Books HITLIST THE BEST BOOKS & EVENTS
Gary Shteyngart Born in Leningrad in 1972, this New Yorker has penned some amusing and perceptive novels about the clash of cultures. Bone up on the excellent likes of Absurdistan before you go. Part of Aye Write!. See feature, page 44. Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Sat 5 Mar.
Alexander McCall Smith Two events to launch AMS’s latest, with wine, cake and a choir in Edinburgh. St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, Fri 4 Mar; Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Sat 5 Mar, as part of Aye Write!.
Helen Fitzgerald The Glasgow- based Aussie author discusses her work, which includes My Last Confession and Amelia O’Donohue is SO Not a Virgin. Ramshorn Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 30 Mar. Mark Millar With the big screen success of Wanted and Kick-Ass behind him, the List Hot 100 topper chats about the wild universe of Millarworld. Part of Aye Write!. Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Mon 7 Mar.
Jackie Kay An accomplished fiction writer and poet, Kay will be talking here about her superb memoir from last year, Red Dust Road, which followed the journey to finding her real parents. Part of Aye Write!. Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Sun 6 Mar. StAnza Another excellent line-up for the annual poetry fest, including Don Paterson, John Burnside, Jenny Lindsay, Kevin MacNeil and Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson (pictured). Byre Theatre, St Andrews, Wed 16–Sun 20 Mar.
Sarah Waters Glamour mag’s current writer of the year, Waters is in the curious position of having all of her novels adapted for the screen – The Little Stranger is next. Part of Aye Write!. Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Sat 5 Mar.
Dorian Lynskey Lynskey lets us hear some social landscape-changing protest tunes from his book, 33 Revolutions Per Minute. See review, page 45. Faber; Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Wed 9 Mar, as part of Aye Write!.
Sara Paretsky A kind-of post-Aye Write! festival event with the author of the private eye VI Warshawski books. Fellow crime writer Denise Mina will be doing the interrogating. Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Mon 21 Mar.
Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell Tribute to the multi-disciplinary artist, founder of the Wooster Group, and star of the 1987 one-man monologue movie, Swimming to Cambodia. Tramway, Glasgow, Thu 24 Mar.
www.list.co.uk/books
FirstWrites INTRODUCING DEBUT AUTHORS
Our new series of Q&As with debut authors kicks off with ALISON GANGEL whose memoir details the hard knock life of growing up in care in 1970s Glasgow Can you give us five words to describe The Sun Hasn’t Fallen from the Sky? Funny, restrained, powerful, optimistic, unsentimental. Or ‘gleaming gem of a memoir’. Which author should be more famous than they are now? Bernard MacLaverty. Beautiful writing that can stop you in your tracks. What was the first book you read? Can’t really remember but it was bound to be something by Enid Blyton. What was the last book you read? One Day by David Nicholls. I was impressed with the skilful treatment of the structure and the authenticity of the relationships. Which book makes you cry? Don’t cry easily, especially if I feel I’m being manipulated by the writer. I found Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones very moving and some of the scenes stayed with me for a long time afterwards. Which dead author do you wish was still alive today? George Eliot for Silas Marner, one of my all-time favourite books. What plans do you have for book number two? Already made a dent in it; just trying to sort out getting a bit of time away from full-time teaching work to have enough ‘headspace’ to do it justice. (Interview by Brian Donaldson) ■ The Sun Hasn’t Fallen from the Sky is out now published by Bloomsbury. Gangel appears at Aye Write!, Sat 5 Mar.
3–31 March 2011 THE LIST 43