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The Latest Breaking News from Damian Barr

Val McDermid and Damian Barr urge Scottish councils to halt library closures

Authors say plan to shut more than 20 public libraries could have devastating effect on Scotland’s cultural future

The Guardian - UK

Val McDermid and Damian Barr named Scotland's National Library champions

The National Library of Scotland has announced it will mark its 100th birthday with a programme of events and initiatives throughout 2025.

The National (Scotland)

Fiction to look out for in 2025

An epic family saga, new novels from Natasha Brown and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, plus a David Szalay masterpiece… the coming year looks good

The Guardian - UK

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How to put your phone down and get back into habit of reading books

After an English academic at Oxford complained about students’ attention spans, we get experts’ tips on enjoying the written word

The Guardian - UK

Maggie & Me review – Damian Barr’s raw memoir gets an overcooked staging

Thatcher stalks the stage like an untamed monster, but the rest of Barr’s account of growing up gay in the 80s is sentimentalised and soppy

The Guardian - UK

A look ahead to the best events Scotland has to offer in 2024

AMID the grey gloom of a dreich Scottish January, it’s hard to see any rays of light but there are reasons to be cheerful

The National (Scotland)

Richard Osman among authors missing royalties amid ongoing cyber-attack on British Library

Writers’ much-needed ‘annual windfall’ of up to £6,600 delayed as library in London struggles to restore crippled systems

The Guardian - UK

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The best theatre, dance and comedy tickets to book in 2024

The new year’s hottest shows include stage versions of Minority Report, Spirited Away and La Strada, performances by Keeley Hawes and Ian McKellen – plus laughs from Julia Masli, Rhod Gilbert and Ania Magliano

The Guardian - UK

Why do so many people still love Friends? Because it reminds them of a time when life was still fun

The 90s were a decade of carefree optimism and comically low stakes. Matthew Perry’s death brings us crashing back into the now

The Guardian - UK

The week in audio: People Who Knew Me; Happy Hour; Whose Truth Is It Anyway?; This Cultural Life: Nick Cave – review

Rosamund Pike is the star of a brilliantly produced new drama; a two-hander set in a London pub is snappy and fun; and Nick Cave is a dream interviewee

The Guardian - UK

Bookworm students from Perth shine on TV literary discussion show

An English set text came to life for Perth High School students who went on television to talk about books.

Daily Record

Dumfries and Galloway author to feature on new series of The Big Scottish Book Club

Former police officer Karen Campbell will discuss her latest novel, Paper Cup, on Sunday

Daily Record

Scottish Book Club host joined by Elaine C Smith as TV series returns

The first episode of the Scottish Book Club will be shown on Sunday

Daily Record

My new garden is blooming – and each plant holds a clue about its previous owner

North facing and sloped, it sounds like an unimpressive patch of outdoor space. But there are thoughtful touches everywhere, thanks to the gardener who once tended it, writes Damian Barr

The Guardian - UK

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The Guardian - UK

We have downsized to a smaller home and it has freed us to live the life we want

An estate agent asked why we were getting off the property ladder. But in our Victorian terrace we felt as if we were living out somebody else’s script, writes Damian Barr

Daily Record

Outrage as school librarians axed from North Lanarkshire secondaries

The 23 posts have been lost as a cost-cutting measure included in the authority's budget two years ago.

The Guardian - UK

‘We were marching with ghosts’: three writers on the Pride they’ll never forget

As this year’s loud and proud celebrations draw to a close, regulars remember the parties and processions that changed how they saw the world and themselves. Kicking things off: a teenager’s first Pride

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