Doug Johnstone

Who is Doug Johnstone?

Doug Johnstone is a writer, musician and journalist based in Edinburgh. His new novel, Smokeheads, is published by Faber and Faber on 3 March 2011. He has previously published two novels with Penguin, Tombstoning and The Ossians, which received praise from the likes of Irvine Welsh, Ian Rankin and Christopher Brookmyre.

Doug is currently writer in residence at the University of Strathclyde. He has had several short stories appear in various publications, and since 1999 he has worked as a freelance arts journalist, primarily covering music and literature. He is a singer, musician and songwriter in several bands, including Northern Alliance, part of the Fence Collective. Northern Alliance have released four albums, as well as recording an album as a fictional band called The Ossians.

Doug has a degree in physics, a PhD in nuclear physics and a diploma in journalism. He grew up in Arbroath and lives in Portobello, Edinburgh with his wife and two children.