Category Archives: Community

The stories we tell

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Jamie Jauncey

Here is a story. Fifteen years ago, Catherine Lockerbie, then the literary editor of The Scotsman, was appointed director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. For several years I had regularly written book reviews for her. We had also sat … Continue reading →

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Be prepared

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Jamie Jauncey

It’s nearly book festival time again – by which I mean the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Every August, Charlotte Square Gardens sprout canvas and are transformed into a kind of intellectual carnival of some 800 events that seem between them … Continue reading →

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A vote for kindness

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Jamie Jauncey

I posted last week from Northumberland on Thursday, election eve, unaware of what was going to happen the next day. By the time I left to drive home on Saturday morning, the political landscape in Scotland had changed beyond recognition. … Continue reading →

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A place at table

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

Commensality. I first came across the word a few years ago when I wrote an appeal for a community of monks. It means the act of sitting at table together (remember that famous first declension Latin noun, mensa?). Commensality was … Continue reading →

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Great tapestry

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Jamie Jauncey

Serendipity (the nation’s favourite word), has featured more than once in this blog. In the last year I’ve had two notable experiences that could be described as serendipitous: the meeting on a train between my wife and a priest who … Continue reading →

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The heart of things

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

Last month I was lucky enough to appear at two book festivals. One of them, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, is indisputably the world’s largest and this year was its best year ever, with a record 225,000 visits to Charlotte … Continue reading →

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Community spirit

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

For me the year began properly on Monday night with the annual village dance. In the middle of Birnam is a large, ugly Victorian hotel with one marvellous, possibly unique, feature – a huge first-floor baronial hall. Here we gather … Continue reading →

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