The Big Scottish Book Club
Season 2
Damian Barr interviews some of the biggest names in fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
Where to Watch Season 2
8 Episodes
- Episode 1
E1Episode 1This week's theme in The Big Scottish Book Club is memoir. Damian Barr's guests in Lanark Memorial Hall are Scottish comedian and internet sensation Janey Godley, who will be discussing her book Handstands In The Dark about her tough childhood in Glasgow's East End, and authors Lemn Sissay and Alexandra Heminsley, who discuss their respective personal stories about growing up in the care system, and radically changing family circumstances. There's poetry from Janette Ayachi, and this week's book group, who are celebrants from Clackmannanshire, tell Damian what they thought about Lemn Sissay's My Name Is Why. - Episode 2
E2Episode 2Writer Damian Barr is at Lanark Memorial Hall with guests Neil Gaiman, Kirsty Logan and Dr Gavin Francis, and there’s poetry from Harry Josephine Giles. The theme of this week’s show is other worlds, both real and imagined, and our book group of the week give their verdict on Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. - Episode 4E4
Episode 4Writer Damian Barr is at Lanark Memorial Hall with guests Kathleen Jamie, Amanda Thomson and Luke Turner, and there is poetry from Heather H Yeung. Damian and guests discuss their creative interpretations of the world around us and our relationship with the natural world, which has been heightened for many this year. There is poetry from Heather H Yeung and the Open Book Grassmarket book group from Edinburgh tell Damian what they thought about Kathleen Jamie's Antlers of Water. - Episode 5E5
Episode 5Writer Damian Barr is at Hamilton Town House with guests Kate Mosse, Kirsty Wark and Graeme Macrae Burnet. This episode sees Damian and guests delve into the past, from 16th-century France to the Highlands in 1869 and a house full of secrets in 20th-century Galloway, as they discuss fact and fiction and the history they explore in their novels. There is poetry from Andrés Nicolás Ordorica, and this week's book group tell Damian what they thought of Kate Mosse's The Burning Chambers. - Episode 8E8
Episode 8Writer Damian Barr hosts this episode - the last of this series - from Hamilton Town House. From an intrepid pack of librarians on horseback to a brave and brilliant mother and a fictional pop star and protest queen, novelists Jojo Moyes and Kirstin Innes and American screenwriter Dustin Lance Black discuss the pure ‘gallus' characters at the heart of their books. There's poetry from Jenny Lindsay and this week's book group, who come from Edinburgh and West Lothian, tell Damian what they thought of Kirstin Innes' Scabby Queen.
