Birlinn Ltd. - Polygon, Birlinn, John Donald

For a' that jazz - Burns Night 101

2012-01-20T15:45:00.001Z

Christmas? New Year?! Distant memories my friends. Who’s up for a party, then? I’m up for a party now, frankly, so here comes Burns Night – the 25th January – and the perfect excuse to eat, drink and make very merry. And don’t worry it’s not complicated, you don’t need a kilt and there’s plenty on the menu for the haggis-phobic. (NB it’s actually very nice and you can get vegetarian ones which, according to some, are nicer than the traditional recipe but keep that under your hat.)

If you’re lucky enough to be invited to a proper Burns Supper you might want to take a gift. This year Birlinn produced a smaller version of our bestselling limited edition Tam o’ Shanter, illustrated by Alexander Goudie. At just £25 this edition it will go down a storm with fans of the bard and you can afford to treat yourself to a copy. And if there are going to be younger folks present, a copy of Allan Burnett’s Robert Burns and All That will go down a treat!

If you fancy hosting a Burns Supper or have been asked to take part in one get your hands on Nancy Marshall’s Burns Supper Companion. In simple terms, who’s who and what they need to say. If it’s a big formal do with dancing you might also want to secrete a copy of The Swinging Sporran about your person so your Dashing White Sergeant doesn’t turn into a Gay Gordon. ‘Nuff said.

The starring role of any Burns Supper is, of course, the haggis but there are plenty of other Scots-positive dishes – have a peek at F. Marian MacNeill’s classic The Scots Kitchen or The Stornoway Black Pudding Bible. And if you’ve decided to make whisky part of the evening (hint: strongly advised) Charles MacLean’s Whiskypedia will help you track down something for all palates.

But Burns Night is all about the fabulous Robert Burns and his work. His fame is world wide, as Andy Hall’s beautiful book Touched by Robert Burns shows, or if you want the last word The Best Laid Schemes is a fantastic collection of poetry and prose, incorporating some previously unknown writings by the man himself. A laid-back rebel, we think Burns would have given New Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect - ‘a sly wink to the master’ from twelve of the best contemporary poets around, including the new Scots Makar Liz Lochhead – a big ‘Like’.

So whether it’s haggis in Helsinki or cock-a-leekie soup in Canterbury, charge your glasses and drink, “To the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns!”

A little goose this Christmas?

2011-12-22T13:48:00.000Z

Is there a foodie in your life? Perhaps a bon viveur in general? Forget the predictable TV chef cookbook and whisk them off to sunny Botswana with Mma Ramotswe’s Cookbook: Nourishment for the Traditionally Built. NB, also a pretty good bet if your loved-one is a fan of Alexander McCall Smith!

Or perhaps their taste buds cry out for something a little closer to home? The Stornoway Black Pudding Bible takes the humble but hearty black pudding into a whole new realm with great recipes from Seumas MacInnes of Glasgow’s legendary Café Gandolfi.

And to wash it all down? How about Ciderland, or Charles MacLean’s Whiskypedia? Bottoms up!

And don't forget, there's a feast of good books for all tastes over at www.birlinn.co.uk.

Santa, baby ...

2011-12-21T17:06:00.000Z

We don't want no '54 convertible nor a platinum mine, we just want fabulous books. And they don't come much more fabulous that Roger Hutchinson's The Silent Weaver: The Extraordinary Life and Work of Angus MacPhee.

Like his bestseller Calum's Road, The Silent Weaver is an amazing story about a truly remarkable man. Angus MacPhee returned from the Second World War bearing, as many young men did, invisible scars. At the age of twenty-four he was referred to Craig Dunain Hospital in Inverness where he would spend the next fifty years of his life. Retreating into his own silent world he created wonderful works of art using organic matter – grass, wool, leaves – which he would allow to decay or even destroy himself. It was only when an art therapist discovered him and his creations did some of them begin to be preserved and for Angus to begin to talk again.

Anna - ahoy matey! - chose The Silent Weaver for her Christmas recommendation:

"This beautiful little book not only tells the intriguing story of Angus MacPhee and his haunting artworks made of grass and leaves but also gives fascinating and unexpected insight into schizophrenia and attitudes to mental health following WWII. It's another gem from Roger Hutchinson and has one of my favourite book covers of all time."

Christmas? You’re having a laugh!?

2011-12-20T12:08:00.000Z

If you’re on the lookout for something to tickle their funny bone, look no further.

They’ll never be lost for a one-liner with Chic Murray's Funnyosities, or find out more about the man himself in Just Daft: The Chick Murray Story. And for when you just can’t take another rerun of The Sound of Music, sit back and enjoy his offbeat humour with a DVD of his comedy classics.

If you have email, then you have spam. Not sure what we mean? Have you been offered a Rolex, love, money, ‘a once in a lifetime opportunity’ recently which seemed too good to be true? That’s spam. It’s pretty annoying but one man has adopted it as his raison d’être. Bob Servant, the comedy creation of Neil Forsyth, takes spammers on and strings them along. It’s hilarious. His first volume of online adventures, Delete This at Your Peril, has been joined by Why Me?: The Very Important Emails of Bob Servant. Now something of a celebrity in his native Broughty Ferry, Bob even has his own biography, Bob Servant: Hero of Dundee. (Work of fiction or fantasy might be a better description! – Ed)

Another funny man, Stanley Baxter, is the perfect guide to learning to Parliamo Glasgow (now also on CD), or gie your greetin’ faced friend a treat with the charmingly titled, Awa' An' Bile Yer Heid! And in these troubled times you too can do your bit for international relations with Auld Enemies: The Scots and the English.

So come on down and laugh it up at www.birlinn.co.uk.

Christmas Balls III: There's Only One Dixie Deans!

2011-12-19T12:54:00.014Z

It’s another case of balls today in our staff recommendations. Pete – multitalented and multi-job titled – goes for a football book, which is quite surprising seeing as he’s all about the rugby. Ah well, does a man good to cut loose now and again and if there’s one man who can tell you all about that it's the one, the only Dixie Deans.

At this time of year it’s hard to swing a practice ball without hitting some footballer or other using fairground attractions as similes for life in the beautiful game. Rollercoasters and merry-go-rounds are favourites, but you’d need the Pepsi Ride at Blackpool without breaks and some jetpacks attached to get close to the highs and lows experienced by Dixie Deans at Celtic.

Here's Pete to sings his praises: "There's Only One Dixie Deans: The Autobiography lifts the lid on the life of a true Celtic great, part of the legendary team that swept to nine consecutive league titles and dominated a golden era in the Scottish game. A fascinating story – in turns uplifting, heartrending, inspiring and haunting."

And don't forget, it's always a sporting life over at www.birlinn.co.uk/sport.

The Christmas Story

2011-12-16T12:31:00.001Z

A novel is an excellent idea for a Christmas present, quite apart from being easy to wrap! Polygon has a pleasing plethora of novels for your delectation, but we've chosen two particular favourites for you today.

Vikki – Sales & Marketing Liaison, a song for every occasion – is especially keen on The Book of Crows by Sam Meekings:

“Sam Meekings’ The Book of Crows is a bit of an epic. It’s the story of five different people, in five different time periods, all linked by their encounters with a mysterious Book of Crows which contains the entire history of the world and everyone in it past, present and future. As Sam is also a very fine poet, it’s no surprise to find he writes beautifully. That he also writes a book so pacy—with many a twist in the tale—and jam-packed with memorable characters, makes it’s an obvious choice for book of the year!”

You heard the lady! The Book of Crows is also available as an eBook.

Laura – Sales Director de Luxe – went for The English German Girl by Jake Wallis Simons:
"I thought I knew a lot about WW2, but I had never heard of the Kindertransport, and what a few brave people managed to achieve despite the worst that humanity could throw at them. Meticulously researched, powerfully written, emotionally compelling – Jake Wallis Simons is a real talent to watch."

Also available as an eBook. And for many, many more suggestions head over to http://www.birlinn.co.uk/.

Cue the Ball Jokes: II

2011-12-15T12:06:00.000Z

We were terrible remiss the other day and forgot to expand upon our Christmas pick by Kenny. So, with apologies here are some thoughts for presents for the sports fan this year.

There’s Only One Dixie Deans, a Celtic legend par excellence and a must for all fans of the hoops. Or, if you’re buying for a ‘Ger you might consider Barcelona and Beyond: The Men Who Made Rangers Champions of Europe. If their balls are odd-shaped, we have some of the best rugby books around - Southern Comfort: The Story of Borders Rugby (as recommended by Kenny), or how about Behind the Thistle: Playing Rugby for Scotland. And for the serious rugby aficionado, there’s The Accies: The Cradle of Scottish Rugby, available in hardback or as a signed limited edition.

And if balls aren’t their thing at all – double entendre central here, so it is – there’s the dashing Dario Speedwagon, Scotland’s legendary cricket champions (Dad’s Army) and Graeme Obree, The Flying Scotsman to keep them amused. And there's loads more over at www.birlinn.co.uk.

Line up, line out, kick-off and start your engines for some stupendous sports books from Birlinn!

Hit the Right Note With Your Christmas Presents

2011-12-14T14:39:00.000Z

It’s not just carols at Christmas, nor blaring muzak in shops, neither. For the discerning music fan in your life we have some suggestions for pitch-perfect presents this year.

Fond of flares? If 1970s music is their thing, man, it’s going to be a tough choice between Some People are Crazy: The John Martyn Story or The Sensational Alex Harvey, both by John Neil Munro. John Martyn was the last of the music mavericks, loved and loathed in equal measure but hugely talented as a singer-songwriter. And what can you say about Alex Harvey? Somewhere between naughty boy and wild man, he was one of the most exciting and diverse (everything from Jacques Brel to rock) of the 1970s. Truly sensational!

If they still hanker after shoulder pads and batwings, the 1980’s music fan will love The Glamour Chase: The Maverick Life of Billy MacKenzie (our Alison certainly does). Author Tom Doyle traces the story of the fabulous front man of The Associates who left a rich musical legacy despite his short life. But if their tastes run to beautifully crafted, emotionally-charged ‘2 a.m. songs’ Nileism: The Strange Case of The Blue Nile by Allan Brown is perfect, as he tries to unravel the most reclusive of bands. (We have a small number of hardback copies of Nileism, so if you really want to make an impact get one of these.)

And for something for everyone you should tune into Stuart Adamson: In a Big Country by Allan Glen. Beginning as dynamic guitarist for The Skids, Stuart Adamson would conquer the world with Big Country before branching out as part of The Raphaels and as a solo artist. But behind his success was a tragic story of alcoholism which would drive him to disappear to a lonely death.

So, there are our suggestions for harmony this Christmas but there are plenty more at www.birlinn.co.uk.

"If there's a cure for this, I don't want it"

2011-12-12T11:53:00.000Z

Christmas is the one time you can go overboard but, unless you’re blessed with a cast-iron constitution and need no sleep, it’s probably a good thing it’s only once a year. There are, though, some people to whom the normal rules do not apply – Billy MacKenzie was one of those people.

The beautious Billy

The octave-vaulting charismatic front man of 1980’s band The Associates, he beguiled and unsettled in equal measure with the voice and face of an angel and the impulse-control issues of a spoiled 8-year-old. As with so many gifted artists ahead of their time, Billy was his own worst enemy and went from the top of the charts to the depths of despair in the blink of an exquisitely made-up eye. Convinced that the music industry had forgotten him and his career was over, he took his own life aged just thirty-nine leaving a rich dynamic musical legacy that continues to inspire artists today. We love him madly.

It came as no surprise, then, that resident Polygon hipster Alison chose Tom Doyle’s fabulous biography of Billy, The Glamour Chase: The Maverick Life of Billy MacKenzie as her Christmas pressie wish:

“One of the most entertaining music biogs ever written. It matters not a jot if you don't know who Billy MacKenzie was, this is an intimate, funny, moving account of a genuine one-off, taking in whippets, Dundee, chocolate guitars and heaps of 80s excess. Just gorgeous!”

All I want for Christmas is ... odd-shaped balls?!

2011-12-09T11:54:00.000Z

It’s the traditional annual wheeling out of that joke in connection with rugby. If you have a rugby fan in your life then Southern Comfort: The Story of Borders Rugby by Neil Drysdale is the one for them. Neil is a freelance sports journalists who has written acclaimed books on Walter Smith, Dario Franchitti and how Scottish village Freuchie won the National Village Cricket Cup.

As a Duns man, it came as little surprise that Kenny Redpath – our events guru and former sporting champ – picked Southern Comfort as the book he’d crawl through a scrum to get for his Christmas:

“Coming from the Borders this was a book that I so looked forward to reading. Neil Drysdale didn't disappoint. There were so many rugby heroes that I idolised growing up! Practically every page has a story that made me smile and be proud of Borders rugby. It makes you realise just how much talent comes from such a small part of our country.”

You heard the man … line up, or line out if you prefer, for your copy!

Dear Santa ...

2011-12-07T12:30:00.000Z

We know you're bombarded with suggestions for what to buy people at Christmas, so we're going to be gentle with you. We'll post some thoughts here for books for people who like fiction, are into food or maybe like kicking balls of varying shapes around, for example, but we'll also highlight what made our lovely staff get all tingly.

First up, Sarah our publicity monkey. Known for her consumption of Irn Bru and love of Windswept Archaeologists (we're not sure what that means either), Sarah got all poetic with her Christmas pick.

“Sorley MacLean: The Collected Poems is gorgeous on the outside and breath-taking on the inside. In Gaelic and English, with poems not previously published, material previously cut and a biographical essay showing MacLean to be as passionate in his life as in his work, it’s a thing of beauty all round.”

There's more about Sorley MacLean and his work on our web site, and we'll be posting more suggestions for Christmas presents over the next few days, so stay tuned!

The Boyracer Done Good!

2011-12-01T16:19:00.000Z

Once upon a time, long, long ago – well, 2001 – Polygon published a book called Boyracers. It was the coming of age tale of a boy growing up at brake-neck speed on the back seat of a car called Belinda on the roads around Falkirk. It’s become something of a cult classic but little did we know …

Flash forward to November 2011 and not only is there a brand new edition of Boyracers to celebrate the tenth anniversary of publication, but the author Alan Bissett – now a fully-fledged novelist, playwright and performer - wins the prestigious Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award for Writing.

Alan was presented with his Award by
up and coming crime-writer Ian Rankin.

Elizabeth Lafferty from Glenfiddich said,” Alan is a multi-talented writer and we are delighted to be able to play a part in recognising his achievements.”

We say, well done Alan! Shine on you crazy diamond! xx

From the Royal Navy to the Scots Guards: Six Months Without Sundays by Max Benitz

2011-11-09T17:37:00.000Z

Max Benitz as Midshipman Calamy
with Russell Crowe

Aged just seventeen, Max Benitz was filming the Hollywood blockbuster Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World with Russell Crowe. He left the sheltered environment of his school for what you could call a dangerous, whirlwind adventure. Away from home, with a cohort of experienced professional actors he, by his own admission, “did quite a lot of things for the first time”.

Fast forward eight years and Max embarked on a very different ‘adventure’ and a new set of ‘firsts’. As criticism of the British involvement in Afghanistan grew, and issues with equipment and supplies to troops came to light, Max ‘embedded’ with the Scots Guards – his father’s old regiment – in Helmand on operations to write a book about what the day-to-day realities are like for young guardsmen and women in a conflict most people in Britain don’t want or think is winnable.

“As a student of history I found the situation in Afghanistan fascinating but I had no clear conception of what was actually happening over there,” says Max. “There has been some excellent coverage of the conflict, but I wanted to experience it all at first hand and, being an arrogant stripling, I thought I’d then be able to explain it to a wider public who wanted to get a sense of the reality of today’s conflict.”

“Once I’d got to know the characters and customs that make up 1st Battalion the book became a testament to them and any thoughts of a ‘my personal voyage of discovery’ nonsense was dismissed. I owed them a good and lasting tribute to who they are today; perhaps who they’ve always been since the regiment was raised in 1642.”

Six Months Without Sunday: The Scots Guards in Afghanistan by Max Benitz is published on Friday, £16.99 hbk

Calum's Road Rolls On

2011-10-07T10:45:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to the National Theatre of Scotland's production of Calum's Road which received a four-star review from The Scotsman.

Iain Macrae, as Calum, maps out his plans.
Pic: Richard Campbell

"The story told here is of such wisdom and significance that it sweeps objections aside, and moves many in the audience to tears. Iain Macrae gives a fine performance as Calum, a difficult man of unpredictable opinions, who - when not crofting, minding the lighthouse, working as the local postman, or building his road - spent most of his time writing stroppy letters to council officials. John McGeoch's backdrop video designs are breathtakingly beautiful.

Alasdair Macrae drives the whole 95-minute show forward on a tide of music, often traditional, but sometimes inflected with the hard, electronic rhythms of the world in which we all now live; and which may at last be turning back towards places like Arnish, towards their beauty, their natural richness, and their stories, which tell us so much, and cost so little to pass on."

The play Calum's Road is on tour throughout the autumn, find out more at www.nationaltheatrescotland.com. And if you'd like to find out more about Calum and his road, Roger Hutchinson's original book - on which the play is based - is available in all good bookshops and online. Go to www.birlinn.co.uk.

The Road to Success for Calum

2011-10-05T11:37:00.000+01:00

Lovely to see heartfelt and much-deserved praise for the National Theatre of Scotland's production of Calum's Road in the Guardian. "Lyrical, musical and elegiac," - not bad at all! You can read the rest of the review by Mark Fisher here, and find out more about about Calums' Road on tour throughout the autumn at www.nationaltheatrescotland.com.

And if you'd like to find out more about Calum and his road, Roger Hutchinson's original book - on which the play is based - is available in all good bookshops and online. Go to www.birlinn.co.uk for more on Roger himself.

Calum's Road Takes to the Road

2011-09-08T17:45:00.000+01:00

by Roger Hutchinson

Calum's Road and Roger Hutchinson’s book of the same name have become the stuff of modern folklore. It is the remarkable true story of one man's single-minded determination to challenge the powers-that-be and is now coming to stages across Scotland for the first time thanks to Scots playwright David Harrower and the National Theatre of Scotland.

Calum MacLeod lived with his wife on the remote island of Raasay, just off Skye. Born there in 1911, he was crofter, postman and lighthouseman until the population of the north of the island dwindled in the 1960s to just the two of them. Determined not to see the area die – and tired of waiting for the Council to do something – he took matters into his own hands. He built a road. Calum’s unpaid labour of love was to dominate the last 20 years of his life and leave behind a legacy – both practical and poetic – carved into the landscape he loved.

Directed by the highly-acclaimed Gerry Mulgrew Calum’s Road is a co-production between Communicado Theatre Company and the National Theatre of Scotland. The play will be touring Scotland throughout the autumn, ending on Calum’s home island of Raasay on 25th November. Further details of performances can be found here.

Jane McKie Awarded the 2011 Edwin Morgan Poetry Prize

2011-08-18T11:40:00.000+01:00

Polygon is absolutely delighted to announce that Jane McKie has won the 2011 Edwin Morgan Poetry Prize for her poem Leper Window, St Mary the Virgin.

Jane McKie

Exactly one year on from the sad death of Edwin Morgan, Scotland’s first Makar or Poet Laureate, Jane was announced as the winner at a special event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Her poem was chosen from 1200 entries. The prize - £5000 – is one of the largest of its kind and is sponsored by Strathclyde University.

Judge Vicki Feaver said of Jane’s poem, "Each stanza leads the reader a little further on a vivid sensual and historical journey from a world where leprosy is no longer a scourge to a world where its sufferers went on pilgrimages in search of healing. It's a poem about touch - one of the most difficult senses to write about. The untouchable lepers, the God who 'did not touch', and the touch of the lepers on the ledge of the church window 'the lip of sandstone ... purled (wonderful word!) with fissures'.

To read Jane’s winning poem - Leper Window, St Mary the Virgin – and the other shortlisted poems go to edwinmorganpoetrycompetition.co.uk/shortlisted-poems. Jane's collection of poems When the Sun Turns Green is available from Polygon.

“MRS THATCHER IS A LIAR … A CHEAT … A CROOK,” - TAM DALYELL

2011-08-17T13:30:00.001+01:00

Published today is the autobiography of one of the most colourful, most outspoken and one of the most deeply principled MPs. His career of 43 years saw him be the thorn in the side of several Prime Ministers, even i fhe never got a front bench political career. But Tam Dalyell's name was rarely out of the headlines.

An outspoken critic of both Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, his vehement criticism of the sinking of the Belgrano during the Falklands conflict, the Gulf War of 1990 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003, he has also been a leading figure in the attempt to uncover the truth about the Lockerbie bombing. His memoir, based on personal papers as well as official documents – many of them only recently declassified – looks back over a lifetime of dedicated service as MP for West Lothian and Linlithgow and covers his family connections to the area for almost 400 years.

Sir Thomas Dalyell Loch of The Binns, 11th Baronet – better known as Tam Dalyell – was born in Edinburgh in 1932 and inherited the Baronetcy of the Binns via his mother in 1972. Educated at the Edinburgh Academy and Eton College, he did his National Service with the Royal Scots Greys from 1950 to 1952 as an ordinary trooper having failed his officer training. He studied History and Economics at King's College, Cambridge, where he was Chairman of the Conservative Association. Following teacher training at Moray House College in Edinburgh, Tam taught at a non-selective school and a ship school. He joined the Labour Party in 1956 after the Suez Crisis and became an MP in 1962, defeating William Wolfe of the Scottish National Party. Tam was an MP in the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005, first for West Lothian and then for Linlithgow. He became Father of the House after the 2001 General Election, when Sir Edward Heath retired, and was a Member of the European Parliament from 1975 to 1979 and a member of the Labour National Executive from 1986 to 1987 for the Campaign group. In 2003 Tam was elected Rector of the University of Edinburgh.

The Importance of Being Awkward: The Autobiography of Tam Dalyell is published today, 17th August, £25 hbk. Tam will be appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this evening.

Meet the Family ...

2011-08-17T11:09:00.002+01:00

One of the highlights of this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival has been a little number called The World According to Bertie. Sound familiar? Yes, the Italian-speaking, saxophone-playing wunderkind of Alexander McCall Smith's delightful 44 Scotland Street series has made his world stage debut. And he even got to meet his maker ... in a nice way!

Above: (from left to right) Bertie Pollock (Clark Devlin), Stuart Pollock (Jack Reid),

Alexander McCall Smith (himself), Irene Pollock (Rachel Ogilvy), Cyril (Corrie), Angus Lordie (Edward Fulton).

Sandy seems pleased with the result, see here for a short interview with him courtesy of STV. The show has been getting great reviews, so why not take a stroll around The World According to Bertie? Find out more at www.edfringe.com, and catch up with all the goings-on at 44 Scotland Street in the latest novel in the series, Bertie Plays the Blues.

Getting slightly excited ... Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011 starts this Saturday!

2011-08-10T17:53:00.000+01:00

The Edinburgh International Book Festival is the largest in the world. In 2010 the stats stacked up to 778 events, 200,000 visitors, 870 authors from 49 countries - 165 of them Scottish – with 341 sold out events and 118 free events.

2011 promises to be even bigger, even better – possibly wetter, but we don’t care! Both Birlinn and Polygon will be cheering on their authors at this year’s festival, and we can promise something for everyone. From Precious Ramotswe’s first case to true tales of derring do in the Second World War. Victorian crime fighters to naughty little boys. Growing up foreign to the greatest discoveries in astronomy. Makars and Method Actors.

Self-contained in a small but perfectly formed village of white tents in Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square, the Edinburgh International Book Festival is a wonderful place to be. Why not join us?

Charlotte Square, in the sunshine!

Read the book, see the show, send the card!

2011-08-03T15:48:00.000+01:00

The 44 Scotland Street
Door Knocker
by Iain McIntosh

The whole world seems to be going Bertie mad! Not content with a brand new 44 Scotland Street novel, Bertie Plays the Blues, tomorrow sees the World Premier of The World According to Bertie at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. And now an Edinburgh retailer is offering cards and a poster featuring images from the 44 Scotland Street books - including the iconic lion door knocker - by Iain McIntosh. More information on the items (which are exclusive to Context Interiors) can be found at http://www.contextinteriors.co.uk/.

WANTED: One calm yet enthusiastic and very waggy-tailed Collie dog

2011-07-29T12:51:00.000+01:00

The World According to Bertie

Do you live in Edinburgh and have a Border Collie who isn’t likely to be fazed by stagelights, laughter, clapping, the roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd, etc.? If you do, Andy Jordan Productions is holding auditions to find just such a dog to play Cyril the Border Collie in the World Premiere of The World According to Bertie (a 44 Scotland Street Novel by Alexander McCall Smith).

Cyril by Iain McIntosh
Illustrator of the 44 Scotland Street series

The ‘real’ Cyril is the gold-toothed pet of Angus Lordie, resident artist of 44 Scotland Street and much-loved by Bertie, even though – or perhaps partly because – Cyril bit his awful hothouse mother Irene. But then, she did call Cyril “bad and smelly”.

‘The World According to Bertie’ will have two performances a night, and the successful Cyril will be onstage for two five-minute appearances at approximately 8.20pm and 9.45pm from 3rd to 29th August (not 15). Auditions will take place between 4 and 6 p.m. on Sunday 31st July in Adam House, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. If you’d and your dog would be interested in audition please contact Louis Hartshorn in advance - assistant@hartshornhook.com.

In return, Cyril will receive a six months supply (4 Adult 12kg bags) of Barking Heads dog food courtesy of Fergusons Pet Supplies Ltd of Tranent. Cyril’s owner will also receive a number of free tickets to the show.

Good luck! And don’t forget to look out for the latest instalment in the adventures of Bertie, Cyril and all the other residents of 44 Scotland Street, Bertie Plays the Blues out soon.

World Premier - The World According to Bertie

2011-07-15T17:02:00.001+01:00

Edinburgh’s perennial six-year-old Bertie Pollock is about to make his stage debut! Andy Jordan Productions, in association with CU@WE.BDY, will be presenting the world premiere production of The World According to Bertie as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Adapted from Alexander McCall Smith’s bestselling novel by Lydia Bruce and Sandy Burns, it’s sure to be a hilarious and touching night out. The World According to Bertie will be performed at CVenues – CSoCo, Studio 2a, beginning on Thursday 4th August and running until Monday 29th August at 7.20pm and 9.00pm daily. For information and to book tickets go to http://www.edfringe.com/.

And just in time for the latest instalment of goings on at 44 Scotland Street, Bertie Plays the Blues and some wonderful events with Alexander McCall Smith at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

We love We Love This Book

2011-07-15T12:08:00.000+01:00

For booksellers and publishers, in fact anyone involved in the book trade today, The Bookseller has been an essential magazine for many years and has developed into a wide-ranging and informative web site for the industry. Now, The Bookseller turns its expertise and insider knowledge to providing information on the latest books and must-read authors for the general public with the publication of We Love This Book.

Published as a quarterly magazine - available on subscription or free through selected specialist bookshops and libraries - it's packed with news, reviews and features on all the latest titles. A web site is also being launched and is running a beta version at the moment. Polygon is delighted that Sam Meekings' amazing novel The Book of Crows is featured on the site with a free extract for you to read at www.welovethisbook.com/chinese-whispers.

Keep your eyes open for copies of We Love This Book!

Jane McKie Shortlisted for 2011 Edinburgh Morgan International Prize

2011-07-11T16:13:00.000+01:00

Polygon is absolutely thrilled to announce that Jane McKie has been shortlisted for the 2011 Edwin Morgan International Poetry Prize for her poem Leper Window, St Mary the Virgin.

Jane McKie

One of the judges, Vicki Feaver, said of it, “I think it was Coleridge who defined poetry as 'the best words in the best order'. This short and beautifully constructed poem follows that definition perfectly. Each stanza leads the reader a little further on a vivid sensual and historical journey from a world where leprosy is no longer a scourge to a world where its sufferers went on pilgrimages in search of healing.”

Jane’s poem is one of five – all by female poets – shortlisted for the £5, 000 prize which attracted over 2000 poems from 900 poets from around the world. The winner will be announced on 17th August at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, whose director Nick Barley said the shortlist "reflects the high quality of contemporary poetry".

The complete shortlist, which can be read here, is:
Four Sisters: Sargent's The Daughters of Edward D Boit by Jane Yeh
Leper Window by Jane McKie
Loving Medusa by Gillian Andrews
Ossuary by Lydia MacPherson
Remains by Sarah Jackson

When the Sun Turns Green
by Jane McKie

Congratulations to Jane, and everyone on the shortlist, from everyone at Polygon.
Jane’s collection When the Sun Turns Green was published by Polygon in 2009.

Scots Makar Tells MSPs to “close the gap”

2011-07-01T12:08:00.000+01:00

Liz Lochhead, Scots Makar

Liz Lochhead, Scots Makar (Scotland’s ‘Poet Laureate’) joined The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, First Minister Rt Hon Alex Salmond and MSPs for the opening of the fourth session of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh this morning.

Following in the poetic footsteps of the first Scots Makar, her good friend Edwin Morgan, OBE, Liz read a poem which was commissioned from her for the opening ceremony. And like Edwin, she pulled no punches in what the Parliament and its MSPs should be and do, ending one verse with, “But close the gap between what we say and what we do”.

The full text of Liz’s poem “Open” can be read on the Scottish Parliament website, here.

Polygon publishes three collections of poetry by Liz Lochhead – The Colour of Black and White, Dreaming Frankenstein and True Confessions and New Cliches. A new collection of her selected work, The Choosing, will be published in September.

Birlinn Authors to the Fore at Fingask

2011-06-22T18:02:00.002+01:00

Fingask Castle, Perthshire

It was wall to wall Birlinn authors at Fingask Castle last week for a very sunny literary event! Gillian Galbraith, with her Alice Rice Mysteries lent a touch of gritty reality to the picture-perfect surroundings, whilst Lady Mary McGrigor swept everyone to the snowy wilds of Russia with The Tsar’s Doctor and Andrew Orr and Angus Whitson talked up a storm about Sea Dog Bamse.

From left: Gillian Galbraith, Fingask hosts Andrew Threipland and his wife Helen Molchanoff, with author Gavin Dobson, Roddy Martine, Andrew Orr. Seated, Mary Miers (Literary Editor of Country Life) and, right, Mary McGrigor.

Author of This Too Shall Pass – amongst other excellent books – Roddy Martine said "It's a huge pleasure for authors to come together and share literary interests in such stunning surroundings in Perthshire".

Edinburgh International Book Festival, 2011 - Part 2, Birlinn ...

2011-06-16T15:32:00.000+01:00

The theme of EIBF 2011 is revolution, and if you’re holding out for a hero we can help. In the 1930s rich young men tended to buy islands as weekend getaways. Not so John Lorne Campbell who bought Canna to try and preserve its Gaelic traditions before handing it to the National Trust for Scotland. Ray Perman’s biography – The Man Who Gave Away His Island, the only one on John Lorne Campbell – tells of his dreams and struggles. The rights and wrongs of land ownership is a subject close the heart of Andy Wightman whose superb The Poor Had No Lawyers explores how millions of acres of common land ended in the hands of a chosen few.

Robin Harper

Politicians are not always universally considered heroes, but as the first Green parliamentarian Robin Harper has certainly cleared a path for others to follow, as he describes in his Technicolor autobiography Dear Mr Harper. Tam Dalyell is a hero to some, to others ... well, probably best not to ask. Let’s just say the title of his much-anticipated autobiography The Importance of Being Awkward says it all. Everyone who fought for freedom in World War II was a hero, but Allan Burnett chooses just a few true tales of heroism in his latest book for children. And a hero for our time if there ever was one is Bob Servant, the hilarious alter ego of Neil Forsyth, who takes on email spammers at their own game.

But sometimes it is the quiet things that make the biggest changes. Mairi Hedderwick’s charming Peedie Peebles will enchant and distract young readers with his exploits. And inside every one of us is a silent revolution, our DNA. Alistair Moffat and Jim Wilson use cutting edge technology to trace the history of the Scots in The Scots: A Genetic Journey. And it’s changing a few beliefs on where they came from!

So make sure you get in quick on 26th June to buy your tickets, and we’ll see you in Charlotte Square – hopefully in the sunshine!

Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011, Part 1 ...

2011-06-16T13:19:00.000+01:00

It’s that time of year again! The 2011 Edinburgh International Book Festival programme has been launched and we’re very excited. Here are the Polygon highlights of the programme …

There is a fantastic range of fiction on offer including Kevin MacNeil, whose A Method Actor’s Guide to Jekyll and Hyde takes it’s setting and a lot of its inspiration from Edinburgh itself. The Edinburgh of the nineteenth century is the backdrop for David Ashton’s fantastic Inspector McLevy Mysteries, star of a BBC Radio 4 series and now of three brilliant books. But if you fancy ranging further afield, Carlos Alba’s moving novel The Songs of Manolo Escobar chronicles the hardships of growing up Spanish in Glasgow. And you can jump in space and time with Sam Meekings to China over two thousands years in the magical The Book of Crows, or join Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei in Stuart Clark’s magnificent debut novel The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth.

Poets are often thought of as having their heads in the clouds but Andrew Greig really has as the ‘laureate of climbing’ whose mountain poems are collected in Getting Higher. And you can’t get much more down to earth than Scotland’s own Makar Liz Lochhead, a Polygon perennial favourite. Talking of ‘great folk’ (see what we did there?), Martin Strong author of The Great Folk Discography will be sharing his encyclopaedic knowledge of the musical genre.

And it wouldn’t be an Edinburgh International Book Festival without Alexander McCall Smith. He’ll be opening the front door on the latest goings on at 44 Scotland Street with Bertie Sings the Blues as well as leaping back in time and across continents to reveal Precious Ramotswe’s very first detective case in Precious and the Monkeys – a treat for all ages.

Stay tuned for the view of EIBF 2011 from the Birlinn side …

Scotland in Stitches!

2011-06-15T12:59:00.000+01:00

One of the world’s favourite writers, Alexander McCall Smith, has brought together the talents of artist Andrew Crummy, history writer and festival director Alistair Moffat and stitchers from around Scotland to create Scotland’s largest ever tapestry and to tell the story of all Scotland.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland is to be launched at the Borders Book Festival in Harmony House Gardens on Saturday 18 June at 12.15pm. At this event, Alistair Moffat and Alexander McCall Smith will reveal the content of the 100+ panels, which together will depict our history. The choice of topics and events to cover has been made by the trustees under the guidance of Alistair Moffat but by its very nature the list is bound to prove controversial – what to include, what to leave out? The trustees are inviting debate on the list and are open to adapting it to include other suggestions.

At the launch, artist Andrew Crummy will display some of the early sketches for the panels and announce the search for volunteer stitchers from every corner of the country.

Alexander McCall Smith spoke in more detail about the project …

‘The recording of events, both great and small, on cloth is nothing new. The most famous example, of course, is the Bayeux Tapestry, which is one of the world’s best-known works of art. More recently, the completion of the Prestonpans Tapestry in Scotland has reminded us of just how effective this method of narrating history can be. When I saw that tapestry for the first time, I was struck not only by its beauty but by the story behind its creation. That led me to raise with Andrew Crummy, the artist, the possibility of creating a tapestry that would illustrate the whole history of Scotland. To my delight, Andrew agreed to take on the task. Alistair Moffat, one of Scotland’s finest historical writers, was then approached to join the project and come up with a list of historical moments that the tapestry would cover. As we had all expected, Alistair’s list is both balanced and exciting – a series of snapshots of Scotland from its earliest days to the recent past.

This is a collaborative project. The work will be done by volunteer stitchers working throughout Scotland. Although the overall artistic vision will be Andrew’s, and the telling of the story will be Alistair’s, the creating of the tapestry will be the task of many hundreds of people who will invest in it their feeling for the story that they will be illustrating. When the work is finished, we shall hand the tapestry over to the nation, to be displayed to the people of Scotland and visitors to Scotland.’

The project will take 2 years to complete and the finished tapestry will go on display from August 2013. A book detailing the project will be published by Birlinn Ltd.

Downfall: The Tommy Sheridan Story

2011-06-10T11:59:00.000+01:00

From prison cell to the political limelight, and back again. Tommy Sheridan – tanned, handsome and armed with a sound bite for every occasion – was one of the most colourful figures in the drab, dusty world of party politics. Yet behind the charismatic exterior of the man who first came to public notice during the anti-Poll Tax movement and later led the Scottish Socialist Party in the new Scottish Parliament was a deeply flawed man whose own actions led to one of the most staggering and sensational political downfalls in recent history.

Downfall
by Alan McCombes

Alan McCombes was, for over twenty years, one of Sheridan’s closest political associates. Now, based on a raft of documentary and eyewitness information, he has written Downfall: The Tommy Sheridan Story - the no holds barred inside story of the rise and fall of one of the most fascinating figures in recent Scottish politics. It is a story of deceit, corruption and self-destruction combining elements of tragedy, thriller and farce, and presents the stark, ugly truth behind Sheridan's victorious defamation action against the News of the World in 2006 and subsequent perjury trial in 2010.

There is no shelter for those who have, in some way, been complicit in one of the most shameful legal and political scandals ever to break. Read an interview here with Alan in The Scotsman about why he wrote the book.

Downfall: The Tommy Sheridan Story is available now, £9.99 pbk or as an eBook.

Victo Dolore! Sir James Young Simpson is 200 ...

2011-06-07T11:28:00.001+01:00

Simpson: The Turbulent Lie
of a Medical Pioneer
by Dr Morrice McCrae

Have you ever had an operation under general anaesthetic? You have Sir James Young Simpson to thank for the fact that you slept through it. Born on 7th June 1811, in Bathgate in West Lothian, he pioneered the use of anaesthesia in an age when undergoing surgery was the last resort. His work in pain relief for women in labour ensured him his place in history in itself.

Simpson’s remarkable life is the subject of a new book, Simpson: The Turbulent Life of a Medical Pioneer by Dr Morrice McCrae (available in paperback and hardback). It reveals the history not only of Simpson, but also of a time of rapid change in society that allowed the seventh son of a village baker in a rural part of Scotland to go to university and then become a successful physician, a medical professor at one of the leading university medical schools in the world and Physician to the Queen, all before he had reached the age of forty.

Morrice McCrae talks about the history and influence of Sir James Young Simpson:

Happy Birthday Sir James, the world has a lot to thank you for!

Alastair Reid Twice Honoured

2011-06-02T13:23:00.000+01:00

Polygon is delighted to announce that Alastair Reid will receive two Honourary Doctorates this summer, from St Andrews University - his alma mater - and Glasgow University, Crichton.

Alastair Reid

Poet, writer, translator

Originally from Whithorn in Galloway, Alastair is the author of more than forty books including collections of poems and essays, as well as writing for many years for The New Yorker - and as their South American Editor - and translating the works of Pablo Neruda and Juan Luis Borges.

Described as ‘Scotland's greatest linguistic stylist and literary exile since Robert Louis Stevenson,’ (Sunday Herald) much of Alastair’s work was unavailable in the UK until the publication of Outside In: Selected Prose – introduced by Andrew O’Hagan – and Inside Out Selected: Poetry and Translations – introduced by Douglas Dunn, both published by Polygon. Alastair was awarded an Honourary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Strathclyde last year.

BBC's James Naughtie is English. Surely some mistake!

2011-06-01T09:45:00.000+01:00

BBC Radio 4's James Naughtie

Respected political correspondent James Naughtie had his ancestry unveiled on the BBC's Today programme this morning, which revealed to the award-winning presenter's horror and intrigue, that he may actually have descended from the English.

Alistair Moffat, author of The Scots: A Genetic Journey, persuaded the BBC Radio 4 presenter to have his DNA tested a few weeks ago. And although James was brought up in Milltown of Rothiemay, near Huntly, Aberdeenshire has always been proud of his Scottish heritage.

The well-known author and historian, Alistair Moffat has worked with geneticist Dr. Jim Wilson to map Scotland's DNA using thousands of samples from around the country. Every one of us carries our history in our DNA and technology has now advanced to such a stage that a simple spit-and-go test allows scientists to analyse and interpret our DNA and give us a very clear indication of where our ancestors may have come from.

Naughtie's marker (known to scientists as S142) points very clearly to an Anglo Saxon origin in this country and before that to Denmark and Norway. 13% of Danish men share this strand of DNA. His ancestors would have arrived in the south of Britain in the early 5th century AD and moved north to Northumbria and to the Scottish borders arriving around 600 AD. And there they would have stayed until around 1130s. King David I of Scotland was involved at that time in what could be compared to Bosnian style ethnic cleansing of the Moray region to rid him of troublesome local aristocracy. He gave large Scottish estates to his Anglo-Norman friends and transplanted Border farmers to the Moray area to repopulate with those who were more sympathetic to his cause. And Naughtie's ancestors would be amongst those transplanted.
So is he English? As Alistair Moffat points out in The Scots: A Genetic Journey, every Scot is an immigrant. Until 9000 BC, Scotland was empty of people and animals. For 15,000 years, ice had covered the land and nothing survived. Naughtie's family has been firmly rooted in the North East of Scotland since the 12th century - he is very much a Scot. But way back, his ancestors crossed the seas and made their way north through England to the borders and from there, to Moray. His DNA is part of the rich tapestry that now enriches Scotland.
On hearing about his genetic background James joked, “I confess a wee bit of nervousness, but now discover that the (Today) programme has been kind enough to offer me counselling!”

The new study of DNA for genealogy purposes is growing at an incredible pace and can take personal histories back much further than family trees and desk research. Alistair Moffat is now working on a new book with Jim Wilson, Britain: A DNA history, which will be published next year.

The Scots: A Genetic Journey by Alistair Moffat and Jim Wilson is published by Birlinn and is available as a hardback book and eBook. Testing kits are available from EthnoAncestry (http://www.ethnoancestry.com/). Britain: A DNA History will be published by Birlinn in 2012.

Sorry is the Hardest Word

2011-05-23T17:12:00.000+01:00

Jess Smith

Jess Smith - celebrated author of Bruar's Rest, three volumes of autobiography and a collection of stories, storyteller, activist and Traveller - last night read from Richard O’Neill’s 'Sorry is the Hardest Word' at a Kirk fringe event for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. She first performed this challenging monologue about the treatment of the Travelling Community in Scotland at the Storytelling Festival in Edinburgh in 2008. The monologue is inspired by the oral traditions of the Traveling Community and highlights past wrongs done to the Scottish Travellers by individuals and authorities in Scotland.

Two years ago, after hearing the monologue and talking to Jess, Rev Russell McLarty put the following request to the General Assembly: 'Request that the Church and Society Council considers the question of how the Travelling People have been treated in the past and how they might be properly recognised by the Church and the state in the future'. The request was accepted and since then a study has been carried out on the Church’s attitude to the Travelling community in Scotland, by an ecumenical working group on behalf of the Scottish Church’s Racial Justice Group.

The report of the group considers many aspects of life for the Traveller and how society, state and Church had treated individuals from this community. Areas covered by the group include: housing and access to land; employment; education and welfare; discrimination prejudice and harassment; government initiatives; identity; and the Travelling Community and the Churches.

Recommendations from the group will be heard by the General Assembly today, 24 May 2011, when it is widely anticipated that the Church of Scotland will acknowledge its role in past wrong-doings and look for ways to work with the Scottish Government and local authorities to protect Travellers from discrimination in the future and to celebrate their culture.

Talking about her performance at the Storytelling Centre last night, Jess said. “I am putting on this event to honour all the Travellers whose spirits were broken when authority clipped their wings, halted their seasonal paths and institutionalised their children.”

“For far too long historians have omitted their existence from this proud land as a true society. This report is groundbreaking and will hopefully lead to the Scottish Government legally recognising Scotland's Travelling people as a single thread within a grand quilt of many cultures.”

Fiction Uncovered Uncovers The English German Girl and Jake Wallis Simons

2011-05-20T16:11:00.000+01:00

‘Fascinating and moving’
– Monica Ali

Yesterday we announced the fantastic news that The English German Girl by Jake Wallis Simons has been chosen for the inaugural Fiction Uncovered promotion. We thought you might like to see ‘behind the scenes’ Wallis Simons and to hear Jake reading a short extract from the book.

Jake Wallis Simons

Jake will also be appearing at the inaugural Ayton Literary Festival on Sunday 26th June, in conversation with a survivor of the Kindertransport to talk about this incredibly important and moving moment in history.

Fiction Uncovered Uncovers The English German Girl!

2011-05-19T15:53:00.000+01:00

by Jake Wallis Simons

Polygon is delighted to announce that the novel The English German Girl by Jake Wallis Simons has been chosen for the inaugural Fiction Uncovered promotion! It is one of only eight books chosen for the promotion which aims to support the UK’s best fiction writers whose work deserves wider recognition through the media and stronger promotion in bookshops, libraries, readers’ groups and websites, and through the new electronic media tools – eBooks and apps. Polygon is the only Scottish publisher represented on the list.
The eight titles selected for Fiction Uncovered 2011 were announced today at 5th View, Waterstone’s Piccadilly:

• The English German Girl by Jake Wallis Simons (Birlinn, Polygon)
• The Water Theatre by Lindsay Clarke (Alma Books)

• The London Satyr by Robert Edric (Doubleday, Transworld)

• Proof of Love by Catherine Hall (Portobello)
• Night Waking by Sarah Moss (Granta)

• Nimrod’s Shadow by Chris Paling (Portobello)

• Disputed Land by Tim Pears (William Heinemann, Random House)
• Forgetting Zoë by Ray Robinson (William Heinemann, Random House)

The judging panel consisted of writer Giles Foden (Professor of Creative Writing at University of East Anglia), Damian Barr (writer and salonnière), Simon Burke (Campaign Buying Manager for Waterstone’s) and Sarah Crown (Literary Editor, Guardian Online). All of the books will be available through Waterstone’s, iBookstore, Amazon, Foyles, WH Smith, the Book Depository and the Book Partnership (reaching independent bookstores). There will also be a series of Fiction Uncovered events throughout summer 2011 starting with the Shoreditch House Literary Salon (19 May), The Book Stops Here (13 June) and, in association with Literary Death Match, at Latitude Festival (14 July). Fiction Uncovered is supported by Arts Council England and funded by the National Lottery.

Polygon Authors Open and Close Inaugral Festival

2011-05-16T15:22:00.000+01:00

There hardly seems to be a town or city without a literary festival these days, but there is always room for one more! The latest is the Ayot Literary Festival, which will take place for the first time from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th June 2011 in the marquee on Ayot Green, near Welwyn Garden City. It’s a picturesque spot for a literary festival, complete with 18th century cottages clustered around a tranquil tree lined village green, and a charming acorn from which we hope a lovely huge oak will grow.

Alexander McCall Smith

Jake Wallis Simons

Two Polygon authors will be appearing at the festival, with Alexander McCall Smith being the first author to appear on the first day – a debut and a half! – to talk about the latest goings on at Corduroy Mansions in London’s slightly less picturesque Pimlico. And to neatly bookend what promises to be a wonderful weekend, Jake Wallis Simons will be the final author on the final day to read from and talk about his immensely moving novel, The English German Girl.

Tickets are now on sale, and more information on the festival can be found at http://www.greenfestivals.co.uk/.

Birlinn and Polygon eBooks Go Live Today!

2011-05-12T10:59:00.000+01:00

The book world has been taken by storm by the new way of reading, and no matter what you like to read – fiction, biography, history, crime – or how you like to read it – as a book, on a Kindle, on an iPad or any of the new e-Readers - Birlinn and Polygon eBooks have something for you!

This is absolutely not the end of traditional paper books for Birlinn and Polygon - fear not - but with eBook sales jumping from 1% to 6% of the whole UK book market in just one year it shows the popularity of the format. Our new eBooks are available on the most popular eBook retailers websites (http://www.amazon.co.uk/, http://www.waterstones.co.uk/, iBook store shortly) and more titles will be introduced every month. We're aiming to digitise as much of our backlist as possible and produce most of our new titles as eBooks from now on, so keep an eye on http://www.birlinn.co.uk/ for the latest titles available as eBooks!

Come on over to www.birlinn.co.uk/ebooks for the list of the first titles to be eBookified!

Robert Garioch Remembered

2011-05-09T17:20:00.000+01:00

Robin Fulton, editor of the Collected Poems, remembers Robert Garioch on what would have been his 102nd birthday.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s I met Garioch quite often and it was very clear to me that behind his courteous, quiet-voiced and sometimes hesitant manner there was a sharp mind very well stocked with knowledge of all sorts. He knew his Latin and his history, but he was also street-wise and knew the value of humble things like pieces of string. He was well-versed in tolerating awkward circumstances, like the irksomeness of trying to combine school-teaching with writing and the more serious tribulations of getting through his years as a P.O.W. He seemed to have learned not to kick against the pricks.

His humility on occasion attracted the attention of bullies. “Literary” life in Scotland in the 1960s and 1970s had its less enlightened side: there were not a few loud voices and deaf ears and too often argument aimed at putting down others took the place of open-minded discussion. Some of the minnows in the pond imagined they were piranhas. It was no surprise that MacDiarmid chose to be supercilious: “he has no elevation and is… not only dull but vulgar in the worst sense.” I suppose the Great Man was aware how Garioch had little patience with his windy self-promotion (and with what he saw as MacDiarmid’s political naivety).) Nearer home, I heard unkind and unjust comments from people who ought to have known better. On the other hand, those who actually knew him and read his work without preconceptions held him in great esteem and affection.

Polygon, £14.99 pbk

My own part in editing Garioch came about through my work with Callum Macdonald. I edited 37 issues of Lines Review and Callum and I printed as much as we could by Garioch; we also brought out his collection Doktor Faust in Rose Street (1973). When Garioch died Callum asked me to write something for Lines Review but I felt a bit tongue-tied about that and suggested we could do a decent collected edition, which we did, and that was Complete Poetical Works (1983). We followed that with A Garioch Miscellany (1986 ), which included, among other things, samples of his letters, of his book-reviews, and of his way of working on the Belli translations with Antonia Stott. When Callum retired The Saltire Society took over his stock but in due course it became clear that they were about to let Garioch simply go out of print. That’s where Birlinn came in, and the current edition appeared in 2004 with the Polygon imprint, now called Collected Poems, with Garioch’s ordering of the poems restored and a new introduction.

It was heartening to come across Seán Haldane’s piece on Garioch in The Dark Horse (21), an example of how Garioch´s work deserves to be approached. He sees Garioch as in the “first three” along with Maclean and MacDiarmid, and concludes that “Taking Garioch seriously means reading his poems not only with a mind open to his wit and intellect but with a heart open to the intensity of his feeling.” I still feel angry when I see how old misleading labels, once stuck, seem to resist being unstuck. Sometime, somewhere, someone who had done no homework decided that Garioch could adequately be described along the lines of “a Scottish poet who wrote comic verse” (e.g. about a hen). Once started, the belittlement continued as others thoughtlessly stuck on the same label, passing off someone else’s ignorance as their own wisdom. It surely can’t be difficult to see that Garioch was the supreme verse-caftsman of his generation, and that the whole weight of his life is behind all of his work - his knowledge of Edinburgh, his understanding of Scottish history and literature, and his experience of twentieth century Europe.
- Robin Fulton

With thanks to our friends at the Scottish Poetry Library

Was Pope Innocent really innocent?

2011-04-22T11:48:00.000+01:00

When Rita Monaldi and Francesco Sorti – Italian husband-and-wife writers - wrote their novel Imprimatur they expected it would ruffle some feathers. It did, after all, claim that a Pope had bankrolled a Protestant King against a Catholic King. What they didn’t expect was for their book to become unavailable in their home country of Italy and a widespread media blackout on coverage.

Whilst the Vatican denied any involvement, it now looks as if it’s not just Rita and Francesco who have fallen out of favour. The Pope in question, Blessed Innocent XI, has been dug up so another Pope can be buried in this tomb.

Imprimatur by Monaldi and Sorti

Speaking to the Irish newspaper, The Herald, Francesco said "Because of our book Innocent XI has lost his reputation of sanctity. He betrayed the Catholic Church. It has never happened before that the body of a Pope has been removed to make way for another Pope, especially when both have been beatified. He was supposed to be celebrated, not removed. And especially because this year is the 400th centenary of his birth."

Pope Innocent has been taken out of the Chapel of St Sebastian, near the entrance to St Peter's basilica in Rome and adjoining one of its most popular attractions, Michelangelo's statue of the Pieta. The Vatican has denied that it is giving John Paul II preferential treatment. Blessed Innocent XI had actually been considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church following the 9/11 terrorists attacks as he had been celebrated for his role in defending Europe against Islamic invasion in the 1680s.

Scott-land Long-listed for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction!

2011-04-19T17:00:00.000+01:00

Polygon is delighted to announce that Stuart Kelly's book Scott-land: The Man Who Invented a Nation has been long-listed for the £20 000 2011 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. The impressive long-list of eighteen titles was announced this morning, with the final shortlist of six books being announced on 14th June.

Scott-land: The Man Who Invented a Nation

Variously praised as ‘A lovely piece of work – the best book on Scott, indeed, since Edwin Muir’s Scott and Scotland' (Andrew O’Hagan), 'Very engaging, highly intelligent’ (AN Wilson) and ‘Magnificent … A fascinating book, as entertaining as it is informative' (Alexander McCall Smith), Neville Moir Polygon’s Publishing Director commented:

“We’re absolutely thrilled at this well-deserved recognition for Stuart’s intelligent fusion of biography and cultural critique. Excellent news!”

The full long-list can be seen here, and everyone at Polygon sends their congratulations to Stuart and is crossing their fingers for 14th June!

Birlinn Authors in Running for £30,000 Book Prize

2011-04-19T16:58:00.000+01:00

Birlinn Ltd is delighted to see not one, not two, not three but four of its authors on the longlists for the 2011 Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year.

Scott-land by
Stuart Kelly

Fresh from being longlisted for the 2011 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, Stuart Kelly’s Scott-land: The Man Who Invented a Nation (Polygon) makes a well-deserved appearance on the SMIT longlist also in the Non-Fiction Category. Joint Winner of the 2010 Saltire

The History of Orkney Literature
by Simon Hall

Royal Mail Scottish First Book of the Year, The History of Orkney Literature by Simon Hall (John Donald) has been longlisted in the First Book Category.

And taking in the wider Birlinn family, author of Getting Higher Andrew Greig (Polygon) has been longlisted in the Non-Fiction category for At the Loch of the Green Corrie and Leila Aboulela – whose debut novel The Translator was published by Polygon – is longlisted in the Fiction category for her novel Lyrics Alley.

The four category winners will be announced on Thursday 16th May with the overall winner of the £30 000 prize being announced on Friday 26th August at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Congratulations to all the longlisted authors, and fingers crossed for the 16th May from everyone at Birlinn, Polygon and John Donald!

Borders Book Festival Programme Launched With a Birthday!

2011-04-06T17:50:00.000+01:00

The Borders Book Festival might have a few more years to go to catch up on today’s Birthday Boy, Rory Bremner (a Patron of the Festival), but if it’s in as fine voice and as good shape as he is at 50 it will be doing very, very well.

Rory – with special guest appearances from Bill Clinton, Gordon Brown, Peter Snow and Michael Parkinson – helped launch the programme for the four-day, 65 event festival which kicks off on 16th June in Melrose in the Scottish Borders. And, as ever, Birlinn and Polygon will be there with bells on!

Polygon debut fiction author, Stuart Clark, will be taking us back to one of the darkest, yet one of the most enlightening, periods of European history when to say the earth revolved around the sun – as Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei did - was heresy and punishable by death in The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth. Stuart is a well-respected astronomer and science writer, so get along and see some stars.

Alexander McCall Smith will be bringing London’s Pimlico to Melrose with the latest collection of adventures at Corduroy Mansions A Conspiracy of Friends before taking us all to Botswana for Mma Ramotswe’s first adventure, Precious and the Monkeys.

And in three events, which the festival’s Director Alistair Moffat jokingly referred to as the ‘Dead Writers’ Society’, Robert Powell will be reading from and talking about John Buchan’s classic thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps, and David Rintoul will be reading from and talking about Sunset Song and Dr Finlay’s Casebook.
And if all that wasn’t enough, the aforementioned Alistair Moffat will be taking the stage as an author this time to talk about The Scots: A Genetic Journey and his own, rather surprising, background.
So save the dates and get your tickets before they sell out!

GETTING HIGHER

2011-04-05T12:52:00.000+01:00

A WEE NOTE ON STYLISTICS FOR 'GETTING HIGHER'

GETTING HIGHER: The Complete Mountain Poems
by ANDREW GREIG
http://andrew-greig.weebly.com/

Getting Higher (again . . .) Back in 1975, two young, bright-eyed musicians - Andrew Greig and James Hutcheson, were introduced to each other via a mutual musician mate who had also been at Edinburgh University. Jim was an illustrator for Canongate books at the time and when Greig said he had a book of poetry which might interest the publisher, he prepared some drawings to accompany the presentation. The folk at Canongate; Stephanie Wolfe Murray and Charles Wilde, were very interested and commissioned JH and AG to finish the project. This was to be called ‘Men on Ice’ - a book of poems with a distinctly Zen take on mountaineering, both physical and metaphorical. Also working for Canongate at this time was Ruari Maclean. He was the doyen of British Book design http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruari_McLean

JH and RM were to work together on various projects including Antonia Fraser’s ‘Scottish Love Poems’ and Alasdair Gray's'Lanark'. Of particular interest to Jim and Andrew, was the fact that Ruari had worked on the Eagle comic for Marcus Morris in 1950 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_(comic) This highly illustrated publication, with it’s educational tales of derring do, had been one of their influences growing up in the 50s. Ruari had also worked with Berthold Wolpe (another stalwart of British Book Design) on various type headings within the comic - in fact, it was Wolpe who designed the Eagle masthead. As a homage to the comic, Dan Dare et al, Jim handpainted the lettering for ‘Men on Ice’ as a pastiche of the Eagle header. In those pre-digital days, the entire cover, front spine and back, was hand painted - actual size! He also provided all the illustrations for the interior of the book.

Two more collaborative books followed in the eighties and nineties respectively: i.e. ‘Surviving Passages’also Canongate and ‘Western Swing’ for Bloodaxe.

In 2010, Andrew and Jim, having met up again after some years, suggested to Neville Moir (ex-Canongate, but now a Director of Polygon) that the three books might be re-published as one volume. This idea was then extended to cover all the mountaineering poems and so also included poems from some other books; ‘This Life, This Life; New & Selected Poems’ and ‘At The Loch of the Green Corrie’ It was decided that the new volume be entitled ‘Getting Higher’.
With some trepidation, Jim dusted down a lot of the old drawings and they now re-appear along with some ‘out takes’ from the seventies + some new drawings. As a further tip of the hat to the Eagle comic, the title page of Getting Higher has been re-drawn using Wolpe’s original 1950s letter forms.

AG: I have to say 'GETTING HIGHER' is the most visually various and satisfying book I've ever been involved in, full of elegant and witty solutions to complex and multiple elements of texts, sketches, illustrations, out-takes, facsimiles of manuscript drafts, handwritten notes. I love books as visuals, as objects containing extras and surprises - goes back to the LPs I knew way back when. Though we conferred a lot together, the credit for GH's design must go to Jim.

(James Hutcheson is Birlinn's Creative Director)

James Kelman Shortlisted for the 2011 Man Booker International Prize

2011-03-31T17:22:00.000+01:00

James Kelman's debut
short story collection

Polygon is delighted to announce that James Kelman has been shortlisted for the 2011 Man Booker International Prize, for the second time.

Neville Moir, Publishing Director for Polygon which publishes many of James' books including his debut collection of short stories An Old Pub Near the Angel, said, “James Kelman has won critical acclaim in these shores but his deserved nomination for the Man International Booker once again reflects his status as a writer and artist of international standing. Everyone at Polygon sends their heartiest congratulations and will be keeping their fingers crossed.”

Previously shortlisted for the Prize in 2009, James is a former winner of the Booker Prize in 1994 for his novel How Late it Was, How Late, which caused a storm of controversy. The full 2011 Man Booker International Prize shortlist is Wang Anyi, Rohinton Mistry, Juan Goytisolo, Philip Pullman, James Kelman, Philip Roth, Marilynne Robinson, Su Tong, John le Carré, Anne Tyler, Amin Maalouf, Dacia Maraini and David Malouf. John le Carré has withdrawn from shortlist saying he does not compete for literary prizes. The winner will be announced at the Sydney Writers' Festival on 18 May.

The English German Girl by Jake Wallis Simons

2011-03-24T17:49:00.000Z

The world is all-too familiar with the horrors of Nazi Germany, but barely a year before the outbreak of the Second World War there began an operation to try and save some of the youngest and most vulnerable of its potential victims.

The English German Girl
by Jake Wallis Simons
out 14th April

The Kindertransport, also know as the Refugee Children Movement, took nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig by train to place them in British foster homes, hostels, and farms. Most of the children rescued survived the war and some were reunited with their families, but most never saw them again.

Jake Wallis Simon’s new novel The English German Girl follows fifteen-year-old Rosa Klein as she leaves for England on a Kindertransport and tries to build a life which will bring her family safely out of Germany. As she struggles to even make herself understood in a foreign country, she begins to think that there are some promises that cannot be kept after all.

Already being hailed by survivors of the Kindertransport and novelists alike, more information on The English German Girl, the Kindertransport and Jake Wallis Simons can be found at http://www.theenglishgermangirl.com/.

The English German Girl by Jake Wallis Simons is published by Polygon on 14th April.

Delete This At Your Peril!

2011-03-14T11:08:00.000Z

Last week was a cracker for press coverage at Birlinn books. Neil Forsyth started it all with an interview on BBC Breakfast News on the subject of spam email and a great little plug for the hilarious Delete This At Your Peril (did you follow this on BBC Radio 4? VERY funny programme. Still on catch up if you hurry!). Six days of coverage for Alistair Moffat's the Scots: A Genetic Journey followed in the Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday; an interview with Alistair on BBC Radio 4’s the Today programme AND on STV’s The Hour; plus of course an episode of his radio programme based on the book on BBC Radio Scotland.
And the unique and quite fabulous Alexander McCall Smith was on fine form with an exhausting schedule of events and interviews. Monday saw Alexander with his publicist in Hexham for an event with Cogito Books. Tuesday was Newcastle for interviews and an event with North Words at the Tyneside Cinema. Wednesday was London and interviews followed by our annual event for Daunt Books in Marylebone High Street and dinner at the very nice Galvin Bistro de Luxe on Baker Street. Thursday morning took us to the BBC studios for Breakfast Television interview with the lovely Bill and Sian, then a lunchtime event for supporters of Pelican Post with the lovely Clemency Burton-Hill and a quick drive over to Bath for the Bath Festival and an event with Decca Aitkenhead. Friday was a signing in Bath at Toppings Books before a flight back to Edinburgh in time for a packed house at an event in St Mary’s Cathedral. We finished the week with an event and interviews in Glasgow for the Aye Write festival. All went incredibly well.

The Secret of Their Success…

2010-11-11T10:29:00.000Z

Craig Levein, Eddie Turnbull and Craig Brown at Hampden Park

The Management: Scotland’s Great Football Bosses was launched at Hampden Park on Wednesday 3 November in a fanfare of press attention as authors Michael Grant and Rob Robertson were joined by Scotland boss Craig Levein, former Scotland and current Motherwell manager, Craig Brown, and Hibs, Aberdeen and Queen’s Park legend, Eddie Turnbull.

Sky TV. BBC. STV. The Press Association. Thirty-five journalists from every top Scottish newspaper and photographers galore. The media furore at Hampden wonderfully reflected the momentous nature of the book’s subject matter. Never before has a book tackled the subject of Scotland’s extraordinary football managerial success, questioned why and how Scotland has produced so many of the very finest managers ever to be associated with the game and so exhaustively researched and interviewed so many key characters in search of the answer. And the result? One of the finest sports books to appear this decade; indeed, The Management is one of the finest sports books to have emerged in British publishing in living memory. Hyperbole? Have a read and I challenge you to find me many better. The scope and breadth of the subject matter is vast, the skill with which it is relayed is exceptional, and the relentless fascination that it engenders has you turning page after page after page. It is a truly enthralling story, one that goes beyond football, beyond the confines of Scottish club and international management and delves into the very heart of Scottish life and society, into the very heart of the Scottish psyche; it is a story that seeks out answers from the depths of Lanarkshire mines and Clyde shipyards to the glamorous corridors of Old Trafford, Anfield, Highbury and Stamford Bridge. With interviews ranging from the great men themselves, to the players who served under them, the men who assisted them, and to the family members who knew them best of all, no stone has been left unturned as Grant and Robertson seek to answer a question that has burned on a thousand lips since the halcyon days of Busby, Shanks and Stein, and which continues today as Sir Alex Ferguson’s wonderful achievements forge a path that a new generation of Scottish managers hope to emulate.

At the Hampden press launch, Levein, Brown and Turnbull were each in turn asked for their own opinions on why Scotland has produced so many star managers – and whether we will continue to see their like again. As each man threw up their own analyses – based on traditions of hard-work, honesty, leadership, team ethic and hardness brought to bear by their backgrounds and upbringing – it was intriguing to realise that each of their individual insights are covered and examined in detail within the pages of The Management. It is a spellbinding read, one that is set to become a classic, and has already received a swathe of glowing reviews:

‘Scotland’s record as a producer of outstanding team mangers dwarfs that of any other country in the world. This excellent book provides vivid and fascinating insights into that remarkable distinction’ – Hugh McIlvanney

‘the scale of this book is vast… wonderful, memorable and moving… intoxicating reading’ – The Scotsman

‘a seminal tome… fascinating’ – Daily Record

‘Superb’ – Daily Mail

‘A great book – very entertaining and well researched’ – David Moyes

http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Management--The-9781841588193/

Curtain Twitching in Edinburgh as 'Inside Edinburgh' arrives in the office

2010-10-20T15:04:00.000+01:00

There was much excitement in Birlinn HQ this week as our Inside Edinburgh title by David Torrance finally arrived. Luxurious cover, eye-catching and interesting content and....above all else, I can verify.... a great smell. We do love the smell of new books here in Birlinn, all gathering around incoming deliveries for that first waft as the boxes are cut open to reveal their spoils.

Now I don't know about you Birlinn fans but I often find that I miss so much of what Edinburgh has to offer in the way of architectural beauty simply because I'm always rushing around. I never look up when out walking (obviously, always best to keep your eyes on the road in front) but subsequently I miss out on all the spectacular touches and finishes that lie only a few metres above. The same is true of Edinburgh's stately homes and their interiors. Despite so many opportunities to visit public venues and buildings I just never seem to find the time. Well Birlinn fans, if like me, you are high on good intentions but low on will power and time, Inside Edinburgh is the perfect antedote. Offering a rare glimpse inside 75 of Edinburgh’s grandest, humblest, sociable and sometimes most private buildings this book is high on taste, colour, detail and quality. The interiors covered range in theme from notable shops, hotels, clubs/societies to public houses, banks, domestic interiors and schools/colleges. Each interior discussed is accompanied by a breath-taking, specially-commissioned colour photograph and also complemented by a brief description, many of which reveal charming nuggets of historical and architectural insight.

Highlights include TL Walls Opticians’ glorious 1930s panelling, the restored Victorian splendour of Drumsheugh Baths Club – Edinburgh’s oldest private swimming club – and the elegant austerity of St Triduana’s Chapel within the precincts of Edinburgh Castle.

As Winter begins to draw in and the curtains are drawn that little bit earlier on these notable interiors, fear not, because Inside Edinburgh will reveal to you the best of what Edinburgh's fine buildings and homes have to offer. So don't let Winter spoil your fun and curiosity, grab a copy of Inside Edinburgh now from our wesite at http://www.birlinn.co.uk/ .

Until next time, keep those curtains twitching!

It's Poetry but Not As We Know It

2010-09-29T12:33:00.000+01:00

Poor William Topaz McGonagall. On 29th September 1902 he breathed his last, and many people in the world of poetry probably also breathed a sigh of relief. For the last 25 years of his life his prolific yet execrable rhymes and terrible scansion had commemorated terrible tragedies, heroic victories and great anniversaries alike.

But about the man himself little is really known. In fact, the first fifty years of McGonagall's life are, largely a mystery. Was he even Scottish? Now, award-winning author Norman Watson has taken up the challenge of unraveling the truth behind Scotland's other national bard in his brand new biography Poet McGonagall: The Biography of William McGonagall. It's an absorbing and revealing tale of how a one-time Dundee weaver became known by millions for his poetry, derided by most people but popularised by luminaries as diverse as the Goons, Monty Python, Peter Sellers, JK Rowling, Terry Pratchett and Philip Pullman.

Alexander McCall Smith is back online- Don't miss a moment!

2010-09-13T17:32:00.000+01:00

Publishing phenomenon, Alexander McCall Smith, is back online, talking to readers around the world and following the lives of the inhabitants of the Pimlico mansion block, Corduroy Mansions. Follow him now, as he picks up the story and revisits old friends in a third volume of the global best-seller, Corduroy Mansions- A Conspiracy of Friends, a serial novel unlike any other. Meet up with Caroline and James, the egregiously charming Pimlico Terrier, Freddie de la Hay, the dreadful Oedipus Snark (the only truly nasty Lib Dem MP), William French and Marcia amongst others. Alexander is writing as you read and taking suggestions along the way.The serial novel grows online every weekday at www.telegraph.co.uk and will run until Christmas.

Missed the story so far? Get the last book, The Dog Who Came in from the Cold from www.birlinn.co.uk

Exciting Happenings at the Book Festival

2010-08-27T16:47:00.000+01:00

Team Birlinn were out in force today at the Edinburgh International Book Festival to lend a helping hand to one of our resident authors, Alexander McCall Smith, in conversation with Jamie Jauncey.

The event, held in the main RBS Theatre, was packed to capacity with a most welcoming and auspicious audience. Among those in attendance was the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media & Sport, the Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP.

The event was an untold success, with all present suitably charmed by the delightful McCall Smith, who enthralled us for 55mins with stories of Isobel Dalhousie, the down-trodden Bertie, Mma. Ramotswe and many of his other popular creations. We were all updated on his various series and there is much to look forward to in the coming installments, so keep your eyes peeled for new releases. In the meantime, if you can't wait, you can now purchase your very own copy of The Importance of Being Seven, the latest from the Scotland Street series, from our website and all good bookshops.

If we were not spoiled enough, the event also included beautiful musical interludes with an excerpt from McCall Smith's No.1 opera, Okavango Macbeth. From this we all learned that female baboons have much in common with the infamous Lady Macbeth and so should never be trifled with. Let it be a lesson to us all readers! We also heard a moving rendition of 'The Parting Glass' which left no heart untouched.

The beauty of the music complemented the charming tete-a-tete between Alexander and Jamie and we were all in agreement that 55mins just wasn't enough. Afterwards, Alexander met fans and signed copies of his current and past editions. From the line of fans snaking out of, and around, the signing tent, it was clear that Alexander, like his beloved characters, has an equally large and devoted following.

Scott-land by Stuart Kelly is BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week

2010-08-16T10:54:00.000+01:00

Exciting times at Birlinn Ltd. Scott-land by Stuart Kelly is BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week from 16 August 2010! This is a gem of a book, thoroughly enjoyed by readers – whether they are an expert on Walter Scott, have a passing interest in the man and his work, or just want to know more about Scotland and its relationship with England – none more so than MSP, Michael Russell... ‘The book is (in my view and I use the term very rarely) a contemporary masterpiece - absorbing , clever, intuitive, scholarly and enlightening. I feel I know more about both the author and the country, or perhaps to be accurate I have more questions ( and perhaps more worries) than I had before, though I have also had a great measure of entertainment in getting to that state... a magnificently intelligent book which will help and engage many others too.’
NOT TO BE MISSED, find it on BBC Radio 4, Monday 16th – Friday 20 August 2010, 09.45–10.00 (or on BBC i-player)

Signet Library Bookshop

2010-08-16T10:52:00.000+01:00

If you are in Edinburgh over the festival, do come and see us in our beautiful new festival shop at the Signet Library, home to the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet, just off the Royal Mile at Parliament Square. Right in the heart of the old-town and festival-land, opposite the entrance to St Giles Cathedral, this is a wee festival gem. Books from great Scottish writers, contemporary and classic, children’s books, poetry, gift books and stationery (and even umbrellas should you be caught in an Edinburgh shower!). Open seven days a week, 10.00am to 6.00pm – see you there.

Ebooks

2010-06-28T14:56:00.000+01:00

It's a brave new world for Birlinn books as we plan ahead for our exciting new Ebooks programme. Last week, I was in London attending an Ebook strategy course, and I'm thrilled to say that the work we've done so far (Rights! Conversion! Distribution! Retail Partners!) has us on track to get our Ebooks out in the very near future. I must admit, a lot of the technical information had me scratching my head (a lot of acronyms!), but luckily we will have great conversion partners on board to see us through. Everyone there was excited about the possibilities the digital world presents to publishers, it was hard not to get carried away with imagining where all this will take us! We'll keep you posted as we get nearer to the launch date.

VIKKI

Up River Limited Edition

2010-06-23T11:39:00.000+01:00

Darren Woodhead popped in today to discuss his new limited edition of Up River.

We are producing 50 bespoke, boxed editions with individual endpapers. Each book has an original painting by Darren on the Watercolour Endpapers - a nerve-wracking experience for the artist!

Ready, Set, Action! Filming Allan Burnett at Stirling Castle

2010-06-22T15:42:00.000+01:00

I had the pleasure of taking a day out of the office on Friday to film Allan Burnett, author of the 'And All That' books, performing at Stirling Castle. A new venture for Birlinn, we hired some very fancy camera equipment and, along with film students Michael Kidd and Ross Hill, we headed to Stirling to catch Alan in action.

Appearing in purple tights and a doublet Alan certainly looked the part as he regaled crowds with his stories of James VI and the worst teacher in history, George Buchanan. His descriptions of Buchanan's giant skull and drew many laughs from the admiring visitors, and some of the kids were scandalised that the king drank ale as a child (little did they know the consequences of drinking water in the 16th century!).

Over the course of the day we gathered lots of footage of Allan in his element. It was fascinating watching the cameramen at work as they ensured that we had a range of angles, lighting, audio and establishing shots. As I write the footage is being edited into a short clip to promote Allan's great 'And All That' history books. So watch this space!

ANNA

Borders Book Festival

2010-06-21T14:04:00.000+01:00

Sunday morning was spent back at the Borders Book Festival. Glorious sunshine and very good ice-cream. Alistair Moffat was talking with co-author Dr Jim Wilson about their work in progress, a book to be published by us here at Birlinn on Census day 2011 (1 April). The subject is the DNA history of Scotland and Alistair and Jim kept the audience (another packed tent-theatre) absolutely gripped as they talked about the Viking ancestry of the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the similarities between the DNA of the Scots and the English – and the differences, the journey of the first Africans who left that continent and populated the world. And all uncovered from generous members of the population offering their spit into tiny pots for the purposes of research.
JAN

Planning ahead for the summer?

2010-06-21T14:03:00.000+01:00

. . . Or looking for somewhere to enjoy words and sunshine this weekend? Read on . . .

Edinburgh’s Signet Library was the venue for yesterday’s launch of the programme for the 2010 Edinburgh International Book Festival. A ten o’clock start saw very welcome bacon rolls served to members of the media, publishers, writers, agents and booksellers as they gathered to hear news of writers visiting the festival this year. Among the Birlinn writers appearing at the tented festival this August are Shirley McKay talking about her latest historical crime novel set in St Andrews, Fate & Fortune; Alexander McCall Smith talking about The Dog Who Came in From the Cold - with well-known and well-loved actor Andrew Sachs as a guest on stage (Alexander is doing a further three adult events at the festival); Stuart Brown exploring the world of food that surrounds Alexander’s leading lady in The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agencywith Mma Ramotswe’s Cookbook; Andrew Orr and Angus Whitson discussing the success of their bestselling book on Bamse; Mairi Hedderwick giving a masterclass on the art of illustrating; Allan Brown on stage with two of the actors who appeared in the cult film The Wicker Man discussing his book, Inside the Wicker Man; another very great actor, David Rintoul on stage reading from Dr Finlay’s Casebook; Gillian Galbraith taking to the festival platform with Tony Black, two fine crime writers with new books set in Edinburgh; Kevin Macneil, appearing just a month before the publication of his new novel A Method Actor’s Guide to Jeckyll and Hyde (already hailed by Scotland on Sunday’s Stuart Kelly as ‘the last, and funniest, word on Scotland's national schizophrenia’); Alistair Moffat introducing his latest book, The Faded Map; Robert Crawford giving the Saltire Society lecture; and Stuart Kelly appearing on Walter Scott’s birthday to talk about his new book Scott-land. Tickets on sale from 26 June – www.edbookfest.co.uk

The second appointment of the day involved a drive down the A68 to Melrose and Abbotsford, the home of Walter Scott. Joined by Serena Fields from BBC Radio Scotland and author Stuart Kelly, we were visiting Abbotsford to allow Serena to interview Stuart about his new book Scott-land, in the wonderful setting that was his family home. The interview will be broadcast on 12 July, just a few days after publication, on BBC Radio Scotland’s Book Café. Wandering around Abbotsford, you can see Walter Scott’s study where he wrote many of his books. His desk and chair are still in position, just as if the great man had left the room a few moments before. On such a summery day, the views out over the gardens to the Tweed from the library are exceptional.

Then a flying visit to Mainstreet Trading in the beautiful Borders village of St Boswells – a destination bookshop that not only sells the finest books in the area but certainly serves the best coffee and hosts great literary events in a converted barn just a few steps away through the carpark. Michael Morpurgo is appearing there today. This stunning shop recently won the Children’s Independent Bookseller of the Year award (but they do sell books for adults as well as children).

And then to Harmony House in Melrose for the opening of the Borders Book Festival, a festival created by Birlinn author Alistair Moffat which attracts leading writers, politicians and broadcasters to participate - and capacity audiences hungry to hear them speak and read. Highlights of this year’s festival which lasts over this weekend include... James Naughtie talking about the new Political Landscape; Kate Adie; William Fiennes, that remarkable children’s author Michael Morpurgo; our own John Aberdein; Anne Lorne Gillies and many more. Two of the biggest annual literary awards are presented at the festival this weekend, The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards and in its inaugural year, The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction. www.bordersbookfestival.org
JAN

2010-06-08T11:26:00.000+01:00

At the end of last month, I found myself in the glorious setting of the University of St Andrews, overlooking the ruins of a castle and beyond that the sea. The sky was black and lightening lit up the scene as we launched Shirley Mckay’s latest book – Fate and Fortune, the second Hue Cullan mystery, set in St Andrews in the year 1581. Shirley was on fine form as she read from the book and the packed hall was absolutely still. As reading turned to party, family and friends were treated to a delicious feast of canapes, kindly prepared by the wife of Shirley’s agent, John Beaton.
The novel itself takes the young lawyer from the streets of St Andrew to the bustle of Edinburgh but returns him firmly to the Fife town, the setting for subsequent books featuring Hue Cullan, the next of which will be published in 2011. Those familiar with the town will recognise the locations – the castle, the cathedral, St Leonard’s College and many more. Those new to St Andrews will find a fine historical novel, set in a very real environment. In Shirley, Polygon have been fortunate enough to discover a writer of enormous talent. Waterstone’s and our key independent booksellers are all firmly behind her.
The drive home from the launch was one accompanied by rain, very large hailstones, thunder and several expensive looking warning lights lighting up the dashboard. Only one stop, at what has to be the finest fish and chip shop in that corner of the world... Dali’s Traditional Fish & Chips at Guardbridge.
JAN

2010-06-08T10:08:00.000+01:00

FRI 4th JUNE, GARDENING SCOTLAND

Friday emerged as a bright and sunny day, perfect weather for the crowds of keen gardeners who flocked to Gardening Scotland at Ingliston. Birlinn were delighted to be involved in this fabulous event for the second year running. Last year we launched Ken Cox’s fascinating guide to Scottish gardens, ‘Gardening Scotland’. This year, as we had been invited to participate by the Italian Chamber of Commerce, we decided to continue the Italian theme by promoting Alistair Moffat’s ‘Tuscany: A History’. This is the only complete history of the region available in English; more of a story of the area than a guidebook. Alistair is a total Tuscan fanatic, and you cannot help but be infected by his enthusiasm as you read this beautiful and entertaining book.

It was fantastic fun to meet readers face-to-face, and numerous people took the time to let us know how much they like our books. One of the best comments of the day was “It’s nice to see a Scottish publisher being so active”. Although book sales weren’t quite as high as we were expecting, there was a lot of interest in ‘Tuscany’ and lots of people wanting to pass on good wishes to Alistair. So, all in all, a fun-filled sunny day with lots of lovely positive comments. Thank you to everyone who popped past the stall.

ANNA RENZ

2010-06-07T17:12:00.000+01:00

Two early starts in a row and the long journey from Edinburgh to Hay Festival to promote The Dog Who Came in From the Cold (Alexander McCall Smith’s latest novel) proved well worth while this weekend. A 4.30am start on Friday to pick up Alexander and head to the airport, a hugely long security line but an event-free Easy-Jet flight down to Bristol. And then a delightful drive over to Hay, arriving in the picturesque village which straddles the English/Welsh border at 9.30am. Book-tourists, authors, the famous and the infamous were in town, enjoying the early summer sunshine and relaxed atmosphere that accompanies this festival. Alexander’s events both went well. The first was a recording of the Sky Arts Book Show presented by Mariella Frostrup. Alexander’s fellow guests on the sofa were the actress Virginia McKenna (remember Born Free?) and rock legend, Queen guitarist Brian May. You can only imagine the thrill for a mere publicist to find herself in the greenroom sitting with these three greats. Thank you to Brian for patiently listening to me witter on about We Will Rock You and the delightful experience I had in Edinburgh last year as a mother taking her fourteen year old son to this show and getting the opportunity to introduce him to the music of one of the world’s greatest bands. (And then having to fork out for another ticket the following night because he’d loved it so much!)

The second event of the day was Alexander McCall Smith in conversation with his dear friend, Paul Blezard. Both were in fine form and entertained the capacity crowd for just over an hour in the biggest Hay tented theatre. I’m not sure of the exact capacity but it is certainly over 1000. Those walking by outside must have wondered what on earth was going on as the audience was reduced to tears of laughter as Alexander read to the audience about Oedipus Snark, the only nasty LibDem MP and the exploits of Freddie de la Hay, a Pimlico terrier, enlisted by MI6 to spy upon suspect Russian businessmen. A signing queue that lasted over and hour followed before we retired to the main green room for a well-earned glass of chilled white wine.
4.15 on Saturday morning for the return journey home but the driver was very late and we made it to Bristol airport at 6.30am for a 7.10 flight. But the queue for security! Snaking right around the airport. We ran for fast-track, paid £10 for the privilege of getting to a shorter queue and made it to the flight.
Remember – add more time to the schedule for security queues at British airports this summer!
And don’t miss Alexander talking about The Dog Who Came in From the Cold on BBC Radio 5 today. Find it on iplayer.
JAN RUTHERFORD (Publicity and Marketing Director)

2010-06-07T17:00:00.000+01:00

Last Wednesday, Daunts Book shop in Marylebone saw the launch of Michael Holman’s new novel, Dizzy Worms, the third title in the Last Orders at Harrods trilogy set in Africa. Michael’s unique knowledge of the continent stems from his many years as Africa editor for the Financial Times and many travels throughout Africa. We were treated to readings of the novel, which sounded as good read out loud as it does on the page. Daunts Marylebone, a travel book, is very atmospheric and was the perfect setting for Holman’s exotic Dizzy Worms. Some people had come from as far as Berlin, as well as Birlinn. The turn out was excellent and the cliental reflected Michael’s fine literary reputation among the great and the good. In fact, among those reading were Sir Edward Clay (British High Commissioner to Kenya) and his wife Ann. I am pleased to report that 64 copies of Dizzy Worms were bought, and then signed by Michael, who was delighted with the evening, as was the highly appreciative audience. We also learned that the title of the book comes from the African joke, “What do you call worms that have been put into a tin can that is then shaken around. Answer - Dizzy Worms.” The title is suggestive of Holman’s observations of a continent he knows and understands as only someone who knows Africa as well as he does could.
BOB SMITH (Sales Manager)

Witness to Rebellion; John Maclean’s Journal of the ’Forty-Five and the Penicuik Drawings.

2010-05-18T11:53:00.000+01:00

Today, I am finishing off the design and layout of the new edition of 'Witness to Rebellion; John Maclean’s Journal of the ’Forty-Five and the Penicuik Drawings.

It has been a fairly arduous process, for although I designed the first edition back in 1996, recovering and assembling the old digital files has proven difficult (the first printer having gone out of business). It would indeed have been easier to start again from scratch. Still, it is almost done now and is looking very handsome (if I do say so myself).

The Journal of John Maclean is the first-hand account of the experiences of an officer of Prince Charles Edward’s army from August 1745, through Prestonpans and the taking of Edinburgh, the march into England to Derby, the withdrawal to Scotland and the final retreat to Drummossie Moor near Inverness, where Maclean was killed in the Battle of Culloden. It is the most poignant telling of the events of the '45 rebellion that I have come across.

I addition, a remarkable series of drawings from the Clerk Collection at Penicuik House offers a unique view of the participants on both sides of the ’Forty-Five: a Rising for some, for others a Rebellion. No other comparable collection of images is known. These sketches were made in part as a factual record, but more so as an exercise in caricature, perhaps as a diversion from the very real dangers and disasters of the time. The result is an insight on the ’Forty-Five that is both telling and humorous.

JIM

Putting on the glad rags. . .

2010-05-06T16:11:00.000+01:00

A chance to pull out the old frock, give it dust down and hit the town with the very cream of Edinburgh society. The occasion? The UK premiere of Okavango Macbeth, an opera written by one of the world’s most popular authors, Alexander McCall Smith and the Edinburgh composer, Tom Cunningham. The hour-long performance of the opera was part of a glittering fund-raiser for Save the Children, held in the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh. And raise funds it certainly did. The evening was a magnificent occasion from the early evening champagne reception, sponsored by Moet & Chandon, through the opera and dinner, to a charity auction finishing off the night.

The opera, The Okavango Macbeth, is set in Botswana. Alexander was keen to write an opera set in that beautiful country and wanted to create opportunities for local singers there. He created the Okavango Macbeth after reading a book entitled Baboon Metaphysics and a chance meeting with its author, a primatologist in the Okavango Delta. He observed that Baboon society has strong female figures and it occurred to him that this was the perfect setting for the plot of the famous Shakespearean tragedy.

So last night, soloists from Glasgow’s Royal Academy of Music and Drama and a chorus from Edinburgh Studio Opera, took to the floor and entertained the audience of 250 with a moving performance. The energy of individual members of the cast was quite astonishing and the entire performance a celebration of nature. Nicholas Ellengbogen, one of the world’s most distinguished theatre producers, had transformed the Dovecot Studios (an old victorian swimming pool, now refurbished as a beautiful gallery and performance space – well worth a visit) with minimal staging and the performers took on the roles of animals with a great deal of grace and good humour.

After the performance, the standing ovation and a lavish dinner, I have to confess that I sat on my hands as I watched thousands of pounds being raised through bids at the charity auction. Lots which included a silver sculpture inspired by the opera and created by the renowned artist Patrick Mavros, a childhood friend of Alexander’s; a week behind the scenes with Bonhams in London or Edinburgh; a week in a chalet in Verbier and many other top notch gems – raised almost £40k. All just a little beyond my credit card but fascinating to watch.

What an opportunity, to be at the first UK performance of such a piece. An opportunity for which I will always be grateful.

Jan

Alexander McCall Smith grounded

2010-04-26T14:49:00.001+01:00

A strange week with many travel plans disrupted including those for publishers heading to the London Book Fair. Colleagues report a much quieter fair than anticipated and now they have the struggle of getting home to Scotland.
Volcanic ash has brought preparations for Alexander McCall Smith’s planned speaking tour in the USA to a shuddering halt. Sadly, the decision had to be taken to abandon what would have been a sell-out tour taking in New York, Cincinnati, Greenville, Washington DC, Raleigh, Minneapolis, Houston, South Hadley, and Boston before travelling on to Toronto in Canada. Alexander now plans to use the time to do transcontinental interviews by phone and on the internet and to concentrate on his writing. He is hoping that his American reader’s will understand that the situation is out of his hands. He was looking forward to his conversations with them but both sides will have to wait a little longer.

Animated Corduroy

2010-04-08T16:08:00.000+01:00

I wonder how many folk have seen the animated sequence on our website, promoting the two books from the author Alexander McCall Smith? The first was 'Corduroy Mansions', and the second, due to launch shortly, is 'The Dog Who Came In From The Cold' which follows on. Click the Flying Battery on the right to view!

After the huge success of the 44 Scotland Street series, Alexander McCall Smith ‘moved house’ to a crumbling four-storey mansion in Pimlico – Corduroy Mansions. It is inhabited by a glorious assortment of characters: among them, Oedipus Snark, the first ever nasty Lib Dem MP, who is so detestable his own mother, Berthea, is writing an unauthorised biography about him; and one small vegetarian dog, Freddie de la Hay, who has the ability to fasten his own seatbelt. (Although Corduroy Mansions is a fictional name, the address is now registered by the Post Office.)

We would love to have some feedback from you about the animation and hear what you think of the site overall -

www.birlinn.co.uk

Out and About

2010-03-11T14:06:00.000Z

Out and about over the last two weeks with Alexander McCall Smith. Events took place in Edinburgh with Fidra books with a delightful group of children from Bruntsfield Primary school reading from his latest book; London and a packed-out annual event with Daunt books in Marylebone High Street – the 11th event we’ve done with Alexander in this supportive and truly wonderful shop; Wivenhoe where he met and took tea and scones with the ‘ladies who knit’ at the Wivenhoe bookshop; Felsted School in Essex for an event within the Essex book festival (Alexander in conversation with the headmaster and one of the pupils to a packed hall with an audience from all areas of Essex and well beyond) and then back to Scotland for a second event in Edinburgh with Fidra at St Cuthberts Church; and two events with Main Street Trading (who serve the best coffee in Scotland) in a converted barn behind their shop in St Boswells near Melrose in the Scottish Borders. The weeks also included a live interview on BBC Radio 4 Start the Week, a recorded interview for BBC 3 Requests with Fiona Talkington and press interviews around the country. Coverage in the fortnight included a very moving article in The Observer magazine on a year spent in Belfast at the height of the troubles.
While on the road I had the opportunity to meet up with former actor and now writer, Max Benitz. A delightful young man with a very promising future as an author.
(Jan Rutherford, Marketing Director)

Trip North

2010-03-11T11:23:00.000Z

Yesterday, Tom Johnstone and Jim Hutcheson drove up north to Loch Tay to visit Keith Brockie, the wildlife artist. He lives near the old village of Fortingall (where legend has it, Pontius Pilate was born)

Keith is returning to the Isle of May on the east coast to follow up the famous work he did there back in the early eighties. It looks set to be an exciting project.