Irvine Welsh hosts special screening for charity

By Amanda MacMillan

BEST-selling author Irvine Welsh is hosting a special screening of his famous first novel to help raise funds for a Scottish charity and to get people in the mood for his new book.

The showing of Trainspotting is taking place tonight (Wednesday) at the Dominion Cinema in Edinburgh in aid of charity Scottish Love in Action (SLA).

The audience will also have the opportunity to pose questions to the Edinburgh-born author as well as the chance to be named in his new book, Skagboys, the prequel to Trainspotting which will be released in April 2012.

All proceeds from the competition and screening will go to SLA.

Irvine Welsh gives fans a chance to be in new novel

By Cara Sulieman

HIS previous characters became immortal with the names Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie still famous the world over.

Now Scots author Irvine Welsh is preparing to give fans the chance to join them by naming one of his new characters from his forthcoming prequel to hit novel Trainspotting after them.

The original book, which one critic said “deserves to sell more copies than the Bible”, helped launch the careers of actors Robert Carlyle, Ewan McGregor, Kelly MacDonald and Johnny Lee Miller when the film adaptation came out.

Skagboys is due to hit shelves in April 2012 and goes back into the past of the now-famous heroin addicts in Leith.