culture/books Archives - Chris Creegan

Books on the Box with Barr

06/06/2019

The announcement that BBC Scotland has commissioned a new arts series to celebrate literature got the Twitterati — on my timeline at least — in quite a fizz. Fizz is good. We all need a bit of it especially on the driechest of June days. The Big Scottish Book Club is to be hosted by award-winning writer, Damian Barr. […]

Finding a way to belonging — on Constitution Street

06/09/2019

Yesterday evening I took part in a protest. It wasn’t on the streets or outside a building. There were no placards, no hecklers. There was no lobbying, no them and us. It was a book launch. In a library. I’ve taken part in a protest in a library once before. Nearly 40 years ago, my […]

Mayflies — a homage to the enduring power of friendship in all our lives

17/10/2020

I have only ever met Andrew O’Hagan across a signing table. Such meetings are odd, often full of anticipation for the reader, sometimes mild exhaustion on the part of the author. Occasionally they are memorable too. The signing may be no more than the briefest of exchanges to confirm who you’d like the book dedicated […]

‘It’s a Sin’ is dramatic art as redress— it tells our story and gives a voice to those who didn’t make it

04/02/2021

‘The houses are all gone under the sea. The dancers are all gone under the hill.’ East Coker, The four quartetT S Eliot In the beginning, I sobbed. At the denouement, I howled. I cry routinely at the telly. But this was different. These tears came not just from shallow, passing sentiment but deep, permanent […]

Supernova – love, death and the sound of silence

06/07/2021

Harry Macqueen's new film Supernova portrays the love between two middle-aged gay men. But it is not about sexuality. The word gay is never uttered. When I was asked to review the film for BBC Radio Scotland, I knew little about it except that it starred Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci as a gay couple. I had to […]

‘It’s A Sin’ was so much more than a TV show — a year on, I carry it in my heart

21/01/2022

In the dead of night over Christmas 1988, I became aware that hardly any of my fingernails had a lunula. I was 27. Until that very moment, their absence had completely passed me by. A lunula is the half-moon shape at the base of your nail, just above the cuticle. The realisation came as I […]