📸 - credit Christopher Bowen For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to Lesley Davidson, who is the co-director of the Beacon Arts Centre , to talk about the inaugural Beacon Book Festival which runs from Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd February. Lesley tells us why now is the right time for the Beacon Arts Centre to host a book festival, and what the challenges were in programming, before talking about that programme - who is on, and when, and taking us through the vari

There were some fascinating non-fiction books published over the last 12 months, and it was a tricky job to whittle a list down to a handy top ten, but we just about managed it. The list below features, music and song, memoir, travel, film, sport, philosophy, sociopolitics, religion, faith, food, and so much more. I was lucky enough to talk to some of the writers whose books feature, and you'll find links to those interviews below, along with links to the books themselves and

As is traditional, the first of our Best of 2025 podcasts is all about books, when once again Ali is joined by Publishing Scotland 's Vikki Reilly (right) to talk about just a few of the standouts of the year, and to give a heads up as to what's coming in 2026. The two talk fantastic fiction, non-fiction, plenty of prose, and even a little poetry. There are debuts to Last Words , complicated families, celebrations of friendships, love, loss, what it means to be alive, examina

📸 - credit Stephen McGuigan For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to writer, broadcaster and campaigner Darren McGarvey (also known as rapper Loki ) to talk about his book and live show, Trauma Industrial Complex , and the album Not Funded By Creative Scotland , which are three central strands of the same multi-media project, and the two discuss how they work together, but also stand alone. Darren talks about the challenges of taking the show to the Fringe, but w

Moving from Spring to Autumn - running from 6th to 16th November - Glasgow’s Book Festival Aye Write offers something for everyone. Lovers of fact, fiction, poetry, prose, autobiography, biography, crime (real and fictional), memoir, music, food, and any other form of writing that takes your fancy, are all well catered for. The festival is mostly split between the Mitchell Library and Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall with plenty of guests from home and abroad, perfectly suiting

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to writer and musician Andy Bollen about his latest book Definitely Maybe: The Birth,...

This year's Edinburgh International Book Festival returns to Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) for the second year, and once again it...

Aoife Parr and Tom Baines, Ruaraidh Murray, and Connor McKenna The latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast is the second of our Edinburgh Fringe...

Christine Thynne and Robbie Synge, Mark Bleakley, and Indra Wilson The latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast is the first of our Edinburgh...

Photo of Carrie Marshall - credit: David Marshall For the latest podcast Ali spoke to writer and musician Carrie Marshall to talk about...

Jess Orr For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke once again to Jess Orr, the Associate Programmer for the Paisley Book Festival...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to musician and writer Katy Lironi to talk all about her memoir Matilda In The Middle...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to artist Pat Law to hear all about GAFFER: Impressions from a Loch Fyne Skiff , a...

For the latest podcast Ali caught up with writer and academic Dr Rodge Glass to learn about his extraordinary new book, Joshua In The...

This year sees the Edinburgh International Book Festival (10–25th August) move to its new home, the Edinburgh Futures Institute at the...

For the latest podcast Ali caught up with previous podcast guest Graeme Thomson to talk about Under The Ivy, his biography of Kate Bush...

This Thursday, 25th April, sees the start of this year’s Paisley Book Festival, which runs until Sunday 28th. With the theme of 'Imagine...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to Jess Orr (right), the Associate Programmer for the Paisley Book Festival, to learn...

A version of this article first appeared in PRODUCT magazine Click on the book titles to learn more & grab yourself a copy Writing...

This is the second of our Best Books of 2023 podcasts, with Ali once again joined by Publishing Scotland's Vikki Reilly, and in this...