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'textualities.net is as visually exquisite to wander through as it is to read.' (Scotsman Online). Textualities is based at Main Point Books, 8 Lauriston Street, one of a cluster of six second-hand bookshops in an area that is sometimes called Edinburgh's Soho.
MAIN POINT BOOKCRAIC
Buying a first edition of A Book of Nonsense, which contains such gems as 'I can be quite obscure and practically marzipan', a customer told me about his Peake experience. As a student in the 1980s he lived in a house previously occupied by Mervyn Peake, where the wallpaper was embellished with drawings and rhymes by the author. He is now convinced that this Camden house was the model for Gormenghast. The next owners redecorated. At this sad news, I returned to a perusal of the advice section of this year's tax form, a document which proves that Peake doesn't hold the monopoly in being 'obscure and practically marzipan'. Its 'Very Rough Guide' advises you to calculate the first tax band at 10 per cent. Has nobody told the Revenue about the last budget?
- Naini Tal
In a short story by Margaret Burnett, a Scottish girl growing up in India is poised expectantly and fearfully on the brink of making a transition she is powerless to avoid.- One of the Exceptions
The crucial part played by David Daiches in bringing Scottish literature to the world stage, discussed by Robert Louis Abrahamson on reading a celebration of his life and work compiled by Michael Lister and William Baker.- Multicoloured Seams
Short story by EDWIN JAMIESON. A moment of violence leads to an extraordinary transformation.- Contour Lines
Human rights campaigner and lawyer RAJA SHEHADEH follows the contour lines, political and geographic, of the West Bank of Palestine.- The River of Life
In this recreation of Genesis, Zimbabwean writer CHRISTOPHER MLALAZI describes man's fiery descent from the stars.- The Wedding
Bare knees, flying brides and Bollywood beats all feature in this humorous poem by SRIA CHATTERJEE about a Scottish-Indian wedding in Edinburgh.- The Thing Called a Holiday
The shape of the wind and the absence of tears are part of the texture of life in this short story by CATHERINE MCDONALD.- Nanny's Curse
31/01/08 A short story in which an irascible and foul-mouthed old woman dramatically confronts her enemies with fatal consequences, by SVETLANA LAVOCHKINA.- Walking the Walk
On the publication of geopoetics essays The Radical Field by Tony McManus, his niece, actress Catherine Murray, discusses his poetry and reads ’Walk and Talk‘.- A Saintly Sorner?
Poet, patriot, soldier, interrogator, scholar, teacher and folklorist, HAMISH HENDERSON had ’many lives‘. Michael Lister reviews a new biography by Timothy Neat.- Rescuing the Prince
The 2007 Nigeria Prize for Literature was jointly won by Akachi Ezeigbo and Mabel Segun. AKACHI EZEIGBO heard the news shortly after her return from a sabbatical as a visiting research fellow at Royal Holloway University, London. She lectures in Gender Studies at the University of Lagos.- No One Else Saw Anything
The peculiar lives of a serial killer and his feline girlfriend feature in this extract from Derangements by RAJORSHI CHAKRABORTI.
- Current Issue:
SNOW CACTUS - Boy in a Bucket
Peggy Hughes appreciates the linguistic inventiveness of Child From Water. Even so, this saga-fantasy by Maurice Dijon (aka MIKE DILLON) falls short of tickling her fancy.- Legitimate Anger
In this audio interview Indian writer and poet NABARUN BHATTACHARYA discusses politics, poverty and keeping an open mind.- Never Stop
SELINA HOSSAIN is one of Bangladesh's most prolific and vocal writers. In this short audio interview she outlines her social activist credentials.- The Soul of a Book
Bengali writer NABANEETA DEV SEN is one of India's leading writers and thinkers. In this audio interview, she envisions a natural falling away of patriarchy and the wisdom of Indian women becoming harnessed for the future through education.- Silently For Me
The almost simultaneous appearance of a doppelganger and a voice in his head is the end of enough for RAJORSHI CHAKRABORTI's put-upon, young narrator.- Rubies the Size of Peas
In this beautifully crafted vignette from SVETLANA LAVOCHKINA, a Ukrainian girl dreams of speaking with the finest RP accent, spurred on by the demands of her indomitable English teacher, Maria Ivanovna.- Between Two Worlds
Honour without profit is nothing new for writers, as Gillian Hughes shows in her illuminating biography of JAMES HOGG.- Flame Lily
Short story by HESTER ROSS in which images of life in Malawi and Ireland interpenetrate, a woman confronts her mortality and plants for a future she may not see.- I have a strange feeling about this
Reassured by the lack of stuffed crocodiles and alembics, FIONA ALLEN become a volunteer subject for the Parapsychology Unit of Edinburgh University. The elusive tug of intuition had already shaped important events in her life.- Mischief Maker
Performance poet JENNY LINDSAY talks about gender politics, observational rants and the fateful theft of her keyboard.- Two in the Front, Two in the Back
New fiction from TIM WEST. In this surreal comedy, an elephant dreams of writing a sitcom about a brothel, but is trapped in a soul-destroying job in advertising. One day, however, he extracts a terrible revenge.
Textualities print magazines 'Science & intuition' and 'In Place'
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