On a recent trip to Paris we spent a tranquil afternoon wandering around the beautiful Grande Mosquée de Paris in the 5th arrondissement. The mudejar style mosque with its 33m minaret is one of the largest in France. On a very warm October day it was fresh and cool with a wonderful atmosphere of peace. We learned the mosque was founded in 1926 as a token of gratitude after the war to
My mother was a huge Heal’s fan in the 60s so these fantastic new tea towels caught my eye. The designs have been taken from the Heal’s archive and screenprinted in the original 1950’s colour palette onto 100% cotton. Each tea towel is 48 x 74 cm and costs £10. Get yours here.
Doors will open on the Round The Horn Advent Calendar Trail in Kinghorn at 10am on Saturday the 22nd November. There are 10 venues to visit with 20 artists, designers and makers exhibiting their work, some for the first time. Painting, sculpture, glass, jewellery, ceramics, prints, textiles, homewares, papercrafts and more will be available to view, sample, buy and commission. The organisers aim to forge a lasting relationship between local people and
We are delighted to bring you an exclusive interview with crime writer Ian Rankin, one of Fife’s all time most successful creatives. Turns out he is a lovely guy – and surprisingly tall! Many thanks to Ian for taking the time to chat to us… AS: Avocado Sweet celebrates the creative talent that comes out of Fife – what creative talents do you associate with the area? IR: Writers primarily.
Earlier this year Dunfermline artist Alan Grieve was commissioned by the Fife Cultural Trust to create work inspired by the Kingdom the Danced. The project was aimed at people over 60 encouraging them to take part in a contemporary art event. Grieve collected over 100 stories of social dancing in Fife along with fascinating photographs and newspaper clippings. He then collaborated with Glasgow based animator Jim Stirk to create these
Must be hard for men: they get into grooming and in touch with their sensitive side only to find women like nothing better than a dissolute Bill Murray muttering Bob Dylan lyrics while sitting on a ratty garden chair. Here he is in a tremendous clip from his new film St Vincent.
Gregory Burke is originally from Rosyth near Dunfermline. Burke’s first play was Gagarin Way, set in the factories of West Fife. Black Watch, for the national Theatre of Scotland, debuted at in 2006 and met with critical acclaim. It has since been performed throughout Scotland and has toured in London, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Other works include Occy Eyes, The Straits, Unsecured, On Tour, Liar, Shellshocked and Hoors. More recently, Burke wrote the screenplay for the film 71, about a
Jennie Erdal is the author of Ghosting, a memoir of her childhood in Lochgelly and of being the long-serving ghostwriter of Naim Atallah, the publisher and owner of Quartet Books. She worked for him for 20 years, first as a translator of Russian novels, then as a commissioning editor and finally as unacknowledged ghostwriter. Ghosting was chosen as a BBC Book of the Week and was shortlisted for the Saltire Scoiety First Book Award and for the JR Ackerley
Joe Corrie was born in 1894 in Slamannan near Falkirk. A few years later his family moved to Cardenden in Fife. He left school at 14 in 1908 to work in the local pits and during the First World War he worked at a colliery in Ayrshire. On his return to Cardenden in 1918 he began writing verse and it wasn’t until the twenties that he began working on plays.
Former headteacher Christina Banach is from Lochgelly. Her debut novel Minty is published by Three Hares Publishing, based in London. Fife features heavily in her book, in particular Ruby Bay in Elie. A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Society of Authors, Christina is working on her next book – a contemporary ghost story-come-psychological thriller, set mainly in Glencoe. www.christinabanach.com