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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FeaturesStop the Clocks: Natasha Pulley on The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
As Natasha Pulley releases her acclaimed debut novel, The Skinny talks to her about history writing itself and finding her feet in the present Read more »| 30 Jun 2015 -
Book Reviews
The Cartel by Don Winslow
Don Winslow’s The Power of the Dog was an epic fictional dissection of the US-Mexican drug wars, rightly regarded as a modern classic of crime fiction.... Read more »| 29 Jun 2015 -
Book ReviewsThe Well of Trapped Words by Sema Kaygusuz
In 2013, Sema Kaygusuz addressed the Edinburgh International Book Festival and spoke of the transitional qualities of literature, especially across linguisti... Read more »| 29 Jun 2015 -
EventsNorthwest Book Highlights – July 2015
Forget Independence Day, it’s all about American literature this July: Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman is released to suitable fanfare, while The Last Poets, Walter Mosley and Judy Blume also visit the Northwest as part of this year's literary festivals Read more »| 29 Jun 2015 -
Festivals
Book Around You: Our Edinburgh Book Festival Highlights
Tickets for the 2015 Edinburgh International Book Festival went on sale this week, ahead of this year's festival which runs from 15-31 August. Hot tickets f... Read more »| 25 Jun 2015 -
Book Reviews
Love + Hate: Stories and Essays by Hanif Kureishi
The first story of Love + Hate invites us on businessman Daniel’s return flight home. He is sipping a glass of champagne, unaware that his trip might n... Read more »| 12 Jun 2015
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NewsEntries open for Scottish Book Trust New Writers Awards
The Scottish Book Trust’s New Writers Awards for 2016 are open for applications, with eleven prizes on offer to new writers from across Scotland. Entr... Read more »| 10 Jun 2015 -
Festivals
Edinburgh International Book Festival announces 2015 programme
The line-up for the 2015 Edinburgh International Book Festival has been announced ahead of this year's festival in August. The 2015 Festival once again take... Read more »| 10 Jun 2015 -
Book ReviewsLiberty Bazaar by David Chadwick
High society is a form of captivity in this rollicking tour through Victorian Liverpool, which also happens to be a searing indictment of Britain’s rol... Read more »| 05 Jun 2015 -
Festivals
Speaking Out
Ameena Atiq performs at Liverpool Arab Arts Festival this month. The Skinny talks to the rising star of spoken word Read more »| 04 Jun 2015 -
Events
Northwest Book Highlights – June 2015
From a medieval Fifty Shades of Grey to an evening of experimental poetry, the start of summer brings a diverse selection of literary events to the Northwest Read more »| 03 Jun 2015 -
Features
Concrete Jungle: Eleanor Rees on Blood Child
As she releases her third collection, Blood Child, poet Eleanor Rees discusses her political incentive, celebrates the imagination and defends the role of the local poet Read more »| 03 Jun 2015 -
Features
It Started With a Cough: words with Louise Welsh
Serial literary monogamist Louise Welsh is looking more long term with the publication of the second of her Plague Times trilogy. She talks to crime author Russel D. McLean about extending this post-pandemic world Read more »| 02 Jun 2015 -
Features
The Dark Horse: Cantering into the Literary Limelight
After being edited for a period from Hugh MacDiarmid's cottage, boasting Seamus Heaney as a lifetime subscriber, and publishing high calibre contributors including George Mackay Brown, The Dark Horse is a thoroughbred. It's now 20, and its time to party. Read more »| 02 Jun 2015 -
Book Reviews
The Good Dark by Ryan Van Winkle
There are certain buttons a writer can push for any individual reader that initiate a simple, powerful 'yes to this' response and pretty much destroy the pot... Read more »| 01 Jun 2015