Authors

Born in Falkirk and now a Glasgow-resident, the multi-talented Alan Bissett has found success and critical acclaim as a playwright, screenwriter and novelist among many other disciplines.

His novels "Boyracers" (2001), "The Incredible Adam Spark" (2005), and "Death of a Ladies’ Man" (2009) have been met with praise. His work as a playwright with "The Ching Room", "Turbo Folk" and "Times When I Bite", his one-woman show, have been equally well received.

He has also collaborated with musicians as varied as Zoey Van Goey and Malcolm Middleton. His film collaboration with Adam Stafford, "The Shutdown", won the Jim Poole Jury & Audience Awards and was nominated for a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award.

Odd? Most certainly. But despite his apparent brushes with obscurity, self-destruction and outright madness, Mark Buckland remains a strong talent on the Cargo label.

Two-time winner of the Keith Wright Memorial Prize, Buckland has performed around Glasgow and at the Aye Write! Book Festival and has performed with the likes of Louise Welsh, Rodge Glass, Stewart Home and Ewan Morrison. Look out for his forthcoming short story collection, “The Outsider.”

Now a Dundee resident, New Yorker Nora Chassler produced one of the most creative and powerful debuts of recent times with her novel "Miss Thing." Having worked as a fashion model, she has featured in The Sunday Times and The Herald among other newspapers. She is currently working on a second novel.

An Orange Prize nominee; two-time MacAllan/Scotland on Sunday Prize nominee; multi-disciplined work for BBC Radio 4, Gutter, Notes from the Underground, The Guardian; two critically revered novels-Sophie Cooke's litany of brilliant work speaks for itself. Her skill is in exposing truth through political and societal hypocrisy-critic's comparisons with Thomas Vintenberg and Virginia Woolf are a mark of her success as a powerful social commentator.

Recent nominee of the prestigious Authors' Club First Novel Award, Jason Donald has shocked and moved readers with his scintilating debut "Choke Chain." The South African is a graduate of the University of Glasgow's famed MLitt course in creative writing and his Scottish Variety Award nomination and high praise from his peers marks him as not only a promising talent, but a truly great writer already in our midst.

What can be said about Andrew Raymond Drennan that hasn’t been said already? Drennan has attracted a fair amount of controvesy in his career already; he’s also a magnet for astonishing praise.

His writing is bold and edgy-unafraid to attack the major issues of the day, Drennan has courted the ire of the Scottish Catholic Alliance among other groups for his opinions. But Drennan’s fans are equally passionate about his work.

His acerbic wit, sarcasm and brutal satire tears down political hypocrisy, abuse of power and lack of morality in his powerful debut novel on Cargo, “Cancer Party.”

Most recent releases:

Cancer Party

Bona-fide rock n' roll star, nuclear scientist and a blistering talent with a pen, Doug Johnstone has found acclaim for his novels "Tombstoning" and "The Ossians" while continuing to be revered as a songwriter. Catch Doug at a live performance and you can expect exciting writing and wild guitars...

Originally from Sofia, Bulgaria, Kapka Kassabova's sparkling prose resonates with a highly individual voice, vibrant ideas and an international scope. From her roots in Europe to her academic success in New Zealand, Kassabova's wildly inventive novels include "Love in The Land of Midas" and "Reconnaissance" while holding notable positions such as The Times Cheltenham Festival's writer-in-residence role. We are privileged to have this talented, international author call Scotland home.

Anneliese Mackintosh is a well-kent face on the performance circuit of Scotland, taking her excellent writing to many different venues. She has recently completed a novel, "Watch Yourself", and tutors creative writing following her completion of a PhD in Creative Writing, focusing on visual impairment in literature.

Her work has been published in Gutter Magazine and BBC Radio 4 among many other prestigious publications.

Duncan McLean has been creating funny, sparky and inventive writing since his Perrier nominated comedy work in the 1980s. Through his famed "Bucket of Tongues" collection to Clocktower Press, from his two ground-breaking novels to his musical influence, McLean remains one of the most significant writers modern Scotland has produced.

Kevin MacNeil is a novelist and poet from the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. His stunning novels include "The Stornoway Way", "Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides" and "The Callanish Stoned." Kevin is also a musician and lyricist, collaborating on various projects.

Kevin's work has been translated into ten languages and he is currently pursuing various projects to support the work of Cancer Research UK.

Hailing from the Isle of Lewis, Daibhidh Martin is a young author and director with a growing reputation. His short stories have found publication in The Herald among many others and his television work includes "Moon" on BBC4.

Daibhidh is also a supporter of experiments between poetry and music, working with Scottish musicians such Iain Morrison and the Sleepy Cafe Band. He also writes poetry in Gaelic.

Aidan Moffat remains one of the most defining and influential musicians in Scottish music. His dark humour and images of everyday life through a haze of drink and partying has won worldwide praise and support through his work with Arab Strap, Aloha Hawaii, Sick Anchors, Angry Buddhists and as a solo artist. His poetic album "I Can Hear Your Heart" marks one of his many successful forays into literature and he continues to produce new music and writing to a global following.

Undoubtedly one of the most influential writers to emerge in recent years, Colette Paul's debut short-story collection "Whoever You Choose to Love" has left an unforgettable impression on the cultural landscape. A specialist in short form, she won the Royal Society of Authors Short Story Prize 2005 and has had her work serialised on Radio 4. She teaches creative writing at Anglia Ruskin University and her academic work explores the framework of narratology.

Physician, dramatist and creator of some of the most unique novels of our time, Suhayl Saadi is without comparison in the literary world for his swirling, dense prose, genre-vaulting ideas and stunningly original stories.

His three novels "Psychoraag", "The White Cliffs", "Joseph's Box" and short story collection "The Burning Mirror" have won him a James Black Tait Memorial Prize nomination and a Saltire First Book Award shortlisting. Blending mysticism, past, present, future, music, mythology and complex narrative, Saadi effortlessly bounds through ideas and connections in a style quite unlike anything you'll ever read.

Tawona Sitholé-a Zimbabwean poet that taps into the worlds of his ancestral tradition and hiphop music. His work crosses generations through song and stories; he blends the traditions passed to him and modern styles in poetry that is both memorable and thought-provoking.

Noted for his community work in poetry and storytelling through schools and shows, Tawona is also the curator of the famed Seeds of Thought poetry night in Glasgow.

The American poet Ryan Van Winkle has achieved much in his own work and for Scottish writing. He is the writer in residence at Edinburgh City Libraries and the Scottish Poetry Library; he also edits the popular Forest publications and runs the Golden Hour literary night in Edinburgh that has helped so many of the poetry community in the city to grow.

Ryan also won the Salt Publishing Cranshaw Prize 2010 for his poetry and has featured in several new writing anthologies.