Alan Bissett (born 17 November 1975) is an author and playwright from
Hallglen, an area of
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. After the publication of his first two novels, ''
Boyracers'' and ''The Incredible Adam Spark'', he became known for his different take on Scots dialect writing, evolving a style specific to Falkirk, suffused with popular culture references and
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
politics. He also applied to be rector of the
University of Glasgow
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, caption = Coat of arms
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, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
in 2014.
Bissett used to lecture in
creative writing
Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...
at
Bretton Hall College
Bretton Hall College of Education was a higher education college in West Bretton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It opened as a teacher training college in 1949 with awards from the University of Leeds. The college merged with the Univ ...
, now part of the
University of Leeds
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
, and tutored the creative writing MLitt at the
University of Glasgow
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, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
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, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
alongside
Janice Galloway
Janice Galloway (born 1955 in Saltcoats, Scotland) is a Scottish writer of novels, short stories, prose-poetry, non-fiction and libretti.
Biography
She is the second daughter of James Galloway and Janet Clark McBride. Her parents separated w ...
and
Tom Leonard. He became a full-time writer in December 2007. In March 2012, he became a "Cultural Ambassador" for
National Collective, a creative organisation which supports
Scottish independence
Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.
S ...
.
Background
Bissett was born in 1975. He attended
Falkirk High School
Falkirk High School is a high school located in Falkirk, Stirlingshire that was founded in 1886.
It is a non-denominational six-year fully comprehensive school, situated approximately one mile from the centre of the town. It serves a widespr ...
and then the
University of Stirling
The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...
, where he gained a First-Class Honours degree in English literature and education. After a short spell as a secondary-school teacher at
Elgin Academy, Bissett was awarded a master's degree in English from the
University of Stirling
The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...
, during which time he edited a collection of Scottish Gothic stories, ''Damage Land'' (2001), and wrote his first novel, ''
Boyracers''. His stories were either short- or longlisted for the national Macallan Short-Story Competition four times between 1999 and 2002. His third novel, ''
Death of a Ladies' Man'', was published by Hachette Scotland in July 2009. In 2009 Bissett moved into playwriting: his first play, ''The Ching Room,'' was performed at
Oran Mor and
Traverse Theatre
The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco.
The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary pla ...
in March 2009, starring Andy Clarke and
Colin McCredie
Colin McCredie (born 8 June 1972 in Dumbarton, Scotland) is a Scottish actor, best known for his role as DC Stuart Fraser in the STV drama ''Taggart'', Nick Morrison in the BBC Scotland Soap Opera ''River City'' and in the films '' Shallow Gr ...
. It was followed by ''Times When I Bite'', or ''The Moira Monologues'' a "one-woman show" that Bissett has performed himself (at Glasgow literary festival
Aye Write!
Aye Write, originally stylized as Aye Write!'','' is an annual book festival which takes place in Glasgow, Scotland in late February or early March.
History
The first Aye Write festival was in 2005. Originally intended to occur once every two y ...
in March 2009, at the
Kikinda Short Story Festival in Serbia in June 2009, and at the
Traverse Theatre
The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco.
The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary pla ...
in November 2009. In an interview with the ''
Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'', Bissett described the inspiration for the character of Moira Bell.
"The voice comes from the women in my family, my three aunties and my sister, who are great storytellers and hard as f***,” he says. "If they were to go on stage and talk about their lives in their own voices, it would be acclaimed as a virtuoso performance."
Bissett was also a regular performer at and co-organiser of Glasgow spoken word night Discombobulat
Bibliography
Novels
* ''
Boyracers'' (2001)
* ''The Incredible Adam Spark'' (2005)
* ''
Death of a Ladies' Man'' (2009)
* ''Pack Men'' (2011)
Anthologies
* ''Damage Land: New Scottish Gothic Fiction'' (2001) (editor)
* ''In the Event of Fire:
Association for Scottish Literary Studies#New Writing Scotland, New Writing Scotland 27'' (July 2009) (co-editor with
Liz Niven)
* ''Stone Going Home Again:
Association for Scottish Literary Studies#New Writing Scotland, New Writing Scotland 28'' (July 2010) (co-editor with
Carl MacDougall)
* ''The Year of Open Doors'' (July 2010) (contributor)
* ''The Flight of the Turtle:
Association for Scottish Literary Studies#New Writing Scotland, New Writing Scotland 29'' (July 2011) (co-editor with
Carl MacDougall)
* ''Collected Plays'' (March 2015)
Music
Bissett also collaborated with musician
Malcolm Middleton
Malcolm Bruce Middleton
(born 31 December 1973) is a Scottish musician and member of indie band Arab Strap. He has also released seven solo studio albums and three albums performing under the pseudonym Human Don't Be Angry.
Early life
Middleto ...
for the song "The Rebel on His Own Tonight", writing the lyrics and performing a spoken word section, for the ''
Ballads of the Book'' project, bringing together Scottish writers with Scottish musicians, spearheaded by
Roddy Woomble
Roddy Woomble (born 13 August 1976) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and writer. He is the lead vocalist of indie rock band Idlewild, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums. Celebrated for his poetic lyrics and warm, baritone voice, In 2 ...
and
Edwin Morgan.
Inspired by this experience, Bissett approached bands
Zoey Van Goey
Zoey Van Goey were an indie pop band from Glasgow, Scotland, made up of Matt Brennan, Michael John McCarthy, Kim Moore and Adam Scott. Brennan, McCarthy and Moore, hailing from Canada, Ireland and England respectively, formed the initial trio ...
and
Y'all is Fantasy Island suggesting they perform together. In May 2007, all three performed together in a short tour of
Central Scotland. The tour, called ''Super Puny Humans'' played in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
on 2 May,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
on the third,
Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
on the fourth and finally
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
on the fifth. Since then, Bissett has regularly performed his writing at concerts in support slots for various bands, including the first-ever comeback gig of
The Vaselines
The Vaselines are a Scottish alternative rock band. Formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1986, the band was originally a duo between its songwriters Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, but later added James Seenan and Eugene's brother Charlie Kelly on ba ...
, and the "Music Like A Vitamin" night at
ABC Glasgow
The O2 ABC was a nightclub and music venue on Sauchiehall Street, in the centre of Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The building was constructed in 1875, renovated many times in its lifetime and also largely rebuilt in the 1920s. The buildi ...
, run by Rod Jones from
Idlewild in support of
Mental Health Week. He also performed spoken word sets at the
Connect Music Festival
The Connect Music Festival was a music festival that took place in the grounds of Inveraray Castle, located on the banks of Loch Fyne in Argyll, Scotland. It was aimed at more mature music fans and recent headliners included the Beastie Boys, B ...
in 2007 and 2008, and at
Crossing Border Festival Crossing Border Festival is an annual festival in The Hague, Netherlands focusing on new pop music acts and literature. It is one of the largest combined music and literature festivals in Europe. The first edition took place in 1993, as a larger ...
in 2007.
Film
In 2009, ''The Shutdown
a short documentary Bissett wrote (and narrated) about the experience of growing up in the shadow of the
Grangemouth Oil Refinery, with particular mention of his father's injury in the refinery flare line incident of 13 March 198
premiered in competition at
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...
,
IDFA and
Silverdocs
The AFI Docs (formerly Silverdocs) documentary film festival is an American international film festival created by the American Film Institute and the Discovery Channel. It is held every year in Silver Spring, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Started ...
, was shortlisted for the Scottish Short Documentary Award and won both the Jury and Audience Awards for Scottish Short Film at the
Jim Poole Scottish Short Film Awards
''The Shutdown'' was directed by
Adam Stafford
Adam Stafford (born 24 February 1982) is a Scottish musician, filmmaker, film writer, photographer and broadcaster based in Falkirk, Scotland. He was the lead singer and songwriter with the Scottish band Y'all is Fantasy Island as well as a s ...
, and later picked up for distribution by
Accidental Media.
Notes
External links
*
*
Creative Writing at Glasgow Universityat
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
Super Puny Humans site* Short story:
This Snow Won't Lie for Long' at Scottish Arts Council website, Dec 2007
* Short story:
So Many Crows', Mad Hatters Review, Issue 7, February 2007
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bissett, Alan
1975 births
Living people
21st-century Scottish novelists
People from Falkirk
Alumni of the University of Stirling
Scottish dramatists and playwrights
People educated at Falkirk High School