"My God, can she write a line!"

Check our the Scotsman Weekend magazine for an interview with Gabriel Quigley, who has adapted The Girls of Slender Means for the forthcoming Royal Lyceum production. In adapting Muriel Spark’s novel about an all-female London boarding house, Gabriel Quigley has tried to home in on the humour, she tells Mark Fisher.

Mastermind Champion - with a little help from Muriel Spark

Congratulations to Ruth Hart from Glasgow who was crowned Mastermind Champion for 2024; she won her semi-final heat with the novels of Muriel Spark as her specialist subject. Charity Engagement Manager, Ruth Hart, from Glasgow was crowned the 2024 Mastermind Champion in another thrilling Grand Final on Monday 1 April on BBC Two, concluding the show’s 51st series. Ruth won the Final with 28 points, scoring a perfect 15/15 in her specialist subject, the artist Francis Bacon. This was the first time Ruth had ever applied to a TV quiz show and the first time she'd ever been on TV. Ruth said of her win: “I was hugely surprised. I really couldn’t believe it, especially because things got off to a terrible start in the general knowledge round! I remember thinking I just needed to keep going and when the buzzer went I really expected Clive [Myrie] to say ‘Oh you’ve just missed it’. It’s all a total blur and I was flabbergasted as I didn’t have any expectations at the start. I had no experience of being on TV, or competitive quizzing, I just watched programmes at home myself – I’d never put it to the test, though!”

Mastermind - the novels of Muriel Spark

Congratulations are due to the contestant on last night's Mastermind who won her heat answering on the novels of Muriel Spark. This has secured her a place in next week's final. If you missed it, you can catch up on BBC iplayer. How would you do? Part of me is sad though - this would have been my specialist subject! Perhaps I could answer on Dame Muriel's life ...?

Time to Play - Norma Allan

James Gilliespie's alumnus Norma Allan launches her new book of poems, Time to Play, at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on March 6 2.30pm. Free tickets can be obtained via the SSC website or Box Office. Norma delivered our online lecture on the 60th anniversary of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 2021.

Memento Mori and Many Primes ....

Head over to BBC4 tonight to see again the BBC adaptation of Memento Mori followed by Kirsty Wark's 2018 Centenary documentary on Muriel Spark ...

Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Gondola of Doom

Our esteemed member and author Olga Wojtas will launch her new novel at Blackwell's, South Bridge, Edinburgh on 18 January 7pm. Tickets are free on the Blackwell's website. Never underestimate a librarian. Fifty-something Edinburgh librarian Shona is a proud former pupil of the Marcia Blaine School for Girls, but has a deep loathing for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which she thinks gives her alma mater a bad name. Impeccably educated and an accomplished linguist, mathematician, martial artist, and musician, Shona is selected by Marcia Blaine herself to travel back in time for a crucial mission in Venice. Finding the city afflicted by what appears to be a new outbreak of the plague, Shona soon encounters the Cornetto family of gondoliers. Lately, a number of their passengers have met a watery fate. Coincidence? Unlikely. She dons a mask, goes undercover and seeks inspiration in the library. But the mystery only deepens. Why do the Cornettos seem so flaky and their explanations wafer-thin, even as they proclaim their innocence? What is going on at the printworks? Shona’s powers of deduction, dissection and prowess as a swimmer are put to the test as she realises that a bitter feud is at play. Can Shona unravel the tapestry of lies and get to the truth? It’s a race against time, but it would be a mistake to underestimate a librarian.