Spotlight on Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting as BBC’s Big Scottish Book Club visits Edinburgh this week

Regulars at Portobello Bookshop will give viewers their recommended reads

Edinburgh – and one of the city’s most famous novels – will feature in his week’s Big Scottish Book Club on the BBC Scotland channel this Sunday (November 6).

The series this year is combining big-name authors, alongside star names, for book banter and cultural chat with host Damian Barr.

The eight-part series of The Big Scottish Book Club will also feature reviews and recommendations from book clubs from around Scotland.

Edinburgh and Trainspotting will feature in his week’s Big Scottish Book Club on the BBC Scotland channel this Sunday (November 6).

It started last weekend with authors Kate Mosse and Karen Campbell, alongside Elaine C Smith.

The second episode will go out on the BBC Scotland channel at 10pm on Sunday.

In this episode, Damian Barr is joined by literary legend Armistead Maupin to discuss his classic Tales of the City series, comedian Josie Long reveals the writers that inspire her, and sports commentator turned online sensation Andrew Cotter talks about his books Dog Days and Olive, Mabel & Me.

And The Edinburgh Gay Men’s Book Group rate Trainspotting, by Irvine Welsh, and regulars at Portobello Bookshop give their recommended reads.

Other authors appearing in further episodes include Rachelle Atalla, Mark Billingham, Jennifer Egan, Patrick Gale, Graeme Macrae Burnet, Armistead Maupin, Denise Mina, Chitra Ramaswamy, Ian Rankin, Bethan Roberts, Lemn Sissay and Sarah Vaughan.

Among the other stars booked for the series – many of whom are also authors or writers in their own right – are Deacon Blue’s Ricky Ross, football legend Pat Nevin, Still Game’s Gavin Mitchell, broadcaster Stuart Cosgrove, The Fast Show’s Charlie Higson and the Reverend Richard Coles.

Host Damian said about the new format: “I love it. I get to meet people whose work I’ve admired; people whose work has intrigued me. And they get a chance to talk to each other which is the really nice part of our new format.

“So it’s not just me talking to them, they are also talking to each other. And you get some really surprising connections and stories you just wouldn’t hear anywhere else.

“What I love about this show is that we are giving people the space to think, and a space to disagree and a space to be surprised.”

The Big Scottish Book Club, Sunday November 6 at 10pm, on the BBC Scotland channel.