By Jean Findlay

Sally Huband lives in the Shetland Islands and is the author of Sea Bean.  A recipient of a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award, she holds a PhD in ecology and anthropology from the University of Edinburgh

The rise of tartan noir was a key part of Glasgow’s cultural revival. But Scottish crime writing betrays a fatal smugness, says Kenneth Wright

Emma Brankin is a writer and educator from Glasgow. Her new collection of short stories, Attention Seekers, has just been published

Malachy Tallack is the author of four award winning books. His latest, Illuminated by Water, was shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies prize for nature writing in 2022

Which one novel would you recommend to represent your country’s literature? The next stop on our tour is Turkey, where Ayla Douglas champions Sabahattin Ali’s modern classic Madonna in a Fur Coat

Lilly Markaki on why Hilton Als’s White Girls still matters

Alistair Braidwood on the finest non-fiction books of 2022

Sifting through a new history of the Hollywood blacklists Kenneth Wright recalls a time of violence and treachery with unintended lessons for today’s film makers

Jude Rogers’ remarkable book captures the unique power of music to heal and inspire, writes Alistair Braidwood

Alistair Braidwood enjoys getting lost in Seacrest, the fictional town of scheming cineastes in Kirsti Wishart’s latest book The Projectionist

Writer Jenni Fagan discusses her new book Hex, witchcraft and the problem with magical realism

Alistair Braidwood admires a fresh look at how Simple Minds created their early innovations

In the second instalment of our interview, author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímíde answers readers’ questions about institutional racism, structuring, sobriety and solitude

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímíde wrote one of the standout books of 2021. She fields readers’ questions on craft, dyslexia, diversity and how to find your confidence as a writer

Author Catherine Simpson’s remarkable work ranges across short stories, fiction and memoir. She discusses Alan Bennett, grabbing writing  time and why details matter

The Broken Pane, Charlie Roy’s harrowing but uplifting debut examines loss, tragedy and our relationship with the past. Here she discusses creative process and how she grew from wistful scribbler to published author

Bobby Gillespie’s sharp memoir vividly recounts the rise of a driven musical obsessive, writes Alistair Braidwood

Graeme Macrae Burnet’s latest multi-layered mystery combines great wit and invention, writes Alistair Braidwood

A uniquely talented writer of short stories, novels and poetry, Anne Leigh Parrish opens up about owls, Monet and the art of precision

Andrei Semenev enjoys an expansive study of Russia’s courageous and complex opposition leader

From Rapper’s Delight to Fight The Power, Dylan Jones salvages the maligned 1980s in ten tracks, writes Alistair Braidwood