About

Ayrshire-born author Liam McIlvanney talks about his debut novel, All the Colours of the Town, with Belfast-schooled poet Iggy McGovern.

This post-Troubles yarn ‘offers the reader not only all the pleasures of a page-turner with compelling crime elements, but also a brilliant study in the harsh, pawky affinity between those two majestic cities, Glasgow and Belfast’. The discussion will look at a shared history of religious bigotry, political violence and alcohol abuse.

Liam McIlvanney is Stuart Professor of Scottish Studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books. All the Colours of the Town is his first novel.

Iggy McGovern is Associate Professor in the School of Physics at Trinity College Dublin. He has recently published his second collection of poetry, Safe House.