Our Authors
Des Dillon
Internationally acclaimed award winning writer, born in Coatbridge. Studied English Literature. Taught English. Writer-in-Residence at Castlemilk 1998-2000. Poet, short story writer, novelist, dramatist. Broadcaster, screen writer, scriptwriter for TV, stage and radio. Published in USA, India, Russia, Sweden, in Catalan, French and Spanish. His novel Me and Ma Gal was included on the list of The 100 Greatest Ever Scottish Books. Anthologised internationally. His latest award was The Lion and Unicorn prize for the best of Irish and British literature in the Russian language (2007).
‘Des Dillon’s exuberant mastery of language energises everything he writes’
Janet Paisley
Books by Des Dillon
They Scream When You Kill Them
A new collection of short stories.
Publication : September 2006
UK, Commonwealth & translation rights : Luath Press
Singin I’m No A Billy, He’s A Tim
‘The potency of Dillon’s writing beats louder than any drum that the bigots can bang’
Irish Post
What happens when you lock up a Celtic fan? What happens when you lock up a Celtic fan with a Rangers fan? What happens when you lock up a Celtic fan with a Rangers fan on the day of the Old Firm match? Des Dillon creates the situation and watches the sparks fly as Billy and Tim clash in a rage of sectarianism and deep-seated hatred. When children haven been steeped in bigotry since birth, is it possible for them to change their views?
There are no easy answers, but this book rises to the challenge. It’s time to end ‘Scotland’s shame’. Join Billy and Tim on their journey of discovery. Are you singing their tune?
Publication : December 2005
UK, Commonwealth & translation rights : Luath Press
The Glasgow Dragon
What do I want? Let me see now. I want to destroy you spiritually, emotionally and mentally before I destroy you physically.
When Christie Devlin goes into business with a triad to take control of the Glasgow drug market little does he know that his downfall and the destruction of his family is being plotted. As Devlin struggles with his own demons the real fight is just beginning.
Nothing is as simple as good and evil.
Extent : 330pp
Publication Date: October 2004
UK, Commonwealth & Translation Rights: Luath Press
Six Black Candles
‘Hilarious’
The Mirror
In Six Black Candles the heroine Caroline, who has been deserted by her wayward husband Bobby, finds her sisters embarking on a ritualistic revenge, centred on the six black candles of the title.
Republication Date: March 2004
UK, Commonwealth & Translation Rights : Luath Press
Me and Ma Gal
“If you didn’t grow up in Scotland you will enjoy this book. But if you did grow up here you will absolutely love it!”
Scotland’s First Minister, Jack McConnell
Me and Ma Gal chronicles a day in the lives of two best friends, Derek and Gal, set against the Coatbridge landscape of slagpits and steelworks, and was shortlisted for the Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award. It was recently voted the winner of the World Book Day survey to find the book that revealed the most about contemporary Scotland. It was broadcast as a drama on Radio 4 in summer 2004 and selected as one of the Best 100 Scottish Books.
Republication Date: Spring 2004
UK, Commonwealth & Translation Rights: Luath Press
My Epileptic Lurcher
That’s when I saw them.
The paw prints.
Halfway along the ceiling they went. Evidence of a dog that could defy gravity.
Manny Riley is newly married, with a puppy and a wee flat by the sea, and the BBC are on the verge of greenlighting one of his projects. Everything sounds perfect. But many has always been an anger management casualty, and the idyllic village life is turning out to be more League of Gentlemen than The Good Life. The BBC have decided his script needs totally rewritten, the locals are conducting a campaign against his dog, and the village policeman is on the side of the neds. As his marriage suffers under the strain of his constant rages, a strange connection begins to emerge between Manny’s temper and the health of his beloved dog.
Laugh-out-loud funny, this brilliant novel breaks into a convincing Dogspeak that will ring true in any dog-loving household. Complete with all the jealousy and heartbreak that come into any loving relationship, dog-human relations have never been so vividly expressed. This is a book for everyone who has ever had a dog. Or talked to one.
February 2008
UK, Commonwealth & translation : Luath Press
