I KNOW it’s a bit early, but all at Northings would like take the opportunity of wishing our readers and contributors a very Happy Christmas and a Good New Year.

In January we finally reach the official launch of Highland 2007, and we will be featuring an eve-of-action interview with Fiona Hampton that will go on-line on 1 January (although, of course, Fiona and her team – and a whole lot more folks besides – have been hard at work for a long time already on this massive project).

The official launch of H2007 will take place at the Monster Street Party planned for Old New Year night in Inverness on 12 January, an event which promises to be a memorable extravaganza. The year-long celebration which it heralds is an unprecedented opportunity for the Highlands & Islands to undertake a sustained awareness raising campaign, and to show off the cultural riches of the area.

The Scots Trad Music Awards come north to Fort William for the first time this year after three successful events in Edinburgh, and Highlands & Islands artists feature prominently in the list of nominations.

January in Glasgow brings the annual megabash that is Celtic Connections, with a even bigger programme this year. It is Donald Shaw’s first festival as artistic consultant (which basically means programmer), and we wish him well. Our interview with Donald will remain on the top level of the site until after the festival.

This month’s main interview is with that man-of-many-parts from Portree, Arthur Cormack. We caught up with the singer during Cliar’s recent short tour, and covered not only the band, but also his work with Fèisean nan Gàidheal and the Blas Festival in the course of our chat (and that was without getting to his running of Macmeanmna Records).

Staying in the west, Meg Rodgers provides the latest instalment in our Arts Folk series from the Western Isles. We move north and east for the HITN Profile, featuring Grey Coast Theatre in Caithness (and, as usual, George Gunn has forceful opinions to air).

We are continuing our policy of treating December and January as a “double issue”, and both of these pieces will remain in place until the end of January. There will be new material going up on site throughout the two months, however, so keep checking back as usual.

Finally, we are running a seasonal short story competition this year, the brainchild of Peter Urpeth, the HI-Arts Writing Development Coordinator. See our news section for details of what is required and how to enter, but you will have to be quick.

Kenny Mathieson
Commissioning Editor, Northings

Kenny Mathieson lives and works in Boat of Garten, Strathspey. He studied American and English Literature at the University of East Anglia, graduating with a BA (First Class) in 1978, and a PhD in 1983. He has been a freelance writer on various arts-related subjects since 1982, and contributes to the Inverness Courier, The Scotsman, The Herald, The List, Times Educational Supplement Scotland, and other publications. He has contributed to numerous reference books, and has written books on jazz and Celtic music.