: 12 poets, novelists and essayists who are shaping the future of Scotland's literary landscape. We asked them to write about each other https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/the-next-generation-of-scottish-writers https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/the-next-generation-of-scottish-writers hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 09 Oct 2025 10:15:00 +0100 We chat with Glasgow-based debut author Selali Fiamanya, whose debut novel Before We Hit the Ground is a tender and wrenching account of immigrant family dynamics https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/selali-fiamanya-on-his-debut-novel-before-we-hit-the-ground https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/selali-fiamanya-on-his-debut-novel-before-we-hit-the-ground hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 04 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0100 We chat with cellist and writer Simone Seales and dancer and choreographer Mele Broomes about Dearest, Seales' poetry album and zine being performed collaboratively at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival https://www.theskinny.co.uk/festivals/edinburgh-festivals/books/simone-seales-and-mele-broomes-on-poetry-performance-dearest https://www.theskinny.co.uk/festivals/edinburgh-festivals/books/simone-seales-and-mele-broomes-on-poetry-performance-dearest hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 07 Aug 2025 16:16:55 +0100 We chat with Glasgow author Chris McQueer on his debut novel Hermit ahead of his appearance at the Govanhill International Festival https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/lost-boys-chris-mcqueer-on-his-debut-novel-hermit https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/lost-boys-chris-mcqueer-on-his-debut-novel-hermit hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Wed, 30 Jul 2025 11:00:00 +0100 We chat with Laura C. Forster and Joel White about their book Friends in Common, the intersection between friendship and organising, and why our intimate lives are political https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/laura-forster-and-joel-white-on-friends-in-common https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/laura-forster-and-joel-white-on-friends-in-common hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Mon, 28 Jul 2025 12:01:00 +0100 In her debut novel The First Jasmines, Saima Begum gives voice to a long-silenced period of Bangladeshi history, exploring how history and literature construct gaps in the record https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/saima-begum-on-her-debut-novel-the-first-jasmines https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/saima-begum-on-her-debut-novel-the-first-jasmines hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Tue, 22 Jul 2025 09:00:00 +0100 We get some Edinburgh recs from Claire Heffernan, Managing Director at the Super Power Agency – a youth writing charity based in Edinburgh https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/claire-heffernan-superpower-agency https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/claire-heffernan-superpower-agency hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Mon, 21 Jul 2025 13:09:01 +0100 In her poetry collection Joy Is My Middle Name, American poet Sasha Debevec-McKenney navigates the tragedy and comedy of both past and present https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/sasha-debevec-mckenney-on-her-poetry-collection-joy-is-my-middle-name https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/sasha-debevec-mckenney-on-her-poetry-collection-joy-is-my-middle-name hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:32:30 +0100 Film critic Ryan Gilbey talks to us about It Used to Be Witches, his playful new study of queer cinema history blending personal memoir, critical analysis and insightful new interviews with an eclectic ensemble of queer filmmakers https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/ryan-gilbey-on-his-new-queer-cinema-book-it-used-to-be-witches https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/ryan-gilbey-on-his-new-queer-cinema-book-it-used-to-be-witches hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Tue, 03 Jun 2025 10:37:00 +0100 We chat with Edinburgh-based author Katie Goh about their debut memoir Foreign Fruit, and why the symbol of the orange is a potent metaphor for talking about identity https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/katie-goh-on-their-new-memoir-foreign-fruit https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/katie-goh-on-their-new-memoir-foreign-fruit hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Mon, 26 May 2025 12:00:00 +0100 If you're pining for the start of First Date festival, we have some hyperspecific recommendations for all readers of romance from two of Edinburgh's most beloved bookshops https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/book-matchmaking-from-lighthouse-bookshop-and-book-lovers https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/book-matchmaking-from-lighthouse-bookshop-and-book-lovers hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 15 May 2025 13:58:09 +0100 Following a devastating break-up, acclaimed author Catherine Lacey wrote a hybrid fiction-memoir exploring its tumultuous aftermath. We chat with Lacey about breaking genre conventions and attachments to both love and narrative https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/catherine-lacey-on-her-fiction-memoir-hybrid-the-mobius-book https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/catherine-lacey-on-her-fiction-memoir-hybrid-the-mobius-book hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 15 May 2025 11:14:27 +0100 Breaking into the writing and publishing business can be tricky, but the Arkbound Foundation– a charity dedicated to widening access to literature – are here to help https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/arkbound-foundation-crowdbound https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/arkbound-foundation-crowdbound hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 15 May 2025 10:15:00 +0100 We chat with Edinburgh-based Irish author Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin about her debut novel Ordinary Saints, about a family who try to get their son canonised in the church https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/niamh-ni-mhaoileoin-on-her-debut-novel-ordinary-saints https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/niamh-ni-mhaoileoin-on-her-debut-novel-ordinary-saints hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 10 Apr 2025 11:21:00 +0100 We chat with Edinburgh-based author and film curator Xuanlin Tham about their debut book, an incisive and intricate exploration of the politics of the sex scene https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/xuanlin-tham-on-the-power-of-the-sex-scene https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/xuanlin-tham-on-the-power-of-the-sex-scene hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Mon, 03 Mar 2025 12:14:29 +0000 We chat with layla-roxanne hill and Francesca Sobande, the authors of Look, Don't Touch, about the politics of feeling in contemporary society https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/layla-roxanne-hill-and-francesca-sobande-on-their-book-look-dont-touch https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/layla-roxanne-hill-and-francesca-sobande-on-their-book-look-dont-touch hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:01:00 +0000 We speak with Afghan-German writer Moshtari Hilal about her book Ugliness, and the politics of how beauty is constructed https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/moshtari-hilal-on-her-debut-book-ugliness https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/moshtari-hilal-on-her-debut-book-ugliness hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:45:58 +0000 We chat with German-Afghan author Aria Aber about her debut novel Good Girl and the complexities of conveying the desires and destructions of the diasporic experience https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/aria-aber-on-her-debut-novel-good-girl https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/aria-aber-on-her-debut-novel-good-girl hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 09 Jan 2025 10:32:00 +0000 Our intrepid book team tell us about their favourite books of the year – get ready to make that pile of books by your bedside even bigger https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/the-skinny-books-of-2024 https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/the-skinny-books-of-2024 hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Thu, 05 Dec 2024 13:17:43 +0000 We chat with Nat Raha and Mijke van der Drift about their upcoming book Trans Femme Futures and the politics of trans abolitionism https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/nat-raha-mijke-van-der-drift-on-trans-femme-futures https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/features/nat-raha-mijke-van-der-drift-on-trans-femme-futures hello@theskinny.co.uk (The Skinny) Wed, 06 Nov 2024 11:30:25 +0000