Life in a Scotch Sitting Room Vol. 0 heads on tour

Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 0, created by Hamish Hawk and band, is to perform to audiences in Manchester, Bristol, London and Glasgow.

The EIBF said the tour announcement reinforces the event’s growing reputation as both a festival of words and ideas and a “commissioning force that nurtures bold, genre‑defying work”.

Hamish Hawk said: “Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 0 grew out of a very particular moment and place at EIBF, and it’s been extraordinary to see it resonate so widely. Taking it on tour feels like an expansion of that original invitation - into new rooms, new cities, new conversations.”

The show, an homage to the late Scottish poet Ivor Cutler, wove together semi-autobiographical, semi-fictionalised stories about Hawk’s childhood in Edinburgh alongside original new music and wonderful home-spun versions of Cutler’s songs. Both performances sold out.

Jenny Niven, director of Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: “Commissioning original work is at the heart of what EIBF exists to do.

“From the beginning, Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 0 felt like a project with a life beyond the Book Festival - bold, playful, and rooted in a distinctly Scottish sensibility while speaking to much wider audiences. We’re thrilled to see this commission tour the UK and reach new stages and communities.”