Ian Rankin speaking at the St Andrew's Book Festival 2024

Transcript

00:00My message for this festival, as with most literary festivals, is keep going

00:04because the world needs writers and the world needs great books and we need different voices

00:08and we need to be hearing those voices and Scotland has always punched above its weight

00:13in terms of writing, non-fiction, non-fiction, poetry, you name it, but sometimes being on the

00:20periphery of the UK, as we sometimes are perceived to be, it's hard to get that message seen so keep

00:26reading. What's the importance of Scottish authors in London? I did my PhD on Muriel Spark and Muriel

00:35Spark, although she was born in Edinburgh, moved to London during the war and became a writer in

00:41London. Not until she got to London did she become a writer, so I've always had that fantastic

00:47attraction to London and when I got married in 1986, I moved to London and began the process

00:54of trying to become a full-time writer, so there's always been that connection. Scottish writers have

01:00always had an affinity with London and they've come here to find themselves, to find their voices

01:04and to find a publisher. I mean I think there's a confidence, there's a real freshness and a

01:09confidence to Scottish writing right now and we should be taking it out to the world and primarily

01:14we should be bringing it to London.