Writer, Filmmaker, Mother, Grandmother
On autumnal days, the sun folds into itself. Its exit leaves me wondering if I’m a stranger in my home. In a single turn of my wrist, I shift from shielding my eyes from the intense glare flooding the window, to turning on the lamp. It tuts at being forced into work so early in… Continue reading Notes of an ordinary life
Delighted to say my prizewinning story Keel is now available to read online in issue 38 of Impspired Magazine. The physical book version of the collection of wonderful stories and poetry will be published in January 2027. There's some lovely work in the issue so grab and cuppa, shut off the world (although to be… Continue reading Time for a story
I'm delighted to say that my short story Keel, an abridged narrative drawn from my as yet unpublished novel of the same name, has been announced as the trophy winner of the Impsired Soundwaves writing competition. The story is about female friendship and male coercive control and I will be performing it at a showcase… Continue reading Short story winner!
I made a documentary for BBC Radio 4. It's an autoethnographical piece, written and recorded on Rathlin Island, where my father was born, and where his remains now rest alongside my mother. The documentary is called The East Light. Here's the blurb: Margot McCuaig visits The East Light, a lighthouse on Rathlin which holds memories… Continue reading The East Light, BBC Radio 4
Yesterday, the 26th of May, marked six months since my beautiful daddy died on the 26th of November 2024. It also marks six painfully long months since I caressed my fingers around his, his voice no longer even a whisper, his light fading. In the early hours of that morning, I kissed him goodbye, praying… Continue reading Yesterday, today and tomorrow.
It has been forty two days since my dad died. In terms of a number it has no real meaning, not in the sense of it being aligned to a specific date, like a month or two months, or even a birthday or an anniversary. It is another day of losing him again. A day,… Continue reading Notes of a life
When we were making the funeral arrangements for my dad's requiem mass and committal, Friday the 13th emerged as the first available date, but I didn't baulk at it. A date with such negative connotations was fitting. How could anything be positive on the day I would publicly say goodbye to my father? As it… Continue reading By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man.
I was nine years old when my granny died, but I vividly recall her funeral on Rathlin Island. My dad and, his brothers, carried Granny's coffin from the chapel down church brae to the cemetery at the church at the bottom of the hill, facing the sea. Back then, that journey was referred to as… Continue reading An island tradition; the beauty of saying farewell
I love July. As a child growing up in Glasgow, July signified the start of the school holidays and the month we travelled to Ireland to see our grandparents on Rathlin Island. It has rooted me in the island and the tastes, sights and smells of this special month. The summer month. Sadly, my grandparents… Continue reading July is summer.
Introducing a video trailer for my new novel, Almost Then. https://videopress.com/v/WjrEIaDQ?resizeToParent=true&preloadContent=metadata Almost Then, by Margot McCuaig Edit, Kenny ParkSoundrack, Kenny Park Laura Waddell, author of Exit, UK Publishing Director and The Scotsman columnist – ‘In many ways a tight, classic family intrique, rich with resentments and estrangements, what distinguishes Almost Then is its strong sense of place…… Continue reading The official trailer has arrived…
