Scottish Books Events: January 2023

If you want to broaden your literary horizons, then there’s a whole host of new voices to discover this January. Helensburgh’s Cailean Steed is launching their debut Home, a cult-heavy thriller, in conversation with Kirstin Innes at Scotland’s largest book shop – Waterstones Sauchiehall Street – on 17 January. The same venue will see another debut launch one week later, when Edinburgh-based Hannah Kaner introduces us to her fantasy novel, Godkiller (24 Jan).

Those in Glasgow, stick around that Waterstones for a more unusual offering – The Red Scholar’s Wake, by Aliette de Bodard, a Vietnamese-inspired, sci-fi romance space opera (23 Jan) – and let disciplines collide at the Waterstones on Argyle Street as Philip Kerr’s Diving into Heavy Metal, a journey through the writer’s life and love for the genre (31 Jan).

With the new year comes new resolutions – if yours is to disrupt, then head to Lighthouse Books in Edinburgh on 13 January for the launch of Scott Branson’s Practical Anarchism, and gain tips on how to sustain social revolution in your day-to-day life. Portobello Bookshop has some great gems too – Kirsty Logan will be launching her new novel Now She Is Witch, in conversation with the wonderful Heather Parry (12 Jan), and poetry legend Don Paterson will celebrate the release of his long-awaited memoir Toy Fights: A Boyhood on 19 January.

It’s poets galore at the Scottish Poetry Library on the same date (19 Jan), as the city Makars of Scotland perform live together for the first time – Hannah Lavery, Laura T Fyfe, Jim Carruth, WM (Bill) Herbert and Niall O’Gallagher.

Of course, no Scottish books column would be complete without an obligatory nod to the Baird. Those after an authentic Burns Night celebration can head to Irvine (25 Jan) where Simon Lamb, the Scriever at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum will be hosting proceedings. Doesn’t get more Rabbie than that.