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Dec 23, 20152 min read
That Was The Year That Was: It’s The Best Of 2015 Podcast…
Willie, Chris, Wesley and Ali For our “Best of 2015” podcast, Ian and Ali were joined by regular pod guest, Chris Ward, and Scottish...


Dec 8, 20152 min read
Contraband Of Brothers: The Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Talks to Graham Lironi & Graeme Macrae Burne
Graeme Macrae Burnet & Graham Lironi In the latest podcast, Ali talks to writers Graham Lironi and Graeme Macrae Burnet about their...


Dec 6, 20153 min read
William McIlvanney (1936-2015)
It can be argued, and I would, that William McIlvanney was one of the most influential Scottish writers of recent times. This is partly...


Dec 2, 20156 min read
Word Up!: Scots Whay Hae’s Best Books Of 2015…
You may have had your fill already of ‘Books Of The Year’ lists already, but we like to think that Scots Whay Hae’s selection is small,...


Nov 18, 20152 min read
BAFTAs for Barney Thomson: A Celebration And A Competition…
Undoubtedly a contender for the best Scottish film of 2015 is Robert Carlyle’s The Legend Of Barney Thomson. Scots Whay Hae! said as much...


Nov 16, 20152 min read
A Book At Lunchtime: The Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Talks To Kirstin Innes…
The latest podcast sees Ali in conversation with writer and journalist Kirstin Innes. The primary reason was to discuss her terrific...


Nov 14, 20154 min read
Don’t Look Back In Anger: Review Of Sophie Duffy’s Bright Stars…
Bright Stars is a book which welcomes you in and makes you feel like you belong, as if you are involved and invested in the unfolding...


Nov 8, 20155 min read
You Have Been Watching…Kill Your Friends
There have been some rather sniffy reviews about the film version of John Niven’s novel Kill Your Friends (and you can take that as a pun...


Nov 5, 20154 min read
Short & Sweet: A Review Of Janice Galloway’s Jellyfish…
*Janice Galloway’s short story collection Jellyfish feels like a call to arms on at least two fronts. In the Acknowledgements she...


Oct 13, 20152 min read
Soul Man: The Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Talks To Stuart Cosgrove…
The talk touches upon the astonishing rise and fall of Detroit and the city’s links with Scotland, Berry Gordy’s business model, the...


Oct 6, 20154 min read
Claret And Anger: A Review Of Graeme Macrae Burnet’s His Bloody Project…
It is all too rare that contemporary Scottish fiction looks to its own rich past to tell us something new. James Robertson’s The...


Sep 29, 20152 min read
Of Ice And Fire: A Review Of Cathy McSporran’s Cold City…
The novel opens with Susan Pherson spotting her recently deceased Dad walking on Argyle Street before seeing him entering a building...


Sep 23, 20155 min read
Motor City Blues: A Review Of Stuart Cosgrove’s Detroit ’67: The Year That Changed Soul&
What you may not know is that his first love, above all of the above, is soul music. This passion is behind his recently published book,...


Sep 10, 20153 min read
Reap The Whirlwind: A Review Of Iain Macwhirter’s Tsunami: Scotland’s Democratic Revolut
Macwhirter’s 2013 book Road to Referendum looked at the historic and cultural background to 2014’s historic vote, and his...


Aug 27, 20151 min read
Dr In The House: The Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Talks To Doug Johnstone…
Johnstone is one of the best thriller writers around, with a style which is deliberately lean and plot driven. The For anyone interested...


Aug 21, 20154 min read
The Importance Of Being Honest: A Review Of Doug Johnstone’s The Jump…
Seven novels in and it seems like Doug Johnstone’s writing is developing two distinct strands. There’s the fast paced, pulp fiction of...


Aug 7, 20154 min read
You Have Been Watching (& Reading)…The Legend Of Barney Thomson
Let’s start with the source material. The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson was the first of many Barney Thomson related books Lindsay...


Aug 1, 20153 min read
Waking Up The Neighbourhood: A Review Of Neil D. A. Stewart’s The Glasgow Coma Scale…
Last year, in a review of Cathy McSporran’s novel Cold City for Gutter magazine, I suggested that, “There are just not enough great...


Jul 27, 20156 min read
We Have Lift-Off: A Preview Of The Edinburgh International Book Festival 2015…
While the Fringe rages all around it, this festival is an oasis of bookish bonhomie populated by like-minded folk, all obsessed with the...


Jul 10, 20154 min read
Move On Up: A Review Of Karen Campbell’s Rise…
Anyone who has the slightest interest in Scottish literature will have had that question posed to them at some point, “What is Scottish...
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