Acclaimed languages and human interest journalist

Hello! My name's Emma Guinness and I'm a freelance NCTJ Gold Standard journalist with bylines around the world. 

I specialise in covering human interest stories, film and television, and topics of societal and historical interest. 

My work has featured in the likes of Cosmopolitan and Stylist magazines as well as national newspapers including the Independent, the Metro and the Daily Mail.

I am also an award-winning Scots language author and publish my fiction separately under the name Grae. 

I am a regular commentator on Scots language news at the National and was featured in the Saltire Society's 40 Under 40 list for my work in the languages category. 

While I am predominately based in Edinburgh, I am available for in-person work in London and Glasgow – as well as remote shifts anywhere in the world.

Recent Articles

Language should not be used to distract from the real issues

A teacher in Scotland told me children still are told off for using Scots –namely saying aye instead of yes – despite the fact that it’s been proven that a wider vocabulary and multilingualism improve literacy.

While there’s no doubt that English literacy is important, Scots literacy has benefited my life in many ways – connecting me to other speakers and allowing me to capture a sense of what it means to be Scottish today as a writer.

But despite the benefits of Scots being clear, an an...

Scottish teachers encouraged to create AI children’s books

As a Scots language children’s author, I was outraged when I heard about the development from fellow Scottish author Kirstin Innes, who shared a screenshot from the body on Instagram – which initially went unchallenged when it was shared to Facebook in February. I proceeded to immediately reshare the post, stressing my heartbreak that such a thing even exists. The post read: “As it’s #NationalStorytellingWeek we thought it was a good time to tell you about an excellent tool available via Glo...

We won’t save Scots and Gaelic if learners are slated for mistakes

This issue was brought to my mind when Len Pennie, the creator of the viral Scots Word of the Day, was left in tears after she made grammatical errors on a podcast while speaking Spanish. Pennie has not spoken the language for several years because she associates it with a traumatic time in her life. But when she pushed past her demons to do so, she was bombarded with comments telling her that her Spanish was bad. Pennie said that while “not being very good is not a crime”, she was “anno...

My viral post in Scots sparked a lot of insight into how people see our language

In fact, there are only a few hundred folk regularly writing in Scots in 2026. That’s likely why I went viral for daring to scrieve in the leid on social media and was dubbed the “final boss of performative Scots”.

I’ve been writing in Scots for more than a decade but I didn’t even realise it was a language in its own right until I was editing my first novel, Be Guid Tae Yer Mammy. However, the signs were there, even if my formal Scots education was non-existent.

My great-grandfather emu...

The Holiday actor who escaped 'Misfits curse' after death of co-stars

The Holiday might be a modern Christmas favourite, but few people watching realise that one of its stars actually escaped the 'Misfits curse' that seemingly claimed the lives of his costars way back in the 1960s. We are, of course, referring to the late, great Eli Wallach, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 98, and lend his talents to the role of Arthur Abbot in the 2006 Christmas film. Like the cha...

Is Netflix dumbing down? How 'double screening' could mark death of TV

Now that we are living in the age of doomscrolling, Netflix writers have admitted that they are actively creating shows that will still appeal to those who can't put their smartphones down. In what some might describe as the dumbing down of entertainment, shows are reportedly opting for simpler plot lines, along with regular recaps of what has happened so far to keep the attention of absent-minded viewer...

Strictly's Amy Dowden says why she refuses to look at rumoured line-up

Strictly Come Dancing's Amy Dowden says she had the 'hardest time' after ringing the chemotherapy bell when she completed her cancer treatment. The professional dancer, now in remission, is hoping to raise awareness of the importance of checking in with people even after they have got the all-clear from cancer. 'I was so lucky with my friends and family; they rallied around us, but there's so many people who to...

Stunning Scots beach hits market for less six months' rent in Edinburgh

A stunning Scottish beach has hit the market for a bargain £7,000. Located on the beautiful Shapinsay Island in Orkney, the freehold 200sqm piece of land has been described as a "fantastic investment opportunity". The average rent in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh hit a whopping £1,424 per month in March 2025.This means that for less than half a year's rent, you could potentially bag yourself your own slice of paradise - as long as you don't mind living in a remote location. With stunning view...

Twiggy fans find out how the model got her nickname aged 15

Fashion model Twiggy - real name Dame Lesley Lawson - was one of the biggest names of the Swinging Sixties, but few people know how she got her famous nickname. Famed for her large, dark eyes and short, bobbed hairstyle, her looks have inspired generations and saw her named the 'The Face of '66'. But even before she was scouted for an interview by a Daily Mirror fashion journalist at the age of just 16, her lo...

Scots leid makes media more likely to stand test of time – but why?

I mention film and TV first, as while the Outlander books have been a hit since the 90s, it has only been in recent years, hot on the heels of the TV adaptation, that the Dictionaries of the Scots Language noticed a spike in searches for niche Scots words and decided to create this new resource of 100 words from Outlander for linguistically curious fans. This interest in the leid, which is used in in the series following the painstaking historical research of its author, Diana Gabaldon, is v...