Irvine Welsh: ‘I thought Trainspotting would be a cult book, but not...
The Scottish author on 25 years of his landmark novel, Brexit as a catalyst for democratic change and the exhilarating effects of boxingTrainspotting is 25 years old. Did you have any idea when you...
View ArticleTrainspotting 2 actor Bradley Welsh was shot dead on his doorstep
Author Irvine Welsh leads tributes to friend murdered in EdinburghThe author Irvine Welsh has led tributes to the Trainspotting 2 actor Bradley Welsh, who was shot dead on his doorstep in Edinburgh...
View ArticleIrvine Welsh on Glastonbury: 'You build a city in a field and make your own...
There’s no other music festival like it, says the author, who describes past misadventures and the party tune playlist for his guest DJ slotI did a walking tour of Spain this year, the Camino de...
View ArticleMessage from the Skies review – Edinburgh's heritage illuminated
Various venues, EdinburghCharlotte Runcie and Irvine Welsh are among the writers exploring Scotland’s maritime history in these evocative installationsA litany of names is projected on the outside...
View ArticleFrom Donna Tartt to Irvine Welsh: 10 great novels about friendship
Urban junkies, competitive mothers, adolescent girls caught in the world of Charles Manson ... Lara Feigel picks her 10 favourites Love beyond sex, money and property: a case for friendshipDonna Tartt,...
View ArticleBritBox's first slate of original shows includes Irvine Welsh adaptation Crime
The streaming service will adapt four novels for its first raft of original shows, with actors including Jared Harris, Cush Jumbo and Dougray Scott set to starBritBox has announced its first original...
View ArticleBret Easton Ellis and Irvine Welsh in talks to co-write TV drama
American Psycho and Trainspotting authors set to collaborate for the first time on show about a manipulative American tabloid Bret Easton Ellis dreamed up the depraved excesses of serial killer Patrick...
View ArticleThe week in TV: Small Axe: Mangrove; The Crown; The Great British Bake Off...
Steve McQueen’s vital black British historical drama sears into the mind, and Peter Morgan’s saga of the Windsors returns waving its pro-Diana flagSmall Axe: Mangrove (BBC One) | iPlayerThe Crown...
View ArticlePassing sentences … what’s the worst kind of book thief?
Theft is never a great thing, but there must be a special place in hell for those who steal libraries’ shared cultural treasureA 13th-century inscription in an early copy of Bede’s commentary on the...
View ArticleCreation Stories review – mythmaking and megalomania in likable Alan McGee...
Irvine Welsh’s cracking adaption of an autobiography by the ‘President of Pop’ flashes from My Bloody Valentine to his discovery of Oasis“I’m talentless. But I make things happen.” That’s record label...
View ArticleCreation Stories review – generic biopic of record label supremo Alan McGee
Ewen Bremner stars as the fiery Scots label boss in this cliche-ridden drama co-written by Irvine Welsh“Bottom line, it was fun,” says self-declared Glaswegian ginger bastard Alan McGee (Ewen Bremner)....
View ArticleCreation myths: Alan McGee tells the real story of those wild Britpop years
The maverick label boss on why he didn’t let the truth get in the way of a good movie … and why he may owe an apology to Tony BlairAlan McGee, the music label founder who signed Oasis and surfed the...
View ArticleBobby Gillespie: ‘For the first 10 years of my life, I lived in a Glasgow...
On the eve of the publication of his memoir, the Primal Scream frontman talks to friend and author Irvine Welsh about his working-class upbringing, beating drugs and losing creative partners. Barbara...
View ArticleTrainspotting: behind the scenes by Danny Boyle, Ewan McGregor, Irvine Welsh...
The bust-up with Harvey Weinstein, Irvine Welsh’s verdict on the script (‘too effete’), the problem with the excrement scene … the cast and crew relive the making of the classic 1996 filmContinue...
View ArticleIrvine Welsh: ‘We’re heading for an anarchist paradise where we play football...
The notorious author is breaking new ground with his TV debut. He talks about messed up cops, exorcising Sick Boy … and writing the tunes for Trainspotting: The Musical‘I like the way you call me...
View ArticleCrime review – Irvine Welsh’s first TV drama is a dreich and plodding affair
This Edinburgh cop show is disappointingly conventional stuff from the author known for his exuberance and excess – and its dialogue is deathlyThe biggest surprise of Crime, BritBox’s much-heralded new...
View ArticleThe week in TV: Crime; Dopesick; Tiger King 2; Bridget Riley: Painting the Line
Dougray Scott delivers a triple espresso shot performance as Irvine Welsh’s maverick detective; America’s struggle with opioid addiction makes for serious pharma drama; and the unwelcome return of Joe...
View ArticleThe Voids by Ryan O’Connor review – Irn-Bru and benders
This luminous debut novel, set in a squalid, hyper-hedonistic Glasgow, is a wild and gratifying literary rideTower blocks have formed the narrative spine of many a novel, most notably JG Ballard’s...
View ArticleIrvine Welsh’s Porno review – coarse and gutsy Trainspotting sequel
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghWelsh’s band of unruly misfits reunite – 15 years older – in an intense, dark farce that rushes to a conclusion all too soonFor all that the characters of Trainspotting...
View ArticleIrvine Welsh: ‘Everything has become so shouty’
The Trainspotting author on his new novel’s transgender storyline, using humour to give his readers a break and the debt he owes to Evelyn WaughIrvine Welsh, 63, grew up in Muirhouse, north Edinburgh,...
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