Ron Butlin

(born 1949 - ) - Edinburgh

Ron Butlin

Ron Butlin was appointed the Edinburgh Makar in May 2008, taking over from Valerie Gilles. Butlin, who was born in Edinburgh, has been writing poetry, prose and plays since the 1970s. Having worked various as a footman, a male model, and a barnacle-scraper on barges in the River Thames, is now a freelance journalist working for the Sunday Herald.

He has held a number of writer-in-residence positions, with Edinburgh University (1982, 1985), Midlothian council (1989-1990), the Craigmiller Literary Trust in Edinburgh (1997-1998), and St Andrews University (1998-1999).

His books have won a number of SAC awards; the first for the collection The Tilting Room in 1983. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife, the writer Regi Claire. Butlin's most recent book is the novel No More Angels.

  • Cover scan of Belonging
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    Belonging - Paperback
    Scottish drifter Jack McCall, handyman in an Alpine ski resort, spends his days sneaking into the empty penthouses of the super-rich with his partner Anna, sipping champagne and partying in private jacuzzis. At 29, Jack's unsure of what he wants from life, but Anna wants commitment.
  • Cover scan of Night Visits
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    Night Visits - Paperback
    When Malcolm's father dies, he and his mother, Margaret, return to Margaret's childhood home in Edinburgh, which her sister, Fiona, has converted into a home for the elderly. This is a compulsive novel and a powerful depiction of the disturbing effects of loneliness and loss.
  • Cover scan of No More Angels
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    No More Angels: Stories - Paperback
    The stories in 'No More Angels' capture the idiosyncrasies of modern life. A widower struggles to keep his family on the tracks after the death of his young wife, a schoolboy counts down the days, hours, minutes to a friend's party, and a house tour is conducted with the unspoken stench of parenticide hanging in the air.
  • Cover scan of Vivaldi And The Number 3 And Other Impossible Stories
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    Vivaldi And The Number 3 And Other Impossible Stories - Paperback
    Butlin looks at the lives of composers and philosophers from unusual but entertaining angles: Vivaldi's creative block is freed with God's gift of the number 3; Mozart struggles for financial independence by becoming Salzburg's first private eye; and Haydn's publicity benefits from an appearance on Jerry Springer.

Bibliography

Last modified Wednesday 14 September 2011