Category Archives: Stories

In memoriam

It has become a cliché of the information age that we remember where we were when we learned of certain events, the death of JFK or John Lennon for example. On each occasion there was something so shocking in the … Continue reading

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True stories

Last weekend we ran a The Stories We Tell workshop for a group of people who were returning to us for the third time. Of the many striking things about the weekend, the one that most remains with me now … Continue reading

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Persian nights

I’ve known for a long time that the real reason I write this blog is to make meaning for myself. I tend to look for subjects in which I suspect there may be some unexplored sub-text – unexplored by me, … Continue reading

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Webster’s Day

When I was a student I lived with four friends on a farm about seven miles out of Aberdeen. Our landlord, who was the uncle of one of the friends, lived on another farm, a few miles away, and we … Continue reading

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Five lessons

We never stop learning. A cliché, but only because it’s true, or at least should be. So I thought it might be instructive to reflect on a few personal highlights of the past year by asking myself what I have … Continue reading

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Dark matter

I’ve been doing some pre-Christmas stock-taking. It’s not an inventory of goods, though the stock in question is certainly good, but of assets of a less tangible kind: the writing generated on Dark Angels courses throughout the year, which I … 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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The Weight

Sometimes you just have to start writing. I’m sorry if there’s a sense of déjà vu about those seven words, but this is another of those increasingly frequent days when as the (self-inflicted) deadline approaches I realise I have not … Continue reading

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The stories we tell

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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Magic in Bosa

In the narrow alley outside his guest house, Paolo reads the words on my T-shirt. ‘En un lugar de la Mancha, de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme…’ It’s the opening paragraph of Don Quixote. I explain that I’m wearing the … Continue reading

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