Des Dillon

Des Dillon-penned black comedy Six Black Candles is given a long overdue homeland revival

13 Apr 2011

First performed at Edinburgh’s Lyceum in 2004, Des Dillon’s Six Black Candles has not been back on home turf since, despite popularity further afield – and more’s the pity. Dillon, a sort of Bruce Springsteen figure of Scottish theatre, has a knack for…

Des Dillon's 'An Experiment in Compassion' is a painful and poignat look at alcoholism

13 Apr 2011

(Luath) It takes one to know one, we’re told, and Des Dillon’s painfully honest account of living with alcoholism certainly seems to bear that out. It’s 20 years since the Coatbridge-born author stopped looking for solace in the bottom of a bottle…

Six Black Candles revives adaptation of Des Dillon novel

Revenge story from writer of Singin’ I’m No’ a Billy, He’s a Tim

18 Mar 2011

'I see myself as the Bruce Springsteen of Scottish writers,’ says Des Dillon with a smile. ‘I write about a certain class of people – white trash, basically – and I write about them in simple language, using hardly any words to create powerful images.

Five things you might not know about: Des Dillon

24 Jun 2010

1 Des Dillon is the joint second oldest (he has a twin sister) of a family of nine kids, having been born in Bellshill in 1960 before moving to Coatbridge. Although he has been writing for as long as he can remember – penning poems at primary school…

Monks

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 7 Apr

27 Mar 2007

NEW WRITING Faith is a commodity in short supply in our society. But this doesn’t stop people from seeking it wherever they can. With the decline of religion, love has become the form of metaphysical belief of choice for many. And it’s love…

Monks

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 16 Mar-Sat 7

13 Mar 2007

NEW WORK I expect at times we all wonder what life is all about. Beyond all the ceaseless trudging on and on, the struggle with mortgages, the hassles at work, the stress of supermarket queues and so on, there’s surely some greater purpose. Whether…

Des Dillon - Me and Ma Gal (1995)

100 Best Scottish Books of all Time

1 Jan 2005

Me and Ma Gal is a novel which continues to defy the odds. Published by a small Scottish press in the mid-90s, re-published by a large London firm in 2001, Me and Ma Gal twice failed to make Des Dillon as trendy as Irvine Welsh or as fêted by critics as…