Roddy Lumsden's Blog Archive

  • Trawling Reviewed by Roddy Lumsden

    Thursday 03 April 2008

    Trawling is recommended not only to Aberdonians or those with an interest in the sea but to a more general reader, says Roddy Lumsden

  • Roddy Lumsden Recommends Jen Hadfield

    Monday 10 March 2008

    Roddy Lumsden finds much to admire in Jen Hadfield's collections Almanac and Nigh-No-Place

  • Review of Doh Ray Me, When Ah Wis Wee

    Wednesday 20 February 2008

    "An excellent addition to Scotland's social history library" Says Roddy Lumsden in his review of Doh Ray Me, When Ah Wis We

  • Lemmings Don't Leap - Reviewed by Roddy Lumsden

    Friday 01 February 2008

    Roddy Lumsden enjoys Edwin Moore's debunking of modern myths. What you thought you knew probably isn't true, but Edwin Moore does know how to write an entertaining book

  • HappenStance and StAnza

    Friday 18 January 2008

    Roddy Lumsden reviews Gergory Leadbetter's new poetry pamphlet from HappenStance, and previews the 2008 StAnza poetry festival

  • Roddy's Christmas Review

    Monday 10 December 2007

    Roddy Lumsden looks back at his favourite Scottish books from 2007.

  • Roddy Lumsden Interviews Kevin Williamson

    Tuesday 04 December 2007

    Roddy Lumsden interviews Kevin Williamson, founder of literary magazine Rebel, Inc, and poet and campaigner

  • Brief Encounters - Reviewed by Roddy Lumsden

    Tuesday 13 November 2007

    Roddy Lumsden has his own too-brief encounter with Brief Encounters: Meetings between (mostly) remarkable people

  • Roddy Lumsden Reviews Scottish Customs

    Monday 29 October 2007

    Roddy Lumsden reviews a new issue of Margaret Bennett's Scottish Customs: From Cradle to Grave

  • Interview with Richard Price

    Tuesday 23 October 2007

    Roddy Lumsden interviews poet Richard Price about his collections Lucky Day and Greenfields

  • Roddy Lumsden Reviews the Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women

    Monday 01 October 2007

    Roddy Lumsden finds the Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women too interesting to be tucked away on the reference shelf.

  • Roddy Lumsden Reviews: Folk in Print

    Thursday 30 August 2007

    Folk in Print, a history of Scottish chapbooks, is "an excellent volume, very highly recommended" says Roddy Lumsden.

  • The Essential Rock Discography - Spotting the Errors

    Wednesday 08 August 2007

    Roddy Lumsden hunts for errors in MC Strong's The Essential Rock Discography, and is pleased with the answers.

  • Ronnie's Looking For Trouble: Roddy Lumsden Reviews

    Thursday 02 August 2007

    A quick, racy read, perhaps to be taken with a pinch of salt - so says Roddy Lumsden in his review of Ronnie's Looking for Trouble.

  • Foyle's Philavery Reviewed by Roddy Lumsden

    Friday 20 July 2007

    Baldrick, alopecia, barton and amanuensis are all bethumbed by Roddy Lumsden as he dips into Foyles Philavery

  • Roddy Lumsden Reviews: An A-Z of the Occult

    Tuesday 10 July 2007

    Roddy Lumsden considers the possible meaning of abracadabra, and other occult miscellany in this review of Simon Cox's An A to Z of the Occult

  • Selected Poems of Robert Fergusson Review

    Monday 18 June 2007

    A new collection of Selected Poems from Robert Fergusson, one of 18th century Scotland's best poets.

  • Roddy's Crossword Memories

    Monday 04 June 2007

    Images of a young Roddy Lumsden, Pot Noodle in one hand and pen in the other, in this review of the new Chamber's Everyman Crosswords

  • Interviewing The Paris Review Interviews

    Friday 11 May 2007

    The biggest 'little magazine' in history, according to Time Magazine. Roddy Lumsden casts his eye over Canongate's collection from The Paris Review Interviews

  • Quest for Robert Louis Stevenson

    Tuesday 01 May 2007

    Roddy Lumsden asks what to include and what to leave out of a biography while reviewing John Cairney's The Quest for Robert Louis Stevenson

  • Anthology Review: Poems United

    Thursday 12 April 2007

    Roddy Lumsden emails us from the USA to review Poems United, a poetry anthology from all the countries of the Commonwealth

  • Dae Ye Ken? Review

    Tuesday 03 April 2007

    Dae ye ken yer oxter fae yer bahookie? Roddy Lumsden discovers some new Scots words while reviewing Vicki Guasden's 'Dae Ye Ken?'

  • Wild Scotland Review

    Monday 19 March 2007

    Plenty to amuse ramblers of the Scottish wilds in James McCarthy's recently revised "Wild Scotland"

  • Kidnapped

    Thursday 15 March 2007

    Roddy Lumsden reports on the five different editions of Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel recently promoted by Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature.

  • 100 Favourite Scottish Poems... Or Are They?

    Wednesday 21 February 2007

    A tie-in between a Radio Scotland survey, publisher Luath Press, and editor Stewart Conn, 100 Favourite Scottish poems is a bit of a mixed bag.

  • Bukowski's Crazy Life

    Monday 12 February 2007

    Canongate have recently published a new edition of Howard Soune's biography of Charles Bukowski, which Roddy Lumsden reviews for BooksfromScotland.com

  • Roddy Lumsden Reviews: Fakers, Forgers & Phoneys

    Monday 05 February 2007

    A fine addition to the literature on notorious scams and hoaxes, says Roddy Lumsden in his review of the late Magnus Magnusson's Fakers, Forgers and Phoneys.

  • Review: Stuart Kelly's The Book of Lost Books

    Monday 22 January 2007

    Stuart Kelly's The Book of Lost Books is just the sort of thing our resident blogger Roddy Lumsden enjoys.

  • Big Noise Review

    Friday 29 December 2006

    Get hold of Big Noise, have a laugh, have a grouch and enjoy the rollercoaster ride, complete with interesting barstool reminiscences and some top rate shaggy dog stories.

  • Glasgow Crime

    Monday 18 December 2006

    Roddy Lumsden reviews three recent Glasgow crime books - Blood on the Streets, Real Hard Cases, and Murder Capital

  • Interview with Laura Hird

    Friday 08 December 2006

    Roddy Lumsden interviews Laura Hird about her latest collection of short stories, Hope, and her forthcoming memoir, Dear Laura.

  • Roddy Lumsden's Review of 2006

    Monday 13 November 2006

    Roddy Lumsden revisits some of his favourite books of 2006, and picks out a few more that he never had time to review for BooksfromScotland.com

  • Roddy Lumsden Reviews 'Villains'

    Monday 30 October 2006

    Another success for the writing team of Reg MacKay and Paul Ferris, says Roddy Lumsden in his review of 'Villains'.

  • Billy Kay's The Scottish World

    Thursday 26 October 2006

    Billy Kay takes a fresh look at the Scottish diaspora in "The Scottish World", reviewed by Roddy Lumsden

  • Andrew Greig: An Overview

    Monday 09 October 2006

    Roddy Lumsden looks back at the poetry and fiction of Andrew Greig, following the publication of his latest poetry collection, This Life, This Life.

  • Review: Making Soup in a Storm

    Thursday 28 September 2006

    New Writing Scotland reaches its 24th edition, and Roddy Lumsden casts his eye over the prose and poetry from mostly unpublished writers.

  • Roddy Lumsden Interviews Matthew Fitt

    Friday 15 September 2006

    Roddy Lumsden interviews our September Author of the Month, Matthew Fitt.

  • Roddy Lumsden Reviews 'Bamboo'

    Thursday 31 August 2006

    In his review of William Boyd's "Bamboo", Roddy Lumsden finds "the virtuoso Boyd spreading his talents nimbly and widely".

  • Review: The Thing That Mattered Most

    Thursday 17 August 2006

    A new collection of poetry for children, The Thing That Mattered Most, is reviewed by Roddy Lumsden

  • The Drove Roads of Scotland: Review

    Friday 28 July 2006

    Roddy Lumsden explains the interest in the Drove Roads of Scotland, and ARB Haldane's book on the subject.

  • Muriel Spark: All The Poems

    Wednesday 12 July 2006

    Muriel Spark's poetry collection All The Poems was rereleased earlier this year, and Roddy Lumsden traces the history of her poetry.

  • An Interview with W.N. Herbert

    Friday 07 July 2006

    Roddy Lumsden interviews Dundee-born poet W.N. Herbert about his most recent collection, Bad Shaman Blues

  • Roddy Revisits The Yellow on the Broom

    Tuesday 04 July 2006

    Roddy Lumsden revisits one of his favourite Scottish books, Betsy Whyte's The Yellow on the Broom.

  • The Book of Lists: Football

    Monday 19 June 2006

    In time for the World Cup, Roddy Lumsden reviews Canongate's "The Book of Lists: Football".

  • Roddy Lumsden Reviews "Last Chance To Eat"

    Monday 05 June 2006

    Last Chance To Eat, recently released in paperback, is full of food-related memories - Roddy Lumsden reviews and recommends.

  • Robin Robertson's Swithering

    Wednesday 24 May 2006

    Robin Robertson has played a crucial role for Scottish writers over the past two decades. Following the publication of Robin's latest poetry collection, Swithering, Roddy Lumsden looks back on his life and work.

  • Review: Scots Language Books

    Monday 22 May 2006

    Roddy Lumsden reviews two recent books on the history of the Scots language, Carl MacDougall's Scots: The Language of the People and Billy Kay's revised Scots: The Mither Tongue

  • Chambers Fact Finder

    Monday 08 May 2006

    Eight out of ten for the new Chambers Fact Finder - and this is from Roddy Lumsden, a man who really knows his trivia.

  • The Last Godfather: Arthur Thompson

    Wednesday 19 April 2006

    A dirty business, a modern tragedy even, but a fascinating read... Roddy Lumsden reviews the revised and updated edition of The Last Godfather

  • HappenStance Pamphlet Poetry Press

    Wednesday 12 April 2006

    Small press poetry in Scotland is thriving, with the Scottish Pamphlet Poetry site listing over 30 presses. Roddy features one such press, HappenStance.

  • Review of St Kilda: Island on the Edge of the World

    Sunday 02 April 2006

    Roddy Lumsden reviews Charles Maclean's classic book on the island of St Kilda

  • Chambers Clichés and How to Avoid Them

    Wednesday 22 March 2006

    Without further ado, Roddy Lumsden rolls up his sleaves and refuses to judge Chambers Cliches and How To Avoid Them by its cover.

  • The Book of St Andrews: An Anthology

    Monday 13 March 2006

    Roddy Lumsden features The Book of St Andrews, a literary anthology compiled by Robert Crawford.

  • Islands Galore

    Thursday 02 March 2006

    Writer-in-residence Roddy Lumsden hunts for trivia amongst the pages of Islands Galore by Jim Dow.

  • Blethertoun Braes and other Scots Children's Books

    Monday 27 February 2006

    Roddy Lumsden celebrates the publication of Blethertoun Braes, a new collection of Scots poetry for children.

  • Seton Gordon's Scotland - An Anthology

    Monday 13 February 2006

    Roddy Lumsden reviews and highly recommends Hamish Brown's compilation 'Seton Gordon's Scotland - An Anthology'.

  • Footie Shorts

    Friday 03 February 2006

    For fans of the beautiful game, Roddy Lumsden reviews 'Footie Shorts', a fine collection of anecdotes and shaggy dog stories from the world of football.

  • Interview with Illustrious Exile author Andrew Lindsay

    Tuesday 24 January 2006

    On the publication of 'Illustrious Exile', a 'what if' novel on Robert Burns' life in the West Indies, Roddy Lumsden interviews author Andrew Lindsay about the challenges of writing believable speculative fiction.

  • I Have Heard You Calling In The Night

    Monday 23 January 2006

    Roddy reviews Thomas Healy's surprising memoir of redemption, I Have Heard You Calling in the Night.

  • The Law Killers: Dundee Crime

    Monday 16 January 2006

    Most of us like to read about crime; Roddy Lumsden prefers true crime, such as The Law Killers by Alexander McGregor.

  • The Broons Annual

    Tuesday 03 January 2006

    'The Broons Annual' is a Scottish tradition. Roddy Lumsden checks out the latest edition, and finds a comforting mix of the old and the new.

  • Interview with Stewart Conn, former Edinburgh City Makar

    Thursday 22 December 2005

    Roddy Lumsden interviews the former Makar of Edinburgh, Stewart Conn, about his new poetry collection.

  • New Writing Scotland 23: Queen of the Sheep

    Wednesday 14 December 2005

    Roddy Lumsden highly recommends 'New Writing Scotland 23'

  • Interview with Jackie Kay

    Monday 05 December 2005

    Jackie Kay is one of Scotland's most popular writers – playwright, poet, novelist and children's writer – and her new poetry book Life Mask was recently published.

  • F Marian McNeill's The Scots Kitchen

    Thursday 01 December 2005

    Roddy Lumsden is inspired (and is sometimes worried by) F Marian McNeill's The Scots Kitchen

  • TV Catchphrase Quiz

    Thursday 01 December 2005

    Here's a quiz: which television shows popularised these words or phrases?: "keep 'em peeled"; "marmalize"...

  • James Robertson: Voyage of Intent

    Monday 31 October 2005

    Roddy Lumsden looks at the role of 'writer in residence', and is inspired by James Robertson's work at the Scottish Parliament.

Roddy Lumsden Archive

An archive of all of writer-in-residence Roddy Lumsden's previous blog articles. Most recent articles are at the top.