Edinburgh Author’s are Top of the Books

Mark Renton, John Rebus, Ruby Lennox, and Harry Potter; four totally different characters from the minds of four totally different authors, yet each have helped in their own way, to confirm the strength of Edinburgh as a top city on the UK's contemporary literary map.

Last week, Waterstone's announced that books by four of the city’s top authors have been voted amongst the best reads of the past 25 years after a poll of the chain’s 5000 stores.

Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling, Behind the Scenes at The Museum by Kate Atkinson and Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, all made it into a top 100 poll of the chain's 5000 booksellers.

Rankin, put forward for the first book in his Inspector Rebus series, said: "I'm thrilled that Knots and Crosses appears on the list. It was written when I was a 25-year-old student and was never meant to be the beginning of a series. Little did I know it was the start of something big."

Harry Potter Immortalised on Postage Stamps

Scottish author JK Rowling has had her popular Hogwarts characters immortalised on postage stamps in France.

The collection of ten stamps featuring Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, were unveiled at La Fete du Timbre et de l'Ecrit 2007 (Festival of Stamps and Writing), which runs for the month of March in 118 cities and villages around France.

The release of the stamps comes during the build up to the next Harry Potter instalment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is due for release on July 21st. The stamps are the result of collaboration between Warner Bros. Consumer Products and La Poste, the French Postal.

"To be immortalized on a postal stamp ranks among the highest of honours," said Brad Globe, WB Consumer Products supremo.

The Harry stamp can be used for domestic priority mail, the Ron Weasley stamp for slow domestic mail, and the Hermione Granger stamp for international mail.

The Harry Potter images will also appear on other stationary material, such as Harry Potter writing paper, a correspondence kit and a stamp album.

The stamps will only be available for a limited time from participating post offices in France. They cost 6.18 Euros (£4.20).