Category Archives: Love

Keeping secrets

Eighteen months ago my daughter Anna left for Canada on a two-year working visa. She had been living in London since graduating from university, and finding city life less and less to her taste. She wanted freedom, room to breathe, … Continue reading

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Ends of the earth

In summer 2003 I was invited to chair an event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The book in question was by a writer I knew and admired but had never met. The event was sponsored by a small Edinburgh … Continue reading

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What love requires

Last time I mentioned the Night For Angus concert, a tribute to the life and music of fiddler Angus Grant, which takes place tomorrow at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall.  Yesterday, in preparation, I listened to a live recording of a … Continue reading

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Big magic

There’s an extraordinary free newsletter that I have been following for a year or so, called Brain Pickings. I would describe it, somewhat inadequately, as a weekly compendium of excerpts from the best writing by the best thinkers, in the … Continue reading

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Mexican mercy

Two days ago I sat in a tent in Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square with 100 other people, listening to a conversation between three Mexicans. One, the moderator, was an artist, Gabriel Orozco, who is Mexico’s leading cultural figure and has helped … Continue reading

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Death Café

On Monday evening Sarah and I went to a Death Café – which had nothing at all to do with salmonella sandwiches or arsenic-laced americanos. Rather it was a gathering of 20 or 30 strangers who had come together to … Continue reading

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Elmo’s fire

On the days when I’m not out at meetings I have a routine. I work in the house until around 11.00 and then walk the couple of hundred yards to Birnam Arts, the arts centre that sits at the heart … Continue reading

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Be a brick

In this first of a series of occasional posts by guest contributors, my friend and fellow Dark Angel, STUART DELVES, picks up the story of Careless from last week … Last November, having taken a brief from a client in … Continue reading

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Food of love

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In the 10 years that we’ve been running our writing courses, many good things have come out of Dark Angels. Along with sharpened senses, there have been new friendships, changes of personal direction, and the  publication of writing of all … Continue reading

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True grit

As someone generally preoccupied with stories, I’m particularly interested when a single story is open to diametrically opposing interpretations. Once one starts to think about it, it’s surprising how many of these we carry around with us. Looking for an … Continue reading

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