Working Lives: Andrew McMillan with Rebecca Smith

Andrew McMillan is an award-winning writer from the North of England, best known for his landmark poetry collections physical (2015), playtime (2018), and pandemonium (2021), all of which explore contemporary ideas about masculinity, conceptions of the body, and the experience of growing up different. This year, Andrew launched his first novel, Pity, which narrates the lives of three generations of men from a South Yorkshire mining town, which was once a hub of industry but now struggles to find a new identity in the wake of seismic social change. Whilst some characters struggle to let go of the past, others learn to navigate new lifestyles, and adopt the new models of masculinity offered by this post-industrial world. We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Andrew to Paisley to speak about his book in conversation with Rebecca Smith, author of Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside.