Association for Scottish Literature
@asls.org.uk
Educational charity promoting the reading, writing, teaching & study of Scotland's literature & languages, past & present.
https://asls.org.uk
https://asls.org.uk
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New Writing Scotland 43
Edited by Kirstin Innes, Chris Powici & Niall O’Gallagher Published in: Paperback, 184 pages By: Association for Scottish Literature, Glasgow, August 2025 Price: £9.95 ISBN: 9781906841669 Cover image…
asls.org.uk
A CHAOS OF LIGHT
New Writing Scotland 43
Ed. Kirstin Innes, Chris Powici & Niall O’Gallagher
“writing that unsettles and challenges, that questions assumptions…A rich, boisterous, tender, charming, angry, sorrowful, gleeful mix”
Available now from all good bookshops!
💙📚
asls.org.uk/publications...
New Writing Scotland 43
Ed. Kirstin Innes, Chris Powici & Niall O’Gallagher
“writing that unsettles and challenges, that questions assumptions…A rich, boisterous, tender, charming, angry, sorrowful, gleeful mix”
Available now from all good bookshops!
💙📚
asls.org.uk/publications...
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
New guest post 📰
Glacier – Garry MacKenzie writes on his new long poem
Read the full post: buff.ly/VdmjNVJ
#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky
Glacier – Garry MacKenzie writes on his new long poem
Read the full post: buff.ly/VdmjNVJ
#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky
November 24, 2025 at 10:25 AM
New guest post 📰
Glacier – Garry MacKenzie writes on his new long poem
Read the full post: buff.ly/VdmjNVJ
#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky
Glacier – Garry MacKenzie writes on his new long poem
Read the full post: buff.ly/VdmjNVJ
#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky
“Laidlaw is the melancholy heir to Marlowe. Reads like a breathless scalpel cut through the bloody heart of a city’ – @damedenisemina.bsky.social
William McIlvanney at Dundee Literary Festival 2013, in conversation with @russeldmclean.bsky.social
#CrimeFiction 💙📚
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K879...
William McIlvanney at Dundee Literary Festival 2013, in conversation with @russeldmclean.bsky.social
#CrimeFiction 💙📚
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K879...
William McIlvanney at Dundee Literary Festival 2013
YouTube video by literary dundee
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM
“Laidlaw is the melancholy heir to Marlowe. Reads like a breathless scalpel cut through the bloody heart of a city’ – @damedenisemina.bsky.social
William McIlvanney at Dundee Literary Festival 2013, in conversation with @russeldmclean.bsky.social
#CrimeFiction 💙📚
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K879...
William McIlvanney at Dundee Literary Festival 2013, in conversation with @russeldmclean.bsky.social
#CrimeFiction 💙📚
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K879...
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
Burns and Nature 🌳👨🌾🐭
Join us and the @natlibscot.bsky.social as we explore the Ploughman Poet’s relationship with nature through poetry, spoken word, song and film.
21st January 2026 | Kelvin Hall | 6pm
Book your free ticket here👇
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/burns-and-...
Join us and the @natlibscot.bsky.social as we explore the Ploughman Poet’s relationship with nature through poetry, spoken word, song and film.
21st January 2026 | Kelvin Hall | 6pm
Book your free ticket here👇
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/burns-and-...
Burns and Nature
An exploration of Robert Burns’ relationship to nature through poetry, spoken word and film.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Burns and Nature 🌳👨🌾🐭
Join us and the @natlibscot.bsky.social as we explore the Ploughman Poet’s relationship with nature through poetry, spoken word, song and film.
21st January 2026 | Kelvin Hall | 6pm
Book your free ticket here👇
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/burns-and-...
Join us and the @natlibscot.bsky.social as we explore the Ploughman Poet’s relationship with nature through poetry, spoken word, song and film.
21st January 2026 | Kelvin Hall | 6pm
Book your free ticket here👇
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/burns-and-...
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
The most dangerous part of being a writer is that my phone constantly tries to convince me I mean 'punished' when I'm trying to say 'published' and having to catch that before I hit send on posts so that I'm not declaring that "I've been punished"
November 25, 2025 at 12:41 PM
The most dangerous part of being a writer is that my phone constantly tries to convince me I mean 'punished' when I'm trying to say 'published' and having to catch that before I hit send on posts so that I'm not declaring that "I've been punished"
“Scottishness is not some pedigree lineage. This is a mongrel tradition!”
William McIlvanney (1936–2015) – author & poet (& provider, at a rally in Edinburgh in 1992, of our profile header, as quoted in Neal Ascherson’s 2002 book STONE VOICES) – was born #OTD, 25 November
A 🎂 🧵
💙📚
1/9
William McIlvanney (1936–2015) – author & poet (& provider, at a rally in Edinburgh in 1992, of our profile header, as quoted in Neal Ascherson’s 2002 book STONE VOICES) – was born #OTD, 25 November
A 🎂 🧵
💙📚
1/9
November 25, 2025 at 2:06 PM
“Scottishness is not some pedigree lineage. This is a mongrel tradition!”
William McIlvanney (1936–2015) – author & poet (& provider, at a rally in Edinburgh in 1992, of our profile header, as quoted in Neal Ascherson’s 2002 book STONE VOICES) – was born #OTD, 25 November
A 🎂 🧵
💙📚
1/9
William McIlvanney (1936–2015) – author & poet (& provider, at a rally in Edinburgh in 1992, of our profile header, as quoted in Neal Ascherson’s 2002 book STONE VOICES) – was born #OTD, 25 November
A 🎂 🧵
💙📚
1/9
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
Looking forward to discussing our new research into the Burns Supper at 225 Years in January!
Tickets now available for the 2026 @glasgowburns.bsky.social conference @uofgarc.bsky.social 👇🏼 all very welcome - do share widely!
#BurnsSupper225Years
Tickets now available for the 2026 @glasgowburns.bsky.social conference @uofgarc.bsky.social 👇🏼 all very welcome - do share widely!
#BurnsSupper225Years
Join us in Glasgow on Saturday 17th January 2026 for the next Centre for Robert Burns Studies conference, to be held @uofgarc.bsky.social in collaboration with @n-t-s.bsky.social, centring around the Burns Supper.
Tickets and full programme here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/centre-for...
All welcome!
Tickets and full programme here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/centre-for...
All welcome!
Centre for Robert Burns Studies Conference
A conference exploring the life, work, and legacy of Robert Burns, this year celebrating the 225th anniversary of the Burns Supper
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Looking forward to discussing our new research into the Burns Supper at 225 Years in January!
Tickets now available for the 2026 @glasgowburns.bsky.social conference @uofgarc.bsky.social 👇🏼 all very welcome - do share widely!
#BurnsSupper225Years
Tickets now available for the 2026 @glasgowburns.bsky.social conference @uofgarc.bsky.social 👇🏼 all very welcome - do share widely!
#BurnsSupper225Years
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
McIntosh Lecture: “Scots as a Cinderella Language”
9 Dec, Glasgow – free & all welcome
Professor Joanna Kopaczyk-McPherson will ask how has the story of Scots been told, & what are the perceptions created
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mcintosh-l...
9 Dec, Glasgow – free & all welcome
Professor Joanna Kopaczyk-McPherson will ask how has the story of Scots been told, & what are the perceptions created
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mcintosh-l...
McIntosh Lecture: 'Scots as a Cinderella Language'
Professor Joanna Kopaczyk-McPherson will ask how has the story of Scots been told, and what are the perceptions created.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 1:57 PM
McIntosh Lecture: “Scots as a Cinderella Language”
9 Dec, Glasgow – free & all welcome
Professor Joanna Kopaczyk-McPherson will ask how has the story of Scots been told, & what are the perceptions created
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mcintosh-l...
9 Dec, Glasgow – free & all welcome
Professor Joanna Kopaczyk-McPherson will ask how has the story of Scots been told, & what are the perceptions created
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mcintosh-l...
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
Tonight Natalee Garrett will be speaking at the IHR Parliaments, Politics & People Seminar where she will be discussing her paper on 'Jane, Duchess of Gordon and the Romanticisation of Scottish Identity in London, c.1780-1812'.
Details of how to attend online can be found below:
Details of how to attend online can be found below:
‘A Tartan Belle’: Jane, Duchess of Gordon and the Romanticisation of Scottish Identity in London, c.1780-1812
Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.
www.history.ac.uk
November 25, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Tonight Natalee Garrett will be speaking at the IHR Parliaments, Politics & People Seminar where she will be discussing her paper on 'Jane, Duchess of Gordon and the Romanticisation of Scottish Identity in London, c.1780-1812'.
Details of how to attend online can be found below:
Details of how to attend online can be found below:
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
Congrats to Suping Li on winning the Roy Prize for best PhD in Scotlit in 2025. A pleasure to supervise her work on the reception of Robert Burns in China, the third of my former PhDs to win this award @glasgowburns.bsky.social @iassl.bsky.social @asls.org.uk ucsl-scotland.com/2025/11/24/r...
Ross Roy Prize – 2025 Winner Announced
The Ross Roy Prize is awarded annually to the best PhD thesis submitted on a subject relating to Scottish literature. Judged by a panel of expert scholars, the Prize commemorates the outstanding co…
ucsl-scotland.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Congrats to Suping Li on winning the Roy Prize for best PhD in Scotlit in 2025. A pleasure to supervise her work on the reception of Robert Burns in China, the third of my former PhDs to win this award @glasgowburns.bsky.social @iassl.bsky.social @asls.org.uk ucsl-scotland.com/2025/11/24/r...
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
Thank you, Omar El Akkad, for your powerful words of truth & resistance.
"If we are to do this work of language, we have an obligation to stand in opposition to any force...that if left unchecked would happily decimate every principle of free expression & connection that we come here to celebrate."
"If we are to do this work of language, we have an obligation to stand in opposition to any force...that if left unchecked would happily decimate every principle of free expression & connection that we come here to celebrate."
Omar El Akkad spoke after winning the 2025 National Book Award for nonfiction for “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This,” his book on the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. He accepted the award at a gala in New York City this week.
November 24, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Thank you, Omar El Akkad, for your powerful words of truth & resistance.
"If we are to do this work of language, we have an obligation to stand in opposition to any force...that if left unchecked would happily decimate every principle of free expression & connection that we come here to celebrate."
"If we are to do this work of language, we have an obligation to stand in opposition to any force...that if left unchecked would happily decimate every principle of free expression & connection that we come here to celebrate."
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
I'm heading to Waterstones Nottingham Thursday. Come along and hear Marisa and me discuss Ambrose Parry and the forthcoming Quite Ugly One Evening.
www.waterstones.com/.../an-eveni...
www.waterstones.com/.../an-eveni...
November 24, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I'm heading to Waterstones Nottingham Thursday. Come along and hear Marisa and me discuss Ambrose Parry and the forthcoming Quite Ugly One Evening.
www.waterstones.com/.../an-eveni...
www.waterstones.com/.../an-eveni...
The night tinkles like ice in glasses.
Leaves are glued to the pavement with frost.
The brown air fumes at the shop windows,
Tries the doors, and sidles past…
—Norman MacCaig, “November Night”
published in The Poems of Norman MacCaig (Birlinn, 2011)
#poem #poetry
birlinn.co.uk/product/the-...
Leaves are glued to the pavement with frost.
The brown air fumes at the shop windows,
Tries the doors, and sidles past…
—Norman MacCaig, “November Night”
published in The Poems of Norman MacCaig (Birlinn, 2011)
#poem #poetry
birlinn.co.uk/product/the-...
November 24, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The night tinkles like ice in glasses.
Leaves are glued to the pavement with frost.
The brown air fumes at the shop windows,
Tries the doors, and sidles past…
—Norman MacCaig, “November Night”
published in The Poems of Norman MacCaig (Birlinn, 2011)
#poem #poetry
birlinn.co.uk/product/the-...
Leaves are glued to the pavement with frost.
The brown air fumes at the shop windows,
Tries the doors, and sidles past…
—Norman MacCaig, “November Night”
published in The Poems of Norman MacCaig (Birlinn, 2011)
#poem #poetry
birlinn.co.uk/product/the-...
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
Impossible how good reading is. You mean I just point my face at the paper for a bit and it does a whole update on my brain?
November 23, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Impossible how good reading is. You mean I just point my face at the paper for a bit and it does a whole update on my brain?
Reading Scotland with Margaret Bennet
Why Scotland Celebrates St Andrew's Day
2 Dec, online – free
Dr Margaret Bennet talks about the relevance of celebrating St Andrew’s Day today & dives into the origins of this national holiday
www.scotland.uni-mainz.de/reading-scot...
Why Scotland Celebrates St Andrew's Day
2 Dec, online – free
Dr Margaret Bennet talks about the relevance of celebrating St Andrew’s Day today & dives into the origins of this national holiday
www.scotland.uni-mainz.de/reading-scot...
November 24, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reading Scotland with Margaret Bennet
Why Scotland Celebrates St Andrew's Day
2 Dec, online – free
Dr Margaret Bennet talks about the relevance of celebrating St Andrew’s Day today & dives into the origins of this national holiday
www.scotland.uni-mainz.de/reading-scot...
Why Scotland Celebrates St Andrew's Day
2 Dec, online – free
Dr Margaret Bennet talks about the relevance of celebrating St Andrew’s Day today & dives into the origins of this national holiday
www.scotland.uni-mainz.de/reading-scot...
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
Far too many to choose from, the man is an actual comic genius, but the 1985 TV special An Audience With Billy Connolly is one of the most relentlessly hilarious stand-up comedy sets ever captured on tape. A masterclass.
"Saddle up and ride your pony..."
"Saddle up and ride your pony..."
Happy Birthday, Billy.
Terry feels proud knowing they’re from the same place as one of the world’s greatest comedians.
What’s YOUR favourite Billy Connolly routine?
#BillyConnolly
Terry feels proud knowing they’re from the same place as one of the world’s greatest comedians.
What’s YOUR favourite Billy Connolly routine?
#BillyConnolly
November 24, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Far too many to choose from, the man is an actual comic genius, but the 1985 TV special An Audience With Billy Connolly is one of the most relentlessly hilarious stand-up comedy sets ever captured on tape. A masterclass.
"Saddle up and ride your pony..."
"Saddle up and ride your pony..."
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
New interview with me in The Black Stone Magazine ( Das Magazin für Fantasy, Horror und SF )
In English: blackbookmagazine.blogspot.com/2025/11/an-i...
In German: blackbookmagazine.blogspot.com/2025/11/ein-...
In English: blackbookmagazine.blogspot.com/2025/11/an-i...
In German: blackbookmagazine.blogspot.com/2025/11/ein-...
An Interview with the author William Meikle
The Black Stone Magazine - Das Onlinemagazin für Fantasy, Horror und SF
blackbookmagazine.blogspot.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
New interview with me in The Black Stone Magazine ( Das Magazin für Fantasy, Horror und SF )
In English: blackbookmagazine.blogspot.com/2025/11/an-i...
In German: blackbookmagazine.blogspot.com/2025/11/ein-...
In English: blackbookmagazine.blogspot.com/2025/11/an-i...
In German: blackbookmagazine.blogspot.com/2025/11/ein-...
Investigating Irish & Scottish Women Writers of Children’s Literature
12 Dec @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social – free
Exploring regional & national identities in children’s literature c.1750–1940 – an era of major cultural & political upheaval in Ireland & Scotland
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/investigat...
12 Dec @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social – free
Exploring regional & national identities in children’s literature c.1750–1940 – an era of major cultural & political upheaval in Ireland & Scotland
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/investigat...
Investigating Irish & Scottish Women Writers of Children's Literature
A one-day symposium on Irish and Scottish women writers of children's literature between 1750 and 1940.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Investigating Irish & Scottish Women Writers of Children’s Literature
12 Dec @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social – free
Exploring regional & national identities in children’s literature c.1750–1940 – an era of major cultural & political upheaval in Ireland & Scotland
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/investigat...
12 Dec @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social – free
Exploring regional & national identities in children’s literature c.1750–1940 – an era of major cultural & political upheaval in Ireland & Scotland
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/investigat...
Computer’s First Christmas Card: a Poetry/Coding workshop
4 Dec, Glasgow – free
Inspired by Edwin Morgan’s poem, attendees at this Poetry/Coding workshop will code a festive poem & leave with a handmade Christmas card! No experience of coding or poetry necessary
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/computers-...
4 Dec, Glasgow – free
Inspired by Edwin Morgan’s poem, attendees at this Poetry/Coding workshop will code a festive poem & leave with a handmade Christmas card! No experience of coding or poetry necessary
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/computers-...
Computer's First Christmas Card: a Poetry/Coding workshop
Poetry Coding Workshop with the Edwin Morgan Collection. An introduction to coding and poetry with Michael Mullen and Claire Quigley.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Computer’s First Christmas Card: a Poetry/Coding workshop
4 Dec, Glasgow – free
Inspired by Edwin Morgan’s poem, attendees at this Poetry/Coding workshop will code a festive poem & leave with a handmade Christmas card! No experience of coding or poetry necessary
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/computers-...
4 Dec, Glasgow – free
Inspired by Edwin Morgan’s poem, attendees at this Poetry/Coding workshop will code a festive poem & leave with a handmade Christmas card! No experience of coding or poetry necessary
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/computers-...
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
Book post! Can't wait to read the latest by the fabulous @shonamaclean.bsky.social. Published by @quercusbooks.bsky.social, in bookshops in Feb.
November 24, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Book post! Can't wait to read the latest by the fabulous @shonamaclean.bsky.social. Published by @quercusbooks.bsky.social, in bookshops in Feb.
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
‘Many make a large fortune, who remain underbred and pathetically stupid to the last.’
“Idleness so called, which does not consist in doing nothing, but in doing a great deal not recognised in the dogmatic formularies of the ruling class, has as good a right to state its position as industry itself.”
—“An Apology for Idlers”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1877)
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69825
—“An Apology for Idlers”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1877)
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69825
November 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
‘Many make a large fortune, who remain underbred and pathetically stupid to the last.’
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
A role model for all Scottish writers when afflicted with Calvinism.
“Idleness so called, which does not consist in doing nothing, but in doing a great deal not recognised in the dogmatic formularies of the ruling class, has as good a right to state its position as industry itself.”
—“An Apology for Idlers”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1877)
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69825
—“An Apology for Idlers”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1877)
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69825
November 24, 2025 at 11:26 AM
A role model for all Scottish writers when afflicted with Calvinism.
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
Happy 83rd birthday to Billy Connolly. Here’s the story of how he and Gerry Rafferty appeared at an Arbroath club for the princely sum of £28. Within two years, they were on “Parkinson” and “Top of the Pops.”https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/past-times/2275831/arbroath-billy-connolly-gerry-rafferty/
Were you at the Arbroath folk club where Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty performed for £28?
It was a venue which attracted the cream of the crop through its doors during the Swinging Sixties - including several Scots who subsequently earned
www.thecourier.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Happy 83rd birthday to Billy Connolly. Here’s the story of how he and Gerry Rafferty appeared at an Arbroath club for the princely sum of £28. Within two years, they were on “Parkinson” and “Top of the Pops.”https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/past-times/2275831/arbroath-billy-connolly-gerry-rafferty/
“Idleness so called, which does not consist in doing nothing, but in doing a great deal not recognised in the dogmatic formularies of the ruling class, has as good a right to state its position as industry itself.”
—“An Apology for Idlers”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1877)
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69825
—“An Apology for Idlers”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1877)
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69825
November 24, 2025 at 11:25 AM
“Idleness so called, which does not consist in doing nothing, but in doing a great deal not recognised in the dogmatic formularies of the ruling class, has as good a right to state its position as industry itself.”
—“An Apology for Idlers”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1877)
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69825
—“An Apology for Idlers”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1877)
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69825
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
The Voyage Out Press invites all to the launch of Roderick Watson's new poetry book @ Dundee Uni Library, 5pm 10/11/25 Free & open to all; to book pp.events/bq8B5y7K
“These are poems made to last, to return to, to keep giving. And they do.” (Alan Riach) @asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
“These are poems made to last, to return to, to keep giving. And they do.” (Alan Riach) @asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
You're invited to "Book Launch & Reading." Tap here to RSVP - Paperless Post Flyer
pp.events
November 23, 2025 at 6:31 PM
The Voyage Out Press invites all to the launch of Roderick Watson's new poetry book @ Dundee Uni Library, 5pm 10/11/25 Free & open to all; to book pp.events/bq8B5y7K
“These are poems made to last, to return to, to keep giving. And they do.” (Alan Riach) @asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
“These are poems made to last, to return to, to keep giving. And they do.” (Alan Riach) @asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
Reposted by Association for Scottish Literature
Spent the weekend reading this. When you give it the time that readers had in 1820s, it becomes compulsive. A thriller with a twisty plot, multiple well-drawn characters, and a narrative that keeps everything in place.
November 23, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Spent the weekend reading this. When you give it the time that readers had in 1820s, it becomes compulsive. A thriller with a twisty plot, multiple well-drawn characters, and a narrative that keeps everything in place.