The Book Café - 28/06/2010

Scottish writer Jane Duncan made publishing history in the 1950s when, as a first time novelist, an unheard-of SEVEN of her books were accepted for publication by Macmillan. She went on to become a best selling author. So why have so few modern day readers heard of her? Blue Spine is an art installation made of blue books donated by women from all over Scotland to mark the Glasgow Women's Library's forthcoming move to the Mitchell Library. We'll be hearing the stories behind the books, including one given by a much-loved local hero. James Macaulay on why, even after everything that's been written about him, we haven't quite understood the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He'll be setting us straight. And Denise Mina will tell us about her recent experience teaching the young finalists of a fiction prize the secrets of writing a gripping tale.