Remember them, booksellers before Amazon? On 1 st Septmeber 1962, 250 000 Glaswegians gathered in the driving rain to pay homage to the last run of the tram cars. Who will honour our booksellers? Shaun Bythwell likes being his own boss. He is the owner of The Bookstore in Wigtown, which he bought in November 2001. His employees like him too, which makes him one of the good guys. Amazingly I’ve heard of the Wigtown Book Festival. His bookstore is...

Celebrating excellence in Poetry and Short Fiction , the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award , hosted by the international art and culture publication, supports and nurtures new writing talent, presenting a fantastic opportunity for writers to further their involvement in the literary world. Creative Writing Award Prizes include: £1,000 for each winner (Poetry and Short Fiction) Publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Anthology Consultation...

I picked this book up to have a quick look. I was more than likely to just put it down again. As a younger self I had picked up John Banville’s prize-winning novel The Sea rolled my eyes and went under. I didn’t get beyond the first chapter. The Book of Evidence has redeemed John Banville. I’m sure there’ll be fireworks in writers’ heaven and he’ll be glad another reader has seen the light. Now I’ve read one and a bit of his books I intend to...

This week's choices are two wonderful and totally different examples of how an assured voice and an eye for detail can bring a place and time alive. Story of the Week is proudwing's And He Called It The Devil (Part 1). Rich, evocative and distinctly malevolent. Note to author: hurry up with Part 2! https://www.abctales.com/story/proudwing/and-he-called-it-devil-part-1 Poem of the Week is Histories Of A Small Town In Ontario by Agnosticnun. A...

It seems a bit stupid to call reading an art. I was going to write counterintuitive, but that’s a kind of wanky word. Reading is just something I do. We can stick art as descriptive tag before most words and phrases and somehow make it seem erudite. Try it at home. The Art of the Blowsy Blonde. The Art of the Bicycle. The Art of the Mug. The Art of the Article. But as Damon Young shows reading, if done properly, really is an art form. And if you...

On the eve of President Trump’s ‘working visit’ to the United Kingdom this is a handy book to read. President Trump features more than Putin, or other twenty-first century despots. I guess this short book is a riposte to that shock election result, which wasn’t a shock to Snyder. Depots don’t read books. And Trump doesn’t read. His library consists of stored Tweets. Snyder’s lessons On Tyranny shifted through the sands of the mass killings of...

An artistic display in Canterbury cathedral. It’s made up of clothes and shoes discarded by refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos and in the camps in northern France. The child’s top with the logo, ‘Mummy’s super cool dude’ obviously catches the eye. I hope the little dude was lucky enough to find a safe sanctuary where he can grow up in a nurturing environment which will hopefully help him to live a fulfilled life.

Darren McGarvey was talking about his book in Dalmuir library on Wednesday. He spoke with passion, without notes, for over an hour. That takes some doing. I said to him I knew before I’d read his book I’d probably agree with what he was saying. He’s one of us. There is different names for it. He calls it ‘the underclass’. It’s in the title. Poverty Safari: Understanding the anger of Britain’s underclass. Words matter. I’d just call it working...

Castle Pillock is a bit of a connoisseur of hospital emergency departments. I am always incredulous to hear that some people, people who have reached a fine age and who have had children, and parents, have never seen the inside of A&E. On the one hand I envy them. On the other – when you do end up in one, there’s nothing like knowing your way around. I have an inbuilt advantage at our local hospital, because I also used to work there. In...

These days we're alike. Two calm old tabbies. Hope you are, I've not seen you for over thirty years but I hope you are alive and well in Basingstoke or London. I rejected you when I was 25, thought I was a forest cat with acres of adventure ahead. I called you an 'ignorant Scottish git', it was meant as a joke but it hurt, I never knew where to stop with my catty humour. These days I know I was the ignorant one. Ignorant, a word with two...