Features
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FeaturesEcho Chamber: do we need more diverse voices in literature?
Liverpool’s annual literary festival Writing on the Wall takes over the city this month with events focusing on the Harlem Renaissance, race riots and multicultural England. Our Books editor considers race in literature and diversity in publishing Read more »| 27 Apr 2015 -
FeaturesNeu! Reekie! Waiting for the ink to dry
Edinburgh based poetry-music-animation curators Neu! Reekie! are publishing their first physical book. The Skinny catches up with them over a couple of weeks as they work towards its launch Read more »| 06 Apr 2015 -
Features
Living Memory: Patricia Duncker reimagines George Eliot
The appetite for Victoriana is endless; it seems we can’t get enough of corsets and bonnets. As Patricia Duncker releases a new novel, she talks to us about the neo-Victorian tale, her fascination with George Eliot and the nature of literary celebrity Read more »| 01 Apr 2015 -
FeaturesAye Write! All Write: 10 Years of Literature in Glasgow
We discover how literary festival Aye Write! has become a key date in the Glasgow cultural calendar, speaking to its guest programmer and the writers who have grown with it: Louise Welsh, Christopher Brookmyre, Alan Bissett and his birthday suit. Read more »| 31 Mar 2015 -
Features
Karin Altenberg: “I’ve always felt like an outsider”
We chat to bestselling author Karin Altenberg about her new book Breaking Light, and landscapes lost and found Read more »| 31 Mar 2015 -
Features
Creature Creators: The Critter Shed publish their first comic
The founders of The Critter Shed publishing collective explain why they decided to put out their first comic Read more »| 06 Mar 2015
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FeaturesUtopian Thinking: News from Nowhere on the Power of Literature
As the general election approaches, it will be impossible to avoid the ambush of political soundbites and slogans. The Skinny talks to radical bookshop News from Nowhere about the link between politics and language – and the fate of independent bookstores Read more »| 06 Mar 2015 -
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 -
BooksStAnza: 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 -
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