Edinburgh, 2000Order a print or digital copy by contacting Gordon Wright
you shouldnae believe all you read on bus stops
(Born Free)
Laura Hird's career path when she left school at sixteen took her on the unscenic route, via envelope stuffing and filling tubs with coleslaw, to a course in contemporary writing at Middlesex Polytechnic. In 1996, Rebel Inc editor Kevin Williamson, in the guise of Kevinnachio Vilhelmsonya (Continental-Style Coach), explained that he had picked her for the Children of Albion Rovers 'team' because he wanted 'forwards who don't pollute the game with their predictable technique'. One predictable thing about Laura Hird was that she would go from strength to strength as a writer. Her 1998 short story collection Nail and Other Stories blended harshness and humour with a telling capacity to shock. She was swiftly recognised as one of the hottest literary talents on the Scottish scene, and Born Free (1999) was shortlisted for the 2000 Whitbread First Novel Award. The title sets the tone for this ironic tale of the everyday urban life of an Edinburgh family imprisoned in their very own DIY domestic hell.
NLS Acc.11988
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