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Sometimes it feels too difficult to write this blog. I am tired and over-stretched. Events, major and minor, have been piling in over the last few weeks. Right now I have a swarm of half-formed thoughts buzzing at the edge … Continue reading
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Orkney is a gentle, green time machine. While the waters around it carry stories of sea-faring and exploration and the drama of two world wars, the land – low-lying pasture pocked with shallow scoops of water – tells a much … Continue reading
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Back in March I wrote about our sister city Asheville, North Carolina (here), and the bestselling American novelist and Asheville resident, Elizabeth Kostova, who was here in Birnam and Dunkeld on a two-month writing residency. Last week, before she returned … Continue reading
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Next Thursday, 7th May, is Scottish parliamentary election day. In discussion with the publishers, Scotland Street Press, it seemed a fitting day to publish the paperback edition of my biography of my great-great-uncle, Don Roberto: the Adventure of Being Cunninghame … Continue reading
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Stromness on Sunday is quiet. Very quiet. In another era one might imagine the whole town to be at prayer. The cobbled main steet is deserted. We glimpse the harbour in splashes of vivid blue at the bottom of wynds … Continue reading
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It’s been a strange couple of weeks. I know we’re past the equinox, but it feels as if we’re still under its influence. It’s a time of balance between light and darkness, but often also a time of meteorological chaos. … Continue reading
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This time five years ago, in the weeks leading up to the Scottish Parliament elections of May 2021, I made a series of short videos arguing the case for an independent Scotland. I felt driven to it, more than anything … Continue reading
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In a city centre park in Asheville, North Carolina, there is a signpost with markers indicating six Sister Cities around the world. One of these points to Dunkeld and Birnam (3808 miles). I live there. Dunkeld and Birnam is not … Continue reading
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When my old friend and host at last week’s wedding, Pramod Bhasin, returned to India from the US, in the early 1990s, it was to open offices for GE Capital, the financial arm of General Electric, then the world’s largest … Continue reading
The extraordinary story of Jamie's great-great-uncle: politician, horseman, writer, adventurer, visionary and humanitarian
Making a deeper connection with words - the acclaimed creative writing programme
12 chapters, 12 authors, the collective wisdom from 15 years of running courses around the world
A masterclass in business writing and communication from John Simmons and Jamie Jauncey.
A gripping story of conflict in a Scotland of the not-too-distant future
A Few Kind Words 