Open Book Unbound

On this month's podcast we discuss ‘Bright Star' by Tom Murray and ‘Return' by Cáit O'Neill McCullagh. Photo by Nicole Avagliano on Unsplash. This podcast was supported by Creative Scotland.

We read 'Dressing my Daughter' by Juliet Wilson and 'Long Years apart—can make no' by Emily Dickinson. Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash. This podcast was supported by Creative Scotland.

We read 'Its bark', a non-fiction piece by Tessa McWatt, and 'Living Space / One Breath', a poem by Imtiaz Dharker. Photo by Nate Bell on Unsplash

We read 'A Life in 5 Biscuits', a story by LG Thomson, and 'the day i stopped nicking tea bags from hotels (or granny, forgive me)', a poem by Hollie McNish. Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash.

We discuss the short story "Bacon Butty" by Kevin Crowe and "The Job Interview", a poem by Ross McCleary. Photo by The Jopwell Collection on Unsplash

We read the short story "Walking on Air" by Maureen Myant and a poem from Alice Tarbuck, "Impetrative and Oblative". Photo by jasper benning on Unsplash

We read "Building Badger's Cairn", a short story from Dorothy Lawrenson, and the poem "Wit is it" by Billy Letford.

We discuss the story 'Straight First Time: Sewing Lessons" by Jay Whittaker and the poem 'Instruction' by Hazel Hall.

This month, Claire and Marjorie discuss Open Book's latest theme, Our Earth. Reading Katharine Macfarlane's short piece 'Tethered to the Earth' and a poem by A J Stockwell, they explore resilience, learning to learn, generational change, understanding, and bravery as we picture the Earth's – and our – survival.

This month, Claire and Marjorie delve into Open Book's latest theme of Inheritance. Reading Helen Lyttle's 'Arthur's Gift' and A E Housman's 'Soldier from the wars returning', they look back at writings inspired by the hard realities of global conflict that can help us imagine a more hopeful future. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 68 – Inheritance Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Prose: 'Arthur's Gift' by Helen Lyttle Poem: 'Soldier from the wars returning' by A E Housman

Join Claire and Marjorie as they welcome summer with a joyful celebration of George Mackay Brown's life and works. This month, they read Ros Taylor's 'My Uncle George', as well as 'Pilgrimage' by Lynn Valentine and 'Caithness' by John Glenday, originally published in 'Beyond the Swelkie': a collection of poetry and prose created to celebrate the centenary of George Mackay Brown. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 67 – George Mackay Brown Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Prose: 'My Uncle George' by Ros Taylor Poetry: 'Pilgrimage' by Lynn Valentine; 'Caithness' by John Glenday. The prose and poetry in this episode appear in 'Beyond the Swelkie', edited by Jim Mackintosh and Paul S Phillipou, published by Tippermuir Books. With thanks to the authors and Tippermuir Books for their permission to use these works.

Claire and Marjorie are back with another delicious episode of Open Book Unbound. This month, they take a bite out of Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin's short story, 'All Fruits are Rebels at Heart' and Edna St Vincent Millay's poem 'Never May the Fruit be Picked' as they delve into the theme of Defiance. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 66 - Defiance Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Short Story: 'All Fruits are Rebels at Heart' by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin Poem: 'Never May the Fruit be Picked' by Edna St Vincent Millay Find out more about Open Book: www.openbookreading.com Follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram @openbookreading

We're excited to host a world premiere of new writing in this month's Open Book Unbound. Claire and Marjorie read an excerpt from Alycia Pirmohamed's 'Trigger Notebook: Fragments of Poetry Along the Coastline of My Memory' and the stunning poem 'Portobello in Spring' written in response by Roshni Gallagher, exclusively for our podcast. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 65 – Fragments Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Non-Fiction Excerpt: 'Trigger Notebook: Fragments of Poetry Along the Coastline of My Memory' by Alycia Pirmohamed Poem: 'Portobello in Spring' by Roshni Gallagher Find out more about Open Book: www.openbookreading.com Follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram @openbookreading

Spring has arrived, bringing chattering birds back to our gardens. Inspired by Scottish Book Trust's 2024 Book Week Scotland theme of 'Hope', Claire and Marjorie read Britta Benson's short story 'My first Emily' and Emily Dickinson's poem 'A bird came down the walk'. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 64 – Hope Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Short Story: 'My first Emily' by Britta Benson Poem: 'A bird came down the walk' by Emily Dickinson Find out more about Open Book: www.openbookreading.com Follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram @openbookreading

Step into the wild with Open Book Unbound. Reading 'Roots' by Sarah Whiteside and 'Camping at Bearna' by Jane Clarke, Claire and Marjorie explore themes of overwhelm, escape, parenthood and returning home. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 53 – The Wild Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Short Story: 'Roots' by Sarah Whiteside Poem: 'Camping at Bearna' by Jane Clarke Find out more about Open Book: www.openbookreading.com Follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram @openbookreading

This month, we're taking a moment to relax and explore the Night Sky. Reading 'Lying Down to Look Up' by Anna Levin and 'I saw no Way–The Heavens were stitched' by Emily Dickinson, Claire and Marjorie think about fond childhood memories of stargazing, the overwhelming vastness of space, and consider the world around us as an evolving mystery to be shared with family and friends. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 52 – Night Sky Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Short Story: 'Lying Down to Look Up' by Anna Levin Poem: 'I saw no Way–The Heavens were stitched' by Emily Dickinson Find out more about Open Book: www.openbookreading.com Follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram @openbookreading

Welcome back to Open Book! Claire and Marjorie kick off 2024's podcasts by exploring Open Book's latest theme, Machines. Reading Ruth Gilchrist's short story 'Engine Oil' and Walt Whitman's poem 'To a Locomotive in WInter', they discuss the importance of holding silence, career paths, and the mechanical orchestra of trains. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 61 – Machines Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Short Story: 'Engine Oil' by Ruth Gilchrist Poem: 'To a Locomotive in Winter' by Walt Whitman Find out more about Open Book: www.openbookreading.com Follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram @openbookreading

Happy New Year from Open Book! Celebrate the start of a new year with this special bonus episode as Claire and Marjorie discuss the peaceful and the powerful nature of the sea. Sit back and relax as we discuss LG Thomson's short story 'True Tales from the Sea by a Fisherman's Wife' and Niall Campbell's poem 'When the Whales Beached'. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 60 – Sea Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Short Story: 'True Tales from the Sea by a Fisherman's Wife' by LG Thomson Poem: 'When the Whales Beached' by Niall Campbell. Find out more about Open Book: www.openbookreading.com Follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram @openbookreading

Claire and Marjorie usher in December with warm, poignant readings of Adrija Ghosh's short story 'Satsuma' and Tim Tim Cheng's poem 'Sonnet with Skylines'. Inspired by Open Book's latest theme, Postcards, join Claire and Marjorie in this final episode of 2023 as they discuss relationships, distance, loss, the sense of home, and the act of reaching out to loved ones. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 59 – 4 December 2023 Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Short Story: 'Satsuma' by Adrija Ghosh Poem: Sonnet with Skylines by Tim Tim Cheng Find out more about Open Book: www.openbookreading.com Follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram @openbookreading

Inspired by Glasgow Women's Library's 30th anniversary celebrations and their Open the Door Literary Festival, Open Book's latest theme is Protest. Reading Jackie Kay's powerful 'A Life in Protest', written in response to Ingrid Pollard's work and 2021 exhibition 'No Cover Up', and Eloise Greenfield's thought-provoking 'Jinny's Freedom', Claire and Marjorie question how far we've come, how far we've yet to go, and the intergenerational impact of ongoing protest. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 58 – 2 October 2023 Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Poems: 'A Life in Protest' by Jackie Kay, shared with permission from Glasgow Women's Library. 'Jinny's Freedom' by Eloise Greenfield, commissioned by Edinburgh International Book Festival as part of their 2018 Freedom Papers publication. Glasgow Women's Library: https://womenslibrary.org.uk/ No Cover Up Exhibition: https://artuk.org/discover/stories/a-life-in-protest-jackie-kays-response-to-ingrid-pollard-at-glasgow-womens-library Freedom Papers: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/look-and-listen/writing/freedom-papers

This month, Claire and Marjorie dive into Open Book's latest theme, Lost and Found. Reading Lynn Gee's short story 'Tortoise' and John Burnside's poem 'On the Vanishing of my Sister, aged 3, 1965', they discuss the highs and lows of pet ownership, Edinburgh's secret gardens, changes that come with loss and discovery, and taking on the role of observer. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 57 – 4 September 2023 Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Short Story: 'Tortoise' by Lynn Gee Poem: 'On the Vanishing of my Sister, aged 3, 1965' by John Burnside, 'All One Breath' (2014), Cape Poetry. Find out more about Open Book: www.openbookreading.com Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @openbookreading

What is nostalgia, and what happens when our memories aren't accompanied by the rose-tinted memories typically associated with the feeling? As Open Book welcomes the new theme of nostalgia for this month's sessions, Claire and Marjorie read short story 'Reverie' by Kimberley White and 'Nigh No Place' by Jen Hadfield. Open Book will be at Edinburgh International Book Festival at various dates throughout August. Come along to one of our free (ticketed) shared reading sessions, where our Lead Readers will be exploring the writings of debut authors visiting the festival. Join us at the café in Edinburgh College of Art from 10-11am on 14, 16, 18, 21, 23 and 25 August. Find out more at edbookfest.co.uk -- Open Book Unbound Episode 56 – 7 August 2023 Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Short Story: 'Reverie' by Kimberley White Poem: 'Nigh No Place' by Jen Hadfield, from 'Nigh No Place' (2008), Bloodaxe Books Find out more about Open Book: www.openbookreading.com

This month, Claire and Marjorie examine the letters of Henrietta Liston, a British botanist, world traveller and wife of diplomat Robert Liston. Liston documented her travels with meticulous detail in her journals, letters and personal documents which form part of the Liston archive held at the National Library of Scotland (NLS). Thanks to the NLS, Marjorie has spent time delving into the archive, including exploring her writing about her time in Turkey during the Ottoman Empire and in North America in its infancy as a country, all through the eyes of a wry, learned woman. The Liston Papers are available to explore at the National Library of Scotland. Find out more: https://digital.nls.uk/travels-of-henrietta-liston/ Our thanks to National Library of Scotland exhibit curators, Dora Petherbridge and Patrick Hart for their generosity and assistance. Claire and Marjorie also discuss Heather Yeung's poem, Fable, written in response to her examination of the Liston Archives. A teacher in the School of Humanities at the University of Dundee, Yeung's poetry often examines ecology and culture, making Liston, with her extensive travel and her love of botany, the perfect figure to draw inspiration. Join us as we read 'Plague, Princes and Political Embarras: a Constantinople Letter from Henrietta Liston' and 'Fable', a poem by Heather Yeung. -- Open Book Unbound Episode 55 – 3 July 2023 Hosts: Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi Producer: Colin Fraser Cover Image: Henrietta Marchant Liston (1800), painted by Gilbert Stuart, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

We discuss 'The Race' by Tom Murray and the poem 'Us' by Zaffar Kunial.

We discuss 'The Allotment' by Morgan Melhuish and 'Catalogue of my grandmother's sayings' by Claire Askew

We read ‘Blue' by Liz Holliday and 'Song of the Mainland' by Miriam Nash.

We read the story 'Practising' by Priscilla Thomas and the poem 'I Wanted Music' by Sarah Ruhl

We discuss the story 'Dinnerplate Identities' by Britta Benson and the poem 'A Tray of Frozen Songbirds' by Pascale Petit.

We discuss the story 'Shipbuilding' by LG Thomson and the poem 'Not Unequal to Many' by Jay Gao.

We discuss the story 'Sunday Surprise' by Sarah Tinsley and the poem 'Twenty-two' by Theresa Muñoz.

We read the story 'Waiting' by Alexa Kellow and the poem 'a pint for the true shepherds' by Helen Mort

We feature Victoria Kennefick's poem 'A Young Girl Discovers Her Reflection' and the short story 'Carnival Night' by Rebecca Savage.

We read the story story 'How to Read the Lace' by Alex Penland and the poem 'Imitating Rousseau' by Georgi Gill

We discuss the story 'New Beginnings' by Helen Lyttle and the poem 'Early Morning, West Hartlepool, 1963' by Eddie Gibbons. Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France - L'ancienne usine de tapis Templeton (Glasgow), CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24672128

We discuss the short story 'Guerrilla Tactics' by Anne Hay and the poem 'The Only Black Girl' by Hannah Lowe. Photo: Susan Torkington

On this episode we discuss ‘Elsewhere' by Alycia Pirmohamed and the short story 'How to Have the Perfect Picnic' by Claire O' Connor.

We discuss the story "Going somewhere? What happens when the story ends?" by Amy Moreno and the poem 'Bladerunner' by Rob A. Mackenzie.

We discuss 'A Story in Nine Rooms' by Dizz Tate and the poem 'Wetheral' by Claire Askew.

Featuring the story 'Grass is Greener?' by Tom Murray and Gerald Manley Hopkin's poem 'The Caged Skylark'.

On this episode we read the story 'Herzoggies' by Lynnda Wardle and the poem 'Scotland You're No Mine' by Hannah Lavery. Note: the poem in this episode features explicit language.

We welcome in the new year with the story 'Hazy Shade of Blue' by Lorraine Thomson and a poem by John Glenday, 'Bird Sighs for the Air'

On this episode we read Heather Parry's short story ‘To Table' and the poems ‘Who goes to dine must take his Feast' by Emily Dickinson and ‘Revelry' by Open Book Creative Writing Group.

We discuss the short story 'The Serpent' by Rafael Torrubia and two group poem by members of the Oasis Group at Maryhill Integration Network, 'What Every Woman Should Carry' and 'In The Wardrobe'.

This episode features the story 'Histogram' by Katharine Macfarlane and 'Crossing The Loch', a poem from our new Scottish Makar Kathleen Jamie.

We discuss the short story 'The Forthcoming Me' by Catherine Wilson and the poem 'Piano' by DH Lawrence. Photo credit: Heshani Sothiraj Eddleston.

On this episode we discuss the story 'Preserving History' by Angi Holden and the poem 'The Matchsafe' by John Glenday.

On this episode we discuss the short story 'Horses for Courses' by Judy Upton and the poems 'I would not paint — a picture —' (348) and 'Success is counted sweetest' (112) by Emily Dickinson. Image credit: Heshani Sothiraj Eddleston

In this episode we discuss the story 'Inside Her Leg' By Lorraine Thomson and the poem 'Bird-House' by Em Strong.

Claire and Marjorie discuss 'Adelstrop' by Edward Thomas and the story 'There Were Always Roses' by Cath Barton.

We discuss 'The Change' by Ruth Gilchrist and the poem 'Selkie' by Rachel Plummer on this episode of our monthly podcast series. Photo: Heshani Sothiraj Eddleston

On this episode we read the Edwin Morgan poems 'When you go', 'One cigarette' and 'The picnic' and the Morgan inspired story 'On The Ship' by Alice Ash. Photo credit: Heshani Sothiraj Eddleston