Previous IssuesThe Bottle Imp is published twice-yearly. If you would like to know as soon as each new edition is available, you can add your email address to our mailing list. 2009Issue 6 (November) is the current issue. Issue 5 (May) Consciously created, maintained in the teeth of North Britishness, preserved in poetry and song, in literature and sporting rivalries, the Scottish national identity is a curious beast. It is a mixture, an amalgam, formed of lumps and lights and broken pieces, spiced and dressed and crammed around inside itself, running around the bens and glens. In this, fifth issue of The Bottle Imp, we open up the creature for a thorough investigation, warm-reekin, rich ... 2008Issue 4 (November) Thomas Carlyle called history "the true epic poem and universal divine scripture". Henry Ford called it "mostly bunk". Between these two philosophies hang the histories of literature, and the literatures of history. Scotland is steeped in one, and drenched in the other; the perfect place for The Bottle Imp to probe the debateable borderlands between the fictional, the factual and the actual. Issue 3 (May) This issue, The Bottle Imp braves thunderbolts and assaults the very jaws of Hell itself, as we roll an eye towards Religion. Perhaps here we’ll find at least one root of our distinction: undoubtedly this one runs deep indeed, and often crooked! But we’ll pull on it and see what might spring up… 2007Issue 2 (November) In this, our second issue, we range far and wide, crossing oceans and exploring literary polities both real and imaginary. Clyde-built, The Bottle Imp sails forth once more into the seething waters of the world-wide web: we hope you have a pleasant voyage! Issue 1 (May) Welcome to the first edition of The Bottle Imp, the Scottish Studies ezine of the Scottish Writing Exhibition. Why The Bottle Imp? The name, of course, is stolen from one of Stevenson's short stories. As a symbol of Scotland's ability to see beyond itself, to go outside its borders – whether for honour, or for glory, or for riches, or even just for the climate – it seemed appropriate. We hope that we, too, might contain something surprising! |