Jenni Fagan, Kit De Waal and Jackie Kay among the guests for next series of The Big Scottish Book Club
Jenni Fagan, Kit De Waal and Jackie Kay among the guests for next series of The Big Scottish Book Club

The Big Scottish Book Club is back! You can watch live on BBC iPlayer or BBC Scotland on 31st October, 10pm.

I'll be joined by writers including: Alan Johnson, Miriam Margolyes, Bobby Gillespie, Louise Welsh, Jenni Fagan, Jackie Kay, Alan Warner, Denise Mina, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Darren McGarvey, James Robertson, Bernard MacLaverty, Kit De Waal, Pete Paphides, Mohsin Zaidi, Sarah Perry, Cal Flyn, Kirsty Capes, Séamas O'Reilly, Bryony Gordon, Suzannah Lipscomb, Hannah Lavery and Monisha Rajesh.

The featured poets and spoken word performers include: Len Pennie, Mara Menzies, Mae Diansangu, Jeda Pearl, Nasim Rebecca Asl, John Gerard Fagan, Bee Asha Singh and Michael Pederson.

Every show features a fabulous book group from a different community in Scotland.

Gareth Hydes, Commissioning Editor at BBC Scotland, says: “The Big Scottish Book Club is a great stalwart of our BBC Scotland winter schedule. And I, like the viewers, am looking forward to being in the very good company of host Damian Barr and this year’s authors. It is another great line-up. There is always a lot to enjoy and reflect upon from the chats and of course great inspiration for books to read this winter.

Thank YOU for watching.

Read the full press release here. Click here to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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Guest UserDamian Barr, The Big Scottish Book Club, BBC Scotland, BBC iPlayer, Jenni Fagan, Kit de Waal, Jackie Kay
Salon autumn season announcement!
Salon autumn season announcement!

Damian Barr’s Literary Salon is back IN PERSON and ONLINE! Miriam Margolyes, Alan Cumming, sleeping with books and much, much more! Yes, it’s our Autumn season! AND, because we love libraries so much, we’re offering complimentary online access to our December Salon to every library in the UK!

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Guest UserLondon LibraryLiterary Salon, Damian Barr's Literary Salon, Miriam Margolyes, Alan Cumming, London Library, Len Pennie, Courtney Stoddart
Save Our Libraries!
Save Our Libraries!

On Sunday a national campaign was launched to help save our libraries. I wrote a piece talking about how special my childhood library was and is to me and our community.


‘Newarthill Library saved my life. It was safe and warm when home was cold and chaotic. Nothing bad ever happened in the library, except in books – I’m still not over Aslan and don’t get me started on Of Mice and Men. As a boy, I lost myself in stories. And eventually that’s where I found myself too, because every writer starts out as a reader.’

What are your memories of your local Library? How do you use it now?

Click HERE for the full article.

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Guest UserThe Scotsman, Damian Barr, Save Our Libraries, Newarthill Library
'In Search of Sir Walter Scott' on BBC Four
'In Search of Sir Walter Scott' on BBC Four

'In Search of Sir Walter Scott' on BBC Four, Tuesday 31st August, 9pm.

You can enjoy the documentary once again, this time on BBC Four! And it will be joyously followed by the film adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's novel, 'Ivanhoe'. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor!

'In Search of Sir Walter Scott' was made with Factory Films all over Scotland during lockdown. It was made safely, so thank you to the crew and all our genius contributors on and off screen. And thank you for watching! It's also available on BBC iPlayer.

Click HERE to watch.

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Guest UserSir Walter Scott, In Search of Sir Walter Scott, Factory Films, Damian Barr, BBC Four
The Big Scottish Book Club is back!
The Big Scottish Book Club is back!

The Big Scottish Book Club is back! We’re filming series three this autumn! Thank you for all the support! We’re making eight shows featuring big names and new talent from across Scotland and around the world. Fiction, non-fiction and spoken word- we’re bringing it all to you!

To be the first to know who is on the show and when you can watch us, sign-up to my newsletter here: https://www.damianbarr.com/subscribe Are you in a book club? We're looking for book clubs in Scotland to take part in the show! For more information please contact bsbc.bookgroup@iwcmedia.co.uk

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Guest UserThe Big Scottish Book Club, IWC, IWC Media, Damian Barr, BBC Scotland
The Big Scottish Book Club is up for a Broadcast Digital Award!
The Big Scottish Book Club is up for a Broadcast Digital Award!

The Big Scottish Book Club is up for a Broadcast Digital Award! We made this in lockdown & every person on it went above & beyond. Thank you IWC_Media and BBC Scotland, writers & poets, venues, all the cleaners, crew & folk who kept us going. Thanks judges!

And thank you to every single person who watched and extra shiny thanks to all who borrowed or bought or listened to or otherwise celebrated one of the books we discussed on the show. Your support makes it all possible!

Winners will be announced on 6th October 2021. Click here for the full list of awards and nominations.

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Guest UserThe Big Scottish Book Club, Damian Barr, IWC Media, Kirsty Milner, Broadcast Digital Award, BBC Scotland
The Literary Tarot by Brink Literacy Project
The Literary Tarot by Brink Literacy Project

I’ve always been intrigued by tarot—by the stories each card represents. So I was thrilled when I was asked by Brink Literacy Project to pair a card with a classic work of literature for their new Literary Tarot Deck. I chose the Six of Cups! You'll have to get the deck to find out which classic novel I paired it with. Other authors involved include Roxane Gay, Margaret Atwood and Dani Hedlund.

The Brink Literacy Project is a nonprofit organization. Through their education, community, and publishing divisions, their nonprofit works worldwide to foster a love of literature, increase literacy rates, and use storytelling to empower underserved communities. The Literary Tarot will help raise funds for their nonprofit programs this year.

Click here for more info.

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Guest UserBrink Literacy Project, Dani Hedlund, The Literary Tarot, Damian Barr, Six of cups
'You Will Be Safe Here' a pick in the Irish Independent!
'You Will Be Safe Here' a pick in the Irish Independent!

Cauvery Madhavan has chosen You Will Be Safe Here as one of the literary finds that helped her conquer lockdown!

Interesting to see authors also (re)turning to classics and re-reads during lockdown. But very grateful to see You Will Be Safe Here on this list and alongside new favourite Seán Hewitt. Thanks Cauvery Madhavan.

Click here to read the full article.

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Guest UserCauvery Madhavan, Damian Barr, You Will Be Safe Here, Seán Hewitt
On the money: a portrait of Sir Walter Scott at 250
On the money: a portrait of Sir Walter Scott at 250

It was a joy to write this piece about Sir Walter Scott in art for Art UK - a cultural education charity working to make art available to everyone. There are a number of works of art featuring Scott, his characters, settings, family members and pets in UK collections, which says a lot about how popular he once was. It's interesting to see how representations of Scott vary from dour to almost twinkly.

Click here to read Damian's article for Art UK.

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Guest UserArt UK, Sir Walter Scott, Sir Walter Scott 250, Damian Barr
In Search of Sir Walter Scott
In Search of Sir Walter Scott

Walter Scott is 250 this year. Now is the moment to reconsider the man in the monument, to recontextualise him, his world and his extensive works. It’s time to go In Search of Sir Walter Scott.

Scott looms large over Edinburgh and Scottish literature. A polymath and pioneer he was celebrated, envied and parodied in his day. He made a fortune from writing, lost it all and made it back before dying.

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Amy Very
Catch the final episode of 'Guide Books' on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
Catch the final episode of 'Guide Books' on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

You can catch the third and final episode of Guide Books on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds tomorrow, Tuesday 29th June, 11.30am. Damian is joined by Helen Macdonald and Melissa Harrison to discuss books to deepen our engagement with nature.

Guide Books has been chosen as Pick of the Week in the Radio Times, New Statesman, The Guardian, The Tablet, Observer and The Telegraph!

Click here to listen to all three episodes of Guide Books.

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Guest UserGuide Books, BBC Radio 4, BBC Sounds, Damian Barr, Cathy Rentzenbrink, Stella Duffy, Helen Macdonald, Melissa Harrison, Sinéad Gleeson, Sarah Perry
Guide Books chosen as Pick of the Week in the Radio Times
Guide Books chosen as Pick of the Week in the Radio Times

We're delighted that Guide Books is a Pick of the Week in the Radio Times. Thank you all for your excitement about the show. It starts today at 11.30am on BBC Radio 4 and you can catch it any time after on BBC iPlayer or BBC Sounds. My guests today are Sinéad Gleeson and Sarah Perry and we're discussing the Body.

Click here for more info about Guide Books.

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Guest UserGuide Books, BBC Radio 4, Mair Bosworth, Sinéad Gleeson, Sarah Perry, Radio Times