Section Navigation:
Edinburgh, the Writers' City
Historical Edinburgh
Edinburgh is famous for being a city of literature and has been home to many great authors. Even the city's main train station, 'Waverley', is named after a novel by Sir Walter Scott.
Scott is also the subject of an enormous gothic monument that is the focal point of Princes Street, Edinburgh's famous shopping area.
If you want follow in famous writers' footsteps, Andrew Lownie's book 'The Edinburgh Literary Companion' is a great place to start your journey. But it is not just writers of the past that Edinburgh is famous for. Many of the city's modern-day authors are now household names around the world.
Today's Authors
Writers such as Ian Rankin, Irvine Welsh, Alexander McCall-Smith and adopted Scot J K Rowling all prove that these days Edinburgh is still a thriving environment for writers of all genres and nationalities.
In 2004, Edinburgh was named UNESCO City of Literature, the first of hopefully many cities to take this title. The project is about making new networks and links, and developing a love of literature in the future.
Edinburgh aims to create an international model for a worldwide network of cities of literature and to develop partnerships with other cities with strong literary profiles and aspirations.
2006 Edinburgh City of Literature
Across Scotland in 2006 there are lots of opportunities to benefit from Edinburgh being the City of Literature, including literary tours, festivals and events taking place in libraries and bookshops.
One of the aims of the City of Literature project is to encourage writers and give them a sense of community. They provide literary salons for writers to discuss all topics from agents to writing and the love of writing.
Susie Maguire
An Edinburgh-based writer who has been involved with the City of Literature project is Susie Maguire.
She first became involved during the Edinburgh Fashion Festival, taking part in a treasure hunt event providing literary clues that people could follow through the boutiques of Edinburgh.
"There are so many events happening you can be as involved as you like," Susie explains. "Even though writers tend to be solitary, they still need to be able to network and develop links with each other.
"The City of Literature project is really starting to take off. A great thing I particularly like is the giving away of copies of Stevenson's novel 'Kidnapped' which is a wonderful book that has inspired me. It is the original road movie in book form with fantastic escape scenes."
Since the 1980s, Susie has seen first hand the development of Edinburgh as a modern centre of literature and writers.
"People used to think that if you were an actor, comedian or writer you had to go to London to have a career but I've never found a good enough reason to leave!"
Although Susie has lived in a number of different places and believes she could write anywhere in Scotland, she feels she is an urban writer interested in the interactions between people in our modern media-driven world.
Edinburgh offers plenty of opportunities for inspiration, historical and modern, from the Gallery of Modern Art to Arthur's Seat and the Writers' Museum.
Susie says: "Even just walking around the New Town looking at the plaques and seeing who has been there before you is inspirational.
"This is a great time to come to Edinburgh as a writer. There has never been more Scottish publishing. It is a thriving city of craftspeople including the literary craft and there is a connection on every street you walk down."
A former actor, comedian and TV presenter Susie Maguire is the author of two short story collections: 'The Short Hello' (2000) and 'Furthermore' (2005).
She is also co-editor of three anthologies: 'Scottish Love Stories' (1995), 'Hoots! Scottish Comic Writing' (1997) and 'Something Wicked, Scottish Crime Fiction' (1999) all published by Polygon.
Susie's new Anthology of sixteen stories, 'Little Black Dress', was published on 23 March 2006.
Related Links:
Register for updates
Enter your details to receive email updates for Scotland is the Place. More about registration