Born in Yorkshire, 1945. Had a happy childhood – sorry about that! No ‘mispers’ there!Mary Irvine’s Blog: The Eve of Destruction – again?
I care about my planet, Earth. I worry about its future. The majority of people would admit that Man is destroying the Earth and, ultimately, Mankind. In respect of the latter probably no bad thing. Perhaps Man has a built-in defect – a self-destruct button. So let him do it. Start again. The problem is […]
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Tuesday, December 29, 2020 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene, Writing for the Festive Season
Mary Irvine’s Blog: A Year to Remember – or forget..
As 2020 is rapidly coming to a close I decided to take stock of what I’ve actually done during the year. It Started Well The year started well. An earlier blog described my visit to friends down south, with trips to two London exhibitions and meeting up with Greek ex-students. My diary was filling up […]
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Friday, December 4, 2020 | Filed under: Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene, Pat's Home Page Blog, Writing
Mary Irvine’s Blog: Guy Fawkes – what if he had succeeded?
What if Guy Fawkes had succeeded… Mary Irvine’s take on what may have happened The whole country was in turmoil. King James was dead. Prince Henry, heir to the throne was dead. Prince Charles had disappeared. The Princess Elizabeth was said to be in Catholic hands. Thousands had died during and following the devastating destruction […]
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Tuesday, November 3, 2020 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine’s Blog: Something for Hallowe’en
Witch Hunting in Scotland Scotland was one of the countries in Europe where a lot of witch hunting took place. There were five national large scale witch hunts in Scotland between 1590 and 1662. Most of these were concentrated in the East Coast and the Borders, but there were also cases in the West. Not […]
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Tuesday, October 27, 2020 | Filed under: Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Hallowe'en in Glasgow, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene, Writing
Mary Irvine’s Blog: Emmett Till – How Far Have We Come…
(Emmett Till, 13-years-old, on Christmas Day, 1954. Photograph taken by Mamie Till Bradley Wikipedia) How Far Have We Come… Emmett Till was born in Chicago on July 25th 1941. His mother Mame (Mamie) was born in the small town of Weld, Mississippi but her family had moved to Chicago when she was two years old. […]
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Friday, July 31, 2020 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine: What Did You Do In Lockdown 2020?
I can imagine that will be a question asked many times in the future. So I looked at my diaries – I have two, one that I carry with me and one that lives next to a computer – and the answer they give is ‘Nothing’. Events crossed out and then a continuous blank. However, […]
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Saturday, July 25, 2020 | Filed under: Coronavirus, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine’s Blog: ‘Troy’ Exhibition at the British Museum
What’s not to like – for me – steeped in all of this? It wasn’t the story of the Trojan War. It was the story of the city of Troy itself so anyone who went along to see/hear a re-telling of Homer’s epic account would have been disappointed. This was a story of a city […]
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Friday, May 29, 2020 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine’s blog: Tutankhamun – Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh
The Mask I have been to several exhibitions of the treasures of the pharaohs, including the golden mask – twice! The first time was its visit to the British Museum in 1972. I took the milk train down from Hull and arrived at the museum at around 2.45 a.m. I was second in the queue […]
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Wednesday, April 22, 2020 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine: Closer than we thought
Mary Irvine and her friend S.C. Kamaluddin compare different cultures, the feasts of Easter and Eid and the practice of Lent and Ramadan. Lent Based on the lunar calendar, the dates are different each year. 40 days of fasting, prayer, moderation, almsgiving, self-denial. Prescribed as commemoration of Jesus’ time in the desert, so that one […]
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Wednesday, April 8, 2020 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine: Revived Controversy
“They were taken illegally, they were stolen.” “No, they weren’t, he had permission.” ‘They’ are the Parthenon Marbles, usually referred to as the Elgin marbles – slabs taken from the frieze of the Parthenon in Greece. ‘He’ is Lord Elgin, British Ambassador in Athens (1799 – 1803)’ The ‘illegal/legal’ removal debate of the marbles, together […]
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Tuesday, March 31, 2020 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine blogging about a break
I recently decided to take a break from computer and mobile ’phone – using the latter only for ‘emergencies’ (there weren’t any) or to confirm meetings of the pleasurable sort. Off I went for two weeks to stay with friends in Upminster, the last stop on the District Line. It was actually arranged by my […]
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Sunday, March 22, 2020 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
An Unwanted Gift by Mary Irvine
The pedlar had pushed the heavy hand-cart all the way from London. He was more used to a pack on his back but not this time. The cart was laden with the wonderful bolts of woollen cloth he had bought at a bargain price. He passed many villages on his journey but refused […]
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Monday, March 9, 2020 | Filed under: Coronavirus, Coronavirus stories and poems, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene, Writing
Mary Irvine’s Blog: Christmas Customs and Festivals
Christmas Customs Once again the rush is on and stress increases as the day draws near… I abolished, for myself, the commercialism of Christmas several years ago. It was the year I went to the post office and bought stamps which cost more than double the actual cards being sent. I also considered to whom […]
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Wednesday, December 11, 2019 | Filed under: Christmas Poems , Stories and Winter Tales, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene, Writing for the Festive Season
Mary Irvine’s blog: West Dunbartonshire Book Week November 2019
West Dunbartonshire Book Week November 2019 What a busy week! Monday kicked off with a very icy drive out to the Cove and Kilgreggan Literary Society who had kindly invited me to talk about my life in Greece and how it influenced my writing. I illustrated the talk with a slide show which I must […]
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Tuesday, November 26, 2019 | Filed under: Book and Event Reviews, Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine: Book Week Scotland 2020 – Events in West Dunbartonshire
Recommended events in Libraries in West Dunbartonshire Karen Campbell Crime novelist 18th November, 2019 7 p.m. Parkhall Library, Hawthorn Street G81 3EF David Pratt War Correspondent 19th November, 2019 7 p.m. Dalmuir Library, Lennox Place G81 4LX Paul Murdoch (Alexandria’s very own!) ‘Old Bloke Goes Running’ – a funny/serious approach to getting fitter… 20th November, […]
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Thursday, November 14, 2019 | Filed under: Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Events, Fairs, Festivals and Fundraisers, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
An Evening with Mary Irvine – ‘My Greek Love Affair’
Living, working and writing about The Land of the Hellenes Wednesday, 23rd October, 2019 – 7 p.m. Helensburgh Library, 59 W King St, Helensburgh G84 8EB Free entry/refreshments
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Friday, October 18, 2019 | Filed under: Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Paul Murdoch, Alexandria Writers + Open Mic
Tuesday, August 6th, 2019 – 7 p.m. The Balloch House Hotel, Balloch Road, Balloch G83 8LQ (five minutes from train station) The headliner for August is Paul Murdoch who may finally be revealing what he wants to be when he grows up. Paul Murdoch, born the son of a slater in 1961, began performing on […]
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Saturday, August 3, 2019 | Filed under: Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine’s Blog: Bruce Biddolph Outstanding as ‘The Inquisitor’
Peter Arnott’s play ‘The Inquisitor’ was recently performed by Bruce Biddolph at the Alexandria Library . The audience sat in a semi-circle in front of a table. A man entered. His dress implied he was someone of importance. An official, maybe. Collar, tie, smart jacket and trousers, highly polished shoes. The table became an office […]
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Start – Graham Morgan at Helensburgh Library
An Evening with local author… Graham Morgan will read from his memoir Start – hosted by Robin Lloyd Jones at the Helensburgh Library, 59 W King St, Helensburgh G84 8EB Wednesday 24th July, 7 p.m. Free entry/refreshments
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Tuesday, July 9, 2019 | Filed under: Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
An Evening with Multi Award winning author Robin Lloyd-Jones
Hosted by the Helensburgh Library and the Mackintosh Group review by Mary Irvine There was a full house at the Helensburgh Library on Wednesday, 29th May, 2019 for ‘An Evening with Robin Lloyd-Jones’. A brief introduction and Robin took over. He began by reading the very first piece he had had published, which was in […]
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Monday, June 3, 2019 | Filed under: Book and Event Reviews, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Dan Richards Booked! Festival 2019 review Mary Irvine
Dan Richards ‘Outpost: A Journey to the Wild Ends of the World’ Balloch Library Sunday 19th May 2019 This was my favourite event of this year’s festival. The great intrepid British explorer, risking life and limb to go where no man has gone before (or rarely, in this case) is not of a bygone age. […]
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Wednesday, May 29, 2019 | Filed under: Book and Event Reviews, Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine’s Blog: Ashurbanipal
A Long Needed Break Haven’t been away for some fifteen months. Just didn’t happen, partly because as I get older the less I want the hassle of travel. However, I saw there was an exhibition at the British Museum that I really wanted to see. It was a display of the reign of Ashurbanipal whom […]
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Monday, May 20, 2019 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Richard Holloway ‘Waiting for the Last Bus’ review Mary Irvine
Tuesday 14th May 2019 Booked! Festival of Words, West Dunbartonshire For several years now the ‘Booked! Booked! West Dunbartonshire Festival of Words has commenced its series of events with the Alistair Pearson Lecture at the Millennium Hall, Gartocharn. This year a tribute to this extraordinary man was given by James Macrea who gave a brief […]
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Robin Lloyd-Jones ‘A life in books’ Helensburgh Library
Wednesday 29th May, 2019 7 p.m. An Evening with local author… Robin Lloyd-Jones A life in Books’ at the Helensburgh Library Free entry/refreshments Since June 2018 a group of friends have gathered once a week in the Helensburgh Library to encourage and support each other in their writing. It is not a club so has no membership […]
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Thursday, May 16, 2019 | Filed under: Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Glasgow Writer: Mary Irvine
Mary Irvine, is a writer who hails from Yorkshire but has made her home near Glasgow. She is involved in numerous projects writing short stories, collaborating in producing local history pamphlets about Dumbarton with the illustrator Anne Marshall. Mary also works tirelessly promoting other authors through the many literary events she initiates and organises. Her […]
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Tuesday, May 14, 2019 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene, writers
Aye Write 2019! Sara Sheridan introduces Anne Griffin and Anstey Harris
Friday, 22nd March 2019 Mitchell Library Review by Mary Irvine The two authors being introduced were Anne Griffin and Anstey Harris. Both in the fifties, each has recently published her first novel. Anne Griffin is an Irish novelist living in Ireland. She has won recognition for her previous writings but ‘When All Is Said’ is […]
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Sunday, April 7, 2019 | Filed under: Aye Write Book Festival 2019, Book and Event Reviews, Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Aye Write 2019, Tom Shields review by Mary Irvine
Aye Write Festival 2019 Tom Shields Mitchell Library Sunday, 24th March 1.15 p.m. One of the many things I love about Glasgow and its people is the humour, the banter and, at the above event, I was not disappointed. Tom Shields is perhaps best known for the humorous ‘Tom Shields’ Diary’ which appeared in ‘The […]
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Tuesday, March 26, 2019 | Filed under: Aye Write Book Festival 2019, Book and Event Reviews, Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Aye Write: Kamal Ahmed: The Life and Times of a Very British Man review Mary Irvine
Aye Write Festival Friday, 22nd March, 2019 Royal Concert Hall The main theme of Kamal’s presentation was the notion of being British. What is it that makes anyone British? What is identity? Kamal’s mother was white English, his father Sudanese, making Kamal mixed race or half-caste in the parlance of the70s/80s when mixed marriages were […]
Aye Write 2019: ‘It’s Not About the Burqa’ Mariam Khan, Amna Saleem’ review Mary Irvine
Aye Write Festival 2019 3 p.m. Sunday, 17th March, Mitchell library It’s Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race – Mariam Khan, Amna Saleem When, in 2016, Mariam Khan read David Cameron’s comment that linked the radicalization of Muslim men to the ‘traditional submissiveness’ of Muslim women, she felt she should […]
Saturday, March 23, 2019 | Filed under: Aye Write Book Festival 2019, Book and Event Reviews, Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Neil Oliver at Aye Write 2019 review by Mary Irvine
Aye Write Festival 2019 Neil Oliver 11.30 a.m. -12.30 p.m. Saturday, March 16th Strathclyde Suite Royal Concert Hall Having driven through heavy snow (Alexandria), meeting heavy sleet (Dumbarton), being overcharged by Scotrail, then very cold rain (Glasgow) I finally arrived at the Royal Concert Hall for my first 2019 visit to the prestigious ‘Aye Write’ […]
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Wednesday, March 20, 2019 | Filed under: Aye Write Book Festival 2019, Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
