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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FestivalsUnbound 2016: Welcome from Roland
Each August, Unbound offers 16 nights of free literary shenanigans which push performance to the fore. Roland Gulliver suggests you say hello once more to the improper child of the festival proper Read more »| 28 Jun 2016 -
Book ReviewsParis Vagabond by Jean-Paul Clébert
A much-needed new translation of one the great post-war French novels, even if it seems to contain little fiction. As one of the best books ever written abou... Read more »| 24 Jun 2016 -
FeaturesThe highbrow humour of Geoff Dyer
'Indescribable' is Geoff Dyer's trademark term. Ranked among Alain De Botton's favourite contemporary writers and dubbed 'the best living writer in Britain' by the Telegraph, his new book captures literal and metaphorical travels with irascible wit Read more »| 23 Jun 2016 -
Book ReviewsNegroland by Margo Jefferson
Margo Jefferson grew up in the late 1940s and 50s, in an area of Chicago she describes as ‘Negroland’. This was a time when her class and lo... Read more »| 22 Jun 2016 -
Features
The North's best indie bookshops
To mark Independent Bookshop Week (18-25 June), we selected some of our favourite independent book stores in the North and suggested some titles you could re... Read more »| 15 Jun 2016 -
EventsLiterary event highlights in the North: June 2016
There's something for everyone in this month's roundup of literary events and readings across the North – whether you're interested in the backstr... Read more »| 10 Jun 2016
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Festivals
Zygmunt Bauman at Leggendo Metropolitano
We popped to Italy for the International Festival of Literature Leggendo Metropolitano 2016, and found Zygmunt Bauman musing on the nature of happiness. Read more »| 10 Jun 2016 -
Festivals
Edinburgh Book Festival reveals 2016 programme
The programme for the 2016 Edinburgh International Book Festival has been revealed, with Jonathan Safran Foer and Stewart Lee among a host of names set for appearances. Read more »| 09 Jun 2016 -
Book Reviews
Three Craws by James Yorkston
They say write what you know, and James Yorkston clearly understands the terrain of his debut novel Three Craws, set in the East Neuk of Fife. Biographical d... Read more »| 08 Jun 2016 -
Features
Fighting Prejudice on the Page: Women in Comics
The illustrated world is maligned for its depiction of women on the page. Ahead of her appearance at Glasgow Comic Con, celebrated comic author and artist Kate Leth explains what's changing and why Read more »| 08 Jun 2016 -
Features
Graphic novels and the Middle East
Why are so many authors who write about the Middle East turning to comics to tell their stories? Read more »| 07 Jun 2016 -
News
Poetry News – Scotland, June 2016
This month we speak to Jenny Lindsay about the end of Skinny favourite Rally & Broad, and the projects to rise from its ashes, before looking at the work of comedy-poet-libertine Mark Waddell Read more »| 03 Jun 2016 -
Festivals
XpoNorth: LG Thomson on Northern Noir
Crime thriller author Lorraine (L.G.) Thomson will make time in her hectic schudule to be at Xpo North this year. She tells us about the importance of creative communities in the Highlands and Islands, and why she went down the self-publishing route Read more »| 02 Jun 2016 -
Book Reviews
The Girls by Emma Cline
Emma Cline's much-anticipated debut shows its hand immediately: 'They herd everyone into the living room. The moment the frightened people understand th... Read more »| 31 May 2016 -
Features
Immersed in Danger: Reporters Risking Death
Two journalists who walked into the lion’s den: Wolfgang Bauer went undercover to share the journey of Syrian refugees fleeing the terror of war, while Jürgen Todenhöfer confronted that terror, spending ten days as a guest of the Islamic State Read more »| 31 May 2016