The current system of funding the arts in Scotland is deeply flawed since far too much of the budget is spent on administering funding by Creative Scotland instead of funding artists and arts provision. Radical changes are needed along the lines of these proposals I put forward in April 2019. Some of these were taken forward by the CTEEA Committee in its report of December 2019 but much more needs to be done. SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT […]
This is an extended version of an essay originally published as an afterword in my recently published novel Barnhill. I first walked into Barnhill on the Isle of Jura in September 2006 but didn’t go inside the gate. I knew that George Orwell had written Nineteen Eighty-Four in that remote farmhouse but was puzzled by the contrast between his dark, dystopian novel and that beautiful location by the coast. I could see a little of […]
Here is a shorter version of a review I wrote for the Orwell Society website. John Rodden is widely regarded as the world’s leading authority on the legacy of George Orwell. Beginning with The Politics of Literary Reputation The Making and Claiming of ‘St George’ Orwell in 1989, he has established himself as the foremost expert on the cultural and political impact of Orwell on the world. His latest book more than justifies that reputation. […]
Eighty years ago today Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico by Ramon Mercader, a Stalinist agent. Here’s my take on that significant event in twentieth century history as it affected George Orwell. It’s a short extract from my novel Barnhill when George Orwell feared for his life on Jura. Were his fears justified? In the novel George Orwell and his friend Paul Potts walk from the Barnhill farmhouse to the north of Jura and discuss […]
This paper by the Writers Guild Great Britain Scottish Committee has been sent to the Scottish Government Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish Parliament CTEEA Committee Convener Joan McAlpine and Creative Scotland Chief Executive Iain Munro. It proposes an original and innovative way of using some of the £107 million funding for the benefit of freelance and employed creatives, their communities and economic recovery in Scotland. It is hoped that WGGB Scotland and the other […]
A lot has happened since my last blog post. I’ve been to North Carolina, Germany, the Western Isles, Jura and Abriachan, Geopoetics has been flourishing worldwide, there have been significant changes in the Isle of Luing Community Trading Company and Community Trust and we’re in the middle of the longest heatwave anyone on the island anyone can remember. I’m grateful to Argyll & Bute Councillor Julie McKenzie, two former Councillors and others for their expressions […]
The year has been flying in. The years seem to come and go faster with age. However, it’s been a productive year in many ways. I managed to finish my novel I Want to Live about the last years in the life of George Orwell and am confident it will be published next year, 70 years after Orwell finished writing Nineteen Eighty-Four on the Isle of Jura. I can see part of the northern end […]
Editorial Stravaig issue 5, 2016 Each issue of Stravaig has its own internal logic. In the case of this issue the invitation that went out was for essays, poems and images in some way related to geopoetics, a very wide remit. As a result, the work that came in was extremely varied in content and for a long time it was difficult to see how it could work together. However, once Jane Verburg, the winning […]
WEDNESDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2014 Seize The Day! On the eve of the most important day in Scottish history for over 300 years it’s difficult to concentrate on anything else. It’s time for us all to decide – between more of the same, and worse, from the UK parties and the prospect of a better future for the people of Scotland, and, indeed, the rest of the world. In my view it’s not just about a […]
London Screenwriters Festival 2013: Four Wow Factors and a Surfer This poor old, neglected, abandoned blog has been as dead as the proverbial Monty Python parrot these past few years. So why resurrect it now? Well, I’m a writer and writers are supposed to write blogs I was told at the recent London Screenwriters Festival. But much more than that, the Festival made me want to write, and ever since I’ve been editing my feature […]