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 ReviewsBella Mia by Donatella Di Pietrantonio
“Tomorrow is our birthday. The third, since.” Di Pietrantonio’s second novel is set against the backdrop of a natural disaster – ... Read more »| 25 Nov 2016 -
NewsKathleen Jamie wins Saltire Book of the Year award
Stirling University Professor Kathleen Jamie’s poetry collection sees off books by the likes of Irvine Welsh, Jenni Fagan and James Kelman to win Scotland's top literary award Read more »| 24 Nov 2016 -
Book ReviewsThis Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell
This Must Be the Place, the seventh novel from veteran chronicler of human emotion and relationships Maggie O’Farrell, follows the meandering life of D... Read more »| 23 Nov 2016 -
Features
A Literary Gift Guide: Challenging the Narrative
This year, while our books gift guide offers little Christmas sparkle it's anything but dull. These are literary suggestions aligned with the issues of our age offering knowledge, which, after a damning 2016, could let in the light Read more »| 23 Nov 2016 -
News
Women rule in 2016 Costa Book Awards shortlist
Rose Tremain, Sarah Perry and Kate Tempest are among the 20 nominated writers who are contenders for the Costa Awards' £30,000 top prize Read more »| 23 Nov 2016 -
Book Reviews
Infinite Ground by Martin MacInnes
Martin MacInnes’ aggressively postmodern detective tale takes place in an unnamed South American country, as an unnamed inspector tries to solve the ca... Read more »| 22 Nov 2016
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News
Crime novels top Scottish fiction vote
Scottish readers are a macabre lot: turns out we love a crime thriller, according to a new survey from the Scottish Book Trust Read more »| 21 Nov 2016 -
FeaturesGraphic Content: Stef Bradley
Liverpool-based zine maker Stef Bradley makes comics that celebrate the extraordinary everyday. Read more »| 18 Nov 2016 -
News
New book imagines Iraq in 100 years' time
An anthology of short stories published today asks ten Iraqi writers what their country might look like in the year 2103 Read more »| 17 Nov 2016 -
Features
Make Fiction Great Again! 5 Literary Demagogues
You couldn’t write what’s unfolding on the global stage right now. Yet several writers have come close, as evidenced with the characters laid out below. Have a peek, between your fingers, at what could be in store for the human race Read more »| 15 Nov 2016 -
Theatre
Roald Dahl: Conservative or Progressive?
This December, the West Yorkshire Playhouse stages an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved novel about witchcraft and the awkward journey to adulthood, T... Read more »| 10 Nov 2016 -
Festivals
Women in Comedy: Short Story Competition Winner
The Women in Comedy Festival Writing Competition invites entries in two categories: a short sketch or monologue, and a short story. The Skinny North is ... Read more »| 09 Nov 2016 -
Features
Lost for Words: What future for our libraries?
Libraries across the country are struggling to survive in a climate of budget cuts. Our writer reports from Warrington, where her childhood library faces an uncertain future Read more »| 07 Nov 2016 -
Book Reviews
A Portable Shelter by Kirsty Logan
Kirsty Logan returns with A Portable Shelter where imagination meets life's inevitable harshness. Read more »| 04 Nov 2016 -
Features
Female friendship in Zadie Smith and Ferrante
Zadie Smith’s new novel Swing Time proves that fictional female friends are in with the popular crowd Complicated female relationships seem to be ever... Read more »| 04 Nov 2016