Local Legends

The closing down of the steelworks meant the end of being in work - but John and his pal don't intend it to be the end. 'Keep hens! That's the answer@.

Wendy has always been a misfit ever since Nuala Brennan called her Weirdo once at school and it stuck. But then Ginger turns up on the bus she's driving one day and they become firm friends - Wendy's first real friend. And Wendy is going to get a second friend too because Diane Weston and her are...

Whether she's writing letters to her younger self, advocating for women's rights or adapting fairy tales to process an abusive relationship, Len's voice is bold, unashamedly frank and unmistakably hers. The poems in this collection, both funny and fiercely feminist, announce a formidable new tale...

It is 12 October 1984. An IRA bomb blows apart the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Miraculously, Maggie Thatcher survives. In small-town Scotland, eight-year-old Damian Barr watches in horror as his mum rips her wedding ring off and packs their bags. He knows he, too, must survive. Damian, his sister an...

In this vivid tale of Cold War paranoia, the ship carrying the infant who would grow up to become Superman lands in the midst of 1950s Soviet Union, where he is raised on a collective. As he becomes a symbol to the Soviet people, the world changes drastically from what we know - bringing Superman...

Con O'Neill is stuck in a world of brutal gang violence, sectarian vendettas and personal tragedy. The lack of opportunities for him and the rest of his gang is all too apparent. No money. No prospects. A social design that entraps inhabitants of Treacle Towns up and down the country. Connor is d...

Just shy of 18, Deborah Orr left Motherwell - the town she both loved and hated - to go to university. It was a decision her mother railed against from the moment the idea was raised. Win had very little agency in the world, every choice was determined by the men in her life. And strangely, she w...

Ross Raymond and Johnny McLaughlin are two fanboys dedicated to the Airdrie post-punk scene of the early '80s - the glory years - when anything and everything seemed possible. Looking back on that time - the people, the bands, the underground legends - they piece together a story which has at its...

Liz Lochhead is one of the leading poets writing in Britain today. Her debut collection, 'Memo for Spring' (1972), was a landmark publication. Writing at a time when the landscape of Scottish poetry was male dominated, hers was a fresh, new voice, tackling subjects that resonated with readers - a...

Azzy Williams is ready. Ready to smoke, pop pills, drink wine and ready to fight. But most of all, he's ready to do anything for his friends, his gang, his young team. Round here, in the schemes of the forgotten industrial heartland of Scotland, your mates, your young team - they're everything. A...