Visiting Barlinnie

Earlier this year I gave a talk and Q&A at Partick Library. Out of this came an unexpected invitation: to talk about my work in Scotland’s largest prison. So… On Tuesday 7 July I visited HMP Barlinnie for an interview and Q&A in the library portion of the Resource Hub. My interviewer was David Sweeten of Glasgow Life Libraries, and the questions came from prisoners – all men, of course. That aside, it was very similar to an author event in a library or bookshop. The audience had gratifyingly well-considered and searching questions. As you can see, science fiction and fantasy are well represented in the prison library. Before the event, resource hub officer David McAlpine took me on a tour of as much of the prison as possible, starting with the inside of an unoccupied cell. Just standing there with the door open gave me claustrophobia. Most cells have two occupants, a situation which the authorities agree is unsatisfactory and hope to remedy when the replacement prison is built.…