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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FeaturesFrom pulp to corsets: lesbian literary stereotypes
Vita Sackville-West was a writer who happily shunted the boundaries of literary form, along with the imposed norms of gender and sexuality. As her granddaugh... Read more »| 30 Sep 2016 -
FeaturesBard is a Four-Letter Word
With National Poetry Day fast approaching, Director of the Scottish Poetry Library Asif Khan talks over some of the challenges faced by professional poets. Also, a heads-up on this months performances and print poetry Read more »| 29 Sep 2016 -
Book Reviews
Ten Days by Gillian Slovo
To read Gillian Slovo’s latest novel Ten Days after the summer of 2016 is a strange thing. The novel, just now released in paperback, was originally pu... Read more »| 28 Sep 2016 -
Book Reviews
The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride
Casting agents are surely already circling the lead role in the inevitable screen version of this, Eimar McBride's exceptional follow-up to her 2013 debut A ... Read more »| 23 Sep 2016 -
Features25 Years of Glasgow Women's Library
As Glasgow Women's Library celebrate their 25th birthday, The Skinny takes a tour of the Bridgeton premises where all are welcome. We find a grassroots project of history and potential, that's making a real difference to its local community Read more »| 22 Sep 2016 -
Features
Helen Sedgwick on The Comet Seekers
In her acclaimed and inventive debut novel, Helen Sedgwick lights up the lives of characters through the ages by the trail of the great comets. She offers more traditional insight into The Comet Seekers by speaking to The Skinny Read more »| 21 Sep 2016
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Features
The Good Immigrant: BAME Authors Unite
We publish three extracts from The Good Immigrant, an essential collection of 21 BAME writers confronting the issues of race and immigration in modern Britain: powerful, timely and unapologetic Read more »| 19 Sep 2016 -
Students
The Bookworm's Guide to Bluffing
Haven't read the literary canon? Don't worry – you can cheat Read more »| 14 Sep 2016 -
FestivalsFive to see at Manchester Literature Festival
There's lots to see at this year's Manchester Literature Festival, but if we had to whittle down our highlights, here are the five events we'd pick Olivia L... Read more »| 13 Sep 2016 -
News
Graeme Macrae Burnet makes Man Booker Shortlist
Today the prestigious Man Booker Prize was announced, with a novel from tiny Scottish publisher Saraband making the cut ahead of work by JM Coetzee and AL Kennedy Read more »| 13 Sep 2016 -
Events
Graphic Content: Thought Bubble 2016
Comics fans will gather in Leeds in November for the tenth anniversary of Thought Bubble festival – the UK’s biggest celebration of sequential ar... Read more »| 13 Sep 2016 -
Features
Benjamin Markovits: Class War in Rust Belt America
Likened to a season of The Wire scripted by JM Coetzee, You Don't Have to Live Like This is an explosive picture of gentrification amongst Detroit's urban decay. We catch up with its James Tait Black Prize winning author Benjamin Markovits Read more »| 12 Sep 2016 -
Book Reviews
The Fat Artist and Other Stories by Benjamin Hale
Building on the success from his award winning first novel, The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, Benjamin Hale brings something delightful and disturbing ... Read more »| 07 Sep 2016 -
Festivals
Literature festivals in the North this autumn
If the last few months were all about #summerreads, autumn is the season of the literature festival – and the North has some pretty major ones. Here's our guide Read more »| 06 Sep 2016 -
Book Reviews
Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi
This slim volume is such a harrowing experience, some may balk at continuing once the fate of the titular Eve becomes clear. Translated from Mauritian writer... Read more »| 05 Sep 2016