Join Professor Alan Riach, author of Scottish Literature: An Introduction, for a dynamic encounter with literary luminaries! Explore creativity, unravelling new works, traversing fiction, poetry, paintings, politics and personalities. With free speech silenced or murdered; with 'others' made monstrous by race, religion, nationality, gender; when governments court populism and clickbait media devalues humanity; when politicians streamline lying for votes, malevolent incompetence rules. We’re in trouble. Freedom of expression is Scottish literature’s antidote. Only the arts give trustworthy truths. Such matters are under the spotlight in this thought-provoking session.
Magisterial – THE TIMES
What do we mean by ‘Scottish literature’?
Why does it matter?
How do we engage with it?
Bringing infectious enthusiasm and a lifetime’s experience to bear on this multi-faceted literary nation, Alan Riach, Professor of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, sets out to guide you through the varied and ever-evolving landscape of Scottish literature.
A comprehensive and extensive work designed not only for scholars but also for the generally curious, Scottish Literature: an introduction tells the tale of Scotland’s many voices across the ages, from Celtic pre-history to modern mass media. Forsaking critical jargon, Riach journeys chronologically through individual works and writers, both the famed and the forgotten, alongside broad overviews of cultural contexts which connect texts to their own times. Expanding the restrictive canon of days gone by, Riach also sets down a new core body of ‘Scottish Literature’: key writers and works in English, Scots, and Gaelic.
Ranging across time and genre, Scottish Literature: an introduction invites you to hear Scotland through her own words.