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SNP council administration accused of hypocrisy in greenbelt land row
Renfrewshire councillors have adopted a Local Development Plan which will allow housing to be built on treasured green land in Lochwinnoch
Andy Doig at the Burnfoot Road site in Lochwinnoch
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COMEDIAN Janey Godley, singer Karine Polwart and partners in crime writing Chris Brookmyre and Dr Marisa Haetzman are among those joining 2020 Booker winner Douglas Stuart at Paisley Book Festival next month. This year’s event will be a digital forum but it means audiences will be able to listen in the comfort of their own homes to contributors from across the world. The theme, Radical New Futures, emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic and the resilience and fortitude that people and communities have shown. It has also been inspired by the importance that green spaces have played as solace and recuperation over the last year.
Charting the story of Clio Campbell, Scabby Queen stretches over five decades, taking in the miners’ strikes to Brexit and beyond. It is a portrait of a woman told by her friends, lovers, enemies and fans.
“It’s not a spoiler: after the introduction the lead character is found dead and I started off with the idea that who would do that and leave their body for a person to find?” explains Kirstin, who lives in a small Renfrewshire village with her partner – the author and playwright Alan Bissett – and their two sons.
“I started working around this idea of a person who was very charismatic and magnetic and formed intense, short-lived relationships. It seemed to make sense to tell her story from the points of view of all of the people whose lives she’d been in along the way.