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I’ve been writing this blog since 2009, but there still seem to be plenty of interesting topics to mull over. You can subscribe (it’s free) to follow the blog by email – each new post will pop into your inbox.
My book is shortlisted for a Saltire prize
A little while ago I reported that my Nocturnes book was longlisted for a Saltire prize (the Saltires are Scotland's National Book awards). I'm happy to say that the book has now moved on to the shortlist. Exciting! I've just come back from the Cheltenham Literature...
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My new CD is released today
My new CD, Women and the Piano, a sort of audio companion to my 2024 book on the same subject, is released today by Hyperion Records. Why didn't it come out at the same time as the book, I hear you ask? Well, that would have been nice, but it's hard to bring a writing...
‘Nocturnes’ is longlisted for a Saltire award
A bit of nice news: my Nocturne book has been longlisted for a Saltire Book Award 2026. The Saltires are Scotland's national book awards, open to books about Scotland, topics relating to Scottish life and culture, or to authors of Scottish heritage. Since there are...
Three Book Festivals in the next month
It's book festival season, and I'm happy to have been invited to three festivals to talk about my Nocturne book. I'm putting the information here in case any of my readers lives nearby and would like to come along. Sunday 27 September at 4.30pm, Wigtown Book Festival,...
A smaller rugby ball
I was intrigued to hear recently that World Rugby is trialling a slightly smaller rugby ball for the women's game - a size 4.5 instead of the usual size 5. The reason: women's hands are on average 10-15% smaller than men's, so it could be argued that women players...
Martha Argerich at the Proms
I was fascinated by the TV relay of Martha Argerich playing Beethoven's 2nd piano concerto at the Proms with the Munich Philharmonic under conductor Lahav Shani. It had been well publicised that Martha Argerich is now 85. Many, perhaps most musicians have retired long...
Edinburgh Festival has come to an end for another year
The Edinburgh Festival, or should I say Festivals, have come to an end for another year. Several Festivals have been running concurrently - the International Festival, the Fringe, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and others (TV, art, the Tattoo). The city...
Edinburgh Fringe recital on 18 August
I'm preparing for my solo recital during the Edinburgh Fringe. It's in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral on Tuesday 18 August at 3.30pm. (Click on the link for programme details.) Admission is free. My programme is a sort of audio companion to my book on Nocturnes, and...
Australian ‘Late Night Live’ interview now available to listen to
The other day I did an interview about my Nocturne book for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's flagship 'Late Night Live' programme. Presenter David Marr and I talked about the character of nocturnes, their history, and why the piano has always been the most...
Hyperion releases a first track from my forthcoming album
I think I've mentioned that I have an album coming out on the Hyperion label in October. It's a selection of piano music by some of the women featured in my book Women and the Piano, and adopts the same title. I hope it will work as a sort of companion to the book,...
CDs as artefacts you like to own
On the radio the other day they were talking about albums of recorded music, and whether the concept of 'an album' still makes any sense in an era of singly streamed tracks. Commentators thought that there were certain albums, for example Amy Winehouse's 'Back to...
‘You can’t allow the ball to eat you’
This week I've been watching quite a lot of sport - World Cup football and Wimbledon tennis matches. I'm a latecomer to sports fandom and, to be honest, I only follow the big tournaments. The rest of the year, sport fades from my consciousness. But I still feel one...
‘Give, not show’
We had a great evening the other night in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh (see photo), listening to the four young finalists in the Directors' Recital Prize competition run every year by St Mary's Music School. The competition is open to the final two years...
Gramophone review of my Nocturne book
The July issue of Gramophone has a review of my Nocturne book. The link doesn't always seem to give access to the full article, so here's the text: Claire Jackson reads Susan Tomes’s survey of the history of a genre – Nocturnes and the Fascination of Night Music 'I...
Readings Podcast about ‘Nocturnes’
My Nocturne book has just come out in Australia. I recently did a podcast interview about it for Readings Books in Melbourne, 'Australia's favourite independent bookstore'. The interviewer is Nico Callaghan. The podcast is hosted by the bookstore and you can listen to...