BBC Radio Scotland Highlands and Islands

A History of Scottish Literature

A History of Scottish Literature: Episode 8

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: History

The Mason Word

Episode 8

BBC Radio Scotland - A History of Scottish Literature, Episode 8

Billy Kay explores contemporary Scottish literature, language and politics.

Billy Kay traces Scottish literature from its origins to the present. He discusses contemporary Scottish literature, culture and politics with several Scottish writers.

Billy Kay explores the vitality of contemporary literature and its roots in real communities, with writers like Janet Paisley saying how important it was for them to find their own voice and write in the language of the people. 

A feature of Scottish writing from Stevenson to AL Kennedy and Kelman is the survival of the short story as a vehicle for major writing and we hear from Janice Galloway, a brilliant exponent of the genre. Love has been at the heart of our literature , but only recently has gay love been depicted honestly by artists like Louise Welsh and Zoë Strachan. Zoë discusses her novel Ever Fallen in Love, while Louise reads a wonderful passage on love from The Cutting Room. The bittersweet love of country has also been at the core of Scottish writing from its beginnings through to recent struggles for a Scottish parliament - Val McDermid, James Robertson and Robert Crawford talk about the role of literature in the continuation of a distinctive Scottish identity. We hear about the international reach of a literature which, ironically, is often viewed with ambivalence here because of the tension between Scottishness and Britishness in our society. Murray Pittock, Alasdair Gray and Professor Alan Riach discuss this - Glasgow is Scotland's only university with a department of Scottish literature! All of the interviews for the series took place before the Referendum, so we will hear artists and academics imagining what will happen with a Yes or a No result. Billy concludes by saying that Scottish literature is "ane o the brawest o aw the flouers o oor natiounheid" and looks to the future with the words of Hugh MacDiarmid: 

For we hae faith in Scotland's hidden pouers
The present's theirs but aw the past an future's oors.

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.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

A History of Scottish Literature

Episode 8

Genres

Series

BBC Radio Scotland Highlands and Islands

About BBC Radio Scotland