Strathoykel, Sutherland. "When the Sheriff and his men arrived, the women were on the road and the men behind the walls. The women shouted 'Better to die here than America or the Cape of Good Hope'. The first blow was struck by a woman with a stick. The gentry leant out of their saddles and beat at the women's heads with their crops." (John McGrath)

Spanning the 1950s to the 70s, the plays capture the rebellious mood of a post-war generation growing up to a backdrop of James Dean, Elvis, sharp-suited glamour, hope and despair. John Byrne takes the slab room he worked in and makes it pure theatre: the scams, the dreams, the aloof but gorgeous girl, the despair of life back home, the obligatory tormenting of the office 'weed', and the mandatory boy chat and pranks all help the day to pass. Phil and Spanky explode onto the stage in a classic vaudeville double-act. Now considered one of Scotland's defining literary works of the twentieth century, the Slab Boys Trilogy premiered at the Traverse back in the late 1970s and early 80s taking Scotland, then Britain, and then Broadway quickly by storm.

Sheep are marginalised in literary criticism and in discussion of pastoral literature. This book brings an animal studies approach to poetry about sheep that allows for the agency of these sentient beings, that have been associated for humans over ten thousand years. This approach highlights the distinction between wild and domesticated species and the moral dilemma between the goals of animal welfare and those of saving species from extinction. Discussion of mostly contemporary poetry follows a new reading of works from the pastoral and georgic canon. Allowing for the sentience and sociality of this species makes it easier to imagine a natureculture within which to make kin across the species boundary. Reading poetry about sheep has the power to make new meanings as we try to adapt to an increasingly complex and problematic environment.

When these captivating Tales from the Back Green were broadcast on BBC Radio they were described by The Herald as 'a vividly engaging portrait of a vanished city' and The Scotsman as 'an engaging series fondly and wittily rendered'. Now published for the first time, actor Bill Paterson's stories brilliantly evoke his 1950s Glasgow boyhood. This is a world of intriguing characters and extraordinary events set against the background of the changes and challenges of the post-war era – the nuclear threat, the fading dominance of the kirk, Rock and Roll, the disappearance of the beloved trams, and why penny whoppers were not worth tuppence. As a young surveyor, Paterson was witness to the dramatic transformation of the city, as austere tenements were swept away to make way for new roads and high-rise blocks. Tales From the Back Green is a brilliant realisation of childhood and youth; of memories Paterson describes as 'suspended in amber like Jurassic Park's mosquito, with its DNA still intact.' He wonders whether our memories change from grey to gold as the years pass - do we naturally recall our childhood as a time of optimism and hope?

'I have no name for the thing which is in my head. It is not envy. It is more than envy. It does not scare me. I must look close enough to look at what it is.' A ploughman and his wife live a simple existence in a pre-industrial time until they, along with the hated local miller, are drawn into a struggle of knowledge, power and attraction. David Harrower's haunting play established him as one of the UK's leading contemporary playwrights. This new edition is published to coincide with the new production of this tense modern classic at the Donmar Warehouse in August 2017, directed by Yaël Farber.