New Skin for the Old Ceremony

New Skin for the Old Ceremony follows four estranged friends reunited for a motorcycle trip up the Isle of Skye in the hope of coming to terms with how their lives have splintered since a transformative ride in Northern India years earlier. In their fumbling attempts to spiritually reconnect, expectant father Raj, recently widowed Vidushei, perpetually youthful Liam, and perpetually fragile Bobby test the limits of their friendship around campfires, on twisty roads, in unexpected Ayahuasca ceremonies, and against discussions of belonging, race, and identity. A novel about youth, the ghosts of friendship, and growing up as a mixed-race person in a small but fiercely proud nation, the characters exorcise past ghosts in order to face the present.

Arun Sood is a Scottish-Indian writer, musician and academic working across multiple forms. He was born in Aberdeen to a West-Highland Mother and Punjabi father. Arun's critical and creative practice ranges from academic publications, editorials and poetry to ambient musical tapestries. hIS outputs engage with diasporic identities, mixed-race heritage, ancestry, language and memory.