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May 11, 20155 min read
Graphic Design: A Review Of Mark Miller & Frank Quitely’s Jupiter’s Legacy…
Hyperbole? One day he may well write a comic with a hero of that name, but when you consider his Ultimates series was the basis for the...
Apr 30, 20154 min read
Do The Math: A Review Of Nora Chassler’s Grandmother Divided By Monkey Equal Outer Space…
Nora Chassler is a writer who I first read in the 2010 short story collection The Year of Open Doors, a literary compendium which...
Apr 7, 20155 min read
Write On: A Preview Of Aye Write 2015…
I don’t wish to be cruel, or at least I don’t enjoy it, but for a few years now the Aye Write! Book Festival has felt like it had lost...
Mar 29, 20155 min read
Long Playing Record: A Review Of 33⅓: Tago Mago By Alan Warner…
Artists referenced include Salif Keita, This Mortal Coil, The Ink Spots, The Cocteau Twins and, more than anyone else, Can and Holger...
Mar 25, 20153 min read
Brief And To The Point: A Review Of Vicki Jarrett’s The Way Out…
The best short stories are snapshots of people’s lives, leaving no doubt that there was a life before and that there will be (hopefully)...
Mar 8, 20152 min read
Rated Bookish: A Review Of Graham Lironi’s Oh Marina Girl…
Alice Thompson’s The Existential Detective and Burnt Island could be described as pulp fiction, but they are also two of the best...
Feb 25, 20153 min read
Close Encounters: A Review Of Ewan Morrison’s Close Your Eyes…
Ewan Morrison departed from the traditional novel to great effect with 2012’s Tales from The Mall, a hugely informative and entertaining...
Feb 20, 20151 min read
Inside Out There: The Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Talks To Zoe Strachan + Live Readings…
The latest podcast is one of two halves. In the first, Ali talks to writer Zoe Strachan, (wearing her editor’s hat), about all things Out...
Feb 4, 20154 min read
So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish : A Review Of Ian Stephen’s A Book Of Death And Fish̷
When Scots Whay Hae! reviewed James Robertson’s And The Land Lay Still it was noted that Scotland hadn’t produced enough epic literature...
Jan 18, 20155 min read
Out & About: A Review Of Out There: An Anthology of Scottish LGBT Writing…
It’s a question which Christopher Whyte, whose story ‘Unfamiliar Rooms’ also features in Out There, posed in the introduction to his 1985...
Dec 30, 20145 min read
Both Sides, Now: A Review Of Ali Smith’s How To Be Both…
In the latest edition of the online literary magazine The Bottle Imp various people were asked to name their best books of 2014, and...
Nov 21, 20141 min read
The Sound Of His Voice: The Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Talks To Ron Butlin…
Summerhall Arts Venue in Edinburgh to talk to Ron Butlin, one of Scotland most acclaimed writers, and one of Ali’s favourites, as he will...
Jul 2, 20142 min read
Once Upon A Time: A Review Of Kirsty Logan’s The Rental Heart And Other Fairytales…
There are few things in this world better than a carefully crafted short story. They never outstay their welcome; simply make their mark...
Apr 27, 20143 min read
Stranger Than Fiction: A Review Of Peter Ross’s Daunderlust…
One of the biggest problems with the downsizing of newspapers, magazines and journals is the thinning out of great journalists and...
Mar 27, 20144 min read
Babylon’s Burning: A Review Of Louise Welsh’s A Lovely Way To Burn…
Although I’m sure there are are some who would disagree, attending an author’s reading of a book you are going to review is always...
Nov 12, 20132 min read
RLS With Ronnie, Louise & Scots Whay Hae!: The Podcast Celebrates The Life & Work Of Robert
The latest podcast is yet a further celebration of all things Stevenson on the day of his birth, as if that were needed. By now I hope...
Sep 4, 20115 min read
Only A Game: A Review of Alan Bissett’s Pack Men…
Alan Bissett sets his novel Pack Men in Manchester on the 14th May 2008 when thousands of Rangers fans descended from Scotland to take...
Nov 26, 20107 min read
It’s Not About Money, It’s Just About Love: The Life and Times of The Blue Nile…
This has been a difficult review to write. Not because the book in question isn’t good. It’s very good. It’s the new biography of The...
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