Tim Bell

I was bringing up a young family in Leith in the 1980s with the real-life scenes depicted in Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting going on all around us. Immersing myself in the Leith history and culture with the eye of an outsider, I was well placed to interpret Trainspotting for outsiders. My book Choose Life Choose Leith: Trainspotting on Location (Luath Press 2018) grew out of guided tours for tourists, academics, students, aficionados. Trainspotting is confusing, chaotic, time-warping, localised in both location and language, exaggerated, sad, defiant, honest. Together with the stage play and later the film, also critiqued in my book, it has become a touchstone of the 1990s. It bears examination as a cultural phenomenon.

Now with Trainspotting The Musical, we have another iteration of stories and issues of the illicit drug scene.

As the founder and organising secretary of Leith Writing (OSCR SC053463) which produces an annual anthology of loosely Leith-related writing of various genres from the local community, I am very happy to talk about the exercise of writing: getting started, thinking about it, drafting, taking shape, coming to some sort of ending. And having confidence in it.