Congratulations to Dundee Burns Club member Dr Ruth Forbes on the publication of her new book and well done The Courier for excellent coverage. Our club now has four published authors as members -Paul Malgrati , Andrew Murray Scott and graham ogilvy

Robert Burns Ellisland Museum & Farm

What a joy to celebrate #RobertFergusson with friends Canongate Kirk and Scottish Poetry Library. Thanks to Thomas Clark, James Robertson, David Annand and Tommy Mackay for a memorable night!
Robert Fergusson (1750-74)

Oh my, she lives! And I could not be more excited.
[I know she is a bit pricey at the moment but paperbacks will come...] Due out in August.

Absolutely chuffed to have some poetry published in the excellent new issue of the Scottish Left Review! The first three entries in my sequence, 'A New Glossary of Scotch Mining Terms', inspired by a dictionary compiled by a historic James Barrowman in 1886

A tremendous conclusion to an excellent project - providing fresh insight into the long Scottish Renaissance movement.

Can’t wait to get working on my piece about the philosophical origins of ‘The Caledonian Antisyzygy’ (from Hegel to Renan, Carlyle, Arnold, Geddes, and Smith)

Something to look forward to! In the Irish context, Kearney talked about holding apparent contradictions (something at once being both A and non-A) in creative confluence. Bit of a mouthful, but easier to pronounce than “Antisyzygy” 😉

The 23rd International Congress of the French Society for Scottish Studies (SFEE) will be held from 2-4 May 2024 at the University of Edinburgh. Provisional programme now available sfee.fr/congres2020/

I have an article in the latest Scottish Left Review – 'Why the Gaelic Crisis Matters'. I try to explain the anger caused by recent cuts, the much larger issues of scarcity and the crisis of Gaelic vernacular communities, and why you should care!

scottishleftreview.scot/why-the-gaelic…

A tremendous conclusion to an excellent project - providing fresh insight into the long Scottish Renaissance movement.

Can’t wait to get working on my piece about the philosophical origins of ‘The Caledonian Antisyzygy’ (from Hegel to Renan, Carlyle, Arnold, Geddes, and Smith)

Chuffed to have signed a contract with Edinburgh University Press to co-edit a book with Michael Shaw (@glaikitscone) entitled 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥, 𝟏𝟖𝟖𝟎𝐬–𝟏𝟗𝟓𝟎𝐬.

Contract signed so I think I can make this public now. OUP will publish my book 'Someone Else's Music: Opera and the British'. I examine British attitudes towards opera, 1920-2020, reveal a forgotten history of popular opera going, and trace the rise of the elitism stereotype.

Sandy Hutchison's collected poems in Scots, just out from Blue Diode Press, to be launched on Friday night cca-glasgow.com/programme/swc-… Congratulations to A. B. Jackson, J. Derrick McClure, and Rob A. Mackenzie

And we're off! UHI Institute for Northern Studies UHI Shetland UHI Orkney UHI Research #StMagnusConference

A pleasure to come home from holiday to this beauty, edited by Steven Reid. This one was fun from beginning to end - you can read my chapter on Mary’s reception in the 18thC periodical press inside 📖

Thanks to Lauren Brancaz-McCartan for this fine review of ‘Robert Burns and Scottish Cultural Politics’:

‘Malgrati’s book has the potential to appeal to anyone with an interest in Scotland’s culture and politics, be they Burns enthusiasts or laymen’

journals.openedition.org/etudesecossais…

Looking for the top 3 pieces of criticism about Alasdair Gray’s ‘Lanark’ (ideally with a focus on the metaphysical/theological facets of the work). Any recommendations anyone?

IASSL Webinar: Environmental Scotland II, 22 April 2024, 17:00 GMT, with Timothy Baker (@aberdeenuni), Léna Ferrié (@UBO_UnivBrest), Pàdraig MacAoidh (@univofstandrews), Camille Manfredi (@UBO_UnivBrest), and Monika Szuba (@Uniwersytet_GD). Details: iassl.org/dialogues-webi…

Looking at the remarkable life and work of Catherine Carswell today. Her controversial Life of Robert Burns was described by her son John as the most important book she ever wrote, and should be assessed as one of the key texts of the Scottish Literary Renaissance.

Et voici pour finir le sujet de philosophie de l’ENS 2024 (thème : la métaphysique)
« Qu’est-ce que la réalité ? » enjoy !

Garry is one of our best Scottish poets. Highly recommend his creative translation of ‘Ben Dorain’: a model of eco-writing, exploring the non-human standpoint whilst breaking with the old habit of colonising the world (and the Highlands!) with both our interests and emotions.