Books
The Skinny book guide – bringing you book reviews, features, events, reviews and author interviews. Find previews and on the ground reporting from festivals of literature and poetry in Scotland and beyond.
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Book ReviewsTin Man by Sarah Winman
It starts with a painting, selected as a prize at a small town raffle, mainly to the disarray of the men shouting for the whisky. A seemingly innocuous event... Read more »| 21 Jul 2017 -
FeaturesWomen in Wartime Literature
A English translation of Svetlana Alexievich’s The Unwomanly Face of War got us thinking about representations of women in wartime Read more »| 14 Jul 2017 -
Videos
Watch Neu! Reekie!'s Anywhere But The Cities film
Available online for the first time, watch the travelogue of multi-art noisemakers Neu! Reekie!'s 2015 tour of rural Scotland Read more »| 11 Jul 2017 -
Book Reviews
How Saints Die by Carmen Marcus
Ellie is ten years old. She learns five new words a week and knows that stories can keep you from drowning. She doesn’t know where they have taken her ... Read more »| 07 Jul 2017 -
FeaturesTo Live & Die in LA: Ryan Gattis on new novel Safe
Ryan Gattis's Safe pulls readers once more into the violent slipstream of his LA riots novel All Involved; the author talks safecracking, turf and the interpersonal skills of the LA underworld Read more »| 07 Jul 2017 -
Book Reviews
The Secret Life by Andrew O'Hagan
How does the internet disrupt our sense of self? Where does human personality and contradiction fit into the big stories of the age – and does it matte... Read more »| 05 Jul 2017
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Book ReviewsSwimmer Among the Stars by Kanishk Tharoor
Short stories have a tendency to titillate but ultimately disappoint; by their very nature, they seem designed to be unfinished fragments of another world. W... Read more »| 05 Jul 2017 -
Book Reviews
Broken River by J. Robert Lennon
"A small house, in the woods, far from anything fun." When Karl and Eleanor uproot from Brooklyn for a fresh start in upstate New York, their new fixer-upper... Read more »| 04 Jul 2017 -
Festivals
Unbound 2017: Stornoway to India
When virtuoso artists from Indian and Scottish folk traditions combine, the results are rich and rewarding. We speak to musicians Dalbir Singh Rattan and James Yorkston to find what they will bring to two sides of the same night at Unbound Read more »| 04 Jul 2017 -
Festivals
Unbound 2017: A Taste of Babble On
A taste of what you can expect over Unbound's riotous middle weekend, from three performers from the Babble On section of the programme Read more »| 04 Jul 2017 -
Festivals
Unbound 2017: Introducing Fun Lovin' Crime Writers
Six of the UK's top crime writers will try not to kill a tune when they hit the Unbound stage as The Fun Lovin' Crime Writers, so we asked them each to soundtrack murder scenes from their own books Read more »| 04 Jul 2017 -
Festivals
Unbound 2017: Dive Queer Party
Dive have been redefining the Scottish queer club scene in recent years. Now they plan to leave their mark on Unbound, bringing their riotous party to the Spiegeltent. Annabel and Annabel explain the fun and importance of these safe spaces Read more »| 04 Jul 2017 -
FestivalsUnbound 2017: The Last Poets
Some call them the true Godfathers of Hip-Hop and whether you've heard of them or not, you've definitely heard 'em. The Last Poets come to Unbound to see if "y'all are the gangsters that everybody says you are." Read more »| 04 Jul 2017 -
Festivals
Unbound 2017: An introduction
As day becomes night, Unbound opens for free literary events in the Spiegeltent during Edinburgh International Book Festival – 16 nights of music and performance, viewing the festival's grand themes through the looking glass Read more »| 04 Jul 2017 -
Festivals
Unbound 2017: The Programme
A night by night guide to goings on in the Charlotte Square Spiegeltent. Events kick off at 9pm, although you might want to arrive half an hour earlier to join the queue (or more, if it looks like a popular choice). Each is, as always, completely free Read more »| 04 Jul 2017