Chitra Ramaswamy & Hannah Lavery

Episode One. Recorded at the Scottish Poetry Library.

Welcome to A Kick Up The Arts, a new Scottish Arts & Culture Podcast with Nicola Meighan, which comes in two parts…

Part one is a weekly(-ish!) round-table discussion with brilliant guests in arts spaces around the country, and I’m delighted that kicking off the first-ever episode, which is live RIGHT NOW, are brilliant writers Chitra Ramaswamy and Hannah Lavery – recorded at the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh, reflecting on Hannah’s incredible new book, Unwritten Woman, and Chitra’s just-reissued and equally wonderful memoir, Expecting.

Did Hannah pave the way for Taylor Swift at Murrayfield? Did Chitra pre-empt Nan Shepherd on all of those bank-notes? Could this be, as Chitra speculates, “A very delusional podcast”? You can listen now, on the player below – or just search for / subscribe to A Kick Up The Arts – or click right here on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, YouTube, etc.

Part two is a monthly special – A Kick Up The Arts: All Back To Mine – where a well-loved musician / writer / actor / comedian / artist gives us a virtual night in, round at theirs. They’ll choose a Scottish album to play us, a Scottish film to show us, and a Scottish book for some bed-time reading, and we’ll chat about all of that. They might even chuck in a snack or two.

The first of these is courtesy of the righteous and excellent Chris Brookmyre, recorded at Stirling’s Europa Musicduring Bloody Scotland. What movie would he fire up on the VHS, and how did it inadvertently influence his McIlvanney Prize-winning latest novel, The Cracked Mirror? (Also, no snack spoilers but avocados may feature.)

There’s loads more to follow. I’d love it, if you fancy, if you listened / subscribed / signed up for the newsletter / followed @akickupthearts on Instagram.