Features
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Features
The Shame Game: Jon Ronson on his divisive new book
We chat to the award-winning writer Jon Ronson about his new book So You've Been Publicly Shamed, and discuss the need for empathy in our increasingly perilous digital landscape, where the unwary are lynched in 140 characters or less Read more »| 04 Mar 2015 -
Books
Mark Ellen: Pop Court Chronicler
Mark Ellen has documented late 20th century pop music's biggest moments in his memoir Rock Stars Stole My Life! Here he regales us with tales of those times and offers a lament on why modern day stars just don't cut the mustard (or anything else) Read more »| 04 Mar 2015 -
Books
StAnza: Scotland's International Poetry Festival Comes of Age
You might expect a piece on a poetry festival written by an award winning poet to be... well... poetic. Neu! Reekie! helmsman Michael Pedersen refuses to prune the flowers of his prose here in his lyrical look at StAnza blooming into adulthood. Read more »| 27 Feb 2015 -
Features
A Wordy, Weighty Challenge: How possible is 100 books in a year?
As we begin to regret those New Year resolutions of gyms and sobriety, spare a thought for Oliver Gaywood, who had aspirations of reading 100 books during 2014 as he travelled the world. Here he tells his tale and lays down the challenge to you. Read more »| 13 Feb 2015 -
Features
Station Approach: Jenn Ashworth and Richard Hirst on an interactive e-book inspired by Preston's Brutalist bus depot
As Jenn Ashworth releases her latest book, an interactive text co-written with collaborator Richard Hirst, The Skinny chats to the two authors about the notorious bus station behind its inspiration and why every story is unreliable Read more »| 10 Feb 2015 -
Features
Criminal Enterprise: Helen Fitzgerald on her new novel The Exit
Helen Fitzgerald is no stranger to breaking taboos in her novels. She follows the infanticide of The Cry with equally sinister happenings in The Exit. She explains how these dark and provocative tales develop Read more »| 30 Jan 2015
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Features
Poetry in Image: Jenni Fagan on taking The Panopticon to the screen
The Skinny speaks to Jenni Fagan in the pause between the 2013 publication of her outstanding and controversial debut novel and the release of its film adaptation - hopefully with controversy still to come. Read more »| 13 Jan 2015 -
Features
The Brontë Sisters: Feminist Trailblazers?
As we approach the 160th anniversary of Charlotte Brontë’s death, Liverpool University will this month explore the works of the three Brontë sisters in a series of events. We were inspired to consider their feminist legacy Read more »| 07 Jan 2015 -
Features
Gothenburg Book Fair: Looking for the next big thing
Can we expect a 'feelgood' future post Nordic noir? Everyone is attempting to predict literary trends at Scandinavia’s largest book fair, where gangster rap memoirs, long lost leftist tomes and feminist comics vie to be the next big hit Read more »| 31 Dec 2014 -
Features
Starter for 6: Indie Authors Scotland
Owned by Kim and Sinclair MacLeod, Indie Authors Scotland provides training, publishing services and community support for writers who want to self-publish their work Read more »| 03 Dec 2014 -
Features
Have Yourself a Literary Christmas
Wintertime, writing and wordsmiths: here’s our guide to the literary events on this Christmas, from Paul Muldoon to a modern take on traditional penny readings Read more »| 03 Dec 2014 -
Features
Bah Humbug: A Literary Gift Guide
The Skinny Books team melt celebrity ego before the open fire, looking past inane memoirs to suggest the finest literary offerings to gift the family this Christmas Read more »| 01 Dec 2014 -
Features
Owen Jones, Russell Brand and The Establishment
Owen Jones' appearance at Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair allowed The Skinny to engage with one of the UK's most vocal Left Wing firebrands and question his current celebrity endorsement as he questions the corrupt state of the nation. Read more »| 28 Nov 2014 -
Features
"Women rulers always have a bad press" – Jung Chang on China's notorious Express Cixi
Literary superstar Jung Chang educates The Skinny on Cixi and Mao, controversial parents of modern China and subjects of her past and present biographies Read more »| 28 Nov 2014 -
Features
Pulp Fiction: An Interview with Lawrence Block
With Liam Neeson bringing booze beaten ex-cop Matt Scudder to the screen in A Walk Among the Tombstones, we have coffee with bestselling author Lawrence Block in the New York diner which doubles as his fictional series setting, The Flame Read more »| 07 Nov 2014