You began your writing career as a poet. What inspired you to make the move to novels? I’ve never been beholden to the idea of being a poet. As a queer person, I never believed in these literary borde

December round-up Although he’s been writing and performing for many years, Donald WG Lindsay might come across as a bold new Scottish talent on Two Boats Under the Moon, his excellent two-disc debut

ONE OF THE MOST GRIMLY FUNNY POEMS OF the past century is Philip Larkin’s “This Be the Verse,” with its opening salvo about how our parents invariably mess us up. Larkin used a saltier word for “mess,

The memoirs of a high- and lowbrow émigré composer

Actor, presenter and now author Larry Lamb reveals why the written word – particularly verse – has always meant so much to him

Pulse Cynan Jones (Granta, £14.99) Saints Tim MacGabhann ...