Myself and Ali Bacon are the writers in focus for the latest online literary event from our publisher Linen Press. "Inside the Linen Cupboard" is on the 31st of March and tickets are available via Eventbrite here.
Author: Margot McCuaig
I’m a novelist and award-winning documentary filmmaker.
My debut novel, 'The Birds That Never Flew', was shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize and longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. 'Almost Then', my second novel, was published by Linen Press in April 2021.
I write, produce and direct documentary films and won Royal Television Society Scotland awards in 2015 with 'Jock Stein' and for 'Jim Baxter' in 2016. 'Jimmy Johnstone' was nominated for a bronze Torc for Excellence in 2017. My feature length documentary film 'Tommy Burns won a Royal Television Society award in 2019 and 'The Women Who Built Glasgow City' won the same award in 2021.
I made two children who are now making children too. That's the biggest achievement of all. I live in Glasgow, Scotland and Rathlin Island, Ireland.
If you want to get in touch you can email me: margot@purpletv.tv. If you'd like me to attend a literature event then please have a look at my Scottish Book Trust profile.
Writing stranger.
It's been an incredibly busy year with work and family commitments and consequently it has been forever since I had the opportunity to pick up the first draft of my third novel. 9 months perhaps, maybe more? I'm not sure, I'm writing the novel on Scrivener (I'm in the love it camp) and I'm not… Continue reading Writing stranger.
Easter weekend viewing!
Two films that I had the utmost privilege to write, produce and direct were broadcast on BBC ALBA last weekend. It was the culmination of a really invigorating period of work that was as rewarding as it was challenging (filming in a pandemic is not the easiest) but I'm incredibly proud of the outcome and… Continue reading Easter weekend viewing!
Royal Television Society Award
The Royal Television Society Scotland held their annual awards ceremony on the 6th of February (online, so no fancy tux required - it was comfies, slippers and a wee cheeky prosecco 😏) and I was utterly thrilled to win the Royal Television Society Scotland award with my film The Women Who Built Glasgow City. I… Continue reading Royal Television Society Award
Media and Gender Equality @scotwomensport award – Active Scotland
This week sees Scottish Women in Sport host their annual awards for women in sport in Scotland. I've been lucky to have attended every awards dinner and event since the inception of the excellent SWiS and love the work the organisation does under the guidance of its CEO, Maureen McGonigle. Unfortunately I won't be able… Continue reading Media and Gender Equality @scotwomensport award – Active Scotland
Not Tartan and Square Sausage – Scottish author event
Please join myself and fellow Linen Press writers Ali Bacon and Charlotte Fairbairn at a literary event, via zoom, on the 17th November at 7pm. Hosted by Lynn Michell we'll be reading from our work and talking about Scottish writing and everything that this can mean around landscape, language and life. Expect a very lively… Continue reading Not Tartan and Square Sausage – Scottish author event
Sometimes a novel sings, but will it fly? Of Crawdads and River Songs.
If you haven’t read Where the Crawdads Sing, I think you may have heard of it. At the last count it had 53,000 ratings on a certain review site (which I assume equates to many, many more sales) or you could check it out on the ‘unaffiliated’ Goodreads. I’m not going to write a full review but I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Kya, abandoned by her parents to make a life for herself in the marshlands of North Carolina. Kya finds the key to her future when a boy neighbour teaches her to read but she still can’t escape the prejudice of the local community. It’s a great read and worthy of making the impact it has achieved.
However for me the biggest question it raised was how another book of similar character and equal power has remained largely unnoticed. It’s some time since I read…
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Hope springs eternal in football.
It was lovely to be asked to write a piece for the Sunday Post today. The remit was France 98 and I wrote about my memories of watching my children watch the Scotland men's team play their opening match against Brazil. I had the absolute honour to travel to France to follow Scotland's women's team… Continue reading Hope springs eternal in football.
Spreading the word one listener and reader at a time.
We writers love the opportunity to talk about our books as reaching readers isn't always easy. There are a lot of books in the world and many of these are marketed heavily by publishers with big budgets, contacts and reputations. As such, it is often harder for smaller (but equally valuable) presses to be heard,… Continue reading Spreading the word one listener and reader at a time.
Make mine a double, several times over.
Last weekend, there was an extract from the opening chapter of my novel Almost Then published in the Sunday Post newspaper. Two of the central characters of the novel are twins, sister and brother Rathlin and Breacán. In the article, alongside the book extract, there's an interview with me about the extent to which twins… Continue reading Make mine a double, several times over.
Margot McCuaig 