Fiona Rintoul

I’m a writer, translator and journalist. I write novels, short stories and poetry.

My first novel, The Leipzig Affair, is set in the former East Germany, and was informed by the time I spent in East Germany as a student. It was short-listed for the Saltire first book of the year award and serialised on BBC R4’s Book at Bedtime. I’m very interested in the Cold War period and connected issues, such as freedom of expression and democratic ideals.

I’m a linguist by training and am fluent in French and German. In 2014, I completed Outside Verdun, a new English translation of Arnold Zweig’s first world war classic, Erziehung vor Verdun.

I’ve worked on many collaborative creative events, including Words 2008, a writing exhibition at the Mitchell Library that featured workshops, film, open mic and panel discussions, and The Stasi Are Among Us, a strand about banned East German films and literature at the 2011 Glasgow Film Festival. Most recently, I worked on a filmpoem with film-maker Susan Kemp and musician Tom Lyne.

(Photo credit: Peter Edwards)