In this episode writer and salonnier Damian Barr talks to TLC’s Aki Schilz about the importance of author care in publishing, the joy of kinship and shared experience, and how to hide the truth in plain sight in fiction.
Damian Barr is the author of Maggie & Me, a memoir about coming of age and coming out in 1980s Scotland – a Radio 4 Book of the Week and Sunday Times Memoir of the Year which he adapted for the National Theatre of Scotland as a play directed by Suba Das. ‘You Will Be Safe Here’ is Damian’s novel of hidden histories in South Africa, linking the Boer Wars with a dark contemporary secret– a Radio 4 Book at Bedtime and Book of the Year in the Observer, Guardian and Financial Times. His most recent book is The Two Roberts, a fictional reimagining of two real life figures in the 1930s Glasgow art scene – the artists and lovers Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun. Alongside his books Damian hosted his own Literary Salon from 2008-2023 celebrating new work from established and emerging writers in groundbreaking live events and innovative podcasts, and he was the host for the much loved Big Scottish Book Club.
In his own words, Damian’s life is “all about writing, telling and celebrating stories – especially those that are overlooked or hidden.”
Photo Credit: Kirsty Anderson