tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68428104620639449032024-03-13T18:01:12.059+00:00Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John DonaldBirlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-61363148641019468732013-07-15T10:44:00.001+01:002013-07-15T10:44:21.568+01:00This Blog Has Moved! You can now access our blog and all articles on <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/blog/">http://www.birlinn.co.uk/blog/</a>. We are looking forward to seeing you there! Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-72282355161026534662013-04-23T14:05:00.000+01:002013-04-23T14:05:10.926+01:00Midnight in Havana shortlisted ... and it's not even published!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Polygon is delighted to announce that <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/Midnight-in-Havana.html">Midnight in Havana by Peggy Blair</a>, scheduled to be published on 4th July in the UK, has been shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Awards Best First Novel, one of Canada’s top crime writing awards. <br /><br />“We’re absolutely thrilled that Midnight in Havana has been shortlisted and feel so lucky to be publishing such a magical detective story,” said Neville Moir, Publishing Director of Polygon. “Our warmest congratulations go to Peggy.”<br /><br />Midnight in Havana – published as The Beggar’s Opera in Canada – has already shown it’s worth being shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award and won the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Bookies Award for Best Mystery/Thriller.<br /><br />The first Inspector Ramirez Mystery, Midnight in Havana offers fans of smart, literary crime fiction a warmer alternative to Scandinavian Noir and a dark twist on the flawed investigator with Inspector Ramirez, literally, being haunted by unsolved mysteries.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Peggy Blair</i></td></tr>
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<br /><br /><span id="goog_886846504"></span><span id="goog_886846505"></span><a href="http://www.peggyblair.com/">Peggy</a> has been a lawyer for more than thirty years. A recognized expert in Aboriginal law, she also worked as both a criminal defence lawyer and Crown prosecutor. She spent a Christmas in Old Havana where she watched the bored young policemen along the Malecón, visited Hemingway’s favourite bars, and learned to make a perfect mojito.<br /><br />Here’s hoping to be raising one or two of those on the 30th!</span><br /><br />Sarah Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10709048102185089767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-88322848446094610942013-04-15T14:42:00.000+01:002013-04-15T14:42:05.508+01:00Birlinn Ltd Unveils New Sport Imprint<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Birlinn Ltd is delighted to announce the launch of a new imprint, Arena Sport!<br /><br />Debuting later this Spring, it aims to publish five or six titles per year beginning with the paperback edition of the hugely successful <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/Bradley-Wiggins.html">Bradley Wiggins: Tour de Force by John Deering</a> formerly published on the Polygon imprint. <br /><br />Other titles planned include <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/Va-Va-Froome.html">Va Va Froome: The Remarkable Rise of Chris Froome by David Sharp</a>; <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/Jewel-in-the-Glen.html">Jewel in the Glen: Gleneagles, Golf and the Ryder Cup by Ed Hodge</a>; the paperback edition of <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/Behind-the-Lions-9781780270982.html">Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions by Stephen Jones, Tom English, Nick Cain and David Barnes</a>; and <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/Season-of-Wonder.html">Season of Wonder: Manchester United’s Treble Season by Daniel Harris</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stephen Jones, rugby correspondent for The Times and The Sunday Times and one of the authors of Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions said, ‘The advent of Arena Sport is great news. At a time when the publishing industry has its challenges, a genuinely positive development and the arrival of a potentially outstanding sports list will be warmly welcomed by authors, and readers alike.’<br /><br />Peter Burns, sports editor, commented 'We are delighted to be launching Arena Sport at this time and we have some very strong titles coming out over the next twenty-four months. We are developing a list which not only features globally renowned sports personalities, teams and brands, but also, crucially, contains some of the finest writers working in the industry today. Our aim is to commission the best writers available, bringing their touch of magic to a range of fascinating stories, and publish their work to the highest spec.'<br /><br />Stay tuned for more from this exciting new imprint!</span>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-64428218781919495662013-04-04T12:41:00.000+01:002013-04-04T12:41:53.882+01:00Katharine Stewart<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Birlinn is very sad to announce the death last week of Katharine Stewart, author of <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/A-Croft-in-the-Hills-9781841587912.html">A Croft in the Hills</a> and <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/A-Garden-in-the-Hills-9781780270371.html">A Garden in the Hills</a>, at the age of ninety-eight. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">A Croft in the Hills (1960) was one of the first books of the period to deal with issues of self-sufficiency, concern for the environment and living in harmony with the natural world, but without any pretentiousness or sentimentality. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Katharine was a wonderful person - full of life, enthusiasm and humour, and a pleasure to deal with as a publisher. </span></span></span>Her writing was adored across the world and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time. </span></span></span></div>
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Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-66742222339080285852013-01-22T17:24:00.004+00:002013-01-22T17:24:31.072+00:00Macsween’s Haggis Bible proves a haggis is for life, not just for Burns Night<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Not</i> a haggis.</td></tr>
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<![endif]--><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">As the uber-Scot Sir Sean Connery once asked whilst
playing an immortal Spaniard, who was actually an ancient Egyptian, in the film
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Highlander</i>, ‘What is a haggis?’</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Well, first here’s what it’s not. It is not a small
animal indigenous to the Highlands of Scotland and, therefore, does not have
legs of any length. It has not been hunted to extinction in the wild and is
not, as a result, the subject of an intensive WWF-funded breeding programme at
a safari park just outside Auchtermuchty. And it is not – WE REPEAT, NOT – only
to be eaten on Burns Night. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmmmmacsween!</td></tr>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">What haggis is is delicious, easy to cook, i.e.
microwavable, fantastically adaptable and vegetarian-friendly (for 25 years and
counting). Just ask Jo Macsween! Scion of the legendary haggis makers, <a href="http://www.macsween.co.uk/">Macsween of Edinburgh</a>, Jo is a food lover and blogger and a passionate and enthusiastic
ambassador for haggis. Never afraid to mix it up, she’s always on the look out
for new ways to cook with it. Hence a brand new book on the ‘great chieftain o’
the puddin’ race’ - <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/The-Macsween-Haggis-Bible.html">The Macsween Haggis Bible</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">If you want the lowdown on the perfect traditional Burns
Night fare, then look no further, but there’s more to haggis than tatties and
neeps and tartan. If you’re having a fancy bash how about SOS canapés? Or stir
things up at dinner with veggie crumb cake with crème fraîche or haggis bobotie.
It’s an everyday ingredient that you can dress up as haggis Benedict, dress
down as haggis nachos or see if they even notice with something as innocent as
haggis lasagne. <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/The-Macsween-Haggis-Bible.html">Head over to our website for a free recipe.</a> </span></span></div>
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Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-12793957757047518392013-01-10T17:33:00.000+00:002013-01-11T10:27:17.813+00:00Vote Bob Servant! Star of Delete this at Your Peril Transfers to Small Screen <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuWMRwZ3MEFjBR_M1E9ngTo9Fw0dpzpC_TVZ5v3N6-y-Mopy9WmFch0YLgZAuaPcpTT-qzyNYELLGnEmNvAYvdOwTB_w_t_WSrnEm1wX3P0d754F1LAM6PUqZWB41g8LsVbFb5jlacPjX/s1600/3D+S.Delete.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuWMRwZ3MEFjBR_M1E9ngTo9Fw0dpzpC_TVZ5v3N6-y-Mopy9WmFch0YLgZAuaPcpTT-qzyNYELLGnEmNvAYvdOwTB_w_t_WSrnEm1wX3P0d754F1LAM6PUqZWB41g8LsVbFb5jlacPjX/s1600/3D+S.Delete.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">If, as Napoleon once observed, “in politics stupidity is not a handicap”, then meet the next Honourable Member for Broughty Ferry – Bob Servant. Star of <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Bob-Servant-with-Neil-Forsyth-1511/">three bestselling books</a> and a BBC radio series, Bob has now been reborn on the small screen by Hollywood legend Brian Cox in the six-part BBC comedy series, ‘Bob Servant, Independent’.</span></span> <br />
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">When the sitting MP for Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, dies suddenly it sparks a by-election that could change the political map of the UK. Bob – former burger van magnate and entrepreneur – swings into action to take advantage of a level of attention he’s been waiting for his whole life. He’s going to sell himself to the good people of Broughty Ferry …whether they like it or not. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ3X1otgcYmDHWtomHXjdaJK5IdAqgqt7AqeBfaPqAhWclNCHZ1z4Y_5Y8HXSn3ynmyfOBiAqqb1C0f0Claok9BPn-E0_Vg9Z-nDIrJXeNIwgYaMCN2gralfP213kEqOwTYsXKi0zPwRh/s1600/Bob+Servant.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ3X1otgcYmDHWtomHXjdaJK5IdAqgqt7AqeBfaPqAhWclNCHZ1z4Y_5Y8HXSn3ynmyfOBiAqqb1C0f0Claok9BPn-E0_Vg9Z-nDIrJXeNIwgYaMCN2gralfP213kEqOwTYsXKi0zPwRh/s320/Bob+Servant.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">The series, written by Neil Forsyth who also wrote the three Bob Servant books (<a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Delete-This-at-your-Peril-9781841589190/">Delete This at Your Peril</a>, <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Bob-Servant--Hero-of-Dundee-9781841589206/">Bob Servant:Hero of Dundee</a> and <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Why-Me--9781780270098/">Why Me?</a>), charts Bob’s bid for electoral success against slick professional politician Nick Edwards (Rufus Jones) and Nick’s no-nonsense campaign manager and wife, Philippa (Pollyanna McIntosh). Managing Bob’s campaign for glory is his long-suffering friend and neighbour Frank (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The Dean to my Torvill”</i> – Bob) played by <b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Jonathan Watson</span></b>, who seems completely unfazed by the fact that Bob has absolutely no understanding of the political process whatsoever. To the hustings!</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bob Servant, Independent starts on 23<sup>rd</sup> January at 10.00 p.m. on BBC Four for six weeks, repeated on Fridays at 10.00 p.m. on BBC2 Scotland (Sky Channel 970), and here's a sneak peak of the man in action ...</span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/i2PDLXpEhwg" width="560"></iframe></span></span>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-69882942672894581782012-12-13T17:53:00.000+00:002012-12-13T17:53:33.683+00:00All we want for Christmas is ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Word of mouth, hand-selling, whatever you call it we do like a personal recommendation. So we asked the Birlinn Elves what their favourite Birlinn and Polygon book of 2012 was.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Our Publicity and Marketing Elf, Sarah, was first off the mark with the obvious choice. Given that she has a packet of cat treats about her person at all times, well ... you get the picture. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjineynsHCJMlnDSnXYcfxJRkI2-xsJQqOR1F6xgwD7GBQS9G4KQikIKlr3_VHZXZthqCQZi5wN92VfvCpJU__sUdzdffh5LVB7LwWKo469_EMmwJNILkw6ZajiLV3mlr3yX2s48NnR8KlM/s1600/Tobermory+Cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjineynsHCJMlnDSnXYcfxJRkI2-xsJQqOR1F6xgwD7GBQS9G4KQikIKlr3_VHZXZthqCQZi5wN92VfvCpJU__sUdzdffh5LVB7LwWKo469_EMmwJNILkw6ZajiLV3mlr3yX2s48NnR8KlM/s200/Tobermory+Cat.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">‘I loved
<a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Debi-Gliori-1611/">Debi Gliori</a>’s "<a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Tobermory-Cat--The--Debi-Gliori--The-Tobermory-Cat-9781780270999/">The Tobermory Cat</a>". On the outside it’s the
adorable book for children you'd expect from Debi with beautifully observed and
executed pictures. On the inside, so to speak, it’s a pithy and pertinent
lesson in what makes us all special. Being very fond of fuzzy redheads I thought it was just gorgeous!’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">So. Yes. Well, there you have it. For children and cat (and fuzzy redhead) lovers alike, enjoy the stripey orange tale of The Tobermory Cat this Christmas!</span></div>
Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-86520711723747915782012-12-03T17:36:00.000+00:002012-12-03T17:38:00.562+00:00Hat-trick for Birlinn and Polygon Authors!<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Not content with four shortlisted titles at the <a href="http://birlinnbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/2012-saltire-society-literary-awards.html">Saltire Society's Literary Awards</a>, Birlinn and Polygon authors managed to sweep three awards in one week! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Alexander McCall Smith kicked things off when he was honoured by Aberdeen Asset Management with their Great Scot Award for his work in literature. Unable to attend Alexander asked our Managing Director, Hugh Andrew, to collect the award with the message, <span class="apple-style-span">‘</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I am extremely grateful for this award. My only regret is that I cannot be here because I had agreed some time ago to do a charity event in Edinburgh tonight that I simply could not call off. I would like to thank the sponsors – and the judges, of course, – for the honour they do me and I am delighted that an old friend, Hugh Andrew, can collect the award on my behalf. Hugh has been my publisher for many years and I am pleased that he is getting an award tonight, even if I intend to take it off him the moment he gets back to Edinburgh. Thank you again.’</span></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">The 2012 Garden Media Guild Awards (formerly Garden Writers' Guild) awarded <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Fruit-and-Vegetables-for-Scotland--What-to-Grow-and-How-to-Grow-it--Ken-Cox--Caroline-Beaton-9781780270463/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fruit and Vegetables for Scotland: What toGrow and How to Grow It</i></a> by <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Kenneth-Cox-and-Caroline-Beaton-1599/">Ken Coxand Caroline Beaton</a> the hotly contested Practical Book of the Year prize. Awarding the prize, the judges commented that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fruit and Vegetables for Scotland</i> was ‘<span class="apple-style-span">A practical book with personality, meticulously researched and impressively informative. It fills a long-empty gap for Scottish gardeners coping with weather conditions that are vastly different to the rest of the UK. But even if you’re not north of the border, the comprehensive growing advice is applicable to all. This is an engaging and enjoyable read that you will return to time and time again.’</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">And St Andrew’s Day saw the winners of the 2012 Saltire Society Literary Awards announced at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh with <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Scotland--Mapping-the-Nation-9781780270913/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scotland: Mapping the Nation</i></a> by <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Christopher-Fleet--Charles-W-J--Withers-and-Margaret-Wilkes-1559/">Christopher Fleet, Charles W.J.Withers and Margaret Wilkes</a> taking Best Research Book of the Year. Two other Birlinn titles – <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Grand-Designer--The-9781780270272/">Grand Designer: The Third Marquess of Bute</a> by Rosemary Hannah and <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Scotland-s-First-Oil-Boom--The-Scottish-Shale-Oil-Industry--1851---1914-9781906566500/">Scotland’s First Oil Boom: </a><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Scotland-s-First-Oil-Boom--The-Scottish-Shale-Oil-Industry--1851---1914-9781906566500/">The Scottish Shale-Oil Industry,1851–1914</a> </span></i>by John McKay – were shortlisted in the Research Book and Scottish History Book of the Year categories respectively. Aonghas MacNeacail’s bilingual poetry collection <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Laughing-at-the-Clock--New-and-Selected-Poems-9781846972300/">Laughing at the Clock/</a><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Laughing-at-the-Clock--New-and-Selected-Poems-9781846972300/">DéanamhGáire Ris A’ Chloc</a> was shortlisted in the Scottish Book of the Year category, losing to Polygon stablemate <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/James-Kelman-1015/">James Kelman</a>.</span></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Managing Director Hugh Andrew commented, </span></i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">'The Birlinn team is absolutely delighted that these books and their authors have been singled out for praise in such highly competitive award arenas. We offer our congratulations to Alexander, to Ken Cox and Caroline Beaton, to Christopher, Charles and Margaret and, of course, to Rosemary, Aonghas and to John’s family. Thanks too have to go to the skilled staff at Birlinn who strive for high standards with every book published. These books are all a joy to look at and to handle as well as to read and we are very proud of their achievements.’</span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">And so say all of us! </span></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-70379858959881680062012-11-27T14:33:00.000+00:002012-11-27T14:34:39.230+00:002012 Saltire Society Literary Awards<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8p476bN6DIJucBvKla1PmTtbDE1TaeBruuP4T7oeW6ZMeFsMB8_aKVLQ0wKOtyxDXqn8unueKkSdRncJjUK7oTW6AG838TbU1u4O_3IeET-xVZ1eGkZRwKpsTGtlErPgkXAfHqRp8nw9/s1600/Saltire+Society+Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8p476bN6DIJucBvKla1PmTtbDE1TaeBruuP4T7oeW6ZMeFsMB8_aKVLQ0wKOtyxDXqn8unueKkSdRncJjUK7oTW6AG838TbU1u4O_3IeET-xVZ1eGkZRwKpsTGtlErPgkXAfHqRp8nw9/s1600/Saltire+Society+Logo.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">This year is a bumper year for Birlinn and Polygon authors at the <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.saltiresociety.org.uk/3">Saltire Society’s Literary Awards</a></span>, and rightly so. The winners are announced at the National Library of Scotland on St Andrews Day, and we’ll be keeping our fingers, toes and everything else we can cross crossed. Congratulations to all the shortlisted poets and writers, but particularly to …</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Aonghas MacNeacail</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Aonghas-MacNeacail-1066/">Aonghas MacNeacail</a></span> – Aonghas’ collection poetry <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Laughing-at-the-Clock--New-and-Selected-Poems-9781846972300/">Laughing at the Clock: New and Selected Poems/ Déanamh Gáire Ris A’ Chloc: DáinÙra Agus Thaghte</a></span> was published earlier this year to celebrate his 70<sup>th</sup> birthday. Described by James Robertson as <b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">‘A fine record of a distinctive bilingual voice’, this is a poet at the height of his powers. The shortlist for Scottish Book of the Year is a stellar one this year with Aonghas up against Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Kathleen Jamie, James Kelman, Ewan Morrison and Irvine Welsh. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Scotland--Mapping-the-Nation-9781780270913/"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Scotland: Mapping the Nation</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt;"> – </span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Christopher-Fleet--Charles-W-J--Withers-and-Margaret-Wilkes-1559/">Christopher Fleet, Charles W.J.Withers and Margaret Wilkes</a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> have produced that rarest of books, one that is historically rich and significant but which is also lavishly illustrated and just a joy to read. The history of Scotland has been told so many different ways, but the use of maps from the earliest times offers a fascinating new angle on the subject. The shortlist for Scottish Research Book of the Year also contains another Birlinn title …</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Grand-Designer--The-9781780270272/">The Grand Designer: Third Marquess of Bute</a></span> – <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Rosemary-Hannah-1566/">Rosemary Hannah</a></span> has written an enthralling biography of one of the last great artistic patrons, the thirds Marquess of Bute. Fabulously wealthy, Bute worked closely with architects and artists to create some of the most remarkable interiors in Britain including the high Victorian Gothic exuberance of Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch and the wildly ostentatious Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute. But he was also a man at odds with his times. A Catholic convert, he openly criticised his Church. A traditional Victorian Patriarch, he championed feminism and was intimately involved in his children’s lives. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And last, but definitely not least, on the Scottish History Book of the Year shortlist is <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Scotland-s-First-Oil-Boom--The-Scottish-Shale-Oil-Industry--1851---1914-9781906566500/">Scotland's First Oil Boom: </a></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Scotland-s-First-Oil-Boom--The-Scottish-Shale-Oil-Industry--1851---1914-9781906566500/"><i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Scottish Shale-Oil Industry, 1851–1914</span></i></a></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </span></i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">by <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/John-McKay-1603/">John McKay</a></span>. Just as big, but less well known than its modern counterpart, the Scottish shale oil industry was just as big a boom as the North Sea industry. At its peak it employed 10, 000 people, it exploited new technology to produce a whole range of new products and paved the way for Scottish expertise to be recognised in the oil and petrochemical industry at large. </span></span></div>
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Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-35231353502690418752012-11-23T13:56:00.001+00:002012-11-23T17:06:10.920+00:00Birlinn and Polygon at Book Week Scotland<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZQhcd051SLsl48L5V2kY75oWUA0tFrPync_r0pcV2hR8JAsOoYlPLCnk_PfCKZkYiHpIN8hKBCGgv2CCPDBjAG2-oq332duWjh53lv0F4JoKA_chhi0BGhwNtDtsltxjwuu4QzhV1XcY/s1600/book-week-scotland-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZQhcd051SLsl48L5V2kY75oWUA0tFrPync_r0pcV2hR8JAsOoYlPLCnk_PfCKZkYiHpIN8hKBCGgv2CCPDBjAG2-oq332duWjh53lv0F4JoKA_chhi0BGhwNtDtsltxjwuu4QzhV1XcY/s1600/book-week-scotland-logo.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s Book Week Scotland next week, and we have plenty events planned with our fantastic authors. Get your diary out, here we go!<br /><br />If you’re near the Mull of Kintyre on 26th November, the wonderful </span><a href="http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/node/41651"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jess Smith</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, author of </span><a href="http://birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Way-of-the-Wanderers--The-Story-of-Travellers-in-Scotland-9781780270784/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Way of the Wanderers</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, will be performing at Campbeltown Library. With stories and songs Jess brings to life the history of the travelling community. And in Fife on the same day, our very own Jan Rutherford (Publicity & Marketing Director) will be taking part in the panel discussion </span><a href="http://www.onfife.com/events/so-you-want-be-writer-dalgety-bay-library"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘So You Want to be a Writer?’</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> exploring the future of publishing at 7pm, in the Dalgety Bay Library.<br /><br />The 27th of November is a busy day for our authors and no mistake. The lovely Sara Sheridan, author of </span><a href="http://birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Brighton-Belle--A-Mirabelle-Bevan-Mystery-9781846972287/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brighton Belle</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, will appear at the MacDonald Library in Edinburgh with a talk entitled </span><a href="http://www.list.co.uk/event/336664-sara-sheridan-how-to-be-a-lady/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘How to be a Lady’</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Learn from the best from throughout history! On the same day up in Oban, </span><a href="http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/node/41652"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Catherine Brown</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, acclaimed food writer and author of </span><a href="http://birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Scottish-Seafood-9781841589756/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scottish Seafood</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, will be at Oban Library with a talk to get your mouth watering!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And in Edinburgh it's the launch of brand new short story collection <a href="http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/editorial/shops/instore_events_view.jsp;jsessionid=D31FE729781293E85F251EBB57F74094.bobcatt1"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">The Seven Wonders of Scotland</span></a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">at Blackwell’s, South Bridge at 6.30pm! Seven writers re-imagine Scotland through a fictional exploration of its possible future, landscapes and mindsets. There are some pretty out-there ideas so come along to hear readings from this provocative and entertaining collection from contributors Gavin Inglis, Kirsti Wishart and Caroline von Schmalensee, introduced by the collection’s editor, Gerry Hassan. <br /><br />Ron Butlin, Edinburgh's Makar or Poet Laureate, is a busy man in Book Week Scotland. He will be promoting his latest poetry collection, </span><a href="http://birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Magicians-of-Edinburgh--The--Ron-Butlin-9781846972362/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Magicians of Scotland</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> with two performances. Firstly, he will be reading at the<span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.edinburghbookshop.com/index.php/events/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Edinburgh Bookshop</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Bruntsfield on 29th November at 6.45pm. Then, on Saturday December 1st , Ron will appear at the </span><a href="http://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk/events/event_display.asp?id=5053"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scottish Storytelling Centre</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> accompanied by musicians Dick Lee and Anne Evans, in an exciting new show, which proved a hit at this year’s Fringe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the 29th of November </span><a href="http://www.mainstreetbooks.co.uk/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Main Street Trading Company</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> will host the Borders launch of </span><a href="http://birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Fauna-Scotica--Animals-and-People-in-Scotland-9781841585611/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fauna Scotica</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, a beautiful new book crammed with fascinating information and gorgeous photographs, with author Mary Low. Come along to St Boswells at 6pm to explore Scotland’s diverse range of wildlife.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirFau1-QdvTXvrWSDkDCH-ALlOHl6zlCekLUql7sghwGUKjgCl776eTmet8qrKDJg0YCwZPobfJoYkPFCk9_agsU6Wryffwi-31nrelkVjzIo4myooFNlY01-q5MHxcgtNKQ1uZApdsp5i/s1600/Trains+and+Lovers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirFau1-QdvTXvrWSDkDCH-ALlOHl6zlCekLUql7sghwGUKjgCl776eTmet8qrKDJg0YCwZPobfJoYkPFCk9_agsU6Wryffwi-31nrelkVjzIo4myooFNlY01-q5MHxcgtNKQ1uZApdsp5i/s1600/Trains+and+Lovers.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the same day - if you’re in Paisley - join us at </span><a href="http://www.paisleyabbey.org.uk/events/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paisley Abbey</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> at 7.30pm to hear the delightful Alexander McCall Smith speak about his latest novel, </span><a href="http://birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Trains-and-Lovers--The-Heart-s-Journey--Alexander-McCall-Smith-9781846972454/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trains and Lovers</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. But don’t fret if you can’t make that event! He will also appear at the </span><a href="http://www.nls.uk/events"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">National Library of Scotland</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> on 30th November in a discussion on the joys of reading. Also on the 30th, the talented Keith Brockie will be speaking about his beautifully illustrated book,<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></span><a href="http://birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Return-To-One-Man-s-Island-9781841589749/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Return to One Man’s Island</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> at the Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick at 11.30am. For more information or to make a booking telephone +44(0)1620 890202 or email info@seabird.org.<br /><br />Off the mainland Kevin MacNeil, editor of </span><a href="http://birlinn.co.uk/book/details/These-Islands--We-Sing-9781846971969/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These Islands, We Sing</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and Donald S. Murray, author of <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/And-On-This-Rock--The-Italian-Chapel--Orkney-9781841588681/"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">And On This Rock</span></a>, will be talking on<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.isles.fm/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Isles FM</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> about island literature . First broadcast at 7pm on the 25th November, it will be repeated throughout the week at 2pm on the 28th November and 6pm on the 30th November.<br /><br />Phew! That’s a lot of celebrating of Scottish books and writing. We need a lie down and a cup of tea just thinking about it. See you there!</span>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-22052899076435701212012-10-22T12:06:00.000+01:002012-10-22T12:06:20.774+01:00James Kelman and the Best of the James Tait Black<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Polygon is very excited that James Kelman has been shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black Prize. Six authors from the past century have been shortlisted for the best ever winner of Britain's oldest book award.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOTDC1uaQzqc7iUIE4hhJ2LBaUCA3YKHSrkifV-sHGhnDpf32qqg2HNvkYzol_cFK-grZY10rK6LzslH-KR6TH-J5wdx4wYqPDVQMgDBb7WnvR8cqRwI-00b87w1ridxZhboO80oS_Qqr/s1600/Greyhound+Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOTDC1uaQzqc7iUIE4hhJ2LBaUCA3YKHSrkifV-sHGhnDpf32qqg2HNvkYzol_cFK-grZY10rK6LzslH-KR6TH-J5wdx4wYqPDVQMgDBb7WnvR8cqRwI-00b87w1ridxZhboO80oS_Qqr/s1600/Greyhound+Front.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">James won the award in 1989 with A Disaffection, and joins a stellar shortlist of Angela Carter, Graham Greene, Cormac McCarthy, Muriel Spark and Caryl Phillips. The winning book will be announced in December, chosen by a judging panel including broadcaster Kirsty Wark and award-winning author and writer in residence at the university, Alan Warner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Regius Professor Greg Walker, chair of the James Tait Black Prizes, said: "This best of the best award is a wonderful opportunity to revisit some of the best writers in the literary canon. It is fitting in the year of celebration of 250 years of study of English literature at the University of Edinburgh that we recognise the wonderful contribution this prize makes to honouring great literature."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Everyone at Polygon will be keeping their fingers crossed for James. To find out more about his work, and the titles by him published by Polygon, <span style="color: purple;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/titles/James-Kelman-1015/">click here<span></span></a></span></span>.</span></div>
Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-61961069518347623042012-09-19T14:03:00.000+01:002012-09-19T14:04:04.484+01:00Last of The Stewarts o' Blair Nominated for Lifetime Achievement Award<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Birlinn is delighted to announce that <span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><a href="http://www.storyawards.org.uk/profile/sheila-stewart">Sheila Stewart</a></b></span></span> has been nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award in the British Awards for Storytelling Excellence 2012! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sheila joins an impressive shortlist including <a href="http://gkradio.org/wordpress/?page_id=169">Sandra Agard</a>, <a href="http://www.literaturewales.org/writers-of-wales/i/129560/desc/collins-fiona">Fiona Collins</a>, <a href="http://www.storyworks.org.uk/">Mary Medlicott</a>, <a href="http://www.taffythomas.co.uk/">Taffy Thomas</a> and <a href="http://www.pigswhiskermusic.co.uk/biography.htm">Robin Williamson</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you’re not familiar with Sheila’s work, you’re in for a rare treat. Sheila is probably the last link with the traditional traveller ballads and stories, as the daughter of noted singer Belle Stewart and one of The Stewarts o’ Blair who took the folk music world by storm in the 1960s. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtEBY5irhw_4Qhi-iorkgB_JlbUrXvwhnhTymml1ESrdMKGXPFtfIScap3W7k2ASDOr_j53dY4xPjSq-ysTvzKVLZBtsQvV8SbzmlWG6NLW4KA-lno4XMr8w-hi4Hxz-PKA4I1Qk95VP4i/s1600/A+Traveller%27s+Life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtEBY5irhw_4Qhi-iorkgB_JlbUrXvwhnhTymml1ESrdMKGXPFtfIScap3W7k2ASDOr_j53dY4xPjSq-ysTvzKVLZBtsQvV8SbzmlWG6NLW4KA-lno4XMr8w-hi4Hxz-PKA4I1Qk95VP4i/s1600/A+Traveller's+Life.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Born in a stable to a traditional traveller family, she would overcome the problems and prejudice of life on the road to travel the world singing, telling stories and talking about the traditional ways which were dying out. She has sung for a President, a Pope and a Queen and was awarded an MBE in 2006 for services to the oral tradition of Scotland's folk music and for travelling people. Sheila has written three books, <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Queen-Amang-the-Heather-9781841585284/">Queen Amang the Heather: The Life of Belle Stewart</a></span> about her mother Belle, <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Pilgrims-of-the-Mist-9781841587523/">Pilgrims of the Mist: </a></span></span><i><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Pilgrims-of-the-Mist-9781841587523/">The Stories of Scotland’s Travelling People</a></span> and <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Traveller-s-Life--A-9781841589794/">A Traveller’s Life: The Autobiography of Sheila Stewart</a></span>. After </span></i><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">sixty years of </span><i><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">performing, Sheila retired earlier this year.</span></i></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Congratulations to Sheila from everyone at Birlinn, and if you’d like to find out more about the award and vote go to </span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.storyawards.co.uk/nominations">www.storyawards.org.uk</a></span></span><i><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span></i></span></span></h1>
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Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-2406649079580569712012-08-24T15:16:00.001+01:002012-08-24T15:16:33.096+01:00Animals Beyond the Call of Duty<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz7aWyVGizmeQ78y-OILyXqigs3LewBspymSSamXp27pg4tYVJUjV56vsq3RJdHpDcCpzGxGeNxfa-pVZ_W5TY_TRCeTtYZfx0VNvshu0KP8v3Nd2iBqNGH1BkDDKm-2lEjCzdfYruSU8o/s1600/Edin+Zoo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz7aWyVGizmeQ78y-OILyXqigs3LewBspymSSamXp27pg4tYVJUjV56vsq3RJdHpDcCpzGxGeNxfa-pVZ_W5TY_TRCeTtYZfx0VNvshu0KP8v3Nd2iBqNGH1BkDDKm-2lEjCzdfYruSU8o/s1600/Edin+Zoo.jpeg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">If you find yourself at Edinburgh Zoo, and you can tear yourself away from the pandas, we heartily recommend heading to the Rainforest Room in the Education Centre for a fantastic exhibition called ‘<a href="http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/whatson/events_articles/event_187.html">Animals Beyond the Call of Duty</a>’. The exhibition aims to tell the story of animals in war, and includes two very close to Birlinn’s heart. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK_kjAIbLYFn29MB2Rq3vfglF2iXRIRniXZ0XcHZzPaMU8QsFBPpQF4wOdq8xbddBfNq_wx3L8JR93gm0n4Gv0yjzML99k7_wZgBC_NZ8FQrwJt442VySDF_5nBg18wD92tfQPFhLrq5UL/s1600/Bamse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK_kjAIbLYFn29MB2Rq3vfglF2iXRIRniXZ0XcHZzPaMU8QsFBPpQF4wOdq8xbddBfNq_wx3L8JR93gm0n4Gv0yjzML99k7_wZgBC_NZ8FQrwJt442VySDF_5nBg18wD92tfQPFhLrq5UL/s1600/Bamse.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">Bamse was a St Bernard dog who served aboard the Norwegian mine-sweeper </span><span style="font-size: small;">Thorodd during WWII and became a global mascot for the Royal Norwegian Forces and a symbol of freedom and inspiration for Allied troops throughout Europe. He was a familiar and much-loved sight around his adopted home of Montrose, shepherding his fellow crew members home after nights out, travelling on the local buses and even intervening to save a man overboard and a victim of a robber. In 2006 a statue of Bamse was unveiled in Montrose and his life story was told in <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1792726009">Sea Dog Bamse: <i><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">World War II Canine Hero</span></i></a></span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Sea-Dog-Bamse-9781841588490/"> by Angus Whitson and Andrew Orr</a>. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRTqSyXzM3jlfKnIQ_xgrtBAbFR6ZFCsnrjKk50_RgziBVV_5Whj8V7AWGTqjiimahJwT4BXM3DYEDhD-mmgBxU_Zu0-II4z5latv11Qcw3oIJ7i_m0qXlEVrvZd8ocZGGFXVT6UfuTgB/s1600/Wojtek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRTqSyXzM3jlfKnIQ_xgrtBAbFR6ZFCsnrjKk50_RgziBVV_5Whj8V7AWGTqjiimahJwT4BXM3DYEDhD-mmgBxU_Zu0-II4z5latv11Qcw3oIJ7i_m0qXlEVrvZd8ocZGGFXVT6UfuTgB/s1600/Wojtek.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Just as brave and cuddly as Bamse, if even larger, was Wojtek, a 500-pound cigarette-smoking, beer-drinking brown bear who was adopted as a cub by the Polish Army in Iran also in WWII. He became an enlisted soldier so he could accompany his comrades onboard ship to Italy - bears weren’t allowed on boats - but he did more than just keep morale up with his cute antics. During battle, and under fire, Wojtek carried heavy shells to the soldiers operating the guns without flinching. After the war Wojtek joined other Polish exiles in Scotland, finally retiring to Edinburgh Zoo where he never failed to get very excited at the sound of Polish being spoken. Aileen Orr, whose grandfather met Wojtek on active service, tells his remarkable story in <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Wojtek-the-Bear-9781843410577/">Wojtek: Polish War Hero</a>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3rkMCah5MGkXz3r_PaBwg_g2zbMQxbpixxIRw_gYgIc0_OzWFivqltWn4z4UGCDosfK-9DCEzGFeNYgmGKoZxhKc5fA5Q6a3gHFo798Sf2RuCOc_6PpduOnDz_pAX8DHODPk2CytdkRh/s1600/Zoo+event+Bamse+Wojtek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3rkMCah5MGkXz3r_PaBwg_g2zbMQxbpixxIRw_gYgIc0_OzWFivqltWn4z4UGCDosfK-9DCEzGFeNYgmGKoZxhKc5fA5Q6a3gHFo798Sf2RuCOc_6PpduOnDz_pAX8DHODPk2CytdkRh/s1600/Zoo+event+Bamse+Wojtek.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>LTR: Angus Whitson, Aileen Orr, Andrew Orr</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Aileen, Angus and Andrew all took part in a special event to launch the exhibition, talking about Wojtek and Bamse and their lives. The exhibition itself is kindly sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Consulate General to celebrate the links between Scotland and Norway and the 40th anniversary of a penguin at the zoo, ‘Colonel-in Chief’ Nils Olav, being adopted by the Norwegian Kings Guard. It runs until 31st August, and copies of Sea Dog Bamse: World War II Canine Hero and Wojtek: Polish War Hero are available to buy at the zoo. </span></div>
Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-90811986113570014022012-08-16T18:10:00.000+01:002012-08-16T18:10:16.093+01:00GiftED II? - The Literary Banksy Strikes Again
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">‘</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is for you in
support of libraries, books, words, ideas …’</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The ‘literary
Banksy’ has struck again! Over a period of eight months last year, ten intricate
and beautiful sculptures crafted from books were left in libraries, museums and
even at the Edinburgh International Book Festival anonymously. Each bore a
label thanking the venue for their work, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in
support of libraries, books, words, ideas”.</i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkljgqhybgnu6l6WvZ4owQHBbH4Z0gwe5V9vDzteNwR6tTsft16lhid0VXP4OcG7rG57ATrnrVVLhVgC8_akuL_bDefhG4kD_gw8yidU7hIi6sMEXTjx4Gxzldr8EPH98qFFo02l_s-bu/s1600/Gifted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkljgqhybgnu6l6WvZ4owQHBbH4Z0gwe5V9vDzteNwR6tTsft16lhid0VXP4OcG7rG57ATrnrVVLhVgC8_akuL_bDefhG4kD_gw8yidU7hIi6sMEXTjx4Gxzldr8EPH98qFFo02l_s-bu/s1600/Gifted.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Gifted--The-Tale-of-10-Mysterious-Book-Sculptures-Gifted-to-the-City-of-Words-and-Ideas-Edinburgh-s-Paper-Sculptures-9781846972485/"><i>GiftED by Anonymous</i></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A book about
the sculptures, <b style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1084419636">GiftED: </a></b></span><em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><b style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Gifted--The-Tale-of-10-Mysterious-Book-Sculptures-Gifted-to-the-City-of-Words-and-Ideas-Edinburgh-s-Paper-Sculptures-9781846972485/">The Tale of 10 Mysterious Book Sculptures Gifted to the City of Words and Ideas</a></b>,</span></em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> has just been
published by Polygon, and a national tour of the works begins on Saturday in Aberdeen. Today, however,
the artist – only ever identified as female – seems to have struck again with
the appearance of paper flowers at the Edinburgh International Book Festival,
each carrying a line by Oscar Wilde, <em><span style="font-family: Arial;">“… freedom,
books, flowers and the moon</span></em>” and on the reverse <em><span style="font-family: Arial;">A Gift For You</span></em> and a limited edition
number of /50. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUoz4sORZpxBvnZlRS5A78MV2un_zJ4Sa0QNl7YZH2spDznjWHVmQfMkSa4jZ2OCMd6HsjAyOV2N2eP2bUbaMFBGrLpEGW-tCRsXVn29QOK8iJ1Maiian9avXEPJkv4tBpazpdej-s_aGF/s1600/Mystery-Paper-Sculptures-dropped-off-at-Edinburgh-International-Book-Festival_email.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUoz4sORZpxBvnZlRS5A78MV2un_zJ4Sa0QNl7YZH2spDznjWHVmQfMkSa4jZ2OCMd6HsjAyOV2N2eP2bUbaMFBGrLpEGW-tCRsXVn29QOK8iJ1Maiian9avXEPJkv4tBpazpdej-s_aGF/s200/Mystery-Paper-Sculptures-dropped-off-at-Edinburgh-International-Book-Festival_email.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A spokesperson
for the Edinburgh International Book Festival said, “We are delighted that our
mystery paper sculptor has visited us again, and thrilled that members of the
public are finding these beautiful flowers around our site.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1084419646"><b style="color: purple;">GiftEd: </b></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Gifted--The-Tale-of-10-Mysterious-Book-Sculptures-Gifted-to-the-City-of-Words-and-Ideas-Edinburgh-s-Paper-Sculptures-9781846972485/"><b style="color: purple;">The Tale of 10 Mysterious Book Sculptures Gifted to the City of Words</b></a>
and Ideas is available now, £9.99 hbk. Details on the tour of the original
paper sculptures can be found at</span><em><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <a href="http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/connect/blog/gifted-edinburgh-book-sculptures-tour-2012" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-style: normal;">www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/gifted</span></a></span>.</b></em> </span></div>
Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-61549184778522353452012-08-16T13:07:00.002+01:002012-08-16T18:10:55.568+01:00The Last Wolf<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
We like it very much when people say nice things about books we publish, and we especially like it when it's an 'unprovoked' review, so to speak, from an accidental reader.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Last-Wolf--The-9781841588476/"><i>The Last Wolf</i></a></b></td></tr>
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"I had no real intention of buying anything," says Blurb."I was more than happy to
just casually browse the shelves. By chance, I caught site of the words
‘The Last Wolf’ and I instantly reached for this slender black book. On
reading the blurb, I knew this was the <i>perfect</i> book for me."</div>
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Find out what made <b><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Last-Wolf--The-9781841588476/" style="color: purple;">The Last Wolf</a></b> by <b><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Jim-Crumley-1336/" style="color: purple;">Jim Crumley</a></b> so perfect at <b><a href="http://blurbbookreviews.wordpress.com/about/" style="color: purple;">blurbbookreviews</a></b>.</div>
Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-24295302212464280232012-08-06T17:31:00.000+01:002012-08-06T17:31:35.247+01:00Polygon Pleasure at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw2qyDlcfUap5WKPvNuPX6tG_zzFMPyoe76PvkBXBVF-xnw7Pm99evb0RVqT5A9GeW6SXSEkr64ScTIPytbk7_xs_J9sxHMK7H3MSOfLgC8yFb6MrMAKI3KYxv5j9V1SaWYj6T4We4yZ9h/s1600/3D+Aibisidh+%2528small%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw2qyDlcfUap5WKPvNuPX6tG_zzFMPyoe76PvkBXBVF-xnw7Pm99evb0RVqT5A9GeW6SXSEkr64ScTIPytbk7_xs_J9sxHMK7H3MSOfLgC8yFb6MrMAKI3KYxv5j9V1SaWYj6T4We4yZ9h/s1600/3D+Aibisidh+%2528small%2529.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Let’s start with a very exciting event for Polygon. They’re all exciting, but it’s not every day a Polygon title is shortlisted for the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards Book of the Year! <b><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Aibisidh--ABC-9781846971990/">Aibisdh by Angus Peter Campbell</a></b> was the winner of the poetry category and is now in the running for the overall Book of the Year Award, to be announced on Friday 17 August at 6.30 p.m. He’s up against Ali Smith, Janice Galloway and Simon Stephenson, and the winner is decided by public vote. Click <b><a href="http://www.scottishbookawards.com/vote/">here</a></b> before midnight on 6th August and then click <a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/scottish-mortgage-investment-trust-book-awards"><b>here</b></a> to buy your ticket for the event. Good luck Angus Peter!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Gardens were made for poetry and Charlotte Square abounds with it during the Book Festival, to the extent that you will find not one but two Scottish Poets Laureate courtesy of Polygon. <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Magicians-of-Edinburgh--The--Ron-Butlin-9781846972362/" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Edinburgh’s Makar, Ron Butlin</b></a>, will be reading from his brand new collection of<a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Magicians-of-Edinburgh--The--Ron-Butlin-9781846972362/" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><b>The Magicians of Edinburgh</b></a> at 8:30pm on Saturday 18th August. <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Liz-Lochhead-623/" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Scotland’s Makar Liz Lochhead</b></a> makes two appearances this year. On Wednesday 22nd at 4.30 p.m. she will be reading from her recently published selection, <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/-Choosing--A-9781846972072/" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>A Choosing</b></a>. And on Sunday 19th August at 8.00 p.m. she joins Polygon stablemate and arguably Britain’s greatest living novelist <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/James-Kelman-1015/" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>James Kelman</b></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> to discuss his life and work. Two giants of Scottish literature on the stage at the one time – not to be missed!</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Probably the greatest poet working in Gaelic today, <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Laughing-at-the-Clock--New-and-Selected-Poems-9781846972300/"><b>Aonghas MacNeacail</b></a> will be reading from his new collection <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Laughing-at-the-Clock--New-and-Selected-Poems-9781846972300/"><b>Laughing at the Clock</b></a>, published to celebrate his 70th birthday, at 10.15 a.m. on Tuesday 21st August. And rounding off this poets’ corner, <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Tom-Pow-1441/"><b>Tom Pow</b></a>'s explores the modern phenomenon of rural depopulation through poems, essays and travelogue in his new book <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/In-Another-World-9781846971952/"><b>In Another World: Among Europe’s Dying Villages</b></a> at 2.00 p.m. on 23rd August.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesdId5b4CyVj9aGzqxlQlmWudZEGk-y-wIaXkopCMnol_mx9KomYf6NW49ogizufjw9rdNJwJPbcUUfamA-YwiVKrHgbr4J29oFtqMKwzVyvop0lxWdtMfmgoHBx_PdGLMWpjAxOhDE8Z/s1600/Harry+Lipkin+Blogger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesdId5b4CyVj9aGzqxlQlmWudZEGk-y-wIaXkopCMnol_mx9KomYf6NW49ogizufjw9rdNJwJPbcUUfamA-YwiVKrHgbr4J29oFtqMKwzVyvop0lxWdtMfmgoHBx_PdGLMWpjAxOhDE8Z/s1600/Harry+Lipkin+Blogger.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbKnCWjUKGkpyoETg039SzjEAi0Ok9oPRfBmZR8Gt-2I83HfSBKWff6fd4gP9-V8-9AkPDBPrF7vD8rli04yLCA3a3vrKUhOfHGTRrSD8HIB_5S1pBBu5aPd9uiNSxRFxqEOnb4PG4TyH/s1600/Brighton+Belle+blogger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbKnCWjUKGkpyoETg039SzjEAi0Ok9oPRfBmZR8Gt-2I83HfSBKWff6fd4gP9-V8-9AkPDBPrF7vD8rli04yLCA3a3vrKUhOfHGTRrSD8HIB_5S1pBBu5aPd9uiNSxRFxqEOnb4PG4TyH/s1600/Brighton+Belle+blogger.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now, crime fiction events are always an excellent choice at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, but we think this one represents particularly good value for money. Not one, but two brilliant writers eac</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">h with their own unqiue take on the genre. <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Barry-Fantoni-1588/"><b>Barry Fantoni</b></a> is the legendary cartoonist of Private Eye and the man behind E. J. Thribb (17½) and his “In Memorium” poems, but he’s now the creator of <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Harry-Lipkin--P-I----The-World-s-Oldest-Detective-9781846972270/"><b>Harry Lipkin, P.I.: The World’s Oldest Detective</b></a>. Riffing on classic Marlowe gumshoe mysteries, Harry might not be the fastes but he’s definitely one of the funniest private investigators around. Barry (and Harry) share the stage with two very elegant ladies of crime, Mirabelle Bevan and her creator <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Sara-Sheridan-1589/"><b>Sara Sheridan</b></a>. <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Brighton-Belle--A-Mirabelle-Bevan-Mystery-9781846972287/"><b>Brighton Belle: A Mirabelle Bevan Mystery</b></a> is set in Brighton in 1951 where Mirabelle – a former backroom girl for the Secret Service during the war – is working quietly as a secretary in a debt collection agency. She’s soon putting her sleuthing theory into practice when first a client and then her boss disappear amidst gold sovereigns, dead bodies and dubious accents. Barry and Sara will be appearing together on Monday 13th August at 2:30 p.m. Sara will also be taking part in the Amnesty International readings on Friday 17th August 2012 at 5.30 p.m. in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people across the world who have been criminalized or tortured because of their sexuality. Tickets are free for this event from the box office on the day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSikMEHI2-ot3sOijn7oxvQrEKDlMFPIEhjHSPnZFB9R7Zw86Q7gFzg7Dlaj3-sK4SueCg9Tb88MGEkM35czRnXK0W7xi-5cRmnLfcm5jGt1B0TTLf_S8SXN0napZAD_Rmlb74Qe5Z7ss/s1600/Sensorium+blogger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSikMEHI2-ot3sOijn7oxvQrEKDlMFPIEhjHSPnZFB9R7Zw86Q7gFzg7Dlaj3-sK4SueCg9Tb88MGEkM35czRnXK0W7xi-5cRmnLfcm5jGt1B0TTLf_S8SXN0napZAD_Rmlb74Qe5Z7ss/s1600/Sensorium+blogger.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fancy seeing some stars? <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Stuart-Clark-1530/"><b>Stuart Clark</b></a> is back with the second instalment in <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Sky-s-Dark-Labyrinth--The-9781846972157/"><b>The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth Trilogy</b></a>, <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Sensorium-of-God--The--The-Sky-s-Dark-Labyrinth-Trilogy-9781846971877/"><b>The Sensorium of God</b></a>. Two men - Edmond Halley, a dynamic adventurer and astronomer, and Isaac Newton, a reclusive mathematician and alchemist, could reveal the secrets of the universe. But human problems stand in the way. Newton has guilty secrets, not least his having stolen some of his ideas from fellow scientist Robert Hooke. The quarrelsome experimentalist is demanding recognition for his work but vital scientific advancement could stop dead in its tracks as the three men bicker and hold petty grudges. Join Stuart at 8.30 p.m. on Sunday 19th August to find out more!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZyywKkWlr02zZEt4WwVAc6C3yb0fjUNURkKxRYqofVMXTCpySmmdy6qrlJbjh-XAN4UOwIVW0cE8mXT5ADmQyPJovotuG4uVL7PWDGLxerLOdLWeqKHAVhIHPXn2-mT5yPo_tk276Vuk/s1600/PURE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZyywKkWlr02zZEt4WwVAc6C3yb0fjUNURkKxRYqofVMXTCpySmmdy6qrlJbjh-XAN4UOwIVW0cE8mXT5ADmQyPJovotuG4uVL7PWDGLxerLOdLWeqKHAVhIHPXn2-mT5yPo_tk276Vuk/s1600/PURE.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A stand-out novel of 2011 was <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/English-German-Girl--The-9781846972089/"><b>The English German Girl</b></a> by <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Jake-Wallis-Simons-498/"><b>Jake Wallis Simons</b></a>, a hugely moving story around the Kindertransport during WWII. Now writing as <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Jake-Simons-1585/"><b>Jake Simons</b></a>, his new novel <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Pure--The-9781846972263/"><b>The Pure</b></a> is something completely different, though, as the story of a disaffected ex-Mossad agent with revenge on his mind who comes face to face with old comrades, Wikileaks, an ex-CIA female agent and a chance to topple the government which left him by the wayside years ago. Fans of Robert Ludlum’s Bourne novels will love it! Hang on and hold tight at 8.30pm on Sunday 19th August 2012.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For more information or to book tickets, please visit www.edbookfest.co.uk or call 0845 3735888.</span></span></span></span>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-64843239214107316732012-07-26T18:35:00.000+01:002012-07-26T18:35:26.017+01:00Birlinn Signs Bradley Wiggins Book!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Birlinn Ltd is delighted to announce the signing of ‘Bradley Wiggins: Tour De Force’ by John Deering.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bradley Wiggins</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Bradley Wiggins recently became the first British rider to win the Tour de France, and the book is w</span><span style="font-size: small;">ritten over 20 chapters each representing a stage of the iconic race. The book will present an insight into Wiggins’ Tour achievement, while simultaneously relaying his incredible back story. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Deering is author of ‘Team on the Run – the inside story of the Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team’ and the forthcoming ‘Twelve Months in the Saddle’, and is an old friend and colleague of both Wiggins and the man who guided him to glory in Paris, Team Sky manager Sean Yates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Neville Moir, Birlinn Publishing Director, said, ‘I am thrilled that we will be publishing this title about Bradley’s incredible achievements for Christmas 2012, and that we have signed a writer of John Deering’s calibre for our growing sports list.’</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <i><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Flying-Scotsman--The-9781841583358/">The Flying Scotsman</a></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In cycling Birlinn also publishes <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Flying-Scotsman--The-9781841583358/" style="color: purple;">The Flying Scotsman</a> by revolutionary and visionary cyclist Graeme Obree, now a major motion picture starring Jonny Lee Miller. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Bradley Wiggins: Tour de Force by John Deering will be published in October 2012.</span></span></div>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-57913007530745887572012-07-18T12:21:00.000+01:002012-08-06T16:34:20.654+01:00Alexander McCall Smith at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, 2012<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">They seek him here, they seek him there but in August it’s a pretty safe bet that Alexander McCall Smith will be at home in Edinburgh. ‘Home’ being the <a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/" style="color: purple;">Edinburgh International Book Festival</a> in Charlotte Square, mind you, as he appears not once, not twice, not even three but four times! And you still need to get in quick to get a ticket …</span></div>
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<span class="sifr-alternate"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">With a brand new 44 Scotland Street novel, <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Sunshine-on-Scotland-Street--A-44-Scotland-Street-Novel-9781846972324/" style="color: purple;">Sunshine on Scotland Street</a>, on the blocks, there’s a lot to talk about – has Bertie managed to escape Irene, are we really seeing double or are there two Bruces, how will marital bliss affect Cyril and his gold tooth, to name but three. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><u><b>UPDATE:</b></u> Alexander's three adult events are now sold out. Returned tickets might be available from the Box Office, please contact 0845 373 5888 or boxoffice@edbookfest.co.uk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/alexander-mccall-smith-7" style="color: purple;">Wednesday 15 August</a> at 1.30 p.m. (now sold out)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">or <a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/alexander-mccall-smith-9" style="color: purple;">Thursday 16 August</a> at 6.30 p.m. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">(now sold out)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And for younger readers there is a special event on <a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/alexander-mccall-smith-6" style="color: purple;">Tuesday 14 August</a> at 3.30 p.m. when Alexander will be talking about the latest case for a very young Precious Ramotswe, <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Precious-and-the-Mystery-of-Meerkat-Hill--A-New-Case-for-Precious-Ramotswe-9781846972317/" style="color: purple;">Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The weather might not be great at the moment, but when Alexander McCall Smith is around it is always sunny. Book your summer sun now!</span></div>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-59947876899356025292012-07-17T12:15:00.000+01:002012-07-24T12:46:52.804+01:00Birlinn at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, 2012<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC2uGYB9Chki8Dp6sy3awQqrXh_7R-bvGt4PXPzecIN08RYa4M8TJFUtjs1pX9ckkaBCbULSw3b-iaWCBOCQ8jFBsvbBzsOcwPE2ceq7xgL1YVFYzOfEitU4YUZGnl3V9sD2UwOje2BcH0/s1600/onsitewideshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC2uGYB9Chki8Dp6sy3awQqrXh_7R-bvGt4PXPzecIN08RYa4M8TJFUtjs1pX9ckkaBCbULSw3b-iaWCBOCQ8jFBsvbBzsOcwPE2ceq7xgL1YVFYzOfEitU4YUZGnl3V9sD2UwOje2BcH0/s200/onsitewideshot.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Book Festival</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In amongst all the lovely big white marquees in Charlotte Square, you might notice a small orange, two-man tent. This is Birlinn HQ at the <a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/" style="color: purple;">Edinburgh International Book Festival</a>. We’re joking, of course, but it does seem as if we move lock, stock and barrel to the EIBF every year to support all our lovely authors, and this year will be no exception!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">History fans are extremely well catered for this year with MSP Struan Stevenson talking about <a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/debate-rethinking-russia" style="color: purple;">Russia under Putin</a>, ahead of his new book Stalin’s Legacy, on <span class="fcb">Sunday, 26 August (now sold out). </span>Cartophiles (that’s map lovers) can get their fix with <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_25681645" style="color: purple;">Christopher Fleet on</a><span class="fcb"><a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/christopher-fleet-magnus-linklater" style="color: purple;"> 13 August</a>. Christopher is one of three authors of <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Scotland-Mapping-the-Nation-9781841589695/" style="color: purple;">Scotland: Mapping the Nation</a>, which was hugely popular in hardback and looks to be even more popular in paperback (available for the festival). And Birlinn stalwart Alistair Moffat will be revealing the hidden history of Scotland we all carry around with us in our DNA in <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Scots--The--A-Genetic-Journey-9781780270326/" style="color: purple;">The Scots: A Genetic Journey</a> on <a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/alistair-moffat-2" style="color: purple;">14 August</a> (now sold out).</span></span></div>
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<span class="fcb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And if your history fan is a little bit younger we heartily recommend taking them along to see </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/allan-burnett-bringing-history-to-life" style="color: purple;">Allan Burnett on <span class="fcb">Tuesday, 14 August </span></a>at <span class="fcb">3.30 p.m. His <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/titles/Allan-Burnett-67/" style="color: purple;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And All That …</i> series</a> is a hilarious introduction some of the big names in Scottish history, including Bonnie Prince Charlie, Robert the Bruce, Mary Queen of Scots and Macbeth. Allan is a brilliant – and extremely enthusiastic – communicator of history and we generally come back from his events exhausted but much better informed! You have been warned …</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">"</span></i><span class="messagebody"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">String-pulling, name-dropping, opinionated in every line,” </span></i></span><span class="messagebody"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Michael White called <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Importance-of-Being-Awkward--The--The-Autobiography-of-Tam-Dalyell-9781841589930/" style="color: purple;">The Importance of Being Awkward: The Autobiography of Tam Dalyell</a> and he wasn’t wrong. But it is also an insightful and urbane look back at a career in politics which we probably won’t see the likes of again for a very long time. As he turns eighty-years-old, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_25681661" style="color: purple;">join Tam Dalyell on </a></span></span><span class="fcb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/tam-dalyell" style="color: purple;">15 August as he talks about his life</a>, and again on <a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/merlin-waterson-with-tam-dalyell" style="color: purple;">20 August</a> as he joins </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Merlin Waterson to discuss families who have donated their homes to the nation as the Dalyells did with The House of the Binns, their ancestral home for over 400 years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In our modern world conflict is never far away. John Ashton was a researcher for the legal team of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the only person convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. He has uncovered evidence in the course of his research which throws doubt not only on Megrahi’s conviction but also the subsequent furore surrounding his appeals. John will be talking about his book <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Megrahi---You-Are-My-Jury--The-Lockerbie-Evidence-9781780270159/" style="color: purple;">Megrahi: You Are My Jury, The Lockerbie Evidence</a> on <a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/john-ashton-hans-koechler-jim-swire" style="color: purple;"><span class="fcb">11 August</span></a> in a discussion with Hans Köchler, the UN's official observer at the Lockerbie trial and Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the tragedy</span><span style="font-size: small;">.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisR-CaQGbDrL-Aox8_2yt7QIb1DnhjSxBvTA0GzvejrntZnkiuotCmyEAejVP_JsX_5IIVYfpG458FDNrnxw7SzvEdUSLMZWV7qz4OV_8MTvGFjAp6aTTphTYqzX29M7rCAyNQltKAZFaH/s1600/Six+Months+Without+Sundays+pbk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisR-CaQGbDrL-Aox8_2yt7QIb1DnhjSxBvTA0GzvejrntZnkiuotCmyEAejVP_JsX_5IIVYfpG458FDNrnxw7SzvEdUSLMZWV7qz4OV_8MTvGFjAp6aTTphTYqzX29M7rCAyNQltKAZFaH/s1600/Six+Months+Without+Sundays+pbk.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Max Benitz grew up surrounded by his father’s memorabilia of his time in the Scots Guards. He decided to find out what the day to day life, away from the headline and protests, for the average soldier in Afghanistan. He spent eighteen months with his father’s regiment in tanning and in Afghanistan and his book <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Six-Months-Without-Sundays--The-Scots-Guards-in-Afghanistan-9781843410560/" style="color: purple;">Six Months Without Sundays</a> is a poignant, funny and thought-provoking piece of work from such a young writer. Join Max on <span class="fcb"><a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/max-benitz-sandy-gall-with-james-fergusson" style="color: purple;">17 August</a> when he will be talking about Afghanistan with veteran broadcaster Sandy Gall.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But if all that sounds too serious there is one man guaranteed to raise a laugh at the Book Festival. <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Bob-Servant-with-Neil-Forsyth-1511/" style="color: purple;">Bob Servant</a> is a hero for our time, taking on email spammers promising everything from love to lions. About to become a star of television and radio, Bob’s creator Neil Forsyth brings us up to date with his meteoric rise to fame on <a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/neil-forsyth-1" style="color: purple;">15 August</a>. And for foodies, Mary Contini of Valvona & Crolla – the legendary Italian deli – takes us through <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Italian-Sausage-Bible--The-9781780270500/" style="color: purple;">The Italian Sausage Bible</a> on <span class="fcb"><a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/mary-contini-1" style="color: purple;">11 August</a>. No drooling at the back.</span></span></div>
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<span class="fcb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Our noisy wee sister imprint will be along shortly to shout about her authors, but information on all our events can be found at <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/events/?p=all" style="color: purple;">www.birlinn.co.uk</a>. Enjoy!</span></span></div>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-13190068846676980732012-07-09T12:05:00.000+01:002012-07-09T12:09:43.025+01:00Who do you think you are?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfWZbYL5M1-XXpOi2cHbETXkBOtdQ6eTHw1kqymHUdcrXmO2FgCEekmlcHkOMr2lA9HiKkvni-RBRmJpqgEYPzUluP9YhjyCcs65d1lpTH_EY1k52rW9JI0VPqxFw_tlL9yP6XXbRBX-q-/s1600/Alistair+Moffat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfWZbYL5M1-XXpOi2cHbETXkBOtdQ6eTHw1kqymHUdcrXmO2FgCEekmlcHkOMr2lA9HiKkvni-RBRmJpqgEYPzUluP9YhjyCcs65d1lpTH_EY1k52rW9JI0VPqxFw_tlL9yP6XXbRBX-q-/s1600/Alistair+Moffat.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Alistair-Moffat-63/">Alistair Moffat</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It has become more and more popular to ask ourselves, genetically-speaking, “<i>Who do you think you are?” </i>but is it something a nation can ask itself? A best-selling history writer and a population geneticist have begun to ask just this with startling results. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Alistair Moffat and Jim Wilson are unravelling the complex and tangled history locked with our DNA</span><span style="font-size: small;">. It’s an almost limitless archive of our history where the ancient story is being rewritten.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Alistair recently appeared on BBC Radio Four's Today Programme talking about 'deep ancestry', the very roots of where we come from, and revealed that almost everyone in Britain is an immigrant - it just depends when you arrived. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9736000/9736128.stm" style="color: #351c75;">Click here to hear Alistair talking about this on the programme.</a></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Scots--The--A-Genetic-Journey-9781780270326/">The Scots</a></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Alistair will be appearing at the <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/events/details/908/" style="color: #674ea7;">Edinburgh International Book Festival on 14th of August</a> talking about how the results of DNA testing almost rewrites Scottish history as outlined in the book <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/events/details/908/" style="color: #674ea7;">The Scots: A Genetic Journey</a>. And if you really want to know who you are, check out the <a href="http://www.britainsdna.com/" style="color: #674ea7;">Britains DNA site</a>.</span></div>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-43076249376843588792012-06-20T12:19:00.000+01:002012-06-20T12:19:16.428+01:00Doris Davidson<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Everyone at
Birlinn is very sad to announce the death of Doris Davidson. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ydZUXtgCbF7a-PB-pg_xyKFCAmhyphenhyphen759XsYTz0qtoqnFcHk3qkQT0msVf1f6ufqGVOmXXrfCC72zpeZU8uejdQZe2IBGKmBRvJ-JmELnotl_v1l01_Ph36oyEmfN8aiJVr34bjgf6n2oq/s1600/Doris+Davidson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ydZUXtgCbF7a-PB-pg_xyKFCAmhyphenhyphen759XsYTz0qtoqnFcHk3qkQT0msVf1f6ufqGVOmXXrfCC72zpeZU8uejdQZe2IBGKmBRvJ-JmELnotl_v1l01_Ph36oyEmfN8aiJVr34bjgf6n2oq/s1600/Doris+Davidson.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doris</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"> Doris was
an Aberdeen
lass through and through, having been born there in 1922 the daughter of a
master butcher and country lass. Her idyllic childhood was shattered in 1934
with the death of her father, meaning her mother was forced to take in lodgers
to make ends meet and Doris’ early departure
from education. Doris went to work in an
office, gradually rising through the ranks until she became book-keeper, but at
the age of 41 she decided to do something else. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfWMyCdumdgIlJ9TKb2Rway1DJHpx-MAtQ5aOjtI2_iQmFoiIc3nsz7hYwZeq5dKy6XkUZlhFev2McGxWS4_hZvmzzmL2dSEX09aMmWxVELWoceZ59if_85SWKUljA800himgQvMLrXUSf/s1600/Monday+Girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfWMyCdumdgIlJ9TKb2Rway1DJHpx-MAtQ5aOjtI2_iQmFoiIc3nsz7hYwZeq5dKy6XkUZlhFev2McGxWS4_hZvmzzmL2dSEX09aMmWxVELWoceZ59if_85SWKUljA800himgQvMLrXUSf/s1600/Monday+Girl.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doris went back
to college to study for O and A levels and trained as a primary school teacher.
From 1967 until she retired in 1982 she taught in schools in Aberdeen
but once again, Doris decided to change focus.
Her new 'career' was as a writer. Drawing on her own experiences and childhood
she would become an acclaimed and much-loved romantic novelist. One of most
successful books, though, was her autobiography A Gift from the Gallowgate,
charting her childhood in Aberdeen
in the 20s and 30s, her marriages and working early working life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doris was a
joy to work with, still appearing at signings locally well into her 80s and
still delighting readers. She will be very sadly missed. </span></div>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-90298812339427096612012-06-14T15:19:00.000+01:002012-06-14T15:19:50.874+01:00Aibisidh Shortlisted for £30,000 Literary Award<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieqiDr9HkFdIwyDKUftrNcTTw8OM6FRrS5YCdNPb4yinPDLppLcz7_dmpoR6VvYJgJhUIbYfprqdYTJGwr1LOKN1oyZkRhowOTSDuiZg99IdGgVhNLWADbkfOWEE9ND6GKqrolDTmNVv9c/s1600/SMIT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieqiDr9HkFdIwyDKUftrNcTTw8OM6FRrS5YCdNPb4yinPDLppLcz7_dmpoR6VvYJgJhUIbYfprqdYTJGwr1LOKN1oyZkRhowOTSDuiZg99IdGgVhNLWADbkfOWEE9ND6GKqrolDTmNVv9c/s200/SMIT.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Polygon is delighted to announce that <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Angus-Peter-Campbell-110/" style="color: purple;">Angus Peter Campbell</a><span style="color: purple;"> </span>has been shortlisted for the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year Award 2012. Angus Peter’s collection <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Aibisidh-9781846971990/" style="color: purple;">Aibisidh</a> </i>won the poetry prize, worth £5000, and now joins the shortlist for the £30,000 award.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87p5lj3MtWU9vZsp96HO61fEe4M7-zAAQz9VqBK4wPyyAPMRuOIvxz2_zNcHym6ew6TeW51UXz8dhC41VA60wU_l8PcwIvsrPJTOUhj4UcJ_-LiVHVQmeNInpHn3x6Yi5iTkWXhQlpSx-/s1600/Angus+Peter+Campbell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87p5lj3MtWU9vZsp96HO61fEe4M7-zAAQz9VqBK4wPyyAPMRuOIvxz2_zNcHym6ew6TeW51UXz8dhC41VA60wU_l8PcwIvsrPJTOUhj4UcJ_-LiVHVQmeNInpHn3x6Yi5iTkWXhQlpSx-/s1600/Angus+Peter+Campbell.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">‘I am delighted to have won this major poetry award from what really was a tremendous shortlist,’ said Angus Peter. ‘Best if I could dedicate it to our greatest living Gaelic poet, Donald MacAulay, who not only encouraged me personally at the very beginning of my career but whose parallaxes have helped me navigate the skerries since. Nuair a sheatlaigeas a’ mhòine,‘s e an luimead a dhealras.’</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Aibisidh-9781846971990/" style="color: purple;"><i>Aibisidh</i></a> was described by Tom Pow, one fo the judges of the 2012 Awards, as 'an unusually rich, coherent and emotionally satisfying collection'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The shortlist for the Award is:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Fiction: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Ali Smith, <i><span style="font-family: Arial;">There but for the</span></i> (Hamish Hamilton)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Non-Fiction: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Janice Galloway, <i><span style="font-family: Arial;">All Made Up</span></i> (Granta)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Poetry: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Angus Peter Campbell, <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Aibisidh-9781846971990/" style="color: purple;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Aibisidh</span></i></a> (Polygon)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">First Book: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Simon Stephenson, <i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Let Not the Waves of the Sea</span></i> (John Murray)</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDPN6EBuhLuBtQhH-y1VGDay4cxIdyQZjeKZqoQmaGraMxopdIKLwCHtYBq5A9tpoMle17nivxHe4FTQi3D7V50pAm5xsOG6RPAiNe20HTYTaTniwjfVaCvvZg6aCwXHvHYGcLDEcMRuL/s1600/Abisidh+-+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDPN6EBuhLuBtQhH-y1VGDay4cxIdyQZjeKZqoQmaGraMxopdIKLwCHtYBq5A9tpoMle17nivxHe4FTQi3D7V50pAm5xsOG6RPAiNe20HTYTaTniwjfVaCvvZg6aCwXHvHYGcLDEcMRuL/s1600/Abisidh+-+cover.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Aibisidh-9781846971990/"><i>Aibisidh</i></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The winner, chosen by public vote will be announced at an event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Friday the 17th of August. To cast your vote <a href="http://www.scottishbookawards.com/vote/" style="color: purple;">click here</a>. Voting closes on midnight on Monday the 6th of August. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Congratulations to Angus Peter from everyone at Polygon!</span></span></div>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-34350068157100269552012-06-07T16:22:00.000+01:002012-06-07T16:28:41.180+01:00Happy 70th Birthday Aonghas MacNeacail!<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">If there was anyone we’d describe as laughing at the clock, it would be <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Aonghas-MacNeacail-1066/">Aonghas MacNeacail</a>. Acclaimed as the <b style="font-weight: normal;">f</b></span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">foremost poet writing today in the Gaelic language, his skilful way with words and general bonhomie make it very hard to believe his latest collection</span><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1166527115"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Déanamh Gáire Ris A' Chloc - </span></b></a></span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Laughing-at-the-Clock--New-and-Selected-Poems-9781846972300/">Laughing at the Clock</a> is published to celebrate his seventieth birthday. Aonghas talked about his experience of ‘being a poet’ on the Scottish Poetry Library's blog, <span class="blog-name"><a href="http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/connect/blog/happy-birthday-aonghas-macneacail"><i>Our Sweet Old Etcetera</i></a>.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal;"> </span></b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIyMFuFD_HCjvNplXqm5p1oAdsalNJl-IynuHTHJeF0dPeqij0AZGMAIvd6FBS2RCQqsznvaR7dHzLPJnZer63p1EYdyWzMrt8G1RK9dYNiKATl2pllkqpnXmCJ6PL0za0dIoCATeELvu/s1600/Aonghas+MacNeacail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIyMFuFD_HCjvNplXqm5p1oAdsalNJl-IynuHTHJeF0dPeqij0AZGMAIvd6FBS2RCQqsznvaR7dHzLPJnZer63p1EYdyWzMrt8G1RK9dYNiKATl2pllkqpnXmCJ6PL0za0dIoCATeELvu/s200/Aonghas+MacNeacail.jpg" width="173" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Image by Kevin MacNeil </i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">“The moment when an individual decides to be a writer of poetry is not at all the same as that when the same individual can be said to have become a poet. In my case, around five years of exploring how words work - those of acknowledged practitioners, and - clumsily - my own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Being told to ‘go back to your roots: write about what you know’ might seem like obvious advice, once it’s been taken. I might wish to have received it earlier, but those years of obsessive reading, and obsessive writing, were also a kind of affirmation that I had the tenacity to follow this path - that I had chosen / had chosen me - through to a productive conclusion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Once poems begin to appear in print, you are then liable to be introduced as 'the poet...' which can itself be discomfiting, when you’re aware of only having, at most, seven adequately abandoned (in the ‘Valeryan’ sense) poems. And there are those days, weeks, months, when nothing at all is written: terrifying. Have I said all that there is to be said? But you keep reading, and there’s a part of the brain always open to the possibility that something interesting may present itself: which, eventually, if you let it, happens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Those politicians who argue that ‘incentives’ - i.e. lots of cash - are necessary to encourage the creative process (‘enterprise’, they call it) have clearly never experienced the itch at the back of the brain that insists on being turned into a poem. It may be a word, phrase, visual image, sound, or simply an inchoate feeling that there is something to be said, and it’s your job to say it. What eventually turns out may seem inordinately slight, ludic, ludicrous even, but if you can say, with reasonable confidence, that it is a poem, then that is enough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">When asked, usually by children, ‘What’s the best poem you’ve written?’ I invariably reply, 'The next one'. Whether writing to commission or responding to an unexpected trigger that sets the creative juices going, the process is always going to be one of discovery: sometimes the material is drawn entirely from memory, at other times it may depend on considerable research.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">But even the least personally experienced subject can only be responded to successfully if there are enough points of recognition to enable the poet to engage with the material. The previously unknown has to be uncovered until it becomes thoroughly familiar: once it becomes a ‘known’ which can then be explored with the same level of assured curiosity as any other subject, all the fun, and torment, may begin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8B5wEhGKD2cji4P3J1ktuXoaeyTSERtLzw8yDEM_xDLE5m4xxzlob9Lr0RrSuIOBcV1fWpWwJ5_ggi4jAJ3hyw8IvUxLw3XTSIH_AkV3KgWAA27azCQP9uPc2-AHfaWLj7Ez-LhcRK6c/s1600/Laughing+at+the+Clock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8B5wEhGKD2cji4P3J1ktuXoaeyTSERtLzw8yDEM_xDLE5m4xxzlob9Lr0RrSuIOBcV1fWpWwJ5_ggi4jAJ3hyw8IvUxLw3XTSIH_AkV3KgWAA27azCQP9uPc2-AHfaWLj7Ez-LhcRK6c/s1600/Laughing+at+the+Clock.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">It’s maybe just as well that such commissions are not daily occurrences. Even after half a century of writing, I am still more accustomed to the mysterious pleasures derived from writing ‘to find out what I have to say’. That the spark may present itself in one of three languages, and in poem or song form, merely adds to the satisfaction gained from being a poet.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1166527123">Laughing at the Clock: New and Selected Poems - </a><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Laughing-at-the-Clock--New-and-Selected-Poems-9781846972300/">Déanamh Gáire Ris A’ Chloc: Dáin Ùra Agus Thaghte</a> is published today on Aonghas’ 70<sup>th</sup> birthday by Polygon, £12.99 pbk</span></i></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-45181440964061648962012-06-05T12:13:00.000+01:002012-06-05T12:13:42.060+01:00Dark•Heritage: Vikings in America<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ElUKpOv9_YG8rm6trBpqLzOUQ26Q06TxZ6ePEcMZeD8Nfe1v5ReEaGg1LKOzrD-baSU_DWsEHVThMpPqaoyWmXV_u4lTU5GVcnAsp-L3d1MuWnIFJPu5rGeYt6FAHId61fEHHTUhS6T-/s1600/Vikings+in+America.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ElUKpOv9_YG8rm6trBpqLzOUQ26Q06TxZ6ePEcMZeD8Nfe1v5ReEaGg1LKOzrD-baSU_DWsEHVThMpPqaoyWmXV_u4lTU5GVcnAsp-L3d1MuWnIFJPu5rGeYt6FAHId61fEHHTUhS6T-/s1600/Vikings+in+America.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Vikings-in-America-9781841589596/"><i>Click here for more info</i></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sometimes you just need something different, so in amongst all the bunting and flags we were delighted to see </span><a href="http://darkheritage.blogspot.com/2012/06/vikings-in-america.html?spref=bl" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dark Heritage</a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> taking the time to blog about <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Vikings-in-America-9781841589596/">Vikings in America by Graeme Davis</a>. The first book to tackle the subject of the true extent of
the Viking discovery and colonisation of the eastern seaboard of America, it's a cracking - if sometimes controversial - read. We think 2012 is going to be Viking-tastic with a new series on BBC by Neil Oliver coming up in the autumn, and Graeme's book is an excellent jumping off point. </span>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842810462063944903.post-38591037990426124452012-05-14T12:30:00.000+01:002012-05-14T12:36:14.759+01:00eBooks - The first year ...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7lo9n9w-BBFojMwCgfCvut8_2uDvRQWUzkE9d2JTnRhHaDmyPC93RVwcBYHI-4ulLGRtg_JOUAWr1DsmV1BNN3rNqzB1B3l7i-oSG_q1hIsdijHlqJZNMIUNFVeuTqpU9Jj7VVDBQ4HT/s1600/%2527eBook+treatment+%2528x2%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7lo9n9w-BBFojMwCgfCvut8_2uDvRQWUzkE9d2JTnRhHaDmyPC93RVwcBYHI-4ulLGRtg_JOUAWr1DsmV1BNN3rNqzB1B3l7i-oSG_q1hIsdijHlqJZNMIUNFVeuTqpU9Jj7VVDBQ4HT/s200/%2527eBook+treatment+%2528x2%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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At the weekend <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Birlinn</b></a>
celebrated their first year in eBooks, and what an exciting year it has been!
Since we launched with 40 titles, we have continued to release digital editions
of our titles now until over <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/articles/details/99/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">150 eBooks</b></a>
are available to download. </div>
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In a year, we’ve sold over 150,000 eBooks, had a Kindle
number one bestseller in <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Final-Curtsey--The--A-Royal-Memoir-by-The-Queen-s-Cousin-9781780270852/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Final Curtsey</b></a>, and seen a revitalisation of our crime backlist with <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Ken-McClure-1325/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ken McClure</b></a>, <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/David-Ashton-248/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Ashton</b></a>, <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Gillian-Galbraith-1168/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gillian Galbraith</b></a> and <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Shirley-McKay-1439/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shirley McKay</b></a> all
appearing in the Kindle top 10 at some point in 2011. We’ve partnered in
successful, exciting and innovative promotions with companies such as Apple,
Starbucks, Kobo and Hi-Arts and sold eBooks all over the world - who knew there
were <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Wojtek-the-Bear-9781843410577/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wojtek</b></a> fans in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Bob-Servant-with-Neil-Forsyth-1511/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Servant</b></a> fans in Botswana or <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/William-McGonagall-9781841584775/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">McGonagall</b></a>
fans in Korea?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_2011780760" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbql43fS2vxN5pzCd2APrcVbuxxMiW8CCjc9qUmRrJrCr_9FjZ9BaCj8aEp5BESYWjt23cyeB4TGAMu1OFkKaRwWDqxIf8HO5lt2w_wBhRpfoz7NSDSOaGa9PDZ9o2tu55UeEU4JfTGtk/s1600/Lion+head+knocker.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/alexander-mccall-smiths-edinburgh/id517813283?mt=8">The app!</a></td></tr>
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But we’re not resting on our laurels. This week we launched
our very <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/alexander-mccall-smiths-edinburgh/id517813283?mt=8">first App, <b>Alexander McCall Smith’s Edinburgh</b></a>,
everything you need to know and more about the bestselling 44 Scotland Street series. It’s a free
download with audio clips, extracts, an interactive map, and an exclusive
never-before-published short story. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Sky-s-Dark-Labyrinth--The-9781846972157/">The Sky's Dark Labyrinth</a></td></tr>
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And we have more Apps in production. We’re currently working
with the British Lions for an incredible multi-platform Christmas release, and
partnering <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Stuart-Clark-1530/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stuart Clark</b></a> with The
Science Museum, London
for an amazing collaboration on the <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Sky-s-Dark-Labyrinth--The-9781846972157/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sky’s Dark Labyrinth</b></a> trilogy.</div>
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And, of course,
we will continue to release more of our titles—a fantastic mix of fiction,
poetry, history, sport, humour, current affairs and biographies—as eBooks, all of
which are available on the most popular eBook retailers websites (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; line-height: 115%; text-decoration: none;">www.amazon.co.uk</span></b></a>, <a href="http://www.waterstones.co.uk/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; line-height: 115%; text-decoration: none;">www.waterstones.co.uk</span></b></a>, <a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; line-height: 115%; text-decoration: none;">www.kobobooks.com</span></b></a> and the iBookstore). </div>
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Keep an eye on <a href="http://www.birlinn.co.uk/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; line-height: 115%; text-decoration: none;">www.birlinn.co.uk</span></b></a> for the latest titles available as eBooks,
or find us on Facebook and Twitter!</div>Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04663580117933652265noreply@blogger.comEdinburgh, City of Edinburgh, UK55.953252 -3.18826755.8821325 -3.3461955000000003 56.0243715 -3.0303385