Alan Bissett

The Hot 100 2010 - Mark Millar, Kevin Bridges and Alasdair Gray take top 3 spots

Our annual chart of the top creatives in Scotland

The Hot 100 is a list of Scots who’ve made a sizeable creative splash in 2010. It includes musicians, artists, writers, actors, fashion designers, technological innovators, shop owners, festival directors, record label heads and one mad cyclist.

Margins is Glasgow’s newest grassroots book and music festival

Doug Johnstone, Ewan Morrison Tom Leonard and Withered Hand

Imagine just starting a festival. Just saying, right there and then ‘there’s a gap in the market, and I’m going to fill it.’ It’s not such a great step for Mark Buckland; when newly graduated from university, he said to himself ‘I’m going to start a…

Is this a golden era for Scottish literature?

Alan Bissett, Helen Fitzgerald and Allan Wilson survey the current literary lansdscape

Alan Bissett The contention is that Scottish literature – due to a combination of factors, including centralised buying by book chains and a backlash against post-Trainspotting fiction – has undergone a difficult time of late, but that the tide is…

Unbound at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

Night-time strand of off-the-page experimentation featuring Sarah Hall and Jenni Fagan

As wonderful as the Edinburgh International Book Festival is – and believe us, it is wonderful – the leafy confines of Charlotte Square Gardens, the village fete-style white tents and the hordes of latte-sipping Guardianistas can sometimes make the…

Dear Glasgow theatre season focuses on Middle East and North Africa

New project from Oran Mor’s A Play, a Pie and a Pint strand

With the Syrian crisis showing no sign of abating, the human story behind the various conflicts and uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa has seldom been so urgent. It’s an issue that David MacLennan, artistic director of Oran Mor’s A Play, a…

Hot 100 2012: 59-50

Billy Connolly, Optimo and Kevin Bridges among Scotland's hottest cultural contributors in 2012

The Hot 100 is our list of Scotland’s 100 hottest individuals and groups who’ve made a splash this year, from comic book writers to comedians, artists to actors. If they've contributed to Scotland's cultural landscape in 2012, you'll find them here.

Ten collaborative music, theatre and film projects from Scotland

Including Speed of Light, Pass the Spoon and Whatever Gets You Through the Night

Pass the Spoon. It sounded like an unlikely dish, with ingredients including off-beat artist David Shrigley (who wrote the libreto), modernist composer David Fennessy and Magnetic North director Nicholas Bone working with the Red Note Ensemble, but when…

Theatre shows using digital media at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011

Incorporating Skype and mobile apps into theatre shows

Digital media is being embraced by theatre companies at this year’s Fringe, but is this a passing fad or a great way for theatre to keep in step with modern technology? Lauren Mayberry investigates

Christmas Songwriters’ Club in Edinburgh to feature Alan Bissett, Adam Stafford and more

The event organiser, Danny Abercrombie, explains the idea behind the club

Christmas is coming, and with it, the fifth annual Christmas Songwriters’ Club. Danny Abercrombie, co-organiser of the night and performer with ‘Very Well’ explains more ‘This is the fifth year I’ve had to conjure up some festive spirit (in October…

Five children's books from Scotland

A Scots Alphabet, The Bunk-Bed Bus, Granny Nothing, Skarrs and Boyracers

Animal ABC: A Scots Alphabet Susan Rennie and Karen Sutherland (Itchy Coo, 2002) Fantastic illustrations, and a very funny introduction to a menagerie of animals described in Scots. The Bunk-Bed Bus Frank Rodgers (Puffin, 2004) I love the…

Alasdair Gray, Pat Kane and Alan Bissett to attend the 16th Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair

This year marks the sweet 16th Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair, now firmly lodged in its setting deep in the heart of Leith. Those who organised the very first gathering might well have been surprised to be told that the 2012 fair would feature…

Top five literary events outside the Edinburgh Intl Book Fest

James Kelman, Ross Sutherland, Alan Bissett and more venture beyond Charlotte Square

There’s plenty of events for lit lovers in Edinburgh this month, with festival staple Edinburgh Book Fringe back for another year, plus the more indie stylings of Inky Fingers Minifest. The Book Fringe will have talks and readings by comedian Russell…

Alan Bissett tackles arachnophobia in new play The Red Hourglass

The author and playwright's latest work uses spiders to dissect the nature of fear

‘I’ve always been arachnophobic, it’s something that goes quite deep into my childhood,’ says Glenfiddich Scottish Writer of the Year Alan Bissett. ‘’I’ve always been fascinated by spiders as well.’ This fear and fascination has led the author and…

Whatever Gets You Through the Night

Powerful piece exploring the many Scotlands that exist in the wee hours

Not even the most hardened cynic could sniff at the ambition of this Vital Spark project headed up by Cora Bissett, who has invited writers and musicians from across the land to create work exploring the many Scotlands that exist between the hours of…

Interview: Cora Bissett and David Greig on Whatever Gets You Through the Night

Night-themed project brings together theatre, music, film and a book

Cora Bissett, David Greig and Swimmer One have stayed up past their bedtimes to hang out with some of Scotland’s coolest actors, bands and artists. Anna Burnside takes an extra slug of coffee to find out Whatever Gets You Through the Night

Reveal 2012 showcases new Scottish theatre

Highlights include Mexican reality TV, a Gaelic divorce and London riots performed by puppets

Following on from last year’s successful inaugural Reveal Season, The National Theatre of Scotland, in association with the Citizens’ Theatre, present Reveal 2012, a season of new work by up and coming and diversifying artists, many of whom have been…

Hot 100 2011 - No. 49 to 1

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

The Hot 100 is the definitive list of Scottish creative talent. From fashion designers to performance artists, everyone who has made a sizeable splash in 2011 has a place in this countdown. It’s for people who’ve created a buzz, but it’s also about…

Interview - Alan Bissett

Writer tackles Scotland’s sectarian shame in fourth novel Pack Men

With the rivalry between the Old Firm reaching dangerously manic levels recently, you’d think that sectarianism would be reflected in our nation’s fiction, but it’s hard to think of many novels that examine our unique bigotry. Step forward Alan Bissett…

(g)Host City

Edinburgh audio tours from spoken word performers

First thing in the morning, I’m standing on top of Calton Hill looking out to Arthur’s Seat, Princes Street and the Pentlands. It’s a view I never tire of, but on my headphones Jenny Lindsay is giving a different message. ‘Edinburgh, you old tart,…

Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011 line up highlights

Grant Morrison, Will Self and Jo Nesbø among highlights

A selection of international authors, a bunch of Scottish novelists, an array of top non-fiction scribes, a host of children’s writers and a series of exciting innovations: yes, it’s just another Edinburgh International Book Festival programme. A cliché…

Moira's five ways to ensure you survive the festival

'Falkirk's hardest woman' hands out tips on surviving the Fringe

Being on tour can be a stressful business, what with staying away from home, forgetting your lines onstage and, erm, setting off the fire alarm in the venue. Scotland’s newest stage superstar, Moira, shares her tips on how to survive a fortnight at the…

Lars Husum and his novel My Friend Jesus Christ

A wild and bizarre slapstick farce

Given that My Friend Jesus Christ reads like a Dogme movie, you can’t help but feel Lars Husum’s time working as a dramaturge at Lars von Trier’s Copenhagen film production company Zentropa fed into his debut novel. ‘It’s not conscious, but I see your…

Valentine's Day: Love letters to Glasgow

Dear Glasgow. We love you. We sincerely do. You’ve given so much to us over the years, we felt we just had to say something – as did some of your more well known inhabitants. Here, an assortment of Glasgow's finest list the people, places and things…

NTS history and Gutter magazine latest National Library of Scotland events

Eagle-eyed readers of the Around Town listings may have already noticed that change is afoot at the National Library of Scotland. Over the last few months, there have been an increasing number of interesting, well thought-out, exciting and downright…

The Ching Room and The Moira Monologues

A double bill of short plays by the acclaimed author of Boyracers and Death of a Ladies’ Man. The Ching Room, originally commissioned for the Traverse Theatre and Oran Mor’s A Play, a Pie and a Pint season is a darkly comic two-hander depicting a…