I spent last summer almost entirely away from home. It all began with our wedding at St Abbs, took in our honeymoon on the Isle of Lewis and two family get togethers in the south of England, before concluding with a three week house-sit in London. That was a great summer, probably our best yet. […]
Tag Archives: travel
Literature Ambassador: Wigtown Happenings
Wigtown Book Festival | 27 September – 6 October 2019 No Images? Click here What’s in store this November? The nights may have drawn in, but there’s still plenty happening in and around Wigtown this month. We’ve got a selection of plays, talks and panels in store, including Book Week Scotland at the end of the month. […]
Found in Translation
Sundown. A raised thumb hopes for a lift, something stirs the Spanish moss curtaining the bayou, a coyote calls in the distance. It’s hot as hell and a truck full of old men with barely a set of teeth between them stops just in time to disappoint an alligator. The driver turns up the radio […]
Libraries Week
Being scolded for gasping with joy at the sight of so many books rather put me off libraries as a child, which may well have been the old bat’s intention. It seemed she believed the edifying power of books teetered on the brink of weaponisation, and it was her job to ensure they didn’t get […]
Wigtown Odyssey
With three hours till my first event I expected to get to Wigtown in plenty of time for a leisurely lunch and maybe even get in a little bookshop browsing before kick off; it is, after all, only seventy five miles. What was I thinking? I know the road is narrow and winding, and a […]
Festival Going
We are entering the last four days of the 20th Wigtown Book Festival – sniff – and I will finally get there tomorrow – hurrah! – I’ll let you know how I get on, it will include many bookshops and at least three events. Meanwhile here’s a taste of the final weekend’s happenings – still […]
News from Wigtown: One Week to Go!
With only one week to go before the start of the 20th Wigtown Book Festival I still haven’t come to a decision about which day to go. It’s a good two hour drive to Wigtown from here, and I can’t really afford to stay over, so if I’m going to see anything at all I […]
London Notes #16
On our last day I woke up in bilious spirit, poor D had to raise all his shields, but full tranquility returned the second I walked into the Shape of Light, an exhibition of 100 years of abstract photography at Tate Modern. As I’m sure I’ve told you before, I’ve been taking photographs since I […]
News from Wigtown: Two Weeks to Go!
I’ve already said this, and I don’t think it can be said too often: the Wigtown Book Festival is twenty years old this year, and it’s set to be a tremendous event. The team have worked their little cottons right off to make this year an über festive jamboree of literary joy; there’s even have […]
London Notes #15
The day after Deptford it rained as if the sky could no longer contain its grief at humanity’s stupidity. But that was okay, because my sister and brother-in-law came for dinner, and to spend the night. She brought pudding, I roasted a chicken, and while it was in the oven we ambled down to the […]
