Who Was On Big Scottish Book Club?

Series One - 2019

1. Ambrose Parry (Christopher Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman)

2. Sara Collins

3. Ian Rankin

4. Richard Scott.

5. Rhik Samadder

6. Janice Galloway

7. Maggie O’Farrell

8. Andrew McMillan.

9. David Nicholls

10. Marian Keyes

11. John Niven

12. Chris McQueer.

13. Graham Norton

14. Denise Mina

15. Patrick Gale

16. Inua Ellams.

Series Two - 2020

17. Kirsty Logan

18. Gavin Francis

19. Harry Josephine Giles.

20. Alexandra Heminsley

21. Janey Godley

22. Lemn Sissay

23. Janette Ayachi.

24. Luke Turner

25. Amanda Thomson

26. Kathleen Jamie

27. Heather H. Yeung.

28. Val McDermid

29. Professor Dame Sue Black

30. Richard Osman

31. Iona Lee.

32. Kirsty Wark

33. Natalie Haynes

34. Kate Mosse

35. Andrés N. Ordorica.

36. Paul McVeigh

37. Graeme Armstrong

38. Jessica Fellowes

39. Courtney Stoddart.

40. Sathnam Sanghera

41. Juno Dawson

42. Andrew O’Hagan

43. Nadine Aisha Jassat.

44. Kirstin Innes

45. Jojo Moyes

46. Dustin Lance Black.

47. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb

48. Denise Mina

49. Hannah Lavery

50. Len Pennie.

Series Three - 2021

51. Louise Welsh

52. Sarah Perry

53. James Robertson

54. Mara Menzies.

55. Kirsty Capes

56. Séamas O’Reilly

57. Bobby Gillespie

58. Mae Diansangu.

59. Bryony Gordon

60. Mohsin Zaidi

61. Darren McGarvey.

62. Jeda Pearl.

63. Alan Johnson

64. Alan Parks

65. Ian Rankin.

66. Nasim Rebecca Asl.

67. Miriam Margolyes

68. Jackie Kay

69. Pete Paphides

70. John Gerard Fagan.

71. Monisha Rajesh

72. Cal Flyn

73. Alan Warner

74. Michael Pedersen.

75. Bernard MacLaverty

76. Val McDermid

77. Kit de Waal

78. Bee Asha Singh.

Series Four - 2022

79. Armistead Maupin

80. Josie Long

81. Andrew Cotter.

82. Graeme Macrae Burnet

83. Denise Mina

84. Graham McTavish.

85. Patrick Gale

86. Pat Nevin

87. Chitra Ramaswamy.

88. Maggie O’Farrell

89. Elaine C. Smith

90. Kate Mosse.

91. Rachelle Atalla

92. Gavin Mitchell

93. Sarah Vaughan.

94. Jennifer Egan

95. Ricky Ross

96. Mark Billingham.

97. Charlie Higson

98. Ian Rankin

99. Bethan Roberts.

100. Reverend Richard Coles

101. Lemn Sissay

102. Cerys Matthews.

Series Five - 2023

103. Colson Whitehead

104. Eleanor Catton

105. Judy Murray.

106. Ann Cleeves

107. Irvine Welsh

108. Lauren Lyle.

109. Leila Aboulela

110. Maggie O’Farrell

111. Rochelle Neil.

112. Jenny Colgan

113. Graham McTavish

114. MG Leonard.

Series Six - 2024

115. Jackie Kay

116. Elif Shafak

117. Julian Clary.

118. Cariad Lloyd

119. Sara Pascoe

120. Chris Brookmyre.

121. Sarah Perry

122. Sara Sheridan

123. Eleanor Morton.

124. Naomi Alderman

125. Jack Docherty

126. Nikesh Shukla.

127. Rebecca F Kuang

128. Hugo Rifkind

129. Kieran Hodgson.

130. Amy Liptrot

131. Andrew O’Hagan

132. Joe Thomas

Series Seven - 2025

133. John Niven

134. Hallie Rubenhold

135. Desiree Burch.

136. Rachel Kushner

137. Tash Aw

138. Brian Cox.

139. Paula Hawkins

140. Chris McQueer

141. Rachel Parris.

Damian Barr10 April 2026

Big Scottish Book Club: The End

All good stories have a beginning, a middle and an end - as any Big Scottish Book Club viewer can tell you. We brought books back to telly in 2019 - thanks to a far-sighted commission from Gareth Hydes at BBC Scotland and the producing brilliance of IWC Media, lead by Mark Downie and Pauline Law. Series Seven went out last year and I’m sad to say it was our last.

Since our first series in 2019, I’ve welcomed over 140 of my fellow writers to the show (full list in another post). I’m grateful to each and every one of them for trusting me with their words - especially to the debut writers who took their first brave steps with us.

Thank you to all the poets with music on their tongues. Thank you to whole libraries of novelists for proving the novel is so very far from dead. Thank you to all the memoirists with stories that moved me from laughter to tears (often in the same sentence). Thank you to the brave historians filling the silences in the archives, never more needed than now. Thank you to all the writers of every genre from across Scotland, throughout the UK and around the world. Thank you for trusting me with your words and making me a better reader and writer.

And, of course, thank YOU for watching. Thank you for coming back to us season after season, through Covid and all. You made us the longest-running books show and the last one standing. I’ve loved meeting so many of you while out on tour with The Two Roberts. I especially love hearing what you think of the books you’ve found through the show. I’m especially grateful to the folk that brought me tablet, it’s a miracle I’ve got teeth.

If you want to find out more about what I’m up to, please do subscribe to my newsletter.

TV can’t happen without dedicated talented freelancers in every dept from makeup to sound, editing to lighting, cleaning to floor managing. Series after series, the same folk came back to work together on Book Club and I’ve watched their skills grow and benefited from their brilliance: Carlin Wallace, Nicholas Boyle, Mark Crossan, Colin Lennox, Caroline Hamilton, Karen Graham, Donald MacInnes, Peter Kelly, Kirsty Anderson and Duncan McCormick.

We started off touring venues around Scotland from barns to libraries and ended up based in the historic and beautiful Leith Theatre, who made us so welcome. Thanks to all the venue staff and volunteers there. Our last few series were filmed during the EIBF and I want to thank the team there for helping us secure such great guests.

Libraries, librarians, bookshops, booksellers and book groups are the beating heart of this show. Thanks to the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) for getting our books into so many libraries. Independent Bookshops have been big supporters – I can’t pass one without making a purchase. A special thanks to the Old Bank in Wigtown for such beautiful table displays!

Book Club grew out of my Literary Salon, so I want to thank again: Kirsty Milner, Rosie Chipping, Megan Bay Dorman, Jude Turner, Amy Very and Matt Casbourne. As well as my TV Agent Vanessa Fogarty and Literary Agent Clare Conville.

So much to be grateful for! Please let me say, for one last time:

Happy Reading.

DB x

PS You can still catch Series Seven on iPlayer!

Damian Barr10 April 2026Big Scottish Book Club

Two Roberts Exhibition Touring to Nottingham then Kilmarnock!

Bobby and Robert and their talented pals and all their astonishing art are going on tour!

Robert Colquhoun and Robert Macbryde: Artists, Lovers, Outsiders is the exhibition I curated for Charleston. It closes in Lewes on April 12. It’s then touring to Nottingham and Kilmarnock, the first time Charleston have toured a show. THRILLING!

The exhibition features over 100 paintings, works on paper and bits of archive—some never seen in public before. I am so grateful to all our lenders, public and private. To everyone who has been to see the show already. And to the teams at Charleston, Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery and the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock. Touring a show is a huge amount of work and it’s taking very talented and committed folk to make it happen. It would be impossible without the Colquhoun and MacBryde families and Scottish Artist Davy Brown. A full list of credits and thanks to follow!

On May 2 the exhibition opens at Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery and runs there until 6 September. On September 25, the Two Roberts will finally return to Scotland at the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock, hometown of Robert Colquhoun. It will run there until January 2027.

I am delighted to say that works by artist Robert Montgomery, fellow son of Ayrshire and Glasgow School of Art graduate, will also tour with the show. His work quite literally sheds light on Colquhoun and MacBryde and is a revelation. I am so honoured to be able to include it.

I’ll be sharing more info my newsletter soon. Sign up here.

More timings and info to follow, but I just wanted to share this good news as we head into Easter.

Charleston ShowDamian Barr2 April 2026The Two Roberts

Last Chance to See (In Lewes)

I can’t believe it, but the show I curated at Charleston in Lewes is almost over! It closes on April 12th. So you haven’t got long. This Sunday (29th March) is the last Pay What You Can Day and I plan to pop along and say thank you and generally enjoy the vibe.

Book tickets here!

About the show:

I’ve curated an exhibition that goes along with my novel. It’s called Robert MacBryde & Robert Colquhoun: Artists, Lovers, Outsidersand features over 100 works by them, their friends and lovers.

It’s open now at the Charleston gallery in Lewes - just across from the train station. It runs until April 12, 2026. It also includes new work by contemporary artists Davy Brown and Robert Montgomery – including stunning new paintings and a light sculpture that will make you cry (good tears).

It’s the Roberts’ first major exhibition in England since 1962—since their relationship was illegal.

Also taking place at Charleston in Lewes (upstairs) is Soft Play, the first big show by the brilliant young Scottish artist Trackie McLeod. Google him and you’ll find a piece by him called Big Light and you’ll see why I love what he is doing. Like the Roberts and me, he’s gay and Scottish and working-class and I love imagining us all out for a drink together.

Curating is very much a team effort, so I want to thank all our lenders as well as Emily Hill and Shannon Smith at Charleston and the whole team of technicians and front of house.

Damian Barr, Charleston ShowDamian Barr26 March 2026The Two Roberts

What would Sir Walter Scott say? Longlisted!

In joyful news, me and Bobby and Robert have been longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction! I love this prize because I always find great new books on the longlist. It’s a particular honour to be selected after making my BBC documentary about Scott and for a prize (twice) won by my personal icon Hilary Mantel. Congratulations to the whole longlist (below) and thanks to the judges and readers.

AwardsDamian Barr5 February 2026The Two Roberts

My Exhibition about the Two Roberts is now open at Charleston in Lewes.

I’ve curated an exhibition that goes along with my novel. It’s called Robert MacBryde & Robert Colquhoun: Artists, Lovers, Outsiders and features over 100 works by them, their friends and lovers.

It’s open now at the Charleston gallery in Lewes - just across from the train station. It runs until April 12, 2026. It also includes new work by contemporary artists Davy Brown and Robert Montgomery – including stunning new paintings and a light sculpture that will make you cry (good tears).

It’s the Roberts’ first major exhibition in England since 1962—since their relationship was illegal. The last Sunday of every month is Pay What You Can Day. So, if you can get to Lewes on any of those days, you can pay whatever you can and that includes nothing. If you’re visiting another time, here’s a special discount code. When booking online, enter the code BOOKTOUR20 to get 20% off on full price tickets. Save on tickets, spend on cake.

Also taking place at Charleston in Lewes (upstairs) is Soft Play, the first big show by the brilliant young Scottish artist Trackie McLeod. Google him and you’ll find a piece by him called Big Light and you’ll see why I love what he is doing. Like the Roberts and me, he’s gay and Scottish and working-class and I love imagining us all out for a drink together.

Curating is very much a team effort, so I want to thank all our lenders as well as Emily Hill and Shannon Smith at Charleston and the whole team of technicians and front of house.

PS there should be signed copies of the Two Roberts in the gift shop!

PPS We very much hope to tour it, so watch this space.

Charleston ShowDamian Barr27 October 2025The Two Roberts

On Making Art and Finding Love

The world is burning. Fascism is rising. Countries are falling. And we’re on the brink of incredible technological change, which will either be the end of everything or a new beginning. So, who needs artists?”

You can read the whole article here (a warning: it contains some spoilers).

You can catch me at Hatchards on publication day in conversation with Tom Dyckhoff. Or at Pallant House Gallery on 5th September in conversation with Simon Martin. Please ask your local library to get the book in or preorder it, if you can.

Thank you for reading and sharing.

Damian Barr, The Two RobertsDamian Barr2 September 2025The Two Roberts, events

The Two Roberts is a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick!

I’ll be talking with Sara Cox for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club! I’m in great company with novels of all flavours, inluding plenty of historical fiction. Can’t wait to join the other authors on the program - you can hear me on the podcast around the 1st week of September. Thanks for having me!

The Two RobertsDamian Barr14 August 2025bbc radio 2

First Look at The Two Roberts!

BEHOLD THE HOTNESS!

The finger in the mouth, the brushstrokes, the TYPOGRAPHY!

Here is the finished hardback, as designed by Stephen Parker at Canongate Books.

I could not love it more!

You can preorder it here!

We need more big gay love stories. Please support this one and make more room for more stories like it by pre-ordering, if you can. You can get a lovely signed edition from Waterstones. My beloved indies Porty Books and City Books in Hove are the ONLY places that can sort you out with a dedication too. And I'm dead chuffed to be this week's BookLovers Spotlight on bookshop.org where every purchase supports indie bookshops. All pre-order details here.

I'll be travelling all round the UK visiting libraries, festivals, bookshops and galleries. I'm being hosted by some frankly gorgeous people so watch this space! And thanks for having me. You can buy tickets here and on the events page here (soon!).

Me and the Two Roberts hope to see you on the road. And we thank you for all the love and support.

In The Room Where It Happens

So, Maggie & Me didn’t win at the WhatsOnStageAwards on Sunday.

BUT we were in the room - well, the London Palladium! I mean, THE ACTUAL LONDON PALLADIUM.

TBH, I had no clue it would be so properly red carpet fancy. I lost count of the stars I spotted on and off stage - Imelda Staunton, Tina Fey, half the cast of Slow Horses. I finally met Mark Bonnar in person after having him as a guest on Shelf Isolation (my BBC culture show made during lockdown). Can confirm Mark gives amazing hugs and I’m no shirker in this dept. Thrillingly, Cush Jumbo was sat in front of us all night.

We were up for Best Set Design and Best Sound Design. Everybody who came to see the play loved the sets, designed by the brilliant Kenneth MacLeod. His set was the first thing you saw and he brought the whole story to life in an amazingly detailed, beautiful and highly kinetic way. Susan Bear was up for Best Sound Design - she created a soundtrack that brought the 1980s back! But she also capture the dynamics of the characters and, in fact, created the character Logan purely from sound because I didn’t want to see that man in any kind of flesh ever again. I owe Kenneth and Susan so much and I am so proud of them and their work.

It was a belting night out! And joyful to be reunited with Kenneth and Susan and our genius director Suba Das—truly, he worked actual magic. He should be up for every award going!

We were the only show from Scotland to make it to the finals. Thanks to National Theatre of Scotland for reuniting us all and to Jack Oliver for herding cats on the night. Thanks to WhatsonStage for a stunning night and congratulations to everybody shortlisted and to all the winners. Biggest thanks of all goes to everybody who came to see Maggie & Me on tour and who voted us into that room!

I very much hope the play returns soon to a stage near you ;)

Damian Barr11 February 2025

Proud to be a Centenary Champion for the National Library of Scotland!

When I first came to Edinburgh, as a student, I was too intimidated by the National Library of Scotland (NLS) to go in. I walked past the big building on George IV several times. It felt like trying to pluck up the courage to enter CeCeBlooms—another Edinburgh institution full of stories! Eventually I did go in (to both). The Library had that familiar smell but everything else felt different—it was bigger, grander, much less welcoming than the libraries I’d known. In fact, it was forbidding. So I left.

Twenty years later, I’ve been made a Centenary Champion of the National Library of Scotland—along with the brilliant Val McDermid. It is a huge honour. Our appointment says so much about how the library has changed in that time. It’s the home of Scotland’s stories and gets a copy of every book published in the UK. It also houses maps, letters, diaries, images, films - even every copy of Kay’s Catalogue! It has priceless treasures, like the last letter from Mary Queen of Scots—which I got to see on the centenary launch day and which is soon touring to Perth Museum. But it also has treasures worth more than mere money—those Kay’s Catalogues tell the story of households like the one I grew up in, or aspired to.

I'm proud to stand with the resourceful and inspiring groups championing libraries and librarians in our communities. It was a joy to spend the day with those groups and with Val and with our National Librarian Amina Shah - the first woman to hold this post in the library’s long history. Congratulations to the whole team at NLS.

It’s going to be a big year for the library which is using this moment to celebrate all Scotland’s libraries - sharing treasures of all kinds, uplifting one another and the places they call home.

Damian Barr6 February 2025Libraries

Letting Go & Letting In

When do you stop wishing people ‘Happy New Year’? There’s a point at which it becomes mildly embarrassing. I’m not there yet. But I’m getting there.

I’m still letting go of 2024 - turning Maggie & Me into a play, turning a corner in therapy, finding new ways to tell stories and new people to tell them with. But 2025 is here and the diary is filling up.

This year my new novel comes out. The Two Roberts will be published in September but it’s starting to find its way out into the world now - to first readers, to critics, to all the people every writer wants to love their book, whatever they’ve written. I’m really excited for people to meet Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun, the wild and wildly talented men I’ve been in a throuple with these past few years. They’ve been dead since the 1960s but our love is *real*.

I want them and their art to be rediscovered and celebrated - they deserve to be as famous as the people who danced at their legendary studio parties, as all the Bacons and Freuds. But they’re not and now is not the time go into All The Reasons Why. But let’s just say, it’s no accident Colquhoun and MacBryde are as gay and Scottish and working-class as me.

So, yes, I want you all to fall in love with the Two Roberts. And I suppose that means letting them go - something I’m not great at. I’ve had them all to myself for so long—a feeling I recognise from Maggie & Me and from You Will Be Safe Here. I felt hugely protective of Willem, the central character in You Will Be Safe Here: a young queer boy sent by his fictional parents to a camp that ‘makes men out of boys’. Yet I also put Willem through what his character endures there. Perhaps my protectiveness came from guilt? With Maggie & Me, my memoir, I was much more worried about what people might think of my close family members and beloved friends than of me. I’m sure this was the usual hyper-responsibility of the trauma survivor alongside the anxieties every writer has about sharing their work with a busy and potentially indifferent world. The same feelings I have now and will have with every book, I’m sure.

I’m on the copy-editing stage with The Two Roberts - I’ll share more about that here soon. I want to let you in on as much of the process as people in the hope that making publication more transparent also makes it more accessible which means more and richer stories for all. This edit is another stag of letting go - giving up the chance to make big changes, accepting the book I’ve written and letting go of whatever I’d imagined. Which means letting go of my characters. It feels like I’ve got these two amazing friends next door and they’ve just told me they’re moving to another city, maybe another country. We won’t be seeing each other every day anymore. We’re all sad about it but excited for new frontiers too.

I’m so grateful to Alex Preston for choosing the Two Roberts as one of the books he’s most excited about in 2025. He said (no spoilers): ‘Damian Barr’s second novel. The Two Roberts (Canongate) begins on an Ayrshire hillside in 1934. Here we find the eponymous Roberts – Colquhoun and MacBryde – at the beginning of their lives as lovers and artists. Barr has rescued these two near-forgotten figures in a novel that brims over with generosity and warmth.’

Honestly, I couldn’t ask for more. It means so much to me that a critic has divined my intent - it makes me sad that these amazing talented and, yes, difficult, men have been almost forgotten. I hope my book lifts them back up from the footnotes to the centre of their story, where they very much were and very much deserve to be.

You can read the full list of fantastic books chosen by Alex Preston here. I’m thrilled that The Two Roberts was also picked by the Guardian, Herald (I’m not a footballer or a hardman) and the BBC.

So, Happy New Year. That’s the last time I’m going to say it. I’m letting go now. Promise.

The Two RobertsDamian Barr15 January 2025The Two Roberts, top writing tips

Meet 'The Two Roberts': My New Novel!

Meet The Two Roberts: artists, lovers, outrageous outsiders!

My new novel is a love-letter to Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun, two neglected gay pioneers who met on their first day at the Glasgow School of Art in 1933. I’ve imagined the lives - and loves - they were forced to hide.

The Two Roberts were charismatic art stars - collected by major galleries, photographed by Vogue, filmed by Ken Russell. But they lived as hard as they worked...scandal was no stranger.

Dylan Thomas adored them. Francis Bacon wanted to be them. Elizabeth Smart hired them as nannies (perhaps unwisely).

Two of the 20th century’s most brilliant artists. Almost forgotten. Until now.

There are so many gaps in their story - so many questions unasked.

My new novel is all about what it means to find your voice, to find love when it’s forbidden and to change the way the world sees.

I’ve fallen in love with The Two Roberts.

I hope you do too.

Published by Canongate on September 4th 2025.

Follow me on insta for pre-orders, events, library visits and partnerships with indie bookshops.

New Book, The Two RobertsDamian Barr29 October 2024The Two Roberts

I'm Curating a Show at Charleston!

This exhibition is their first in England since 1962.

It’s all about the Two Roberts, Colquhoun and Macbryde. It traces their incredible journey from 1930s Glasgow to wartime Europe, through London in the Blitz, to tragedy... Tracing their spectacular rise and fall, it puts them back where they were—at the centre of a wild creative set in a rapidly changing world.

It includes their time in Lewes, where they lived from 1947-49, supported by the Miller sisters, patrons connected to the Bloomsbury Group. Paintings, lithographs, drawings and archive celebrate their personal and artistic bond and puts them in context with contemporaries.

The show will open on October 22 2025 at Charleston in Lewes and tickets are on sale in the new year. There are so many folk to thank but this couldn’t happen without the Charleston team, Much Ado Books or the artist Davy Brown.

Charleston ShowDamian Barr29 October 2024The Two Roberts

Books are Back on Telly!

Elif Shafak, Jackie Kay and Julian Clary join me tonight for the first episode of the new series of The Big Scottish Book Club! We’ve been promoted to prime-time: 730pm on BBC Scotland BBC iPlayer.

Making this show is a gift—I get to read books and talk about writing with other writers. It is a load of work but also a joy. So thank you to the team at IWC Media who produce the show and to the folk at BBC Scotland who think books are important enough to be on telly in a peak slot.

This is our sixth series! So thank YOU for watching and sharing.

Here is a link to watch the Big Scottish Book Club online.

Big Scottish Book ClubDamian Barr28 August 2024Books on TV, Big Scottish Book Club

The Story of Section 28

I grew up under Section 28 - this hateful law was passed in 1988 and repealed in 2003 (2000 in Scotland). It damaged LGBTQ+ children - including me. It also silenced teachers and librarians, stopped them answering or asking questions about sexuality or gender. The shadow of this law is long and dark. With our allies, we must resist every attempt to harm another generation by reintroducing any version of it.

I wrote about Section 28 in my memoir Maggie & Me. I just adapted that book for the stage with the National Theatre of Scotland. I knew Section 28 would be a big part of the play because it is such an important part of my story and the story of my generation. Our Director Suba Das brought this scene to life in an imagined version of my school library, where Maggie Thatcher was snatching LGBTQ+ books from the shelves. In the play DB was played by Gary Lamont and Maggie by Beth Marshall. My cowriter was James Ley. The design is by Kenneth MacLeod. You can get full details of the Cast, Creative Team and all the brilliant folk involved here.

I’m sharing this scene here so you can get a sense of what Section 28 really was and how it still hurts people now. You can buy the full script here.

Maggie returns. She’s now the school librarian. Maggie grabs Tennessee Williams off Wee DB and then snatches a load of other books off the shelves, throwing them all into a supermarket trolley marked with a logo that says Section 28.

DB: What are you doing? Is that Oscar Wilde?

Maggie: Yes. Degenerate Irishman.

Wee DB: You can’t do this.

Maggie: I can. I did. It’s the law. Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988. We have prohibited the promotion of homosexuality by teaching or by publishing material. Now give me that.

DB: That’s Shakespeare!

Maggie: Yes and Sonnet 20 has got to go: ‘The master-mistress of my passion’ Filth!

Maggie grabs another book.

DB: That’s The Color Purple.

Maggie: Wrong for so many reasons.

DB: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit!

Maggie: More lesbians!

DB: But he needs to read all of these. This is where I find better words, kinder words. Jeanette Winterson: “If you read yourself as fiction, it’s rather more liberating than reading yourself as fact.” Alice Walker: “I am an expression of the divine, just like a peach is, just like a fish is.” Oscar Wilde: “Who, being loved, is poor?”.

Maggie: Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.

DB: Stories are mirrors - take them away and we can never see ourselves, except in insults. The first words we learn about ourselves are insults. I’ve never seen a story like mine in a book - I don’t exist, in fiction or in memoir. That’s part of the reason I’m writing this, to prove to myself that I exist, to show others they exist too. No wonder it’s so hard to find my voice–you took it away. And you’re still trying to stop me now.

Maggie: Yes. Because you were cheated of a sound start in life—yes cheated! Forget literature, forget stories, what you need are facts. Facts about self-reliance, facts about personal independence, facts about the things that matter.

DB, Heather and Wee DB try to rescue the books from Maggie’s trolley and put them back on the shelves but they’re fighting a losing battle. DB is trying to wrestle a copy of the Color Purple from Maggie. This becomes a tug of war. Maggie wins and runs off, pushing her trolley as she goes.

Damian Barr17 July 2024

Series Six of Big Scottish Book Club!

If you'd like to be in the audience for Series Six of the Big Scottish Book Club, then please email bsbc.audience@iwcmedia.co.uk Thanks to everybody who has already been in touch and for watching and sharing the show. We're recording six shows over two days (that's a lot of books, I know). See you then!

And thanks again to BBC Scotland for keeping books on telly!

Series Six will air in August and Sept on BBC Scotland and BBCiPlayer. You can watch Series Five here.

Damian Barr16 July 2024

The Play Is The Thing!

I’m so grateful to each and every person who came to see Maggie & Me open at the Tron last week and to all the folk planning to catch it on tour. A standing ovation for every show so far! Our incredible cast and crew deserve all the applause. And all the stars!

Here is a review that really gets what we were dreaming of doing with this show.

‘Funny, moving and powerful in equal measure, it’s an expertly told story and it deserves to be a hit.’ WhatsOnStage

And here are some more reviews

A National Theatre of Scotland production.

5 Stars
An exceptional journey of exploration
Theatre Scotland

5 Stars
Bold, nuanced, and important theatre
The Quinntessential Review

4 Stars
A fine job of bringing Damian Barr’s memoir to the stage
The Times

4 Stars
Fearless and unflinching
The Herald

4 Stars
Highly significant show
The Scotsman

4 Stars
Nostalgic, funny and heart-warming
Broadway World

4 Stars
A welcoming production that wears heart and pride on its sleeve
Corr Blimey

Maggie & MeDamian Barr14 May 2024maggie & me

Maggie & Me is coming to England!

I’m delighted that the tour of the National Theatre of Scotland production of Maggie & Me has been expanded to include an English stop. The play will be on at the historic Royal & Derngate Theatre in Northampton on the 6th, 7th and 8th of June. I think this will be your only chance to catch it down south!

Book tickets for the Royal & Derngate Theatre here.

Full details of the rest of the tour are right here.

Thank you for supporting the show - I can’t wait to share it with you!

Damian Barr5 March 2024