Irvine Welsh

Irvine Welsh was born in the great city of Edinburgh and matured in the housing schemes of Leith, West Pilton and Muirhouse. Neither school nor conventional employment appealed, but he was inspired to write after experiencing the explosions of Punk and Rave first hand.

Trainspotting, Welsh’s debut novel, was rejected from the Man Booker Prize shortlist, allegedly for offending the judges. It went on to sell over a million copies in the UK alone and was adapted into an iconic film by Danny Boyle, starring Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle and Kelly Macdonald. Porno was adapted into T2: Trainspotting, a sequel that reunited the original cast and crew.

Renton, Begbie, Sick Boy and Spud, the much-loved antiheroes of Trainspotting, inhabit a fictional universe based on Welsh’s experience of an inner-city Scotland blighted by Thatcherism and drug abuse. This universe has often been revisited in novels including Skagboys, The Blade Artist and A Decent Ride.

Now the author of twelve novels, most recently Dead Men’s Trousers, and four books of shorter fiction, Welsh enjoys a dedicated global readership and tweets prolifically, mainly about tennis and corrupt politicians. He serves as the Official Ambassador of the Homeless World Cup and currently lives in Miami.

He has been involved in dance music for most of his life, as a DJ and promoter and is currently co-writing a TV drama series charting the rise of electronic music since the late 80’s.  His most recent DJ gigs were for Kaleidoscope Festival at London’s Alexandra Palace, Terry Hall’s Home Sessions for Coventry’s City of Culture, Playground Festival, Glasgow and Clockenflap, Hong Kong.