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A History of Scottish Literature

A History of Scottish Literature: Episode 7: A Beacon in the Darkness

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: History

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Episode 7

Episode 7: A Beacon in the Darkness

A Beacon in the Darkness

BBC Radio Scotland - A History of Scottish Literature, A Beacon in the Darkness

Billy Kay celebrates the flourishing of Scottish literature in the later 20th century.

Billy Kay traces Scottish literature from its origins to the present. He celebrates the flourishing of Scottish literature in the later 20th century.

"Our writers have always been a beacon in the darkness, even though what they've written out of, and what they've written about has been the darkness...so I think writers in Scotland have been massively important." Professor Willy Maley, Glasgow University.

We celebrate the poetry of McCaig, Maclean, Morgan and Lochhead and the cultural impact of the novels of Gray, Kelman, Welsh and McIlvanney in the flourishing of Scottish literature in the later 20th century. Billy Kay visits the National Portait Gallery to view the iconic painting Poet's Pub with the artist Sandy Moffat. He was part of a cultural and political movement inspired by the great writers in the painting who reached a wider public from the 1970's onward because of the popularity of poetry readings. Liz Lochhead, Andrew Greig and Aonghas Macneacaill testify to the generosity of spirit of their older peers which made them feel part of a community. However, they also enjoyed the older Scots literary tradition of flyting...."If there was any back scratching going on among Scottish poets" said Norman McCaig, "It was done with dirks!". Later, an influential group of writers emerged in Glasgow - prominent among them were Booker prize winning novelist James Kelman, Lochhead and Alasdair Gray, who discusses his seminal novel Lanark. We also question with Janice Galloway whether modern literature has been too concerned with gritty, masculine urban realism from No Mean City to Trainspotting? Alexander McCall Smith e.g. felt that he had to adapt his writing at one point so that it would fit the Scottish norm! For Willie Mcilvanney and Alan Bissett though the streets of working class communities are simply where they come from and depict with feeling in novels like Docherty and Boy Racers.

BBC Radio Scotland

Billy Kay celebrates Scottish literature and its importance to national identity.

Billy Kay traces Scottish literature from its origins in Celtic myths to its role in creating national identity.

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