Scots Whay Hae!

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! Podcast, Ali spoke to Gill Higgins, who makes music as Curlew. Gill talks all things Evolution, her debut musical solo project, which includes 'Air', 'Earth', 'Fire', and 'Water'. She sets out what people can expect from the forthcoming live show at The Dream Machine in Glasgow, which promises to be "an ambient electronic soundscape launch at an immersive event with...

For the latest podcast Ali caught up with crime writer Michael J. Malone to talk about the latest in his Annie Jackson series of thrillers, The Torments - out now, published with Orenda Books. It's the sequel to The Murmurs, which was one of SWH!'s top five crime novels of last year, and Michael talks about the inspiration for that book before talking about The Torments and how it continues the st...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to Dr Nandini Manjunath and Himadri Madan to hear all about Theiyā Arts and their new interdisciplinary mixed-media performance/exhibition Maiden | Mother | Whore. Nandini and Himadri explain the themes and ideas behind the project, the number of organisations who they have collaborated with, how the show has developed, and the academcic as well as...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Ali spoke to Professor Rhona Brown to hear all about The Collected Works of Robert Fergusson: Reconstructing Textual and Cultural Legacies which is a two-year research project, which runs from October 2023 until October 2025. A key poet of the Scottish eighteenth century, Rhona explains exactly who Robert Fergusson (1750-74) was and why he is so important to...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to author and singer/songwriter Malachy Tallack about his new novel and album, both of which are called That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz. Malachy tells us which came first, and how they developed, before giving a brief synopsis of the novel. He talks about the two strands and explains why these were stories he wanted to tell, before discussing his cent...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to previous guest, the writer Graeme Macrae Burnet, to hear all about his latest novel A Case Of Matricide, which is the final book in the Georges Gorski trilogy (all published on the Contraband imprint of Saraband), which are described as "a series of novels set in the unremarkable French town of Saint-Louis", but to say there is so much more is th...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to writer Robert J. Harris to hear all about Redfalcon: Richard Hannay Returns his latest outing for John Buchan's hero, familiar to most from the novel, and numerous film adaptations of, The 39 Steps. Robert talks about how he came to write the Richard Hannay novels, how he approaches writing in another writer's style, adapting the cast of...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Ali spoke to filmmaker and writer Grant McPhee to talk about his book Postcards from Scotland: Scottish Independent Music 1983-1995 which is published by Omnibus Press. Grant talks about how the book came about and why these are the years he wanted to cover, his film Teenage Superstars which inspired it, how the structure is shaped by the interviews, his prev...

The latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast is another collaboration with Bloody Scotland - Scotland's International Crime Writing Festival - where Ali spoke to the five shortlisted authors for this year's McIlvanney Prize which is awarded for the best Scottish crime book of the year. They include D.V. Bishop (A Divine Fury), Chris Brookmyre (The Cracked Mirror), Val McDermid (Past Lying), Abir Muk...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to writer Jenny Lecoat about her new novel Beyond Summerland, which is published on the Polygon Books imprint of Birlinn Ltd. After offering a carefully considered description of the book - which is set on Jersey just after the Second World War - Jenny explained why she wanted to write about this time and place, her personal connections, and how occ...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Ali spoke to the Founding Artistic Director of Cryptic Cathie Boyd to hear all about this year's Sonica Festival, which runs at 16 venues across Glasgow between 19th-29th September. Cathie talks about the history of both Cryptic and the Sonica Festival before taking us through just some of the extensive programme, the wide variety of what's on offer,...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to creator and performer Claire Love Wilson and director and performance-maker Peter Lorenz to hear all about Morag, You’re a Long Time Deid which has just completed a full run at this year's Edinburgh Fringe, and is about to tour Scotland, Ireland, and England. Claire and Peter explain the inspiration behind the show, how the two met and then c...

For the latest podcast Ali caught up with writer and academic Dr Rodge Glass to learn about his extraordinary new book, Joshua In The Sky: A Blood Memoir. It's a slightly different interview as Ali picks certain texts which are referenced throughout, allowing Rodge to talk about the book in a different way. Before that he explains who Joshua is and the reasons for writing Joshua In The Sky, an...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to writer Jenny Colgan to hear all about her latest novel Close Knit, published by Hodder & Stoughton. Jenny talks about the personal inspirations behind Close Knit, how and why knitting is integral to the plot, the reasons behind the setting of Carso, and the north of Scotland more generally, why she made the novel contemporary, her approach to...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Ali spoke to crime writer Christopher Brookmyre to hear all about his intriguing new novel The Cracked Mirror, published on the Abacus imprint of Little, Brown Book Group. In an attempt to avoid all spoilers, Ali asks Chris to take the responsibility of describing the book, before talking about how he approached writing it, the specific inspirations behind it...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali catches up with previous guest, the writer and poet Andrés N. Ordorica to hear all about his debut novel How We Named The Stars, which is published with Saraband Books. Andrés talks about why this was a story he wanted to tell, creating the central characters of Daniel and Sam, writing in the second person, bringing the reader into the book, writing abo...

For the first of our Bloody Scotland podcasts - Scotland's International Crime Writing Festival - Ali spoke to the five shortlisted authors for this year's Scottish Crime Debut of the Year. They include Suzy Aspley (Crow Moon), Daniel Aubrey (Dark Island), Allan Gaw (The Silent House of Sleep), Doug Sinclair (Blood Runs Deep) and Martin Stewart (Double Proof). They each give a brief summar...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to writer and journalist Hugo Rifkind to talk about his cracking new novel Rabbits, which is published with Polygon Books. Hugo talks about the inspiration behind Rabbits, why this is the story he wanted to tell, and explains that while events and characters have some basis in real life, this is not an autobiographical tale. The two also discuss the...

For the second of our Edinburgh Fringe Compilation Podcasts for 2024, Ali spoke to another group of artists, writers, and performers who have shows at this year's festival. They include Lani Calvert - NewsRevue, Bryony Byrne - Fan/Girl, Sam Edmunds - The Chaos That Has Been and Will No Doubt Return, Edith Alibec - Glitch, Grace Gallagher - STUFFED and Isabel Renner - Wyld Woman: The Legend of...

For the first of our Edinburgh Fringe Compilation Podcasts for 2024, Ali spoke to a number of artists, writers, and performers who have shows at this year's festival. They include Luca Rutherford - You Heard Me, Guy Woods - Puddles and Amazons, Barton Williams & Andrew Eaton Lewis - Precious Cargo, Iain Mackechnie & Jose Rojas - The Other, and Sean Wai Keung - A History of Fortune Cook...

For the second of our Edinburgh Fringe 2024 podcasts Ali spoke to musician Jo Mango and theatre-maker Liam Hurley to talk all about A Giant On The Bridge, which is part of the prestigious Made in Scotland showcase, and will be at the Assembly Roxy Central between 2nd-18th August, 10.40am. Jo describes how A Giant On The Bridge came about, emerging from the work of Vox Liminis and their Distant Voi...

For the latest podcast Ali caught up with previous podcast guest Graeme Thomson to talk about Under The Ivy, his biography of Kate Bush which has been updated as part of Omnibus Press' Remastered Series. Graeme explains the challenges in writing about such a well-loved, and private, person, the reaction of those interviewed, the formative years of her seemingly idyllic childhood, the questiona...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to festival director Svend McEwan-Brown and composer, harpist, and singer Esther Swift to hear all about this year's East Neuk Festival - the 20th anniversary no less - which runs from 26th-30th June. Svend tells us about the history of the festival, it's aims and how it has developed and grown over the years, before giving details of this y...

The latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast is the first of this year's Edinburgh Fringe specials (yes, it is that time already!) and Ali spoke to actor Craig Barclay and writer Tony Voller to hear all about their show Addict, which is on at The Space on the Mile. Craig and Tony talk about how they came to work together, the history of Addict, a synopsis of the show, what it's like to work together...

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali was joined by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Doug Aubrey to talk about 'Legacy of an Invisible Bullet', which is described as "an immersive 10 ½ hour cinematic experience" compiled of 170 short films shot by Doug, which is going to be shown over six days at the Glasgow Film Theatre, culminating in a UK premiere of the feature-length cut, whic...