Keira Brown Imogen Stirling The latest podcast is all about the forthcoming Paisley Book Festival, and Ali spoke to co-producer Keira Brown and writer-in-residence Imogen Stirling about this year’s festival, the challenges faced, the necessary move to online, the theme of ‘Radical New Futures’, and a whole lot more. The line-up is fantastic, and there will be a full SWH! preview soon, but a few names to mention include previous SWH! podcast guests Kirstin Innes, Joe Donnelly,

This year was such a great one for Scottish writing that we had to split our Best Books of 2020 podcast into two parts to fit in everything we wanted to talk about. This is Part II. Ali was once again joined by Publishing Scotland‘s Vikki Reilly (left), who became a published author herself this year. The two pick their favourite books from the last 12 months, (most Scottish, but some not) and take many detours and diversions along the way. These are always among the most ple

There are plenty of ‘Books Of The Year’ lists around this time competing for your time and attention, but we like to think that Scots Whay Hae!’s selection is one for the more discerning book lover with something for everyone. It’s a good old-fashioned Top Ten which this year features dystopian sci-fi, historical fiction, northern noir, coming-of-age, unconventional travelogue, environmental thrills, the birth and death of love, psychological mystery, politics, pop music, per

Usually for SWH! August means Edinburgh, and especially the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Of course this year there will be no time spent in and around Charlotte Square Gardens but, proving that even a global pandemic can’t put paid to their plans, the Edinburgh Book Festival still has a full and far-reaching programme for your pleasure. This year they are, “inviting authors and audiences from around the world to ‘Keep the Conversation Going.’ From 15-31 August, enjo

Pic credit: Becky Duncan For the latest podcast Ali spoke to writer Kirstin Innes about her acclaimed novel Scabby Queen. The two discuss the origins of the title and why it fits with the structure of the book, where the initial idea came from, who and what inspired her characters, and how the central figure of Clio Campbell drives events despite being absent for much of the book. Kirstin also talks about how writing the novel helped her to make sense of recent and current ev

To call Kirstin Innes’s Scabby Queen one of the most eagerly awaited novels of 2020 is a sizeable understatement. She had the not insignificant task of following up her ‘Not The Booker Prize’ winning novel Fishnet which introduced readers to a writer unafraid to tackle complex subjects, and do so with considerable style to match the substance. Scabby Queen doesn’t just build on the promise of Fishnet it surpasses it with consummate ease. It’s a brave writer who kills their ce

*This year’s Aye Write! has been postponed. For full details go to https://www.ayewrite.com/Pages/default.aspx* From today (12th – 29th) Glasgow’s Book Festival Aye Write! is the only show in town for lovers of fact, fiction, poetry, prose – autobiography, biography, comics, and any other form of writing that takes your fancy. The vast majority of events are at the festival’s spiritual home of The Mitchell, and it is only right that Glasgow’s most famous library is the focal

Today (20/2/20) sees the start of the inaugural Paisley Book Festival, which runs until Saturday 29th Feb. With the theme of ‘Radical Voices and Rebel Stories’, the programme is carefully curated to offer a wide range of events, with something for everyone. Taking place in various venues across town, and riding the cultural wave created by Paisley’s bid for UK City of Culture, this seems the perfect time and place for such a festival – one which looks to celebrate voices and

For our Best Books of 2019 podcast Ali was once again joined by Publishing Scotland’s Vikki Reilly to have a chat about their year in books. As well as discussing in detail their personal favourites they look at the writers who have left their mark, awards and award winners, festivals old and new, the healthy state of Scottish poetry, the continuing prosperity of crime fiction, what’s happening in the publishing world, the prevailing trends and themes of 2019, what to look fo

*You can listen to P.K. Lynch talking about Armadillos on the Scots Whay Hae! Podcast by clicking here… In our recent podcast with novelist Iain Maloney we spoke about a writer’s responsibility when tackling certain subjects. In Maloney’s case, his novel The Waves Burn Bright deals with events surrounding the Piper Alpha North Sea Oil Platform tragedy, and he talked about the importance of making sure his research was thorough and his prose unsensational so as to avoid any po