Miriam Margoyles on Edinburgh Fringe present and Glasgow homecoming

It was Mark Twain who as soon as mentioned that studies of his dying had been drastically exaggerated.

But when newspaper studies recommended Miriam Margoyles was unable to be on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this 12 months as a result of she was at dying’s door, she took to social media to denounce them.

“I was furious. It’s weird when you read that you’re about to die. We’re all dying. We all know that. But not yet,” she mentioned.

Now 84, she has returned for a second 12 months with a present about herself, and her love of Charles Dickens.

“I have a passion for him, which has only increased. And there’s still so much that I’ve got to read,” she mentioned.

“He wrote over 14,000 letters and I haven’t included any of the letters, because there isn’t time. But I want to read them, so I’m still smashed on him really.”

She received an LA Critics Circle award for her efficiency as Flora Finching within the 1988 movie adaptation of Little Dorrit and sometimes brings to life different Dickens ladies together with Little Nell, Ms Havisham, Mrs Gamp and Mrs Micawber.

She says she’s shocked to search out herself in her 80s making a residing from each writing and appearing.

“I never thought I’d be able to do that, but you’ve discovered as you get older that there are possibilities,” she mentioned.

“And that’s what I want to absolutely tell people who are over 80. You haven’t finished.”

Born in Oxford in 1941, her father was a service provider navy physician who grew up within the Gorbals space of Glasgow and as she talks about him, she naturally slips again into the accent he stored for all of his 96 years.

In 2002, she was again within the metropolis for a play, and determined to search for the home in Pollokshields the place her mother and father lived earlier than transferring to Oxford.

“I always remember I knocked on the door of the house where they had lived,” she recalled

“And the lady who opened it said Oh, what are you doing here?

“And I mentioned, ‘Well, I’m really working within the vagina monologues’.

“And as soon as I said vagina, she shut the door in case the neighbours heard because you don’t say vagina in Pollokshields.”

Margoyles is known for her alternative vocabulary, and because the social media retort illustrates, she’s not shy about talking out. I ask if that is a good thing about age.

“I’m sorry to say I’ve always been like that,” she mentioned.

“And I’m very watchful now, because it’s so second nature.

“I do not wish to upset folks however I get pleasure out of those naughty phrases.”

She added: “I believe they’re so descriptive and so they give everyone a little bit of a thrill and I prefer to see folks shocked, I’ve to say.”

Her fourth book, The Little Book of Miriam, will be released in the autumn accompanied by a tour of the UK to promote it.

“It’s for the rest room and it is alphabetical,” she mentioned.

“It’s designed for constipation, so that individuals will preserve coming again and keep to learn it.”

As a high-profile Jewish woman, she has been criticised for her stance on Gaza.

There have been calls for her to be stripped of her OBE because she compared the Israeli government’s actions to the Nazis during the Holocaust in an interview with the Big Issue.

At the time, she said: “I can’t bear to suppose that my individuals are doing precisely the identical factor to a different nation.”

But she is adamant she opposes Israel’s role in the conflict.

“They speak about cancel, being cancelled, however no one’s going to cancel me, I’m not having it,” she mentioned.

“I do not suppose folks ought to use that expression. Everybody ought to be capable of categorical their opinion.

“What Israel is doing to Palestine is wicked and it’s totally against our upbringing as Jews.”

Margolyes and Dickens: More Best Bits is at Pleasance at EICC, Pentland Theatre, Edinburgh till 24 August.