Quotes by Irvine Welsh

About Irvine Welsh:

Irvine Welsh is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. He is recognised for his novel Trainspotting, which was later made into a film of the same name. His work is characterised by a raw Scots dialect and brutal depiction of Edinburgh life. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short films.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I wanted to capture the excitement of house music, almost like a four-four beat, and the best way to do that was to use a language that was rhythmic and performative.

Irvine Welsh

Gillman smiles, in the cold manner of an assassin. It's like looking in the mirror.

Irvine Welsh

When I get home I take some sleeping pills and within what seemed like half an hour of unconsciousness it was Monday morning again.

Irvine Welsh

I enjoy the freedom of the blank page.

Irvine Welsh

I think young writers should get other degrees first, social sciences, arts degrees or even business degrees. What you learn is research skills, a necessity because a lot of writing is about trying to find information.

Irvine Welsh

I'm working on a screenplay right now for the BBC, but I hope to have the decks cleared soon so I can get into the studio with my pals and put down some more tracks, try to get a strong dance single together.

Irvine Welsh

When I'm not writing, I read loads of fiction, but I've been writing quite constantly lately so I've been reading a lot of nonfiction - philosophy, religion, science, history, social or cultural studies.

Irvine Welsh

I didn't have any concept of Trainspotting being published. It was a selfish act. I did it for myself.

Irvine Welsh

I feel like I've exhausted guys and male friendships.

Irvine Welsh

I grew up in a place where everybody was a storyteller, but nobody wrote. It was that kind of Celtic, storytelling tradition: everybody would have a story at the pub or at parties, even at the clubs and raves.

Irvine Welsh

I tend to read more nonfiction, really, because when I'm writing I don't like to read other fiction.

Irvine Welsh

I'd always liked to read, but when I picked up books I wasn't getting the same kind of excitement from them that I was from going out clubbing. I wanted to get the same kind of feel.

Irvine Welsh

It was around the summer of 1982 when the drug problem really impacted. It became a lifestyle rather than a recreation. When you start lying and stealing, you cannot con yourself you're in control any more.

Irvine Welsh

Sometimes there's a snobbery among literary types that these people don't really get it, but in a lot of ways they get it more than the literati. There's a culture in the background that they understand and know. They get that deeper level.

Irvine Welsh

The establishment, the newspapers, they try to create something called Scottish literature, but when people are actually going to write, they are not going to necessarily prescribe to that, they'll write what they feel.

Irvine Welsh

The first job of a writer is to be honest.

Irvine Welsh

There is a kind of mysticism to writing.

Irvine Welsh

What worries me is the professionalism of everything.

Irvine Welsh

When I started off with Trainspotting, it was the way the characters came to me. That's how they sounded to me. It seemed pretentious to sound any other way. I wasn't making any kind of political statement.

Irvine Welsh

Writing is about culture and should be about everything. That's what makes it what it is.

Irvine Welsh

It's different in Scotland. People who come to readings are more interested in literature as such, but the readership in general is really quite diverse. It's a cliche, but it's said that people who read my books don't read any other books, and you d...

Irvine Welsh

Author Bio

  • NameIrvine Welsh
  • DescriptionScottish novelist
  • BornSeptember 27, 1958
  • CountryScotland
  • ProfessionWriter; Screenwriter; Novelist; Playwright
  • WorksTrainspotting; The Acid House