Books published by Vagabond Voices

With a Scottish professor of politics as his guide, a London-based Italian journalist traverses Scotland seeking a "e;big story"e; on the independence referendum. What he gets instead are small stories from myriad points of view: a Ukrainian nationalist, a Russian religious guru, an eccentric Estonian, an Algerian and a dying man, amongst many others. After a chaotic romance with a Scottish campaigner, the journalist, aptly named Cinico de Oblivii, leaves his post in London and moves to Greece where, reflecting on his time in Scotland, he writes a memoir (this book). Through his anecdotes we encounter the full spectrum of ideas on Scottish independence, including the ones Cinico's editor didn't want to publish. Beyond exploring Scotland's political scene and its place in Europe, Cinico's stories examine how Europeans interpret each other and, more generally, how people interrelate within a social context. Like Voltaire's Candide, Cinico starts with the dominant mindset of his era, which is incapable of bringing him either understanding or contentment, but ends up with an awareness that, though insufficient for the elusive happiness we all seek, is sufficient enough for a perfectly acceptable human existence.

A novel from one of Latvia's leading writers of the late twentieth century, Nakedness explores the varying shades of truth through the lens of a mystery: a young man arrives in a small town searching for the woman with whom he's been exchanging love letters, only to learn that she's not who he thinks she is.

In this collection Emily Dickinson rubs shoulders with drag queens; 19th C German composers are as likely to be referenced as dating apps. Morrison balances punchy short poems with longer works that explore ways in which sex, class, technology and religion intertwine in contemporary Britain.

Until the Stormont Assembly collapsed in 2017, Northern Ireland had often been promoted in mainstream media as a newly prosperous, modern, post-conflict society. Written to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, this book argues that the seeds of recent problems were sown back in 1998 when the agreement was signed.

Joseph Kirkland, who is being brought up in a strict religious community, is torn between his beliefs and his non-religious friends and his own doubts. This witty and acutely observed novel does not take sides but reveals how humanity usually wins out where different world views coexist.

Olive's only been gone a day, but Grace knows she's been lost much longer. Her schoolmate's disappearance forces Grace to recall the dark secrets she and Olive still share, including the one that shattered their friendship. With the adults around her caught up in their own drama, Grace struggles to make sense of things before she too becomes lost.

Loose's seventh full collection night exposures lives right into its title: shining light into murky and overlooked corners which some might wish to be kept in the dark.

This disturbing story of sex, drugs and blasphemy in late seventeenth-century Edinburgh - and of life and ideas in a repressive state that belongs to our past, speaks to our times about how the human spirit remains curious even when curiosity is dangerous and imposes silence even between those who are close.

The universe has never been depicted so intimately, nor the mundane so infused with stellar significance as it is in the poetry of Vicki Husband. This debut collection is as inspired by quantum physics as it is by domestic drama. A lively and original collection.

Six essays on how to live a good life written by an Aberdeenshire farmer in 1913. A measured view of life as it was on the eve of the First World War, and a plea to take responsibility for others in society. Published for the first time.

A miscellaneous work consisting of three sections: aphorisms, essays and poetry. It deals with Scottish independence, the arts, religion, class in modern Britain, and host of other issues. Some overlap between the subject matter in the three sections, so the different approaches produce slightly different understandings.

The Garden is about Carl Linnaeus, a leading figure in the Swedish Enlightenment, famous for his taxonomy - a classification of animals and plants that is still used in modern biology. Linnaeus perceives things through his desire to categorise and therefore in relation to other things. His gardener perceives things for what they are in themselves - and for their beauty or usefulness. They often find themselves in dialogue, but rarely understand each other. We observe Linnaeus alone in thought, or teaching and conversing with his students, or tending to his poorly siblings. Florin draws us into these impressionistic fragments with brave, colourful prose. The Garden blossoms into a work of imagination and intrigue, unafraid to question the shape of our world and the roots of existence. This strange, ambitious novel is the first English translation of Magnus Florin's work; it became a bestseller in his native Sweden.