{"product_id":"pretty-ugly-event-with-kirsty-gunn-wednesday-20th-november-2024","title":"Pretty Ugly Event with Kirsty Gunn - Wednesday 20th November 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003eJoin us in the bookshop to hear Kirsty Gunn in conversation with Dan Richards about her collection of short stories, \u003cem\u003ePretty Ugly.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6.30pm on Wednesday 20th November at Golden Hare Books, 68 St Stephen Street EH3 5AQ.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBuy a copy of \u003cem\u003ePretty Ugly\u003c\/em\u003e and receive free entry to the event, or choose our ticket-only option for £5 (which can be used towards a purchase of the book at the event.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout \u003cem\u003ePretty Ugly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFiercely conflicting energies are in play in these sparkling stories, as\u003cbr\u003eKirsty Gunn at once lavishly evokes and savagely destroys the worlds of\u003cbr\u003epropriety and respectable community.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eContradictions (both real and apparent), oppositions, enigmas, provocations,\u003cbr\u003echallenges - this is the kind of material that makes a life, and is the kind\u003cbr\u003eof material that, in fiction, one is never quite sure of. With \u003cem\u003ePretty Ugly,\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKirsty Gunn reminds us again that she is a master of just such material,\u003cbr\u003epresenting ambiguity and complication as the essence of the storyteller’s\u003cbr\u003eendeavour.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe sheer force of life that Gunn is able to load these stories up with is\u003cbr\u003eboth testament to her unrivalled skill and an exercise in what she describes\u003cbr\u003eas ‘reading and writing ugly’, in order to pursue the deeper truths that lie\u003cbr\u003eat the heart of both the human imagination and human rationality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSo here we have all the strange and seemingly impossible dualities that make\u003cbr\u003eup real life - and pretty ugly it can be, as well as beautiful, hopeful,\u003cbr\u003ebleak, difficult, exhilarating. But never, ever dull.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout Kirsty\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eGunn\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKirsty Gunn has published six works of fiction and three short story\u003cbr\u003ecollections. Her books have been translated in over a dozen territories, been\u003cbr\u003ewidely anthologised, been broadcast, turned into film and dance theatre, and\u003cbr\u003ehave also won multiple prizes and awards including the Edge Hill Prize for\u003cbr\u003eShort Stories, the Scottish Book of the Year, as well as a shortlisting for\u003cbr\u003ethe Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. A regular contributor to\u003cbr\u003ea range of international newspapers and magazines, she is also Professor of\u003cbr\u003eWriting Practice and Study at the University of Dundee, where she established\u003cbr\u003eand directs the writing programme. She lives in London and Scotland with her\u003cbr\u003ehusband and two daughters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout Dan Richards\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDan Richards is an acclaimed non-fiction writer specialising in art, travel and adventure. His first book, \u003cem\u003eHolloway\u003c\/em\u003e – co-authored with Robert Macfarlane and illustrated by Stanley Donwood – was published by Faber and became a Sunday Times bestseller. Dan’s second book, \u003cem\u003eThe Beechwood Airship Interviews \u003c\/em\u003etook a journey into the creative process, headspaces and workplaces of some of Britain’s celebrated artists and craftsman including Bill Drummond, Dame Judi Dench, Jenny Saville, Manic Street Preachers and Stewart Lee.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eClimbing Days\u003c\/em\u003e is an exploration of the writing and climbing lives of Dan’s great-great-aunt and uncle, Dorothy Pilley and I. A. Richards. Using Dorothy’s 1935 mountaineering memoir as a guide, Dan climbed across Europe, ending with an ascent of the mighty Dent Blanche in the high Alps of Valais.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis latest title is \u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eOutpost\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003ea book about far-flung shelters and eyries, isolation and wilderness. Asking what draws people to the ends of the world,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eOutpost\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003efeatures visits to Cairngorm bothies, French lighthouses, Japanese shrines, Icelandic \u003cspan\u003esæluhús\u003c\/span\u003e, and polar bears in Svalbard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDan’s next book, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eOvernight\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, will be published by Canongate in March 2025.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Golden Hare Books","offers":[{"title":"Book \u0026 Ticket","offer_id":53572992270709,"sku":"9781914236419","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0289\/5334\/6096\/files\/Kirsty_Gunn.jpg?v=1727696494","url":"https:\/\/goldenharebooks.pro\/products\/pretty-ugly-event-with-kirsty-gunn-wednesday-20th-november-2024","provider":"Golden Hare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}